Not much....

Just checking in here for a quick post. Not much new going on. I've been working alot lately, so not too much downtime for blogging. :( However, I have been able to work ALOT from home lately (at least 2 days a week), so that's been pretty great. I've resorted to my 'work clothes' consisting of yoga pants and a t-shirt. :) I'm actually pretty productive at home; it definitely takes discipline and self-motivation. But it saves me time commuting to the office, $$ parking, and $$ going out to lunch. And on most days Jordan comes home for lunch to see me, so that's an added bonus. ;) My 'plan' this month has been to work from home a few days a week and go upstairs to workout on my would-be lunch break. Well.........constant conference calls and tight deadlines have derailed that plan. Hoping this week is the one to get back on that horse! Otherwise, I'll be forced to sign up for another 5:30am boot camp to kick my ass back into shape!  

This is my view from 'working from home'.....

In between working alot, the kids have been keeping me on my toes. The weather was beautiful today, so we played outside in the cul de sac. We're so lucky that we have awesome neighbors (some that have become incredible friends) and our kids love to play together.

Jordan and I are also trying to plan our Hawaii trip for this summer. We had originally planned to go the actual week of our anniversary in late July, but that's the same week that my sister's baby is due and there is NO way I'm going to be across the ocean then! So, instead we're looking at early June now. But coordinating childcare for 7 days while we're gone is pure madness. (I'm not even sure how I'm going to handle being away from the boys that long, but I'm sure laying on the beach losing myself in tropical drinks will ease my mind.)  Not to mention we haven't decided where we're staying, or figured out the whole vow renewal thing. Although, I think I have convinced Jordan that we should write the vows ourselves. Needless to say, that should be interesting!

Back at It!

Christmas break is over. :( I immensely enjoyed my 17 days off; it was definitely much needed! Unfortunately the fun must end at some point, and return to the reality we call work. Ughhhhhh! My last day off was spent with Jordan and Chase for a fun day with him for his 2nd birthday.  I kicked off my first day back to work in 2013 with a day trip to Houston to help teach a workshop. Whew, flying in and out (even just to Houston) in one day is exhausting! And now I've just been trying to get back in the groove of things and stay motivated.

It feels kinda weird that I'm not about to embark on another busy season at work. Don't get me wrong, I have lots of projects going on that are keeping my eyes glued to my laptop and my ears to conference calls, but it's different. I know that I get to go home at 5pm each day (or if I'm lucky, I'm working from home already!).  Although I have to admit, I have been doing quite a bit more stuff in the evenings for work than I would like to, but I know that since I'm actually full-time now, I gotta earn my pay. I'm definitely better off in this role, so I'm thankful for sure. 

Jordan's been pretty busy with work too, currently on a 9-day straight work schedule. It's exhausting for me to be here with the kids without him, just as it exhausts him to be working so much.  The boys are good, running around like crazy, getting into all sorts of trouble. It's still kinda hard to believe that we have a 2 year old and a four year old!  Our life is crazy, hectic, and stressful, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Lately, my life has been making me think of one of my favorite songs, Freeze Frame Time by Brandon Rhyder.  This song has been one of my favorites for a couple years now. I remember being at Gruene Hall on New Year's Eve six years ago when we heard this song live. At the time, we were struggling to conceive, mix that with lots of alcohol, and we were both brought to tears in a bar. I know our life is crazy, but I need to do a better job at 'freezing time' and enjoying everything that I have and being thankful for it. That's my goal this year!

Party Time with Elmo!

Okay, finally time to quickly blog about Chase's 2nd birthday party. It was only last weekend, so I feel like I'm not that behind! :)

Let me tell you, I threw this party together in a jiffy. I didn't even start anything until after Christmas, which left me less than 2 weeks to get my act together.  I had debated back and forth between Mickey Mouse and Elmo. Ultimately, after Chase constantly ran around the house shouting Elmo for the past month, we decided to go that route.  And obviously, Pinterest provided me with plenty of ideas and inspiration. :)

I still can't believe that he is TWO!!

And since I'm here, I'll update on his stats from his check-up too. He weighed in at 29 lbs. 10oz. (70%) and measured 34 1/2" short tall (50%). He got a clean bill of health, and two shots! :)

I made Elmo & Cookie Monster cupcakes, which seemed to be a big hit with the kiddos

I made this custom street sign with my Silhouette and was thrilled with how it turned out. We also scattered our many Sesame Street characters throughout the house to add to the decor

Always gotta have yummy snacks!

Mommy & Daddy with the birthday boy!

Big thanks to Jordan for helping to assemble my cute favor bags for the kids! (He loves getting crafty with me at 1AM!)

He was so shy at the beginning about opening his gifts!

He LOVES his Cozy Truck from Mommy & Daddy!

Happy 2nd Birthday Chase Cooper!

Oh man; this day has certainly snuck up on me. When did my baby grow up?!  After we had Austin, we knew we wanted to start trying again for another child when he was one, anticipating that we would have a struggle on our hands getting pregnant again.  But Chase wanted to make things easy on me, as I became pregnant just four months later.  We were thrilled and ecstatic about the news. Of course, he didn't make the pregnancy easy on me at all, as I had all-day sickness for about 6 months straight. But the sickness was worth every bit of it once we finally held him in our arms.  Chase seemed so tiny when he came into the world on 1/7/11 at 6lbs. 4oz. We had expected him to be a little bigger, but being 3 1/2 weeks early, we were just thankful for a healthy baby.

Since we knew he would be our last baby, completing our family of four, we have tried to soak up every last minute of it all.  It's hard to remember life before he was in it.  From the get-go, he was a sweet, snuggly little thing. His teachers at school have nicknamed him 'the teddy bear', and it fits perfectly.  Here we are two years later, and he's still as sweet as can be. In alot of ways he's just like his older brother, but different as well.  And every time I look at this kid, I can't help but think that he is the spitting image of both his daddy and big brother. Although he was small when he came into this world, he is only a couple pounds behind his 4 year old brother and is a hoss!

After consulting the hubby, we've come up with our favorite things (in no particular order) about our sweet Chase Chase!

• Like I mentioned before, this kid is so sweet & cuddly. I love that even at this age, he loves to sit in my lap and cuddle with me. In the few times we've allowed him into our bed at night when he's been sick, he literally gets in my 'nook' and cuddles right up to me.  One of his favorite things is to grab a few books and plop down in your lap for you to read to him.  He used to be a Daddy's boy, but he has turned completely 100% into a Momma's boy and I'm eating it up!
• I love how excited he gets when he sees us (me, Jordan, or Austin for that matter!)  When I walk in to his classroom at school, he runs right up to me shouting my name. It's definitely just what I need after a long day at the office.  When we're home and he hears Jordan's truck pulling into the garage, he runs from across the house yelling Dada! Dada! and bangs on the window. Once Jordan is in the door, he runs right up to him and gives him a giant hug.
• His overall personality is just awesome. Jordan just described it to me as a 'silent badass'. :) Yeah, he's more of the strong silent type. And he loves to strip. Many mornings lately, I've gone to get him up, and he's been either completely naked or without pants on. He is soooo much like his Daddy!
• I love to watch Chase interact with Austin and see the love he has for him and how much he looks up to him. It is seriously 'monkey see, monkey do' with those two. If Austin is doing something, Chase wants in on the action too. My favorite part is in the evening at bedtime, when they give each other goodnight hugs and kisses. It is the cutest thing ever! I just wonder how long it's going to last.
• And those blue eyes......awwwww! I'm not quite sure where he got them from (somewhere from Jordan's family, I think), but they are just amazing. With eyes like those, I have a hard time saying no to anything. I can't imagine what he's going to do to the ladies when he gets older. :)

We had his birthday party on Saturday and it was quite the success. I will get around to blogging about it later this week!

Happy 2nd Birthday to my sweet Chase Cooper!!

Here's a few pics from a recent photo shoot!

 I think he looks JUST like his Daddy here!

Love this one!

So handsome!

Oh, those blue eyes get me every time! 

Giving Mommy kisses

Playing in the tree with his bubba

Let's Party!

Today we will celebrate Chase's 2nd birthday with all of our friends and family! Stay tuned in a few days for all the details, as well as a special birthday post (which will likely bring me to tears!) on his actual birthday 1/7! In the meantime, I gotta start setting up for the celebration! :)

2012: A Year In Review

Similar to the past couple years, I like to do a recap of what's been happening with the Houghams over the past year.  Time just keeps flying by these days, so it's fun to sit back and reminisce about some great memories.  So here we go down memory lane!

January:

At the beginning of January, we took a quick staycation to Great Wolf Lodge (indoor resort waterpark).  The four of us had a blast splashing around and lounging around in our 'Wolf Den'. The boys especially enjoyed having their own room with their own tv!  

After returning from our trip, we celebrated Chase's 1st birthday with a jungle-themed party. The first year of his life seemed to go by in a flash and then BAM!, he's one!

February:

I don't remember much of February; it's in the heart of busy season, so I'm pretty sure I was burning the midnight oil alot. In between working so much and spending time with the family, I also had to undergo alot of testing with some specialists with my heart and my thyroid.  For Valentine's Day, Jordan and I were able to enjoy Parents' Night Out at the daycare, and go eat hibachi, have some adult beverages, and see The Vow (I'm a sucker for any Nicholas Sparks book made into a movie!).

March:

March seemed to be worse than February, as far as work goes. There just never seemed to be enough hours in the day to get everything done. I also was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award by the College of Business at TAMU-C. I went to a fancy luncheon, mingled with lots of professors and other alumni, received my award from the Dean, and even got to speak to a couple accounting classes on my career at KPMG. It was kinda surreal; I don't consider myself very distinguished, but I'll take it. Along with me that day was my high school accounting teacher and constant mentor, Jill. :)

And Chase finally got up on his two thick tree-trunk legs and started walking at 15 months old. Geez, that kid was just like his older brother, worrying me thinking he would still be crawling to kindergarten! But once he got up, there was no stopping him!

April:

Although work finally slowed down in April for me, personal life got busier. We celebrated Easter with egg hunts at school, MawMaw & PawPaw's house, and at home. Both boys were pros at hunting eggs by the end of the weekend.

We also officially kicked off the wedding festivities with a bridal shower for my sister. Many of you know that I love to throw parties and showers, and I really put everything I had into this one. It turned out to be an incredible day and I was glad I could be the hostess with the mostest! :)

May:

Not much happened in the month of May. We enjoyed the beautiful weather and spent time with the boys. Those two crazy kids love running around outside, riding in Austin's Jeep, and playing with all their other toys. 

We also got to experience teams sports for the first time with Austin while he played t-ball for the local YMCA. His team was the Lil' Rangers and they were a crazy cute team. Practices and games were chaotic, sweaty, and entertaining.

June:

Whew, once we got into summertime, things got really crazy busy. The first week, we took a quick trip to the ER for Chase somehow managing to climb out of his crib in the middle of the night and take a nasty fall. After a CT scan and some monitoring, we were told he was fine. 

Then I took my first trip to Vegas for Katrina's bachelorette party. It was a crazy 3 days and it took nearly an entire week for me to recover.

The month of June also marked my 30th birthday. Eeeeeek! It didn't really seem like I should be 30, but I've done alot in my 30 years. I took it in stride and kept it low key.  

The rest of the month included lots of last minute preparations for my sister's wedding. Dress fittings, assembling programs, making 'Ring Security' shirts for the boys, you name it. I had a different task each night! 

July:

Finally, the wedding was here!  Kat & Lo tied the knot on the 7th and it was absolutely amazing. All of the planning, preparation, late nights, and money (not mine!) was totally worth the end result. Everything went off without a hitch (if you ignore the fact that my boys didn't want to cooperate with their ring bearer duties, but oh well). Kat was a beautiful bride and I was happy that she was happy. We officially welcomed Logan into this craziness we call our family.

We celebrated Jordan's birthday on the 13th with a full day of festivities. We ate at our favorite restaurant for hibachi, experienced indoor rock climbing, and had drinks relaxing on the patio by the lake.

Jordan and I also both made job (position) changes on the 15th as well. He got a promotion and transferred to the Rockwall AT&T store (10 min from home!). I started a two-year rotation with a different group at work. It's not in client service and I was able to have more of a structured 9-5 schedule.

On the 26th, we celebrated our 9 year wedding anniversary with a two-night stay at the Gaylord Texan (thanks to Kat & Lo for keeping the boys for us!). We enjoyed a celebratory dinner, lounged by the pool, drank all day, and just relaxed. It was low key, but just what we needed!

August:

Let's see.......August. I don't remember many major things happening in August. Pretty sure we just relaxed and tried to stay cool with terrible TX heat. :)

September:

September was just another relaxing month. Jordan and I were both getting settled into our new jobs at work.  The boys were still being rambunctious and silly as ever. Austin took on a love of fishing with Daddy, Uncle Cuz, and Uncle LoLo.

We also got to have a date to go to a concert for my semi-obsession of Kip Moore. We had a great night out with a friend and her hubby, and enjoyed Kip Moore, Justin Moore, and Eric Church; it was a blast!

 

October:

On Oct. 1st, I officially went back to full-time status at work. With my new role, I was able to have more of a predictable schedule, so I didn't need to have a reduced schedule anymore. We have definitely enjoyed the extra money, but boy did I miss my lazy Fridays!

At the beginning of the month, Austin had a run-in with a wooden bench at daycare one day and knocked one of his his front teeth out; the other one was loose, and soon followed in December.  Needless to say, the tooth fairy made a visit to our house a few years ahead of schedule. :(

For Halloween, we decided to go with a Toy Story theme as a family. Austin picked Buzz Lightyear and then we just came up with the rest of them around the boss man. Chase made an adorable Woody and Jordan and I were Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head.  The boys had a blast going door to door trick-or-treating!

November:

We celebrated Austin's 4th birthday on the 13th with an Avengers-theme party at a local place that has indoor bounce houses.  It was weird for me not to plan this big party like I usually do, but I welcomed lower stress and basically no prep work.

On the 14th, I underwent surgery to have my thyroid and the cyst taken out. It was a tougher recovery than we anticipated, but in the end, glad we decided to do it and get it over with. My results came back clear, with no signs of cancer so that was a big relief. I was on LOA from work for a little over two weeks while I recovered; Jordan was able to get off the whole time too to play nurse and help take care of the kids while I healed up.

Thanksgiving was pretty mellow, since I was still recovering from surgery, so we didn't do much. However, at Thanksgiving lunch, my sister revealed to us that she was prego! I was beyond excited for the newlyweds and laughed and cried. Yay!!

December:

Whoa. December was a ridiculously crazy month. Between Christmas parties, family gatherings, and work, we were running around like crazy.  It didn't help that I had to be gone to NJ for a work trip for 4 days either.  Christmas was fun, and both boys were seriously into all of the festivities this year.  We ventured to Prairie Lights, did Elf-on-the-Shelf everyday with Dori, and visited Santa Claus (although Chase screamed!).  We woke up to snow on Christmas day, which is rare around here, but it was fun and we relaxed around the house all day after exchanging gifts and enjoying our Mexican feast for lunch.

The day after Christmas is my sister's birthday, so we celebrated with a big dinner with a big group of her friends.  It' so weird to me that she has a baby in her belly.  Ahhhh, can hardly contain my excitement!

Whew! What a year it has been. Some of it is kinda blurry, while some moments stand out.  I have a feeling 2013 is going to be just as busy, but we wouldn't have it any other way. We're looking forward to celebrating Chase's 2nd birthday next week, celebrating our 10-year anniversary in Hawaii in the summer, and the arrival of Baby Harrington in July. Lots of fun in store for us.

Happy New Year!!