Brody

Photo taken by Michelle

Brody is growing right up and I thought it was about time for an update.  Here are some facts about my little Broads.

-He is almost 9 months old.  Yikes!

-Loves to be standing.  He is constantly pulling himself up on the couch/chairs/exersauser/ walls/ boxes etc. and then he walks back and forth  with whatever object he is on.  He can sometime even get from one object to another.

-Still loves Chase, and really loves to chase Chase.  Chase runs when he sees Brody coming and Brody gets excited and goes after him.

-He has pretty much quite the his little inchworm crawl and is getting around quite fast with a normal crawl.

-LOVES baths.  Nothing cheers him up more and if he is close to the bathroom he will crawl right in adn pull himself up onto the bathtub and wait for a bath.  If the water is already going and he is standing by the tub he gets really excited and starts bouncing.

-He often has his bottom lip sucked in (as in the picture above.)

-Hates real food.  It's  battle everyday to try and get him to eat some solids, and he hasn't liked a single thing we have tried so far.  When we get him into his high chair he purses his lips together and won't allow any food in.  The only way we can get him to eat anything is by getting him to laugh and shoving food in when his mouth opens up, or to give him a spoon and when he goes to put it into his mouth, shove ours in first.  He often reacts like he is eating a lemon when we finally get the food in (i.e. weird faces, stick tongue out, head shake back and forth quickly, etc.).

-He's just as busy as any little boy should be.  Often getting into things he shouldn't and often getting himself into predicaments he can't get back out of.

-He is a very happy baby.  Always smiling, laughing and is very ticklish.

-Still doesn't sleep through the night.  Although THIS is the week that that will change!  (Trust me.... ok don't, I've only been saying that for months now!)

He has brought a lot of joy and personality to our family and we love him to death!

Chase says...

A conversation with Chase while chopping up some potatoes for dinner.  He kept trying to grab cut up pieces close to my knife.

Me: "Chase!  Keep your hands away, do you know what might happen if you get your fingers too close to    my knife?"
C: (very seriously says,) "Yea, you would cut me up into a potato."
(I'm thinking this sounds interesting, I wonder where it will go..."
Me: " ...and what would happen if I cut you into a potato?"
C:  Still serious, "Then you would cook me up and eat me and I would taste so yummy."
Me:  "Yes, I bet you would taste really yummy."
C:  "No mom!  You don't want to eat me, then you wouldn't have any more Chasers and then you would be so sad."
Me:  "That's true!  So do you think you can keep your fingers away from my knife?"
C: "Yes! I will!"

I love getting a glimpse into the mind of a three year old.

Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam...

 I didn't really have a hard time when it was time for Chase to go to nursery.  He was still practically a baby and we were so grateful to be able to pay attention in our church classes again.  But last November Chase turned three and as three year old's do, he went to Sunbeams.

I was really worried about how it would go because he hasn't been too fond of nursery lately, but he was a champ.  He was a little hesitant for me to leave but didn't cry, and when the teacher asked his name he sat straight up, pointed with his thumb towards his chest and said "I'm Chaser!"

I had to fight the tears as I left him there.  Just one more reminder that these boys are growing up way to fast and I can't do a thing about it.

In other news:  Over Christmas break we spent a good deal of time at Grandma and Grandpa Torgerson's house.  Chase heard Grandpa talking about the garbage in an exaggerated hick accent sounding more like "Garb-ee-ge".
Chase said, "Grandpa can you say garb-ee-ge?"  
Grandpa, "garb-ee-ge!"
Chase: "Oh, GOOD JOB Grandpa!"

It finally dried.

Here it is.  My first adventure in furniture building.  I'm not sure what I'm going to put on top of it for decoration yet, those are just so it didn't look so plain in the picture.

I have been eyeing this website for a couple years and have had an itch to test out some of her knock-off Pottery Barn plans and see if I could actually build furniture.  It's pretty hard to build furniture when you have no where to do it, and no place to put it once it is made, and not really any money to buy the tools necessary.  

Now I have a house that is quite empty and in need of lots of furniture, but we still don't have tons of money to furnish the place so that's where my new hobby comes in.

What do you think?  Do you like the stain color, or should I paint it antique white and distress?

Another adventure we've begun is P90X.  Another one of those things we have wanted to do forever, but didn't have the time.  With Chase's winter sleeping schedule (no nap so he goes to bed between 6-8) we have the evening open.  We started last night and all I can say is OUCH! 

New beginnings.

We rang in 2011 doing something I really hate and really love: playing risk with family.  I absolutely hate risk (which I dominated New Years Eve), but I love playing games with family.

I love the new year.  I love the chance to evaluate where you're at in life and where you want to go (which I do more often then just the beginning of each year, but it's bigger and more official at New Years).

I've long given up on silly resolutions that are more like wishing on the evening star, and have started focusing on realistic things that will make my life better and make me a better person (which will help make my families lives better.) 

This year my resolution is to push myself forward into opportunities and activities that I have been holding myself back in for lack of space, time and money.  There are a few specific ideas I have in mind and I've already started in on one of them.  I'm just waiting for it to dry so I can show it off.

Here's to 2011 being as good as (or even better than if I'm so lucky) that 2010.

Happy New Years..... (just a little late.)

I would say my love of cameras and taking pictures started the year the my parents gave me their used film regular camera. It's all I wanted and I loved it. I didn't even notice it was old and used until my mom told me years later.

How it all progressed.

The turning point for me was when I brought my first baby home from the hospital. I started going through my precious pictures of our time in the hospital and I almost cried. They were AWFUL! I still treasure them for the memories they hold, but with no light in the little closet they called my hospital room and a cheap point and shoot, there wasn't much hope. I spent the next two months trying to convince my sweet husband that it would be worth spending the money we didn't really have to spend on a “good” camera, and I don't regret it. (He may feel otherwise :)

What photography means to me

Photography helps me stay in the moment. Chase grew out of the baby stage fast. It was a busy time in our lives and the time went so fast it scared me. Brody is growing up even faster. I love watching these sweet boys grow up and grow into their not-so-little personalities, but it also makes me sad at how time flies by. I take pictures to stay in the moment, to help me enjoy the little moments that I have every day while they are still little.

“A picture's worth a thousand words.” Pictures create an opportunity to relive moments through memories. It's hard to say goodbye to a fun filled weekend or a precious moment that fills your heart when they have to come to an end, but it's always easier for me when I know I have a memory card full of pictures to go through and relive the whole event.

                                      Pioneer Wagon Tracks at San Juan Hill.  Hole in the Rock Pioneers

Photography is part of how I tell my story. It's important to me to have a record of my life, and my families life. I want to have this story when I'm old and want to remember my past, I want my kids to have it for their own memories and enjoyment, and I want my Great-Grandkids to have a way of knowing what life was like for us. We are so amazingly blessed to have the opportunity of technology that we do. I have binders that contain a few pictures of my ancestors. These pictures are mostly copies of copies of copies of old weathered black and white pictures. We have the opportunity for each of our kids and grandkids to have a copy as good as the original of way more pictures than they could ever want. I intend to take advantage of that opportunity.

Why the time and money spent on photography?

I think it's apparent that I love looking at pictures and love taking pictures, but why spend so much time and money on it?

Just because we decided to buy a nicer camera after Chase was born doesn't mean all our problems were fixed. Sure buying a nicer camera helped, but there is A LIOT to be learned to improve the quality of pictures and I intend to continue taking better and better pictures. Sometimes I have more time than others to spend learning the art, and sometimes I have more money that at other times to spend on more/better equipment. But I continually try to use the resources I DO have to improve at the rate that I can.

Are you interested in coming with me to a photography class geared towards moms or those “documenting the lives of your own families” click here to learn more.

Christmas 2010

 The Holidays just get more and more fun with the older these kids get.  The excitement on their faces made everything worth it.

 It's tradition in the Torgerson family to have a picture taken with your "loot" so here's Brody's.  His big present was the bike trailer behind him.  It's just what he wanted I promise :)

 This is him doing what he does most often ; chasing Chase around and watching him doing whatever he is doing at the moment.

 Chase got just what he asked Santa for- a "motobike".  He loves it.  He wants to be outside riding it all day everyday, and that doesn't work with a baby and the snow that won't melt.

 He got this tool set from Grandma and Grandpa.  After he opened this gift, every present after that he would shake it and say, " I think there is a saw in here." Or, "I think it's a drill bit."  He was never disappointed that it wasn't more saws and drill bits, but determined until they were all unwrapped.

 I watched in envy all the families riding their bikes around our neighborhood on the summer evenings.  Something we rarely saw in South Jordan.  I was so envious I had to ask Santa for a bike so I could be out there next summer.

 The plan was for all of us to get bikes so we could go on bike rides together, but Santa had other plans for Daniel (picture to come soon.)




Chase got to sit on Santa's lap at our Ward Christmas party.  We prepped him about sitting on Santa's lap and told him that he should ask Santa for the bike he wanted.  While waiting in line he saw Santa giving all the other kids candy canes.

 When it was his turn he got nervous and could only think about the candy cane and when Santa asked what he wanted for Christmas, he asked for a candy cane.

He was a little distraught afterward, but made up for it when we saw Santa at Macey's.  AND we wrote a letter to make double sure that Santa knew he wanted a bike as well.

 Lucky for him he got a bike AND another candy cane :)

Testing out the new bike.