Chase's Birthday

I'm glad that Chase was only turning two so that celebrating his birthday didn't have to be a big deal this year.  We were so busy with moving and graduating that we didn't have a party with his friends (not that we've been in an area long enough yet for him to have friends that he'd remember...).  But we did still have an ice cream cake (that he shared with Buddy--it was a graduation and birthday cake) and a good meal with some long term family friends in Pennsylvania (I had written "old family friends" but didn't want them to think I was commenting on their age... :) ).

Chase got some fun gifts--a basketball hoop, a new spin toothbrush with stickers, a sprinkler, a new book, a Thomas the train toy, and a nightlight that projects stars on the ceiling.  Fun, right?  I think the first time he used the nightlight there was a thunderstorm at bedtime so he associates it with thunder.  Every time we turn it on he says "Fundah? Yight-nin?"  and then hugs us tight.  I'm hoping he'll soon embrace his Hulet genes and learn to love thunderstorms.  We'll see.

We haven't had a chance to take Chase to his 2 year check-up (we're in Canada right now for a month before Buddy starts work), so I don't how how much he's grown, but it's not too much :)  He's still our skinny boy-he gets it from his Beazer genes.

 Chase with his favorite toys at Nana H and Pop Pop's house:  Charlie Brown Christmas music players.  Lucky us, we get to hear Christmas music year round.  Every day.

 Playing with Nana H's new water fountain. 

Chase is such a little goof these days.  He imitates what we say a lot more, still thinks fake coughing is hilarious, and seems to find his own jokes the funniest (wonder where he gets that from?...).  He can count to twenty now, knows his alphabet and all of the sounds--he can even tell you the name of the letter when you say the sound. 

He is still a little difficult to understand what he is saying unless you know the context, but that is coming along gradually.  He is putting words together in 3-5 word sentences, he just doesn't say it too clearly yet.  His go-to phrase is "this one right there?"  And he actually just started retelling past events.  Like today he's been talking about how he jumped on the blocks and fell off and hurt his cheek yesterday. 

He loves ranch dressing, ketchup, and mac n cheese, but doesn't seem to consistently like eating much else.  It changes everyday.  He loves puzzles, and does really well putting them together by himself.  Even some non-wood ones.  His favorite show is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and he knows all of the characters' names.

We love having this kid around!

Last hoorah in Cumberland

There weren't a ton of things to do with kids in Cumberland, but there was one thing we really looked forward to doing before we left:  riding the train on the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad.  Cumberland has a lot of history dating back to 1754, and part of it's history was it importance as a key junction for the railroad industry.  They have an old steam engine that takes passengers on a scenic trip from the historic Cumberland station to the Frostburg station about 30 miles away.

Chase loves trains, so we thought it'd be a pretty cool thing for us to do as a family (no matter that it was more expensive than we would have liked).  The trip lasts 3 hours and I was concerned about overlapping with Chase and Mason's naps, but it worked out fairly well, and we made it through without too many tears.

I thought the coolest part was the old train station-it was built in 1913 and I loved imagining what it must have looked like then and how busy is must have been in its heyday with all of the passengers.  Here we are at the Cumberland station (Mason was  sleeping in a stroller):

The train ride itself was overpriced, I think, for what we got.  The train moved A LOT slower than I anticipated, and it was hard to keep Chase occupied for the whole 1.5 hour ride (there and back).

 on the train

 Mason did pretty well, considering

 The Frostburg station was less than impressive, and there weren't many food choices for lunch.  I did get a rainbow sherbet ice cream cone, though, so that helped :)  I forgot how much I love Sherbet.  I think I stopped eating it around the same time that I realized I had been mispronouncing it all of those years.  A weird coincidence.

I will miss our walks in Cumberland, the library there (they have an awesome kids section with tons of wooden puzzles and toys), and my YMCA membership.  That gym saved my sanity with an hour of free babysitting while I worked out in the group fitness classes.  It was awesome.

 Our last walk together in Cumberland

 These are Masons feet.  Buddy has superlong toes and I'll often catch him sitting with his toes curled under on the ground, and I make fun of him for it.  And then I saw our second son doing the same thing while standing in the jumperoo.  So I took a picture.  The apple doesn't fall far...

First time with rice cereal.

Look at those cheeks!  It's crazy how different he and Chase are, but they are both so super cute in their own ways.

Graduated!

We did it!  We made it through four years of Optometry school!  It was hard work (on both our parts) and we are both so relieved to finally be done.  Introducing Dr. and Mrs Beazer:

 Buddy drove down to Memphis (a 14 hour drive) to finish his last week of classes-a "capstone course" where they update you on recent optometry news that you need to know before you graduate.  I flew down with Mason the day before graduation, which was supposed to be an easier trip than Buddy's drive, but it didn't turn out that way.  I had to check my overnight bag since I couldn't manage that carry on with an infant, and though my bag DID make it to the Memphis airport with me at the same time we flew in, it left the airport with someone who mistook my bag for theirs and didn't realize it (even with the bright orange name tag on the handle!!).  Ironically, this is not the first time someone else has swiped my bag.  I spotted the person the first time it happened to me, and I dramatically ran after them to retrieve it--leaping over suitcases and everything.  This time my eagle eyes were not as sharp, and my bag left the airport without me.  We were planning to go right from the airport to an awards banquet for the school, but without my bag I couldn't change into an acceptable outfit.  I don't think jeans and a striped shirt qualify as "business casual."  Needless to say, we skipped the banquet.  The airport was good to help me retrieve my bag, but I didn't get it back until the morning after graduation (the day I flew back), so thank you to Haylee for lending me the cute dress to wear to graduation, and to Micaela for lending us some clothes for Mason.  Also, we're so grateful for the Northgraves for letting us stay at their house and for all of the supplies they provided since I didn't have my bag.  What a mess we were! 

It felt like home being back in Memphis, and we were sad to have to say goodbye for real to all our friends.  We will miss you!!

The graduation ceremony was pretty good-luckily didn't last as long as the white coat ceremony four years ago-and I even teared up when we all applauded the graduates at the end.

The graduating class of 2012!

 Buddy's in the top row, second from the left.

 The sun was at just the right angle for picture taking...

 Buddy with the other LDS students.  SCO recruits pretty heavily from BYU, BYU-I and Utah, so there 15 LDS students in his class out of the 120-or so students.

With the Johnsons--our best friends!  Miss you guys already!

Now we can relax.  For two weeks.  Then we will drive 38 hours to Canada to visit Buddy's family for a month, then drive back to begin our new phase of life in...State College, PA!  Who knew I'd be moving back home?  I sure didn't.  It will be fun to live near Nana and Pop Pop (live WITH them for a few months, even), but we will still be looking to relocate to the Pacific Northwest sometime soon in the future.  It's hard to move on and not really be settling for good, but we felt like this job in Burnham was the best choice for our family at this time, permanent or not.  We are SO excited to finally be making some money!  Here's to years of paying off student loans!!