The Settars

eBeanstalk Website Review

2011-07-11T18:09:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since I've blogged but I wanted to take a minute to tell everyone about a really great website for kids toys. Whether you are looking for a toy for a toddler or toys for education, this site has it all. My favorite thing about the site is that it is organized by child's age, so if you have no idea what to buy, you at least have a starting point. We recently attended a child's first birthday party and this site has very cool gifts for one year olds!

I have made a few purchases from the website. Most recently I bought Chase some Melissa and Doug sound puzzles which he loves. I also have my eyes on this SuperWhy 3-D Play Set, since SuperWhy is currently Chase's favorite tv show:

Another great thing about the website is the wishlist feature. You can create a wishlist of toys for your child and email the list to friends. This can be helpful for people who have no idea what to buy your child! It also helps minimize duplicate toys.

If you get a chance, check out their website and let me know what you think of it!

Bye Bye 2010!

2011-01-04T12:31:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe 2011 is here already! Since having Chase, our lives seem to go in fast forward. We had a great Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years, and are looking forward to another good year ahead.
This year, we spent Thanksgiving in New Jersey. Chase was able to spend lots of time with the Settar family. He enjoyed playing with his cousins Jeremy and Samantha and seeing family that he doesn't get to see often.
For Christmas, we were able to spend time with all of our families, which was nice. On Christmas Eve, we started out with the Mapes family and then went to see the Bennett's. The majority of Christmas Day was spent at home playing with all of the toys Santa brought Chase. That evening, we did go see the Pearsons for a little bit. We planned on heading up to Jersey on the 27th to see the Settars, but the snow delayed us a day. We made it up Tuesday night and Chase was able to see Auntie Mel and Randy before they flew out to California. Chase was also able to meet Nicole and Mark, who came to see us in Jersey. We came back home on New Years Eve and Chase stayed up until midnight to watch the ball drop with us.
All in all, we had a great time over the holidays. Now we are all trying to readjust to being on a routine!

A few of Santa's presents to Chase: a train table with Thomas the train set, Alphabet Elmo, Fridge Magnets, Mega Block Pirate Ship, Books, Little People Wheelies Rampway, Eagles Footballs, Doctor Kit, and some clothes. He was a really good boy this year!

Chase's favorite things this Christmas: playing with musical ornaments and musical Hallmark decorations, oatmeal chocolate chip COOKIES, opening presents (and wanting to play with each present before moving on to the next, "singing" Christmas songs, and looking at the lights on our house. This year was so much fun. It's almost hard to imagine what Christmas was like before having a child. It feels magical again!

Pictures to follow...

Bye Bye Pacifier!

2010-11-09T15:57:00.000-08:00

So, I am a real slacker when it comes to updating this blog! Chase has been growing by leaps and bounds since my last post. His vocabulary is expanding, his personality is emerging, and he is climbing and crawling all over everything.
Some of the words Chase is saying are: bye bye, night night, all gone, Elmo (sounds like Melmo), mama, dada, dog, woof, quack, duck, light, yes, and no. He can also point to his nose, eyes, ears, mouth, feet, belly, and fingers when you ask him to. He likes to sing "Old MacDonald had a farm" and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." He can clap his hands, stomp his feet, and turn around when you ask him too also. It is amazing how much he is learning!
We had a great time at Halloween this year. Chase was invited to his first Halloween party at his friend Trevor's house. He had a good time playing with the other kids. Chase got to go Trick-or-Treating with Trevor as well. We had a great time! Chase got lots of candy and a matchbox car. Here are a couple of pictures.

The most recent accomplishment in our house was breaking Chase of the pacifier. It was actually much easier than we thought it would be. We took it away last Wednesday night, and by Friday afternoon he didn't miss it at all!
Chase's Auntie Mel is visiting this weekend, so I will update the blog with all the fun stuff we do.

15 Month Checkup

2010-08-03T11:40:00.000-07:00

Today Chase had his 15 month checkup with Dr. Cauley. He weighs right at 25 pounds. He is 31.5 inches long. The doctor said he is slightly above the 50% percentile for both height and weight. He was not very happy when the doctor was looking him over, but he warmed up toward the end when the doctor gave him a book.
Dr. Cauley was a little concerned about Chase's speech, but we're hoping he will start talking more on his own soon. Right now he can say mama, dada, all gone, and he just started saying hi. He will repeat us when we say these words. Hopefully he will start saying them spontaneously. Our visit wrapped up with two shots. Ouch!

All in all, we have a healthy, happy little guy.

Happy Birthday Matt!

2010-07-26T12:40:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was Matt's birthday. We started the morning with Chocolate Chip Pancakes (which Chase loved). Then we just hung out around the house until Chase woke up from his afternoon nap. Then we went to the Jumpin Monkey for the first time. Chase had a really good time playing in the 2 and under play area. When we left there, we came home and ordered pizza. Mom and Glenn came over and brought Preston and Cody. We ate pizza and played Wii. After they left and Chase went to bed, Matt and I went for a swim. We wrapped up the night watching a new episode of True Blood. All in all, it was a fun day. I told Matt to enjoy it... it's his last birthday in his 20's. :-)

Here is a video of Chase at the Jumpin Monkey:

Here is a video of Chase eating some of Matt's birthday cake:

Summer, Summer, Summertime!

2010-07-21T10:15:00.000-07:00

We have been enjoying our summer, although it has been really hot! We have gotten the opportunity to have lots of playdates with other kids, and Chase is getting much better about keeping cool in new situations. We recently had a playdate with some fellow teacher friends. Here is a picture of Chase feeding the geese at City Park with Thomas and Josie:

Chase has also been able to spend time with his cousins, Preston and Cody, who just moved back to Virginia from Illinois. Recently, Chase had a playdate with Trevor, a friend he met at Storytime. Trevor's mom is a Zeta, so it was nice to connect with a fellow ODU ZTA alum.

Another thing we have enjoyed this summer is our new pool. We decided to get a 15' INTEX pool. We wanted something inexpensive, but big enough to hold the whole family. Chase really likes floating around in the pool.

More exciting news: Chase is finally walking! He has been cruising the furniture for months, but he has finally decided to walk on his own. Now we are following after him non-stop! At least now he will stop wearing out the knees of all his pants. ;-)

New Photos

2010-02-06T12:56:00.000-08:00

I finally updated Chase's Shutterfly photo page. There are new pictures posted from the past three months. Enjoy!

Sleeping in... What's that?

2010-02-06T06:11:00.000-08:00

Before having Chase, I could sleep aaaaaall day long. It wasn't unusual for me to sleep until 11:00 or later on the weekends. Those days are now long gone! Now, "sleeping in" is just a dream. Not that I mind getting up with my little monkey. Here is a preview of our typical Saturday morning...

scooting around on the floor... "what can I get into?"

"hey mom!"

"gimme the camera!"
"Ok fine, I'll just chew on the strap"

"oooh, what's on tv?"

"let me get a closer look"

My little man is all over the place. This all took place in a matter of seconds. Now that he can crawl and stand, he keeps himself busy. He also wears himself out... which means, naptime by 9:30am... I can't complain. Actually, I think I'll go back to bed myself... :-)

Snow!

2010-01-30T07:39:00.000-08:00

It's snowing today! We thought it would just rain, like it always does in our area, but it is snowing! We already have about 4 inches and it is still coming down. Here are some pictures of Chase's first snow!

Oh boy...

2010-01-17T06:05:00.000-08:00

Chase is cutting his first tooth! We noticed a bump in his gums earlier in the week. It has finally popped through. He fussed a lot yesterday, but still hasn't had any problems sleeping at night. Let's hope that doesn't change! He is constantly sticking his tongue out now... I think it's because he's rubbing his tongue over his tooth.
He is also always standing now. It is amazing how quickly he figured it out. He can stand up so fast...like he's always known how. He hasn't stood completely up in his crib yet, but I know it's only a matter of time.

Another Milestone Reached

2010-01-09T16:59:00.000-08:00

Tonight Chase reached another milestone... It seems like just yesterday he was learning to sit up by himself. Now he can stand up!

Almost 9 Months Old!

2010-01-09T11:52:00.000-08:00

Well it has been a very long time since my last post. I have not been very good at blogging, but hopefully I will do better at it in 2010!

Chase has been growing like crazy since my last post. He has accomplished many firsts: first solid foods, holding his own bottle, sitting up, crawling, pulling up... He has also celebrated some of his first holidays: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years...

Here are a few pictures of what he's been up to in the last few months.

Halloween:

Pushing Up:

Thanksgiving:

Sitting Up:

Crawling:

Christmas:

First Beach Trip!

2009-07-13T17:25:00.001-07:00

This past weekend we took Chase to the beach for the first time. It was a little windy, so we didn't stay too long. Chase got to stroll up and down the Virginia Beach boardwalk and he seemed to enjoy it. Our next beach trip will be to Ocean City, New Jersey at the end of the month.

New Photos

2009-06-30T18:22:00.001-07:00

I added a few more pictures to Chase's online photo album. You can see them at chasesettar.shutterfly.com.

Photo Album

2009-06-23T09:59:00.001-07:00

View Chase's online photo album:

chasesettar.shutterfly.com

Chase is 2 Months Old!

2009-06-23T09:48:00.001-07:00

Today we took Chase to the doctor for his 2 month checkup. He is now 12lbs 9oz and 23 inches long. He is in the 75th percentile for weight. He is a butterball! The doctor said he looked great and was very healthy. He had to get two vaccines today and he only cried for a quick minute.

These past two months have flown by... it doesn't seem like Chase has been here for two months already! In these past few weeks he has become much more alert... he stays awake for longer periods of time during the day. He also smiles and laughs a lot. His favorite place to be is on his changing table. He laughs and smiles the instant we put him on it.

New Blog

2009-06-05T18:12:00.001-07:00

We have created this blog to keep everyone up to date with what's going on with our family. We hope you enjoy it!

Not much news to report, but here is a picture of Chase with my OB - taken this past Tuesday.