Chatham Family

Catalina with the Parents

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:00:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago we were able to take to the seas and visit Brandon's mother in Catalina. We decided to do Brandon's very favorite thing in the entire world...SAIL over. It took us 5 hours to get there and was such a blast! The kids did really well. The weather was great and it was such a nice vacation.

Excited to set sail!

Our Captain hard at work!

The sweetest first mate ever!

Grammy and Reese
I am so thankful that my parents came with us. There is no way I could have managed the two kids on the boat myself. Nathan for sure would have ended up overboard.

Nathan conked out on my lap.

Daddy and Nato having fun!

Grammy and Gramps with beautiful Catalina harbor in the background. We had so much fun with them!

Our cute little family!

Our sweet little Reese's pieces. She was perfect the entire time.

Reese 4 Months - Catching Up Still

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:44:00 +0000

Our little Reesers is just getting so big. She is such a delight to have in our family. I love that all I have to do is look at her and she is all smiles. This definitely is my favorite age; so happy and not yet mobile! We can already tell that she won't be shy like her big brother. She is quite the little talker and gives smiles away freely to anyone. At her 4 month appointment she weighed in at 16 lbs (95%) and 25 1/4 in (95%). She is a big girl all around and I love it! Her rolls an dimples are too cute!

Reese 2 Months - Back Tracking

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:52:00 +0000

I have been so bad at keeping a record of this sweet little girl. Here are her 2 month pictures. She is such a doll. She is always so happy and smiley. At her 2 month appointment she was 23 inches long and 13.3 lbs. She is quite a big girl. The chunkier the better! I just love it!

Reese's Blessing Day

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 22:53:00 +0000

Last month Brandon blessed our sweet little girl. He gave her a very beautiful blessing and she did great too. She looked so beautiful in her little dress. It was the dress I wore for my blessing day. Our wonderful family came out in support of this little one. We had quite the house full for the weekend and enjoyed every minute of it. We love Reese so much and she just fits right in with our little family. We are so grateful for her!

Chatham Side

Faulkner Side

Random pic's of my Babies

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 23:13:00 +0000

Reese is as sweet as they come. She is such a good baby and melts my heart everyday. She loves to do the 3 S's; smile, sleep and spit up. We've mastered sleeping through the night which is awesome! Gosh, I love this girl! W had her blessing a few weeks ago; post to come soon.

Nathan is definitely a 2 year old. Fits are a daily occurrence, but he still can be so sweet. His little personality is coming through. He is learning to share which is a tough concept. He does get mad at Phoebe when she doesn't share her toys with him. They will be playing tug o war and he will start yelling at her to "share, share". He is very silly. His speech is really starting take off. It is so nice to be able to communicate with him. He is really starting love his sister. He likes to hold her for exactly 2 seconds and even gives her kisses. It's too cute!

He always has to have his hood up when he wears his sweatshirt and now he also has to have his hands in his pocket. If he doesn't, he is not a happy camper.

Our ghetto swimming pool. We had some 100 degree weather and the sprinklers and tub were a good idea.

Nathan has started taking his diaper off in the early mornings. Thankfully he doesn't play with his messy diapers, he just will sit on his bed or the carpet with a poopy bum. Not fun to clean up. So every night we duct tape his diaper on. Good times.

So proud of his duct tape belt.

Loving siblings.

Pretty typical :)

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 02:48:00 +0000

It has been 4 weeks since our beautiful little girl has been with us. She is such a sweet little girl. She truly was meant for our family! It is much more difficult having 2 kids, that's for sure. Nathan is still having a hard time with life. Poor guy. He finally is staring to like her and likes to point out all her body parts and occasionally give loves. The combination of him being 2 and having to share his mommy is really hard for him. It is just temper tantrum central. He can be his usual sweet self and thne for no reason at all get completely crazy. I hope he adjusts soon. I think that is more tiring than the late night feedings. We are starting to develop a routine with Reese. I am a very routine person and it is nice to have that with my kids. She is starting to sleep really well at night. Two days ago she did 6 hours and then last night she did a whopping 8. I actually freaked out and woke her up because she seems too little to be going that long. We will see if she continues. Cross your fingers. All in all, she is wonderful and we love her to death! Enjoy the pic's.

Nathan and Reese in their 4th of July outfits. Too cute!

Nathan decided he needed the swing too.

She is changing so much. She looks different in every picture.

Presenting Reese Va Lois Chatham

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 04:15:00 +0000

Our beautiful girl has arrived! She decided to join our little family on June 13th 2009 at 10:27am. Weighing in at a whopping 8lbs 6oz and 19 inches long. She came 1 week early in order to share a birthday with her big brother, Nathan. Now they are exactly 2 years apart. Unfortunately, Brandon wasn't able to walk in his college graduation that morning. He didn't mind though, the birth of his little girl was much more important. :)

Minutes before her arrival. Thank goodness for epidurals!

Welcome to the world little girl!

Proud Papa!

Proud Mama!

Ready to come home.

Isn't she the most beautiful baby you have ever seen!!!

Me and my TWO children.

This little girl has quickly melted our hearts. She is just so sweet and so beautiful. So far she is taking after her big brother and is quite the sleeper. We hope it lasts. Both Brandon and I completely adore her and feel our family is much more complete with her here. Nathan is having a tough time sharing his mommy though, but hopefully he will soon adjust. He is such a sweet, tender boy and I know he will be a wonderful big brother!

Twilight Zone

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Mon, 11 May 2009 20:55:00 +0000

Yes, we are aware that Nathan Looks just like his daddy. But, I just stumbled upon this picture of Brandon on his 2nd birthday and it scary how much they look alike. keep in mind that Nathan will be 2 next month.

Nathan

Brandon

Easter 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Mon, 11 May 2009 04:08:00 +0000

Brandon and I were so excited for Easter this year. Being that Nathan was 9 months last year he didn't get much out of it. Nathan had so much fun dying eggs and then finding them Sunday morning! And yes, that is a cast on his arm. Unfortunately, his crazy boy injuries have already begun. He broke his wrist playing with his cousin the day before. He now has a super cool blue hard cast which he gets off thus Tuesday. Hallelujah!

Hunting for eggsCheckin out the loot the Easter Bunny brought!

The Easter Bunny brought him a bubbly machine. Nathan absolutely loves bubbles. it was a hit!

Brandon put together this super cute video for Easter. The first part is a week before Easter at my parents house with their annual egg hunt with all the cousins.

Nathan's First Snow

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Mon, 11 May 2009 03:16:00 +0000

I"ve been so terrible at posting, so I am making up for lost time. This was back in January when we visited my bother Davin and his family in Cedar City Nathan got his very fist experience with snow. He was a little hesitant at first, but sure enjoyed going sledding!

The hubby and I.

Nathan Sledding

Daddy and Nathan sledding together.

Mommy and Nathan. Poor Nathan had to wear his cousins pink snow pants. I'm sure he will thank us for that in the future.

And the verdict is...

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 06:29:00 +0000

We had our ultrasound this last Friday. We were incredibly excited to find out what this little one will be. We didn't care either way. If it were to be a girl, it would be new and exciting and so many fun clothes! But if it were to be a boy, then Nathan would have a little buddy and I could dress them the same on Christmas and Easter. Seriously, how cute would that be?

And the verdict is... a little girl!!! We are thrilled beyond belief. We have already fallen in love with her and can't wait to meet this little girl!

My Little Boy

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 20:47:00 +0000

These days I can barely keep up with this busy boy. He loves to get into anything and everything. This particular instance was a cute one. He likes to stand on a chair in front of our mirror and brush his teeth. He absolutely loves to brush his teeth. he has like 3 tooth brushes that he uses and then puts them in the drawer and then takes out and uses all three again. He will stand there for 15 minutes or so and look at himself while he brushes his teeth and just smile. It's hilarious! This particular time I needed to sit at my computer and work for a few minutes in my room. It was perfect timing because he had just gotten started. A couple minutes roll by and here comes my cute son running out of the bathroom covered in my face lotion with an uh-oh look on his face. All I could do was laugh and grab the camera. He thought he was pretty cute too. I went in the bathroom to see the damage and he had lovingly squirted all my lotion out and mixed it around on the counter and touched every cabinet in the bathroom. I had white hand marks everywhere. Needless to say, it was quite a mess, but it was sure funny!

Christmas 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 07:06:00 +0000

We had such a wonderful Christmas. Last years Nathan was only 6 months old so it wasn't too exciting. However, this year he was so fun to watch. He loved all the decorations, the lights, and of course all his toys. The look on his face Christmas morning was priceless. Next year will be even better because then he will understand about Santa Claus.

Seeing the lights at the Mission Inn.

Searching for the perfect Christmas Tree. I will always have a fresh Christmas tree every year. Picking out the tree, the beautiful scent it brings to your home, and vacuuming every day under the tree completely add to the Christmas experience. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Daddy and Nathan posing by the most gorgeous tree!

While Nathan and I were waiting for the guys to tie the tree to the car, he decided he was going to drive home. It was hilarious to watch him. He knew just what to do. He was trying to move it into gear and playing with wind shield wipers and of course he was trying to find the right tunes on the radio. It was funny what he picked up from watching me.

His first visit with Santa Claus. I thought for sure he was going to freak out. He is still incredibly shy and the biggest momma's boy. Right when we walked up I asked Nathan if he was Gramps. My dad has facial hair and could play a great Sanata in a suit. That did the trick and he was just fine. Nathan loves my dad. It is really sweet.

The whole family with Santa.

The loot Santa left us on Christamas morning.

Our stockings. Even one for Phoebe. She was a very good girl this year.

Nathan loved his slide. He saw it and ran right to it. He went down the slide and then ran around and did it again like 20 times in a row. It was a definite hit!

Nathan enjoying the rocking horse his Grammy and Gramps gave him.

Yes, we are still alive and well!

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 07:03:00 +0000

I am beginning to worry some friends in the blogging world since I haven't posted in 2 months. I had periodically lost the will to blog. I had been so sick with this baby and working on getting our new house to feel like a home, I got a little overwhelmed! I am feeling great now and the house is starting to come along nicely. I will post pictures of the house later. But for now, please enjoy our Christmas pictures. More posts will soon follow.

Oh Baby!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 04:56:00 +0000

That's right everyone, we are expecting with baby #2. I am about 10 weeks along and it has been quite a journey so far. I have been sick as a dog these past few weeks. I didn't experience any nausea with Nathan, so this one has really thrown me off. I have had some relief the past couple of days, so let's hope the sickness is on the way out. Brandon is convinced it's a girl because of the difference with the 2 pregnancies. We shall see though. Wish us luck!

Halloween

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:24:00 +0000

Halloween feels like it has just flown by. We feel like we barely got to celebrate it. As you can see, Nathan was Elvis. He was the cutest little Elvis I have ever seen. My very talented sister in law made the costume for her son last year. I dyed his hair black and drew side burns on with eye liner. He was so dang cute! The highlight this year was our wards trunk or treat. We had a great time.

I HEART New York

noreply@blogger.com (Brandon) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 04:26:00 +0000

We had the most wonderful opportunity to go to New York!!! Brandon was gone on business in New Jersey and they wanted to keep him for another week, but to keep the wife happy, his company offered to fly me out so I could spend the weekend with him. We had the best time. We would love to go back to do more and have more time to see everything! It was the first multi-night separation from the baby. I did pretty good, but I sure missed him. Here are some pictures to document our trip.

The leaves were just starting to change and it was so beautiful!

Leaving Manhattan on the ferry to Liberty Island and Ellis Island.

Me and Lady Liberty

Us enjoying our audio tours on Liberty Island. I strongly recommend audio tours. They are awesome! You don't have to be with a large group and go as fast or as slow as you like. Both Ellis Island and Liberty Island have the most interesting history.

Up on the base of the statue with Manhattan in the background.

Brandon grabbing the bull by the horns on Wall St.

Rockefeller Center. I wanted to go ice skating, but unfortunately I didn't have socks on. :(

We took a horse drawn carriage through Central Park. This was the craziest experience of the entire trip. We were at a red light and this big huge SUV totally rear ends us. How does that happen? Our driver, who looked exactly lke the old trainer guy from Rocky, flips out. Starts screaming at the guy to pull over. The guy does and is very nice and apologized and started giving him is info. Our guy is still flipping out and then calls him a racial slur. Nice. The nice guy flips out and starts screaming at him and chasing him around the carriage. It was like a scene from a movie. The guy got back in his car and we continued on with our carriage ride. It was crazy!

We had yummy frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity.

Us in the middle of Time Square. It was so nuts, but so awesome at the same time!

The lobby of the Empire State Building. This is as close as we got. It was a 2 hour wait and $20 a person to go up. We didn't have much time in New York, so we opted to continue on discovering the city.

Grand Central Terminal. This was such a beautiful building. It is so impressive how many people come through here everyday!

We had a very nice dinner on Brandon's company in Michael Jordan's Steakhouse. It is located inside Grand Central Terminal. It was so elegant and the food was incredible!

Wavecrest Woodie Meet

noreply@blogger.com (Brandon) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 04:12:00 +0000

Every year since I can remember, my family goes down to Encinitas for the annual Wavecrest Woodie car show. If you know my dad, then you know he loves Woodies! I'm not much of a car girl, but I go for the dogs. People always bring their dogs and I just love petting them all. In the past we have brought Phoebe, but this year we decided to leave her home. We had such a nice day. Enjoy our pictures.

Nathan with his Gramps. Notice they both have their Woodie shirts on.

My cute family with a pretty yellow Woodie in the background.

B and I being silly.

The Greatest Night Ever!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:30:00 +0000

Last night was the best night ever!!!! My mom and I got all dressed up and headed down to Hollywood to sit in the audience on Dancing with the Stars!!!! I absolutely love the show and never miss it. I had signed up online last season to receive tickets and just last week I finally got an email saying I could go! Not only was I going to go, but my wonderful brother in law is friends with Bruno's (One of the judges) assistant and he gave us backstage bracelets!!! Yes, you heard me, I got to go backstage! I met all the dancers and celebrities. The funny thing is that they all looked more beautiful in person! They also interviewed my mom and I asking us who we liked. I doubt they will chose our clip; we weren't that clever. Enjoy my pictures!

My mom and I looking very glamorous.

Us with Tom Bergeron. He was very fit. I was quite impressed.

Us with Samantha Harris. Her sister acrually took the picture for us. She is sooo skinny!

Us with Rocco DiSpirito. He is one of my fav's! I don't think he will win, but he is so nice and just so handsome. I first fell in love with him when he would come on Top Chef as a guest.

Lance Bass and his partner Lacey. I actually can't stand him at all, but I still had to get a pic.

My mom and I with football player Warren Sapp and his partner Kym Johnson. He is my absolute favorite. He is just so cool and so smooth. I can't believe how good he is. And Kym was so beautiful in real life!

Toni Braxton and her partner Alec Mazo.

Maurice Green and his partner Cheryl Burke.

Us with brooke Burke and Derek Hough. They were both so good looking! I also really like her too. Her husband is David Charvet, Matt from baywatch. he looks fantastic too. They were so cute. We walked out right behind them and they were so cute together!

Susan Lucci and her partner Tony Dovolani.

My mom and I with Cloris Leachman. She is hilarious to watch!

I have saved the best for last. I LOVE Maksim Chmerkovskiy. I think he is the best dancer and he is so handsome! He was being interviewed by Access Hollywood by Mel B aka Scarey Spice and I was standing right there waiting to ask if he would take a picture with me. After his interview I quickly grabbed him and asked for a picture. After the picture Mel B then sayed 'Kiss her'. I didn't even hesitate. We planted one on eachother's cheeks. I think access Access Hollywood was still recording. Then the camera guy asked if he could record the picture off my camera. I might be on Access hollywood! He was even more handsome in real life. The night was such a blast!

Attention All Dancing With The Stars Fans

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:50:00 +0000

I will be in the audience tonight!!!!! I will be wearing blue, so look for me!!!! Also, my brother in law is friends with Bruno's personal assistant, so he is gong to try to get us down on the floor to meet the cast and celebrities after the show!!! Wouldn't that be awesome!!

Lake Nacimiento

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 03:56:00 +0000

We wrapped up our summer with a great trip to Lake Nacimiento with Brandon's brother's and their families. We had sooo much fun! It was so hot and the water felt so good! The water was in the 80's so it was absolutely perfect. It has been a long time since I have camped and I forgot how much fun it is. The only down side is that you feel like you are bringing your house with you, especially when you have a kid. B's little bro, Geoff and his girlfriend, Tiff, came with us and we had to pile a bunch of stuff on top of the jeep. We caravaned with his other brother Travis who has 2 kids and they couldn't fit all their stuff, but somehow we managed to throw some of it on top too. To be honest I'm not sure how we did it. Nathan was constantly dirty, but he loved it. He was lucky enough to have his 2 girl cousins watch him and dote on him the entire weekend. He was such a good sleeper, too. I felt bad for my poor sister in law who has a 5 month old and a 2 year old who both had rough nights. The little ones did great on the boat though. At first the life jackets didn't go over well, but after a while they got used to it. Nap time was easy, as soon as the boat started, they all 3 instantly fell asleep. So nice!

Our cute little family

This is Fan, B's brothers dog. notice her life vest. She and Nathan have become such good friends. Nathan is just like me in the sense that he loves dogs. He has said dog a couple of times, but he usually sticks to barking when he hears one or sees one.

My sweet boys

This is me tearing it up. Not really, I am quite terrible. Infact it takes me 2 or 3 times to actually get up and then I'm up for 10 seconds and then I fall. And then the cycle starts all over again.

We drove to a cove and set up a little beach area. It's so much easier with all the kids to have a home base. That way the boat isn't over crowded all the time and the kids can play in the dirt and swim. Lunch is so much easier on dry land, too. It was quite the perfect spot, I must say.

Isn't he just the cutest thing ever!!!

Nothing like a shower at the spicket. It was so much easier than taking him with me in the shower. I think I would have died if he tried to sit in the nasty showers. There were clumps of hair everywhere in them. It was sick!

Nathan and Lucas don't quite have the playing together thing down yet. they just play next to eachother. It's cute.

Aren't I adorable!

Fantastic News!!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 03:48:00 +0000

Looks like we are going to be staying here in sunny California!!!! Brandon's company was moving to Georgia and we didn't feel that's what our family should do. Brandon had been putting his feelers out there looking for a new job that was here in SoCal. Well, a great company got a hold of his resume and fell in love with him. They set up an interview and B was there for like 3 hours. I either thought he was dead on the side of the road or they absolutely loved him. Thankfully it was the latter. They offered it to him on the spot. We are thrilled to be staying here with all our family and friends!

Diaper Rash, BOO!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 03:37:00 +0000

Nathan had his first bout with diaper rash. Thankfully he hadn't had it before now. Poor guy, it was awful! Every time I changed his diaper he just screamed. I felt so bad. Thank you to all the mother's who gave such great advice to cure his little bum. I tried to let him just go diaperless as much as I could. I'm so glad we don't have carpet on our bottom floor as I had to clean up pee numerous times. Gross story, he went poo on the ground and so I went to get stuff to clean it and when I came back it was gone. Our dog, Phoebe, ate it. Sick, huh!

His face says it all.

There's the happy boy I know.

Cousin Lucas' Train Party

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 03:22:00 +0000

A couple weeks ago we were able to go to cousin Lucas' 2nd birthday party. We had so much fun! Travis and Kim sure know how to do a party right! They had a train that took all the kids up and down the street. It was such a hit! All the kiddos loved it! It took Nathan a while to warm up, but he eventually came around. He has turned into the shyest boy. If there is a big group of people he clings to his mommy for dear life. How did Brandon and I create a shy kid?

Mommy and Nathan on the train

Daddy turn with Nathan

Lucas was so nice to share his birthday toys.

Fun in the Backyard

noreply@blogger.com (Brandon) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 03:44:00 +0000

Nathan is all boy. He would be perfectly content if I let him play outside all day long. Lately it has been way too hot to play, but we have discovered that the sprinklers not only cool us off, but it makes it more fun! I have found that this activity often occurs in the early evening when I'm trying to make dinner and he is super antsy. (You mothers out there all know this time of night) Lately I just throw him outside when he starts crying and crawling up my leg as I'm trying to make dinner. This way he is happy and the mama is happy too. Win, Win!

He is just so dang cute when he is hangin out in nothing but a diaper.

We love to play with the hose and sit in the mud. So much fun!

My happy little boy.

Phoebe loves when we play on her turf. She even smiled for the picture.

Ok, so I know they look exactly alike, but they have so many of the same expressions. Check out the eyebrows; freaky, huh! By the way look at my super hottie husband; woo woo!!!