Thirdy and Oh So Perdy

You thought you were done hearing about Abby, didn't you? Well, extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, and what’s more extraordinary than turning 30? It is extraordinary enough for two blogs in a row from Mr. Chase.

For my 30th birthday, Abby threw me a surprise party which, when I discovered 25 people in our front room unexpectedly, scared me so bad I uttered a swear word. So, for Abby’s 30th birthday, I thought I’d not surprise her at all. That’s why this post is about one week late—as usual, no surprise. But, for her actual birthday, I took care of her and we had a fantastic time, as documented in the post below.
30 years is a long time. The year Abby was born, Mt. St. Helens erupted, John Lennon was shot, the Rubeks Cube debuted, and the famous words "Do you believe in miracles??" were uttered as the U.S. Hockey Team upset the Soviet Union.

However, no one has evolved better than Toots. And in her honor, there are 30 things that make her bloody unique, super hot, and, well, Toots, Flabbs, Snabs, Trash, or Abs (all true nicknames):
30) She can play cards with her feet.
29) She has three little speckles in her left eye just below her pupil.
28) She once starred as a fashion model at ZCMI fashion week (and she has a way better walk than anyone I’ve seen on America’s Next Top Model (yes I watch it—shut up).
27) When she was little, she skipped training wheels and just jumped on a bike and rode—no training necessary. This is why she was able to convert to a tribike (clip pedals and all) one day before competing in a sprint triathlon.
26) Once, when trying on her super cool new posture support brace, she danced in her skivvies uninhibited through the front room with the windows WIDE open (and oh boy can she dance).
25) She picks her nose (just like me).24) She loves to watch PBS mysteries, like Poirot or Miss Marple.23) Her favorite article of clothing to wear inside our house is (drumroll please—and remember this is a member of a family who owns a world-class women’s clothing boutique store) her fluffy blue bathrobe, which she wears on top of whatever else she’s wearing.
22) She’s taught Sadie to read and write letters, numbers, and now words.
21) She loves to watch Sportscenter. (Okay—this is not true, but I’m hoping that if I list it it will one day be true).
20) Her favorite dessert is Backer’s Pastry Shop (Salt Lake City) spice cake.19) She hates milk.
18) She is super nutrition-minded, and every morning both Sadie and Jack get in their oatmeal a super baby food boost—steamed kale and Flaxseed Oil (full of fatty Omega-3s, in case you are wondering).
17) She loves to get outside and hates being pent up inside for more than a few hours. We wish we lived directly off the W&OD trail, or back in the mountains, or by the beach, so that she could get out more often.
16) She thinks bald-headed men (in particular, me) are super hot.
15) Despite #18, she secretly loves coke and not-so-secretly Famous Amos cookies dipped in peanut butter.
14) She loves baking cookies and, if we are lucky and it’s Thanksgiving, pumpkin cheesecake.
13) Her knitted hats are becoming world famous, particularly on the east coast, where demand from frenzied fans is increasing weekly.12) She hates being alone.
11) Luckily, #12 is no longer a problem since she has three new sidekicks, two in particular—Sadie and Jack—who refuse to leave her side.
10) She loves her sisters (and sisters-in-law) and thinks it’s lame that they don’t share the same area code, street, or house.
9) She loves hugs.8) She wants to become the book lady, just like her mom.
7) She despises smokers and wishes that her husband would get off his lazy butt and tell anyone within eyesight (or smelling distance) of her that smoking is not allowed.6) The most common question she asks: “Donde esta me gafas?” (Where are my glasses?) Sadie and I usually know exactly where they are, but love watching her search for them.
5) She is a whiz on craigslist: always buying at a discount and selling for a profit.
4) She can find and restore (or salvage) furniture from craigslist or the thrift store and make it look like it’s from Pottery Barn.
3) The thrift store (Unique on Gallows Road), coincidentally, is her favorite store (except for Children’s Hour, which goes without saying). She particularly loves Mondays, when Unique offers 50% off.2) She hates change, and has been a fantastic sport about living in 9 different places over the first 5 years of our marriage.
1) Despite being 30, she is naturally beautiful, amazingly graceful, and one smart mama of two (three if you include me!).
One week late (but no less sincere)---Happy Thirtieth Toots!!!

The Big 3 OH!!!

Hi, this is Chase. I'm married to the hottest and coolest 30 year old in the universe. Since Toots turned 30 on Monday, I get to explain the best way to spend a landmark birthday: Hang with Sadie, Jack and Chase all day, and let them do the rest!

1) Start with breakfast in bed: special eggs with avocado and fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice (a la Diane!)
2) Let Dad feed breakfast to Jack and Sadie (a major task indeed)
3) Lounge in bathrobe and surf the internet while Jack goes back to sleep and Sadie paints
4) Attend Sadie's ballet class with Dad and Jack
5) Hang out with the other mothers while Dad plays with Sadie and Jack in the pool
6) Eat lunch and surf the net some more while Dad feeds lunch to Sadie and Jack (another major task)
7) Snuggle with Jack for a moment before he goes down for a nap (but let Dad actually put him down)
8) Play pollypockets with Sadie while Jack sleeps, sing disney princess songs and talk in high voices
9) Go on walk on W&OD trail, play "save the baby lamb/bear/kittycat" with Sadie, while wading through the river, tightrope walking on logs, and throwing rocks in the water
10) Open small present that happens to be a picture of a bigger present (a duallie stroller), which is on backorder at REI
11) Abandon kids at home with babysitter to go on date with hot husband
12) Get surprised by in-laws at Big Bowl in Reston, who are waiting to celebrate the Big 3 OH!!
13) Enjoy dinner and fine conversation without kids
14) Eat chocolate cream pie from Pie Gourment--ridiculously tasty!!


Raining down compliments on the birthday gal is an Etherington tradition, but because no Etheringtons are in DC, the Cannons had to fill in. Here is a recap of what was said about the (old but still deadly hot) birthday gal:

Chase: Caught Toots playing imaginary dolls and "save the baby lamb" games with Sadie, and loves that all that Toots wanted for her birthday was for her "kids to be happy". Toots truly has become a selfless and all-giving mother, and it's amazing to see her like that.


Cate: Abby is naturally beautiful, and when Cate feels like she needs more glitz or makeup, she looks at Abby and thinks "I don't need all of that stuff to look beautfiul". Abby is one naturally hot mama.

Mike: Abby is a fantastic cook, and several of her dishes have become Todd family favorites and regulars, including raspberry chicken and cinnamon chocolate cake.

Chris: Abby is a perfect fit in our family, and Chris feels lucky that all the Cannon inlaws get along, can hang out, and even chill on a regular basis. Also, Abby has a bit of a wild side, such as cliff jumping in Lake Powell, which Chris appreciates.

Jari: Abby is fun to commiserate with while pregnant. Once while waiting for the husbands to complete an Ironman, pregnant and ravishingly hungry Abby and Jari enjoyed some great conversation over mediocre pizza in a rental car: good times!


All in all, a fabulously memorable day for a fabulously wonderful woman! We all love you Toots!!

One candle for each decade!!

Jack's Eleventh

These monthly updates keep coming WAY too fast. Just when I finish the previous month, he's a month older again. Our little Jack isn't so little anymore. He is probably still small for his age, but he seems like he's getting so big to me. He's changing right before our eyes.
All these months of abuse from big sis Sadie are finally starting to pay off. He's beginning to stand up for himself lately. He'll scream when she takes a toy away when before he never seemed to mind. Sadie bit his finger the other day and I warned her that everything she does to Jack, he'll learn to do to her. She had now taught him to bite and she better watch her back:-) He LOVES Sadie and she can make him laugh better than any of us but he still gets a little scared when I leave him alone with her.

He has begun to stand on his own but is usually leaning against a wall in order to hold something with two hands. He's on his way to walking but still prefers his speed crawl as he pounds his poor little knee caps onto the hard wooden floor. He doesn't seem to mind. I've caught him crawling with his feet on the ground while he puts his head down to peek between his legs. It's pretty cute. Speaking of cute. His fangs have really come in this month. I remember making fun of Zach Poelman when his fangs came in first and now both of my babies have done the same. It's an endearing characteristic don't you think Heidi and Scott?


Lately Jack has loved to take anything out of a container and put it back in. He empties Sadie's folded clothing from her dresser and then stuffs it back in with whatever else is hanging out in her room. We have found stuffed animals, water bottles and jewelry all stuffed in her dresser. He loves to open and close the dresser drawer but usually gets his fingers caught after a few minutes.

His interest in food has changed as well. He LOVES to eat but doesn't like to be spoon fed. If you open a package of anything, he'll crawl over to you and beg like a dog for a nibble. He could eat an entire pack of Ritz crackers but won't want a jar of baby food unless we get him a box of band aids to take out of the box and stuff back in. Just like Sadie, he needs to be entertained while he eats. Not a great habit, but at least he's eating the healthy stuff.

The greatest tool I've learned to use in the car is Sadie. When Jack cries, I hand a bag of snacks to Sades and she hands one to Jack one by one while we drive around to do errands. It entertains them both and keeps me sane. It's a WAY better alternative to two screaming kids in the back seat. It's cute watching her hold out a cracker and see his little hand reach out to grab it. Good times:-)

Jack still loves to be swaddled. We stopped swaddling him a while ago because he loved to sleep on his tummy but it's been harder to get him down lately especially in the afternoon. Usually a good swaddle and sway get his eyes sticky enough to fall asleep on his own. He still takes two naps. One at 9 and another at 2 or 3. He still sleeps more than he's awake and I'm not complaining. He's into everything and needs constant supervision (mainly to keep him safe from Sadie), so his naps are a welcome interruption during the day.

A funny thing he does while in his crib is take off his left slipper. During the cold rainy days we'll have him sleep with his Robeez slippers and with out fail, the left one is always missing when we return to pick him up a couple of hours later. He always throws his binkies and monkey blanket on the same side of the crib as well. Always the left side behind the rail. Kind of weird. Although sometimes when we check on him at night we find all his blankets on the floor and him sleeping with his bum in the air clutching his monkey blanket. I love it when he sleeps in the fetal position. It reminds me that he's still little and still my baby Jack. I love him to pieces.

Pollen forecast...HIGH!!

Poor Sadie!! Virginia has one of the highest pollen counts in the nation. There is green dust lining all the cars in the morning and the wind isn't helping. Sadie has woken up numerous times with her eyes glued shut. I've taken her to countless doctors and nothing seems to help. While everyone else shouts for spring, I can't wait for it to go away. They see blossoms and fresh green leaves. All I see is pollen, itchy eyes, and a miserable child. I hate to say the glass is half empty, but in Sadie's case (and mine, being her mother), it is.

A Natural

We were all cracking up over Sadie during the girl's last ballet class of the winter semester. Sadie takes her ballet moves, VERY seriously and I actually think she's pretty good. Being one of the shortest in the class doesn't deter her at all from sticking out. She's quite a natural, if I do say so myself. I feel I can brag because NONE of this talent comes from me. Dancing was definitely NOT my forte unless you want to see some serious "Waiting for Guffman" moves.

I love her face in this picture. It's almost like she's saying "this is really no big deal even though I am gripping onto the bar for dear life."

This one is my favorite. If you look carefully, you'll see Sadie's black leg sticking straight up in the back. I just can't get over how flexible she is.















Cutest little bunch of ballerinas I have ever seen!!

Of course, Sadie and Lilly always swim after their class. We love having Ballet in the rec center. So conveniently located to the pool!!

A Bithday Roast!!

Today, 34 years ago, my devilishly handsome husband was born. He seems to think that turning 34 isn't really a reason to celebrate. It's not a very monumental birthday like turning 30, 50 or 100 but I am still overly thrilled that Jim and Connie Cannon brought my sweet Chase into this world. So thrilled, in fact, that I'm bursting to state all the reasons why this world of ours would be quite dull without his presence:

1: Even though he had bottle cap classes, braces, and a pretty bad haircut, he was still the most popular kid on the block.

2: His sweet nature attracts people like a magnet. You can't help but love this guy!

3: One of his nostrils is lower than the other so when he sniffs, it's pretty hilarious.

4: When he rubs his eyes he uses his pinky finger and I think it's adorable.

5: He's been known to water ski naked with his buddies.

6: When he gets home from work, he immediately puts on his slippers, sweats, and a t-shirt.

7: He ties his tie kind of thick at the top because he's convinced it makes his neck look thinner.

8: He secretly would LOVE to go tanning if we could get a babysitter.

9: When he puts on chapstick just a small swipe on the lower lip is all that's necessary.

10: One night he had to go to the emergency room because there was too much wax in his ears.

11: All he wants for his birthday is a basketball and a football but I'm not allowed to pick it out myself. It needs his approval.

12: He always gives me the bigger half of a cookie.

13: When I came home from a girl's night I found him all snuggled up with Sadie in her bed. They were holding hands. He LOVES to snuggle with Sades.

14: He still claims that his blond perm was "really cool" at Highland High because he was the only guy who had one.

15: He asked his mom for a perm, not once but several times through out highschool.

16: He has WAY better legs than me.

17: One of his teeth on the left "snaggle tooth" is a little crooked and I think it's the cutest thing in the world.

18: He can whistle with his teeth and does a great impersonation of the beaver in Winnie the Pooh.

19: I am ONE of his favorite people and am proud to be at the top of his list with John Elway, Papi, and John Stockton.

20: He will NEVER let me have a mini van no matter how much I beg because even though he rides a scooter to the Metro every day, he says they are too "gay."
21: He's got a great set of eyebrows. He probably has more eyebrows than he has hair on his head:-)

22: He has about three large boxes of cd cases in storage and refuses to throw them away because the albums mean too much to him.

23: He and his brothers followed U2 on their tour for a couple of weeks and saw WAY too many shows.

24: He's convinced that if he were a foot taller, he would have definitely made it to the NBA.

25: He says "booo" under his breath whenever he sees a large women wearing spandex.

26: He sits on my feet to make them warm.

27: He sometimes smiles like Elvis with one side of his mouth. Mr. Jack has the same little quirk.

28: He insists on having cable so he can watch ESPN for sometimes 5 minutes to check the scores. During football season, we pay extra for the Mountain package so he can watch his beloved UTES.

29: He thinks it's cool to run a marathon in Death Valley during the hottest weekend of the year (130 degrees) and actually lived to tell the tale.

30: He'll dance in the aisles with me at the grocery store.

31: He's a mellow fellow and calms me down when I'm a hysterically hyper basket case.

32: He's an amazing father and his kids are OBSESSED with him. He and Sadie spend about 2 hours every Saturday building a new train track and Jack is always content to just chill in his arms.

33: He's my best friend and no matter how challenging life can be at times, he always makes it better.

34: I love him because not only is he extremely good looking (noted above), but you can't get him down. He is the most positive person I know and has an amazing amount of faith. I depend on him and know that he will always be there for me and our family. He's truly the greatest man I know right up there with my Dad and Mr. Darcy. I guess you can say he's at the top of my list too.

Happy Birthday Chase!! You are loved!!

Chase's Day

We have 9:00 church so I wasn't able to make Chase breakfast in bed. I could have tried but as I was scheduled to give the opening prayer in Sacrament meeting, I didn't want to risk walking in late. So when we got home I made him breakfast "in couch." I tried to make my Dad's delicious french toast. They were pretty good, but will never surpass the original.



Chris and Jari took us out to dinner the night before so we had a quiet little dinner and celebration at home. I made his favorite, yet disgusting, Shepherd's Pie (not an Abby favorite) and his other favorite angel food cake with chocolate whipped cream (Abby likes this one:-) These are things his mom always made him so I try to follow suit.

I hope he felt loved because we adore our Chase around here!!

Sugar Overload

Sadie scored BIG time when it comes to Easter egg hunts this year. She had a total of four and we have had WAY too much candy in our home. The first hunt took place at her preschool.

The Arlington gals had a fun little hunt in Ashley McNair's back yard. The kids went wild and after a few minutes with them all inside, we decided the noise level would better suit the great outdoors. Sadie found her eggs and just plopped down for her fantastical feast. Being Easter, I didn't care how much sugar she was inhaling, but I did keep a close watch on little Jack. I found quite a few candies still wrapped up in his mouth. While Sadie frosted cookies with her buddies, Jack rummaged around in the dirt. He was filthy but having so much fun I just let him go for it.

The third hunt we had a playgroup gathering at the park. After the kids scoured the property of all it's delicious eggs, they played on the play ground until the meltdowns hit which forced us socially deprived mom's back to the minivans.

The fourth and final hunt took place Easter morning with the Etheringtons. Post is on it's way:-)

Easter Sunday Best

Taking pictures of the kids in their Easter outfits (furnished by Mimi...of course!!) was a total joke. Sadie's eyes were totally puffy from her allergies, and Jack was about ready to pass out after three hours of church. We were all hungry and cranky but despite all the aggravation, they still looked pretty cute in their little outfits. I don't know what we would do with out the Children's Hour. 2000 miles isn't enough of a barrier to keep me away!! Thanks again Mom!!