It's Go Time

I don't know if you have noticed our baby countdown on the side bar, but to day is our due day. I  am beginning to wonder if our Little Miss understands what that means. I have been having contraction and in "early labor" for three weeks. Every time I see my doctor he always seems so sure I wont be there for my next appointment because she'll be out that week. Well folks the anticipation is killing! I laughed when I saw that the countdown said, "it's go time" so funny but rather sad at this point.

She was so spoiled this Christmas, but she never showed up to collect her loot. So perhaps it's all just early birthday presents. Well the hospital has WIFI and you better believe we will posting right from the recovery room. Oh how I can't wait to meet her, ho wmagical that moment will be.

Hope y'all had a fantastic Christmas, we sure did. But it would have been so much more exciting without the high temperatures and with the arrival of our baby. But I don't blame her, who would want to share a birthday and Christmas, so I hope she chooses to get with the schedule and come on out, TODAY!

Our Christmas Wish

How slowly time passes!

With the clock ticking away and finals down my mind is wrapped in thoughts of my Little Miss and how I long to meet her. I feel like I'm getting my first lesson in parenting. So far I am learning, you can't make your little one conform to your schedule. I laughed when everyone said, "it gets worse." Referring to the last four weeks, they weren't kidding! But the agony of anticipation is what racking my brain. I have never been much for going on with my merry way pretending like something big wasn't about to happen. I'm staying busy, super busy in fact and still I just want her to come join us.

Perhaps she wants Daddy to finish his finals too, so I guess we'll keep him in mind and let her be for one more week. But after that its workout time! I have a few more things to finish up the christmas list and I guess we need to get her something under the tree. But all I want for Christmas is my baby in my arms and my body back to being MINE!

Thank-FULLs

Even though Thanksgiving has passed I didn't want to miss putting together our list of what we are thankful for, we have so many to count this year.

1. Finding love and happiness together, marriage 
2. Work. This is a HUGE one for us this year, times were hard but we have been so very blessed.
3. Education. Brent started his college career and I hope to be finishing mine here shortly. 
4. An amazing ward, lots of new friends and a place of our own (even if we are renting). 
5. Our Little Miss. We'll be even more thankful if she comes before the new year... tax credit!
6. Modern medicine. Being pregnant keeps all those modern marvels away and I will be thankful to take some again. But we are so thankful for Doctors and hospitals.
7. Family. For all the love and support, one can never get enough.
8. Our Savior. He has given us the greatest gift through his Atoning sacrifice, how grateful we are every day. 
9. Technology. How did we ever survive without Internet and laptops?
10. Cool Weather. Triple digit temps are gone for some time and cool 60 degree temps are so welcome!

Thanksgiving was a fun day even being overcome with the worst cold in history! Not to mention four straight days to spend with my husband, how much fun we had going on dates and hanging out with the two of us while talking about how fun three will be! :-) 

The Home Stretch

With the weeks of our little ones arrival coming we have been checking the boxes to finish the preparations. They all make me excited but, I'll start with the most significant. We have upgraded our super old, out of date and family unfriendly car for a shiny previously owned very family friendly ride. We now own a mini van! The best part is, I totally love it! So spacious and perfect to strap the Miss' car seat in.

There's no fighting the, "that's a mommy car". Folks, this one is about to be a mommy so might as well jump in and embrace it!

Next, my sweet husband scrubbed our home (and I mean military standars here) to prepare for Miss Vieve's arrival. Readers, I am one lucky wife. My house was sparkling at me as I walked through my door and that just makes me smile from ear-to-ear.

And this weekend I went to a children's consignment store with my mom as they were having a 50% OFF sale! We got So much stuff for $12. I love saving money! Now we have quite a few more things for the babe and I just want my baby out of my belly and in my arms. Soon, very soon. Only five more weeks but I secretly hope sooner (doesn't every pregnant mommy?) as long as she is healthy.

Well between now and baby time we will be enjoying our Thankgiving holiday. We have so much to be greatful for and well finals.

Veteran's Day

Veteran's Day is a big day around here, with Brent, my Dad and grandfather all veteran's I am very thankful for their service and most importantly their safe returns. So today I planned a special picnic in the park with Brent for his special day.

I just love this picture, he looks so young and so cute! :-)

Little girls

After a very fun filled and overwhelming weekend we are about ready for out Little Miss to get here. We have been so showed with love and gifts for her it's truly touching. We have such great family, friends and a ward family that have all jumped in there to bring Miss Vieve so many lovely things. She is so loved already, just can't believe it.

Having worked with little ones for so many years I knew what I needed to cover my bases without entering clutter zone, but having cared for little boys I am way behind in where to fin little girly things.

We got some super cute bows, headbands and flowers I can't wait to get her little head styling. I just learned about Whippy Cake and they are so cool! The head bands are Velcro as well as the flowers making them easy to change. So clever!

So as we went to the store last night to pick up some things Brent picked this out for Genivieve. It is a mirror for the car or even crib so she can look at herself (babies love that) and we can she her too! It's even an elephant!

So for all you Mama's of little girls what is it that you love for your little miss and where do you get them at?

Calming words

So I know I have said it before, but I will say it a million times. I love our Dr. seriously the best OB I have encountered and I have been to many!

I was very nervous for our 32 week appointment, but his calming words make me float away on a cloud. With my glucose test results high I thought I was going to loose my food freedom for the last 8 weeks of this pregnancy and that made me unbelievable sad! Along with the thought that she could get super big IF I had Gestational diabetes and end up coming via c-section (my greatest fear, still have nightmares about it).

But after talking with Dr. B, he is certain all is well and that my next test will come back normal. I have only gained one pound in 2 weeks and so at least that is staying normal and she is head down and very active! I am so glad she flipped! Even with pregnancy and eating meat I still can't seem to get enough iron and blood in this body, so more vitamins coming this way....

I am so glad to have such a good support group set for the delivery room between my Dr, husband and Mom. With Dr. B I am so calm and ready for this baby, but we still have 8 weeks.

 This is the adorable banner my friend made for our little miss she is so talented!

Life

Everything is slowly draining me and yesterday I felt like I had reached the end of my rope. I like that I have school and work to keep me busy, with Bent gone from 3am -8pm its good to have things to keep me busy, sometimes I wish I had more.

School is just a pain, I wish this semester would hurry up and get over with already. Some days I just want to enjoy being home and clean. Oh this need to nest and scrub everything makes me so crazy and so very tired. How does one properly clean a bathtub with a baby in the belly?

Can I just say I am so grateful for modern medicine and my marvelous Dr. who calms all my fears. He is truly one of my favorite people to see every other week. But I am dreading this next visit. Apparently when you're pregnant you don't want high test scores... especially on your glucose test. So off I must go to the 3hr test and I don't think I want to hear any results. The idea makes me want to cry, and terrifies me. What will happen to the baby and me. As this pregnancy goes on, I become less of a fan. Too bad it doesn't really care.

This feels real!

With November a week away we are now in the single digits until D-day and it's starting to feel real!  We went shopping with my mom on Saturday for a little bit, which was so fun, THANKS MOM! I love that Brent is so into every aspect of the pregnancy. Especially when we go shopping. He has an option on every outfit, but he seriously has GREAT taste. I find my self constantly asking his opinion on every outfit. :-)

Well we got her some cute dresses (she now has 4!) and one outfit that I am particularly obsessed with. I love that she can have flowers on her cardigan just like mommy for church. :-) 

Brent is so excited for our Little Miss to get here, the moment he wakes up in the morning he goes directly to my belly to say good morning to Vieve (I'm already 2nd class... we'll have to work on that. ha ha) I really do love that he will be an amazing Dad.

I can't believe how much he has taken in my nieces and nephews and loves them like I do (which is an insane amount! They are the coolest little people out there!), he really loves kids as much as I do. 9 weeks until she gets here and Christmas is in 8 weeks and 5 days. Has anyone even thought about Christmas.... I am afraid it's going to get over looked in our house, but I am going to try to prevent that.

Pumpkin Madness

Last night we got together with some great friends for a delicious dinner made by our wonderful hosts and pumpkin carving.

Once I mentioned that there would be carving at Saturday nights festivities Brent leaped to his laptop and began to research what would be this years pumpkin theme. For days he watched YouTube tutorials on How to pick the right carving pumpkin and How to carve pumpkins- the advanced version.

My husband is very artistic, so artistic in fact that I just stopped doing crafty things because he shows me up each time. Which is really ok, because I prefer to supervise anyhow. :-) Brent will practice anything just to hone his skills for the next round. It can get very intense, but the end result is always FANTASTIC!

Here is the Chesley Family pumpkin of 2010- Albert Einstein

Here is Mike and Sara's pumpkin-Godzilla in NYC

So it is written...

so it shall be.

We have always had her name decided on but now it is HER name. We have been calling our little miss by her name from the beginning and that is who she will be. As for right now no middle names have been picked. I struggle giving my child a nine letter name AND a middle name, so when we meet her perhaps we will know if she will have one. The poor kid is going to have writers cramp at the age of three when she is learning how to spell her name. I hope she will love it as much as we do.

So many say that picking the name is the hardest thing, but for us it was the easiest thing to agree on. So we can't wait to meet you little Vieve!

Roadtrip

This weekend was so very long. I finally convinced my husband to drive from Arizona to Rexburg, Idaho to clean out my college storage unit so I could have all of my belonging back in my possession. Come Friday early afternoon we set out for our 16 hr drive. It was fun driving down memory lane, sharing all the stories that came with each stretch of the trip (I am not so sure it was so fun for Brent to hear them all...) and enjoying the cool Utah and Idaho weather along with all the beautiful fall leaves.

Sadly we didn't take and pictures while in Rexburg, but the campus looked great and it was fun to see friends. Drew and Jessica were so kind to let us stay with them and we had a rather competitive game night of Scattergories and Uno Attack. Thanks for such a fun time!

Next we retraced are freshly traveled path and headed south, this time stopping in Salt Lake City to bask in the glory of the Temple and its perfectly landscaped grounds. This time we did take out our camera (I finally got it working again!) to document the beautiful day.

My college roommate and bridesmaid, Paige, came over to see us while we were there. I am so lucky to have such great friends. It was a great weekend seeing so many of them again, even though it was for a very short while.

Baby Decor

We have slowly been gathering baby items as I find what it is that I want, at a price I am willing to pay. I have been having so much fun buying stuff for our little miss then watching Brent set it all up. I must say he assembled that crib in record time. I always thought it took an hour or more but 20 minutes later voila. I absolutely adore the crib (thanks Mom) and now that I found the bedding it's ready for occupancy. Too bad we still have to wait 10 more weeks.

So the camera is still out, but much to my surprise Google had my crib and bedding already paired and available for my downloading pleasure. Thanks Google!

Since I am not a fan of pink and I have been SO very drawn to elephants this pregnancy Brent and I figured she must really like elephants. So we went with an elephant theme. I think I am going to add a brown crib shirt and maybe some color to the fitted sheet, but right now its white. I like white. You can tell when its dirty. Isn't the elephant on the pillow so darn cute! I can't get enough.

Once I get it all just so I'll be sure to post REAL pictures.

4D Ultrasound

Last night we went to get our 4D Ultrasounds of our little miss. She was folded in half and the first time she has been seen breech! EEK, lets hope she turns by D day. I know she has plenty of time, but the idea of her staying breech scares me.

I love watching Brent talk to my belly and listen to all the cute things he says to her. The love this father has for his growing girl is truly amazing and makes me misty-eyed just thinking about it. It so amazing to see the man I love so much evolve and grow into a Dad, what a fine one he will make.

Refrigerator Worthy

Ladies and Gentlemen, After many health problems and two semesters off I have had an intense week of exams. While some require most of my attention some just didn't have a fighting chance to squeeze into my schedule. While I was rather worried about my lack of study time it was hushed when my back started to spasm and I was in sheer pain the entire night and morning before my exam.  But I forced myself up and out of bed and drove to take my exam... all 20 minutes of it. Thankfully it was my Global Market exam, not Biology (that grade would be dumpster worthy at best in these circumstances..) but I was able to work through all the pain and the dear child stomping on my bladder and passed with flying colors!

Come on semester! Only a few more classes and I will FINALLY be graduated. About stinking time!

Squishy Cheeks

I am one of those strange people that LOVE to go to the doctor. Perhaps it's because I always feel better when I leave, but it's kind of a treat for me. Well Monday we got to go see our fabulous doctor and get to peek in on the little miss. She is growing and developing right along schedule, hooray!

You can see she has some cheeks on her, so cute! She was asleep the whole appointment (which is fine by me) but that just means she tap dances on my bladder all night and its always the worst before an exam. Just so sweet of her. I am starting to feel pregnant and my thought process has been shot to pieces, will it ever return? Brent is so excited for her to come out (and so am I) he can't wait to hold her and I think it's about time she spend quality time with Dad too. :-)

But thankfully she has been very good, sleeping through all of my exams so I can think. Bless you child.

Home Sweet Home

After months of looking for a place and 2 weeks of slowly getting organized here are some pictures of our new house. We Just love our place. It's great to come home to a place that looks and feels like we live there. Our little patio opens to the pool and hot tub, we are excited about a hot tub come winter!

Just days after moving into our new place we purchased our first appliance together, a washer and dryer! No more laundry rooms for us, oh happiest of days!

So the camera cord is still missing so please forgive me but all I have is Photo Booth for now.

My kitchen table was a sweet find at a moving sale and a birthday present. Brent spent many hours sanding, filling and painting the table but here's to my beautiful under $30 dining room table!

So if you're ever on this side of town, let us know and we'd love to have you over!

Cheese

Being married has been quite the adventure, while it was not so busy at the beginning we have been abundantly blessed and are now as busy as could be. I love it! Working part-time, going to school full-time and growing this watermelon of a child has kept me busy and counting my many blessing. One of the biggest to be noted would be my husband, the man I love more with every day. He has been such a good husband working full-time at a sweet finally GOOD job (another blessing) going to school full-time and spending time with me and the bump. We are so lucky to have him, he is going to be a great Daddy and he is already a great husband.

We have now finally moved (2 blocks east) and are loving our new place. It is nice to have a home that has paint on the walls our familt pictures up and everything now has a place so it makes cleaning a breeze.

I just had to post this picture of the nieces and nephews, because they are so kissable and we just think they are the greatest ever. I love being an aunt, it's one of my favorite things in life. I hope being a mom is just as much fun. We are excited for Autumn, Linnaea and our baby girl to be such good friends being so close in age. Oh the fun we will have with all the girls, barbies and cabbage patch dolls!

At Last, Wedding Pictures

I don't think I can pick my favorite out of the 800, they are all so fantastic. Thanks to the talented Cami for capturing our perfect day! It was all such a blur for both of us it was so fun to scroll through so many amazing photographs. (click on the picture to enlarge)

Friday Night Thoughts

As I was rocking the sweet baby I work with to sleep today, I was thinking about what a great job I have. The family is great, it takes me three minutes to drive to work (that's my kind of commute) and I have unlimited access to Food Network and HGTV while I'm at work and I take full advantage. I always laugh when someone asks what I "do" and I always reply "I nanny". It's funny to me because it never feels much light "work", the kind I was trained to do in college but the kind of work I have always wanted to do. So if its what you want to spend your time doing, is it considered work?

I feel so fortunate to have a job, especially in this economy and one I like no less. These days may come to an end when I graduate but maybe not if I just bring my little one along. I'm sure it will be great for them to have a friend.

Sorry for the picture of a picture...

I love baby feet, so if you can tell, here is our little munchkins feet. 

I love that it looks like baby bear paws. :-) So adorable!

I can't make out what the other photos are of, 

but we still ooow and awww over them. So cute!

Phase two

Well we are now gearing up to move (just a few blocks east) to a cute little place. I am so excited, it will be wonderful and such a blessing for our little family. After many hours in and out of the car in the awful Arizona heat we finally found our new place. We move in in a few weeks and I can't wait to start hanging pictures, and decorating. Since I have done any of that in our current place.

Our little family has had a lot of blessings lately, most of them may seem simple so I'll keep those tucked away for my note keeping, but one is worth publishing. We have been blessed with a new Chesley on the way. The doctors days its healthy with a strong heartbeat. So all is well and we are jumping for joy. It will be an interesting semester with both of us starting school in two weeks. But that's what makes life so fun, all the adventures.

Well I sure dislike blogging without pictures, but the camera is dead and the charger is MIA, so I'll try and solve that problem some day soon. :-)

Our Days

The Mr. and I have spent a lot of time making lists and lists. Life for us seemed to have to many unknowns and I suppose it still does and always will for that matter, but this past week seems to have given us many reasons to count our many blessings.

(Wedding pictures should be here soon! This one was taken by a friend, but I love it!)

When all the doors around us seemed to be closed, one-by-one as we approached each door marvelous things happened. The things we need were placed before us and the opportunity for us to learn how to make decisions together came and once again we were able work as a team.

I think its the best and most challenging part of being married. While one is a lonely number, it's what we have grown accustomed to, but two heads has proven to be better than one.

I am so glad the husband and I have such diffeerent strengths and weaknesses. It is the reason we work, and well. :-)

But in the midst off all these decision making we have been enjoying our time finding cheap (really cheap) things to do to entertain our time. Like the local POP The Soda Shop. All kinds of bottled sodas ready to be enjoyed along with candy. It's like being a kid in the 50's (at least that's how I envision it being).

The Juggling Act

Life here in the south side of what people like to call "the most livable city" is full of change. We have worked hard on getting settled into our first little home. Staying busy with the day-to-day life and loving each other. In the last few months I learned that life doesn't go as I plan, but that's ok because it was not such a great plan to begin with. Learning to trust in our Heavenly Father and His plan is a much better use of my time.

We love our new start here and our ward. We already delivered our "arrival address", it was fun to introduce our new family unit, I always wondered what it would be like. (I remember thinking back in my young women days how cute all the newlyweds were and how much I loved hearing about their dating story.)  It was also a treat to see and listen to my husband speak in church and to share his testimony. It was such a fun treat.

Life in the married realm in a challenge to juggle. I thought it would be a piece-of-cake but life goes on and hopefully in time I'll learn to be better at juggling.

This last week was full of birthday celebrations for my twenty-first birthday. My husband who unleased his hidden culinary talent made me a spectacular two-layed butter cake with chocolate frosting, whipped edges, piping and hand crafted flowers on top. SERIOUSLY, it was spectacular!

Married Life... Married Blog

WELCOME! Now the we are officially a family, it seems appropriate that as I leave the single social scene in the dust, I should leave my single blog and dive into the world of family blogging! I am sure all of my readers who find their way over here will be thrilled to read about more than just me. I'm for one, am certainly excited to be writing about more than just little ole me.


Brent is not one for blogging, but has never tried, so perhaps with some coaxing he'll hop on and grace this blog with some of his thoughts, it could be exciting...

I hope you stop by every now and again and leave us a comment. We would love to hear from you.

The Chesley's (that is still so strange, but fun, to type!)