Our last week in Florida!

We are now in the final days of our time in Florida! Ben takes his final on Friday morning and we hope to be on the road shortly thereafter. Our 12 week stay here has flown by! It has been so much fun to get to know a new place, meet some new people and have some fun new adventures. Yesterday we had our last Sunday with our ward here. Church here in Miramar has been a little different experience than we've had anywhere else, but a great one nonetheless. The ward here has been beyond welcoming and friendly and for that we are very grateful. The ward here is very eclectic with an extremely high rate of new converts and we were grateful that we had a few opportunities to serve here. It's hard to be somewhere short term, but the people in this ward didn't treat us any differently even though they knew we'd be moving in a matter of weeks. It was a wonderful learning experience for us!

The weather here for the past month has been wonderful! A little cooler than what we are used to, definitely not pool weather, but so perfect for playing outside. Chase loves to play at parks and there are several really nice parks nearby that we frequently visit. I want to give him every last chance to play outside before we go back to cold and snow (which we are excited for in a completely different way!) I tried and tried to get a good picture of Chase at the park the other day, and this was the best I got. This kid was way too busy playing to bother looking at me, let alone smile for me. 

 On a completely unrelated note, Ben was somewhat dismayed that I only made ONE pie on Thanksgiving. In my efforts to make it up to him I made an apple pie yesterday, and it just turned out so pretty I had to take a picture of it. This photographic evidence is all that is left of the pie now (only about 24 hours later). Let's just say that I'm at that point of my pregnancy where I am constantly hungry, which Ben loves because apparently that's what he feels like all the time. Chase, on the other hand, actually refused to eat any of it, which might be the first time ever that he's turned down dessert.

Besides eating insane amounts of pie and playing at the park, (and hours on end of studying for Ben) we have an extremely low-key week planned here. When you only take a few suitcases with you when you move it doesn't take too long to pack. I think I'll start packing Thursday night for our Friday departure. We hope to be in Orlando by Friday evening and will be spending Saturday at Disneyworld! Then it's on to Virginia and ultimately back to Utah! With all that excitement, hopefully my next few posts will be a little more exciting. 

Thanksgiving

We have had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year! As I reflected on our day, all the little things we did remind me of how much I have to be thankful for. We started off early this morning, and every single day I'm so thankful for this sweet little smile that greets me. Chase loves sitting up on the counter and helping cook. This morning Ben made us a delicious breakfast- it might have to become a Thanksgiving tradition. I'm so thankful for a supportive husband, and as much as I love cooking, I'm glad he likes it too and gives me a break every now and then!

 The end result of Ben and Chase's cooking: Pumpkin Pancakes! They were absolutely delicious! Chase loves "pan-takes!" I'm so grateful that food tastes good again and is appetizing!

 The rest of the morning and afternoon went great. Ben and I each snuck away to get in a good work out. I'm so thankful for a healthy body. We worked on our food for Thanksgiving dinner, the boys watched some football, we all took naps. I'm really thankful for naps. We had such a chill day that it wasn't too stressful to get all the food prepared.

 Finally, it was time for dinner! Our friends from Dominica, the Dunns, came and joined us. I'm so thankful for friends- we are truly blessed to know so many wonderful people. Being far away from family is always a little sad, but we are very thankful for our supportive families. I'm so thankful for the gospel and our little eternal family!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Soaking it up

Obviously, Chase's days as an only child are numbered. He's got about 70 left and I must say, I'm enjoying them. I am soaking up the time I get to focus my whole world around this one little boy! He's truly such a delight and makes us laugh all the time. I've been working on getting all our videos of him edited and put together before the baby comes and a few nights ago at dinner I was showing Ben some of the progress I'd made. Chase LOVED seeing the videos of himself and laughed hysterically at each one, interrupted by him periodically saying "I cute!" Only he can't say a "c" sound at the first of a word yet, so it comes out "I tute!" Ben and I were laughing at Chase laughing at himself!

Another thing I'm loving about having just one little toddler is how easy it is to run errands with him. Chase likes being out and about, and with the exception of the occasional major meltdown in the middle of Target, I really like taking him with me on errands, and I know once I have him plus a newborn it will be much more difficult. I love that in this stage he loves being my little helper. He throws diapers away. He puts Ben's socks away after I do the laundry. He loves to "help" cook (darling pictures of him and Ben making pumpkin muffins below). 

He gives the best hugs these days. He'll randomly run up to me, throw his arms around my legs and say "hi there mama!" and it melts my heart every time. He gives the baby kisses and high fives (the high fives were 100% his idea, I laughed so hard the first time he did it). Even with all the naughtiness and temper tantrums that happen, he still has such a darling, sweet side that is just infectious. 

Ben teases me that even on the very hardest days with him, when I am completely ready to pull my hair out, about 30 minutes after he goes to bed I'm telling Ben how cute he is, every darling thing he did that day, everything I love about him. I always go check on him before I go to bed and I love watching him sleep. Lately I've been picking him up out of the crib and just holding him in my arms while he sleeps (thank goodness he sleeps soundly!). I can't get over how big he's gotten and how much I love him. I swear I could hold him while he sleeps forever and it's always hard to put him back in the crib. I feel just like that mom in the book "I'll Love You Forever". Oh my sweet Chase, even though you are growing up and a new baby is coming soon, as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be!

Chase and the Vacuum

Several months ago, when we found out that our new baby is a boy, we started talking about names for him. I really wanted to name him Beckham, which Ben wasn't too keen on (he insisted that it was weird because we aren't soccer fans). In my efforts to convince Ben that it really was a cute name, I started just referring to the baby as Beckham. Chase would repeat the name in his own little way and it was darling, which I thought might help my cause. However, I quickly realized that when Chase repeated "Beck-um" what he really thought he was saying, was "vacuum". As soon as I would start talking about Beckham, Chase would run and grab the vacuum and get all excited about it. That may have been the final straw, and Beckham was ultimately eliminated from the baby name list. 

Seriously though, Chase loves the vacuum. I can hardly vacuum while he's around because he insists on helping. (And check out that wimpy little vacuum that came with our apartment- it works about as well as you would think a tiny vacuum would work) This is a big improvement for Chase, who was scared of the vacuum when I was in Utah last summer. This one is much less threatening- baby steps, I guess. So here are a few pictures of Chase hard at work vacuuming up the mess, that undoubtedly was caused by him in the first place. 

3rd Trimester!

I'm a little over 28 weeks now and finally in my 3rd trimester! I know that second trimester is usually known as the "best" part- but for me it's definitely 3rd. I'm finally mostly over the nausea (as long as I eat every few hours, sleep at least 6 hours at night and don't go on any windy roads in the car) and really I'm not too uncomfortable (although I definitely do complain to Ben and anyone who will listen about how achy I feel at the end of the day).  I can't really sleep well at night, but I'm hoping that once I'm back in my own bed that will change (one more month!)

I am so thankful for a healthy pregnancy. Early on we got a little taste of worry several times, mostly due to inferior medical care on the island, so I'm trying to not take for granted how amazing a healthy pregnancy is and what a miracle this baby is.  Because my insurance isn't accepted in Florida, I haven't actually seen a doctor in over ten weeks! I've only actually been to the doctor twice this whole pregnancy- which is of course, way different than last time. Before you report me for medical neglect to my unborn, know that we are still monitoring everything. Our doctor set us up with everything we needed before we left and I've been able to do my own prenatal assessments here. Every few weeks I check for sugar and protein, weigh myself, and then Ben checks my blood pressure and measures fundal height- basically everything they would do at the doctor's office. And you know, I'm a nurse, Ben's half way to being a doctor, it all works:) Our OB is wonderful and I call him if I have any questions or problems. I even woke up last month with this weird bite/rash on my face, which worried Ben way more than it worried me. Ben didn't have our OB's number (it's in my cell phone), so he consulted with one of my dad's good friends (who is also an OB) and before I knew it a prescription had been called in to our pharmacy here in Miramar! I'm sure grateful for these wonderful doctors in our lives!

I'm also so happy to have another January baby! I really think it's the best time to have a baby- you have all these fun holidays leading up to birth day that makes those last weeks just fly! Plus, it's easier for me to stay home and cuddle a newborn all day when it's cold and snowy outside. Also as a bonus, since they are going to be born the same time of year, Chase's old clothes should work out perfectly for the new baby. Even though it's been a little crazy with all our moving around and medical school, I just feel incredibly blessed to have this little one coming to our family!

Toddler in the House!

I feel like we now certainly have a toddler in the house, which is evidenced by the number of times we've cleaned crayon off various surfaces in the last week. We keep talking about how crayons are ONLY FOR PAPER, but I turn my back for a second and someone colored all over the tile, or TV, or window. 

Luckily, crayon is pretty easy to take off things- thankfully since we are renting! I think Heavenly Father was smart when he planned that the mischievous spurts of toddlerhood coincide with language development and all those darling things almost-2-year-olds say to balance out frustration with comic relief! I tell Ben daily, it's a good thing he's cute! 

On an unrelated, but fairly obvious note, we cut Chase's hair again. He was pretty sure we were trying to torture him. After a lot of screaming and crying I gave up and this was the result. When I was pregnant with him, I actual promised Heidi I wouldn't be one of those moms who cuts their boys hair and gives them horrible haircuts. I'm failing miserably- but it just isn't in the medical school budget to pay someone to cut his hair every few weeks. I hope he'll forgive me in the future. 

A little November Gratitude

I'm so glad it's November! I absolutely love this time of year! I love having a whole month to think about gratitude and how blessed we truly are. Especially after living abroad for over a year, we are sure counting our blessings this year, including many things we took for granted before: milk in the grocery store, a normal washing machine and dryer, a dishwasher, a car, AC, fast internet, and just living in the amazing country that we do! I could go on and on about all the things I'm so thankful for this year.

More than anything, these two guys are right at the top of my list. I love my little family! These two have brought me so much happiness! I love seeing how much happiness they bring each other. I love seeing Chase run and hug Ben's legs the second he walks in the door at the end of a long day, and seeing the smile on Ben's face as he picks up his little boy. They really have a blast together, and I'm so excited for our little #2 to join them!

This was a game that Chase came up with last night- surfing on the ironing board. This was the best picture I could get of it. He'd stand on it and instruct Ben "push daddy!" 

 Ben just finished a big round of tests and has a little break (a calm before the storm!) before finals come. We took advantage of having him around yesterday and went to the park. Chase has been wary of slides for the last month or so after going on one that scared him. Ben helped him regain his confidence and it was adorable to watch Chase go down the slide, smile and say "So fun!" as he landed in Ben's arms.

Even now as I write this, the boys are at the grocery store. After a long, uncomfortable night for me Ben suggested I take a warm bath to ease some of my sore muscles while he watched Chase. Ben came to inform me that we were out of brown sugar and they were headed to the store. When I questioned why we needed brown sugar (we'd already finished breakfast at this point) Ben told me they were making cookies- Chase's request. At 8:00 in the morning. Chase came in saying "brown sugar! brown sugar!" and continued to repeat that until they left 15 minutes later after getting all dressed and ready. I'm trying to keep the treats out of our house these days- but I can't really argue with the adorable father-son bonding going on! It completely melts my heart. 

Chase Lately

 Chase on Halloween Day at the Park-

he really loved that big stick!

I tried this outfit on him today-

although the pants are technically his size 

(according to the tag they are correct for his weight and height)

they are over 2 inches too long!

Poor kid inherited my short legs.

 Here are just a few funny Chase moments we've had in the last few days:

Chase and I were outside playing by the pond and a bunch of ducks walked over to us (no doubt hoping we were going to feed them). Chase repeatedly said "Hi Ducks! Hi Ducks!" and kept trying to pet them. They would just kind of shuffle out of his reach and he tried to follow them back into the pond more than once. One reached down to peck at something in the grass and after Chase watched him he bent right over at his waist and bit himself off a piece of grass. 

He says "Hi there!" all the time now. Randomly several times a day he'll look at me and say "Hi there Mama!" I don't know where he picked that up from, but it's dang cute.

He loves to help Ben make biscuits, which has become their little Sunday tradition. Chase repeats every word Ben says and then just repeatedly adds in there "Bi-guts! Make bi-guts!" Ben is darling with him and lets him help dump ingredients and mix and cut, and I love overhearing Chase's little commentary "I dump! Mix mix mix!" 

He loves to watch home videos of himself. After each one he says "more Chase please!" 

And apparently, even after our successful trunk-or-treat activity, he is still not a fan of the monster costume. Last night I was trying to get him to put on his jammies, and he kept running away from me. I said, "Chase, you can either wear your monkey jammies or your monster costume. You get to pick!" Immediately he said, "monkey jammies!" and came running over and willingly put them on. Who knew that a Halloween costume could be threatening?