Taking Time Off

This past weekend Ben had to go out of town for a medical school interview, so I decided to take a little mini vacation up to Kaysville. Provo is always a little lonely without my main man. Staying at my parents house is so relaxing for me, even though I technically had a backpack full of homework with me, I didn't really even think about it the whole weekend. Instead, the weekend was filled with making these amazing chocolate dipped caramel apples. One of our fall traditions is to make these apples and take them around to people we like, love, or want to thank.

It was so much fun to just hang out with my mom and sister

We spent a good chunk of the weekend laughing.
That happens a lot when Heidi is around.

It was so fun to just hang out with the family for a relaxing, fairly unscheduled weekend. I stayed up in Kaysville until Monday morning so I could go to my doctor's appointment. My little boy has turned and is head down now! (This is a huge load off my mind! The kid has been breech this whole time) After the appointment, Will treated me to lunch (he's an awesome big brother) and I headed back to Provo. After taking the weekend off work, clinical, and school responsibilities it's definitely time to buckle down and start working on the big project I have due in a few weeks. It sure was heavenly to have a little break!

A view of Chase

27 Weeks
I'm so excited to meet this little boy!

Gratitude

I loved President Monson's talk in General Conference this last weekend on gratitude. It occurred to me while he was talking that if I followed his counsel, and lived a life of gratitude, life would just be better. The tiny, little, every day worries I have would melt away if I filled my mind with gratitude. So, in a goal to do better, here is a list of things I've been grateful for in the past few days:

First of all, for Ben.
Everything with him is more fun.
He takes care of me.
And he recently made me the most delicious
pumpkin pancakes for breakfast.

Spending time with my family. They make me laugh.
This was one of the last pictures we took of all of us before Nate left.
We miss him, but I'm also grateful he's a missionary.
He writes the funniest missionary letters I've ever read.

I'm also grateful I got to spend time with this lovely family last weekend.
Meet the Bradens.
Pam and my mom got to be good friends when we lived in Boise (back in 1991). They were in the Relief Society Presidency together. Pam was also Will and my preschool teacher. She has four awesome and hilarious kids. They've been visiting us every Conference weekend (and usually several weekends in between conference sessions) for years. We love it. It's a big party. We literally laughed all weekend long.

It's Fall!
I love this time of year.
Right now the mountains look beautiful.
It's football season.
We ate pumpkin pie at a neighbors house last night.
I can make soup again for dinner.
School is well underway (if you didn't know, I love school)
Fabulous Holidays are coming up.
I just truly love this time of year.

PS: I'm going to make the blog private at the end of the week. Last call for email addresses :)

Going Private

I am going to make our blog private next week. If you have already given me your email address and you haven't received an invite yet (I know there are a couple I forgot to add, it's nothing personal I promise!) please leave your email address again, or email it to me at court.hugo@gmail.com.

Baby Update

I had a doctor appointment last Friday and I'm happy to report that Chase is healthy and growing and definitely a boy! I have an awesome doctor and he does an ultrasound every time I go. It is so amazing to see my little boy and how much he's grown and changed since that first ultrasound when he was just a little peanut with a heartbeat. This was also the fourth ultrasound confirming he's really a boy, although my doctor told me to leave the tags on everything until after he's born, occasionally there are surprises!

I'm especially grateful for my healthy baby after spending so much time on the Labor and Delivery floor at Utah Valley Hospital. Most of the babies there are healthy and fine, but there are occasional sad cases when a baby dies, or difficult deliveries that would scare any expectant mom. After witnessing a particularly intense delivery yesterday I had to remind myself that this was 1. not the norm and 2. that is exactly the reason I chose a doctor I totally trust. I still found myself awake at 2am slightly worried about the well-being of my little boy. I think Chase knows his mom is a worrier, during especially difficult days he kicks ALL DAY LONG. I love it, he's just reminding me that he's doing okay in there.

And now a request to all you moms out there: I have hit that point where I want to be totally prepared for this little baby to come. I've made a long list of things we need and we are slowly checking them off. Here is my question to you- What baby related items do you love? What items are completely essential? What items are nice to have, but not really needed? What stuff did you wish you hadn't spent the money on? Are there any specific brands you love?

I totally appreciate any input! I love hearing what other moms have used and liked!

Will

Meet the reason I'm so excited to have a little boy first:

This is my brother Will (holding baby Will-a family friend).

I always (well, mostly always) loved having an older brother. Someone to drive me to dance and flute lessons, find me a prom date when I didn't have one, and to go snowboarding with, to tease me so I would be less of a wimp, and to make us all laugh. He is an awesome big brother.

I'm so excited that my little family is starting out with a boy who can be that 'big brother' to the rest of my kids. Baby Chase has some big shoes to fill.

Happy Birthday Will!

The Girls

A few weeks ago my cousin Wes married his sweetheart Moira, which called for a major celebration! Their beautiful wedding took place in West Yellowstone, Montana, which was a fun destination for the family to get together and celebrate! Besides attending the wedding, the major highlight for me was just getting to spend time with my cousins. I love these girls. We've been friends since we were all babies.
Introducing from R to L: My sister Heidi (if you have ever read my blog you know I love her and why I love her so much, Eleanor-she's the oldest in our little group. She lives in Boston, she's classy and sophisticated and a successful, independent woman! When we were all little she was also the one to break up all the fights between the rest of us- thank goodness for her wisdom and maturity! Next to me is Ella- she is funny, spunky and made us all laugh all weekend long. She's athletic and adventurous-she spent the last year living in New Zealand. Kelly is next to her- Kelly and I have been fast friends since the summer we both arrived on Earth. She has been one of my best friends my whole life and was a bridesmaid at my wedding. Next is Erin- the spirited little shorty on the end. Erin goes to school in Hawaii and this girl loves to have fun. I love all these girls, when we get together I feel like the most boring one in the group, but I don't even care because they all make me laugh so much! (Awkward ballon anyone?)
Here we are at the wedding. Our cousin Amanda and cousin's wife Sarah are with us here too. Sadly I don't have a picture with Heather, Tiffany, Kash and our newest addition, Moira.

Here's the whole family! I love all these people, it was so fun to all be together!

The Hot Babes Quartet
When we were in Elementary School we came up with that nickname for our little group and it just pretty much stuck.

This is when Ella caught the bouquet, and then they had a fake fight over it.

All of these pictures are courtesy of Ella, who sent them to me. She gets bored of people smiling in pictures, so this is what happens sometimes.
Basically, the wedding was beautiful, I'm so glad Moira is part of our family now-she was a beautiful bride. I love my cousins. Also, Ben was at the wedding, somehow there are no pictures of him, but he did come and he looked very handsome.

Disclaimer: This post was typed after 9 hours of classes and an hour picking up my ID badge at the hospital. If it is a little weird/grammatically incorrect/had to follow I blame my exhausted brain.