The reason why today is awesome

Today is awesome because it's January 31st. Normally January is my least favorite month of the year, but thanks to this little guy, this January has gone by in a blur. Best January of my life. And I didn't even have to go on a tropical vacation (which is my plan to get through January every year once Ben's a doctor).
Today is also awesome because it's my dear cousin Ella's birthday. I love Ella. I was looking through her facebook pictures today and noticed a certain album that showed so much of her personality. So I stole the pictures off her page to share here with you. Here's a few reasons I love Ella:

She is super adventurous. One time I went mountain biking with her and she kicked my trash. She's a blast to snowboard with too.

She always makes me laugh.

And she introduced our family to awkward balloon...

...and awkward starfish.

Isn't that just totes presh?

This last week I just couldn't believe how fast the last year has gone. What set this off was the State of the Union address (which I didn't even watch- just the fact that it happened). I was reflecting on watching it last year. I was with my friends Corinne and Bethany at my aunt and uncles house. It was the night before clinical so we were staying there, working on our pre-assessments, semi-watching the address while my aunt and uncle were cooking dinner. Since then I've finished that dreaded semester of ICU and Psych, got my LPN license, got my LPN job, found out I was pregnant (those last two happened the same day- I call it Golden Monday), went to Washington DC to study Veterans health, spent the summer being nauseous, spent two fabulous weeks in Europe with my sweetheart, Ben applied for and was accepted to medical school, started my Capstone semester, graduated from college, moved up to Kaysville and had my first baby. Whew- just thinking about it blows my mind.

And because time is flying so fast I had to document how cute I think my baby looks in just his onesie. If it were warmer I'd have him hang out like this more often. I also wanted to document the cute blankets in these photos. The top one was made by a good family friend, Gaye Brown. The bottom one was made by my Grandma Smith. My aunt Dennette knitted the hat and booties he's wearing as well. About two seconds after I took that first picture Chase spit up all over the blanket. Apparently that's what happens if I put him on his stomach after feeding him.

Our Day Out

Chase and I have been feeling like we've been cooped up in the house a little too much this winter. On Saturday we decided to make a trip down to Provo to visit our friends there. We have loved living in Kaysville, the only thing its missing is our awesome friends from our ward in Provo.
We spent most of the afternoon with the Caldwells. They lived next door to us for the last two years and we did almost everything with them. Ben and Mike got to make a trip to their favorite French bakery for the pastries they love. Meghan and I got to chat about being new moms. And our little boys got acquainted. (We've already decided they will be best friends). Their little boy Ethan is about 5 months older than Chase. He's darling- and he looks like a giant next to our brand new baby!

The boys and their boys

Ethan seemed somewhat disturbed by Chase's presence. Chase was oblivious to everything going on. Someday I'm sure they'll warm up to each other.

We also got to see our friends the Virgins, and our friend Alyse. It was so nice to talk to all these wonderful people that we never get to see anymore.
Also, special shout out to Alyse. She deserves a place in heaven for this one. She was my roommate in Washington DC last May when I had just found out I was pregnant. I was trying to keep it a secret, but by the end of the trip she was well aware that I was not myself and pretty much figured it out. The last night we were there I got SO SICK and Alyse rubbed my back for an hour (seriously a whole hour- it was through a whole episode of Law and Order) until I fell asleep. Is she an awesome friend or what?

Chase's Newborn Pictures

I have an awesome friend. Her name is Carly. Our friendship began as we tried to keep ourselves entertained in an otherwise extremely boring 2nd grade class. Our teacher had very little control over the class and we took advantage of the situation to constantly pass notes, make glue designs on our desks and make up secret codes. In high school we spent many long nights studying for AP tests, rehearsing our music for Musical Productions and just chatting about life. She is beautiful and talented and I'm so lucky to have her as a friend. Another bonus is that she did these cute newborn pictures of my baby a few weeks ago.






I'm so glad we documented this stage in his life; I feel like he's already changed so much. I could go on and on about my love for this little guy, he's the sweetest little thing. He has completely turned our world upside down (in a good way) and I just couldn't be happier than when I have him in my arms.

For Will

Hey Uncle Will,
Chase here.

Thanks for letting me crash in your room.

I'm loving the new digs.

Although I'm not loving sleeping in my crib so much.
I'd much rather sleep here....

Or here...

Or here...

And being in my crib mostly makes me feel like this...

...and this.Just wanted to say that I miss you.

Come visit me soon!

Chase's Nursery

My aunt Dennette makes beautiful quilts. When she told me she wanted to make one for my new baby I was so excited. I went shopping with her to pick out fabric. When she showed me this pattern I immediately loved it, thus the theme of his nursery was decided.


My parents bought us this beautiful crib. I absolutely love it. Chase really doesn't yet, but he's learning to. Why sleep in your crib if you can cry a little and get someone to hold you all night long?
My good friend and old roommate Katherine Hanks Allen recently started a business called Cinnamonink (you should google it and check out her stuff, it's adorable). She's an amazing artist. She recently started this line of children's prints. She made this one for me to match Chase's nursery- I just love it. We now have two pieces of Kate's artwork in our home (she gave us a beautiful painting for our wedding- maybe another post another day on that) and we just love her creativity. Thanks Kate for adding such a cute little touch to Chase's nursery, and to our lives.

Choosing a Name

From the second we found out I was pregnant we already had a little girl's name picked out. We had no idea what we would name the baby should it be a boy. We talked about it a lot over the next 12 weeks until our ultrasound with really no agreement on what his name should be. The only name we both really liked was Jackson, but we felt like there are a lot of Jacks and Jacksons right now and decided against it. I loved the names Lincoln, Easton and Sawyer (Ben was absolutely against all three of them). He liked Collin, Brady and Sam, which I was okay with, but didn't fall in love with any of them. We also both really liked the name Landon, but my cousin has a little boy just two years older than our baby named Landon who is possibly the sweetest, cutest, happiest baby ever. I was afraid our baby would be the "not quite as cute Landon" or the "not quite so happy Landon." This was just too much pressure for a little kid.

When we found out our baby was a boy we were both shocked, but so excited. On the way home from the doctor appointment we concluded that this would probably be one of those babies who doesn't have a name until well after he's born.

Two days later I was laying in bed early in the morning and I thought of the name Chase. I really hadn't considered it before, but now that I knew my baby was a boy it just felt right. I mentioned to Ben over breakfast. Ben nodded his head and said, "Chase, I like it. Chase Anderson Hugo." And just like that, it was decided. We started calling my baby bump Chase and it just felt like his name. Once I saw him, he looked just like a Chase to me.

Anderson is my dad's middle name, so used that to name him after my dad. I love my dad, he's one of my heroes. I'm so glad we got to name this sweet little boy after him. Chase already has my dad wrapped around his little finger (well, all of us really...) I really can't blame him. How could you not fall in love with this sweet face?