PREGNANCY UPDATE!!!

Here is a picture of the little guy at 16 weeks. He loves being a rebel during ultrasound pictures.

I haven't been really good at taking pictures of myself with my pregnant belly or updating everyone on my pregnancy so here is something that my friend did on her blog that I wanted to do for my family and friends. Here's a pregnancy update:

How far along?  23 weeks.

Total weight gain: 10 lbs.

Baby: Our baby can hear my voice now and even feel my movements like swaying or dancing. He is responding to certain sounds or movements which is so interesting. If you poke my belly, he will usually give a kick back. He doesn't like being poked. :) He is just over a pound and is about 11 inches long. According to babycenter.com he is the size of a mango. 

Maternity clothes? Maternity clothes are my new best friend. They are so comfortable and I love them!

Stretch marks?  Just started to get some on my sides.

Sleep: I never seem to get enough sleep. I find myself not going to bed until way late but then I sleep in way too late in the morning. I wake up at least once every night to go to the bathroom, sometimes more. 

Miss anything? I miss being healthy. My immune system hasn't been very good lately. I seem to catch every little cold that goes around. I also miss being more diligent. Ever since I have been pregnant, I have just been really tired and don't seem to want to do anything.

Movement: Let me just say, our little boy is definitely going to be an athlete. He is the most active human being in the world. He is ALWAYS moving and kicking me. I love it :) 

Cravings: Fruit, Soup, Pasta, and Chocolate Oranges...hahaha :)

Anything make you queasy or sick? Brushing my teeth. I gag every time I stick my toothbrush in my mouth. But what makes me more queasy than anything else is dirty dishes. The smell of old food makes me want to puke.

Symptoms: I haven't really had any weird symptoms. I go to the bathroom a lot and I am always tired but other than that I have never thrown up which is great!

Wedding ring on or off? Still on, although the other day I had a harder time getting it off because my hands were warm and they were a little swollen.

Happy or moody most of the time? I have been really happy most of the time. Thinking about being a mom makes me the happiest person in the world. When I get stressed though, I get really moody. My poor husband is so great to deal with me every day.

Looking forward to: Meeting this little guy in 17 weeks :) 

Things to Stress About: I am in school full time now as a music major. First of all, I have been sick for a week and everything right now relies on my voice which is not functioning right now so that makes me stressed. Second of all, my husband and I have been discussing our future a lot lately. I have 2 more years of school left. I'm only half way done and I don't know if I can make it to the end while I'm a mom. We have been talking about me dropping out and I just don't know what to do because I love school and I am good at it, but in the end it might be best if I just let Chase continue.

Names we are thinking about: Brigham and Landon. I love them both! I can't decide and I don't think I'll be able to until I see the little guy. 

How is the Husband Doing?: Chase has been super busy with managing the kiosk so he is gone a lot. He is such a hard worker. Every day I just look at him and think about how lucky I am to be married to him. He is going to be an amazing dad :) He has felt the baby move a lot and I love looking at his face when he feels our boy kick. He is so sweet and thoughtful and I wouldn't be able to make it through this pregnancy without him. 

Christmas For Us This Year: This year we were supposed to go to Arizona to stay with my family for Christmas. Arizona is SO FAR AWAY!! Everyone please encourage my family to move ;) Anyways...both Chase and I are working the week of Christmas so we won't be able to travel anywhere this year. It will be our first Christmas with just the two of us. I'm actually really excited to start our own traditions this year. 

Other Updates: This Saturday the 8th is Vocal Union's Christmas Concert. I have two solos (If I can sing on Saturday)!! I can't wait. If you are in town, you should come and see it. It is in the Kirkham on campus at 7:30 PM. I think it costs $3 for students and $6 for anyone else but if you talk to me I could probably get you a free ticket. It's going to be great and I would love to see a lot of people there. My in-laws are coming and I can't wait! :) 

I think that's about it! Wish me luck with finals next week and please pray for me to get better for my concert and juries. I hope you all enjoyed reading a little bit about our lives right now. We love you all! Good luck with finals for all of you students and have a great Christmas Break! :)

Life is Great :)

Can I just say that I love my life? These past few months have been absolutely amazing. Chase and I spent our seven week summer vacation with our fun families in various parts of Idaho. It was so great seeing them all. We first met up with my family in Utah to pick up Carly from the airport where she came home from mission in Paraguay. I really missed that girl and am so happy she is finally home. We then traveled to Atlanta Idaho where we got to spend a week at our ranch with the entire Chamberlain side of the family. It was a blast! I don't get to see my family as much as I would like and I love being with them. After the ranch, Chase and I took my 2 little sisters to Red Fish Lake to spend time with Chase's family. He has such a fun family. :) When we were done at Redfish we went to Boise to stay with Chase's parents for a couple of days and then returned home to Rexburg with my sisters. With them we went to Yellowstone and hung out at our apartment. Aaaaaand that concluded our summer vacation. Other than that we just spend a few boring weeks in our apartment working and spending time with just the two of us which is always nice. :)

Ok. Now the more exciting things! 

When summer was over, we moved into a new apartment! We love our new place. It is definitely cheaper than our other apartment but so much nicer. The neighbors are great, the ward is awesome, and our apartment feels like a home.

Another fun thing that just happened is....I started school! BYU-I officially started this past Monday, the 10th. It has been the greatest week! I absolutely love being back in school and seeing my friends. BYU-Idaho has such a great atmosphere and spirit. I'm so glad I decided to come here. On Monday, I auditioned for Vocal Union (the jazz ensemble) for the second time and I got in! There are only thirteen people in the group so I was so excited to see my name on that list again. The people in the group are so much fun and we sing so well. I can't wait to perform again! 

What else has happened? Oh yeah! I got to see my baby for the first time today. :) Yup. CHASE AND I ARE GOING TO HAVE A BABY!!!!!!!!!!!! :D I am 11 weeks along right now and went in for my first appointment and ultrasound today. Look!!

I love our baby

 I'm not sure what the gender is yet. I'll definitely let everyone know as soon as I find out. Let me just tell you...seeing that image of my baby moving in my stomach was one of the happiest moments of my entire existence. I had been so worried up until this point that I was going to go to the ultrasound and the baby wouldn't be there or that I would miscarry. Today I found out I got to see with my own eyes our beautiful baby inside me. The doctors said that he/she is absolutely perfect and healthy. It was such a relief to hear that. The great thing is that I am almost done with my first trimester and have not thrown up or gotten close at all which is usually what women go through. I have been so lucky and am feeling great! I am starting to show a little now. It is so exciting! My parents will finally get their first grandchild and my grandparents will be great-grandparents!!! I can't believe I am already at this point in my life. The due date of our baby is April 4, 2013. I will definitely post pictures of my progress and eventually of our little baby. I couldn't be more happy. I am going to be a mother. :)

The day after I found out I was pregnant

This was today! 11 WEEKS! :)

Well I think that's it for now. Hope you all enjoyed reading a little about what is going on in our lives. 

Catching Up!

WOW! It has been WAY too long since I last blogged. I need to get in the habit of doing this every week. So a lot has happened since I last wrote something on here. My parents came into town sometime in October to spend time with Chase and I and see me sing with Vocal Union. I had a solo in the concert which was so fun and I think my parents really enjoyed seeing me sing again. I'll be auditioning for that Jazz group again this fall. I can't wait! :) While they were here we took a day trip through Yellowstone and Jackson Hole. We went with the Williams' to Yellowstone but we went a different way this time through the park so I got to see some new things. I loved getting to hang out with my parents. It really stinks living so far away from them. I only get to see them 2 or 3 times a year.


Here are some pictures from that trip!

My wonderful husband and I by the lake.

Yellowstone's Grand Canyon

Teton Mountain Range

The Tetons

More mountains and a Moose in the distance

My parents. I think they want to move to Idaho now that we live here. I hope they do! :) It definitely is a beautiful place. 

Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Mom sitting under an Antler arch.

Another thing I didn't write about was our trip to Utah for Thanksgiving. 2011 was the year that my whole family got together for Thanksgiving so we went down there for that but Chase's family was also in Utah for Thanksgiving so we got to hang out with them as well. It was great hanging out with both sides. This year we will be spending Thanksgiving with the Williams' and going to Arizona for Christmas. FINALLY!! I have really missed Arizona, but I have not missed the Scorpions. I still have nightmares about those little devils. Anyways...Thanksgiving. I got to see my sisters for the first time since I got married! I really missed my sisters.


Aaaaaaand some more pictures.

Siblings!! :) I love my sisters.

Sarah and I wishing that we could eat the Turkey

My awesome family :)

Look at my hardworking husband, dad, and grandpa! Love them all.

Beautiful place setting at Grandma and Grandpa's house. 

After the Thanksgiving Crackers. 

Chase helping me prep for Thanksgiving dinner.

We spent Christmas and New Years in Boise this year with Chase's parents. There wasn't any snow but oh my goodness...it was so beautiful while we were there and we had a blast! It was our first Christmas together. We woke up super early and had our own private gift opening session. It was fun recording each other open our presents. HOLY COW...we definitely spoiled each other. Chase and I are very good at spending money on gifts for each other. Later that morning we went and watched our niece and nephews open their gifts and then opened other presents with the whole family. That night we had a big family dinner and stayed up late playing games and watching movies. The next morning...I got stomach sick along with my sister-in-law. Weirdest thing ever. We both woke up at the exact same time and starting throwing up and then we both felt better at the same time the next evening. We were both in Utah at our relatives house a couple weeks earlier which is probably where we got it. Speaking of Utah...we also went to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert. It was AMAZING!! I loved sharing that experience with Chase. New Years was very different this year. Instead of going to a party and staying up super late with family...Chase's boss made him drive from Boise to Pocatello to close down the mall kiosk. We left around 3 PM and got home at 2 AM. It took us forever and was super stressful for Chase. I felt so bad for him. I was glad I went with him though. He wanted to go alone so I could have a fun night but I felt like I should go with him...which turned out being a very good idea. It always makes me very nervous for him to drive late at night without me. That's it for that trip!


Pictures!

After the Christmas Concert by Temple Square

Our Ginger Bread House! It was awesome.

I don't know what I was doing but it looks like I am smelling my scarf.

Dianne has the most beautiful Christmas Trees!

Hahahahahaha! Our Christmas Tree. Don't compare it to the two before. We are just poor college students ok?! The lighting here is cool though.

I LOVE BOISE. Gonna live there someday. :)

My amazing sister-in-laws, mother-in-law, my cute little niece and I having fun on Christmas morning.

I forgot to mention that we had an insanely awesome Christmas Concert for the choirs at BYU-Idaho. Brian Stokes Mitchell was a guest artist and sang with us in the concert. I had a solo and we sang the greatest pieces in Vocal Union. I love that group and miss it so much! That was the most amazing concert I have ever sung in.

Vocal Union Fall 2011

I got a haircut! I usually just trim my own hair because I don't trust anyone to cut it right but I decided my hair was too damaged and I should probably let a professional do it. I AM SO GLAD I DID! Here is the outcome! Oh yeah. And then I dyed it later to a darker brownish golden color to match my natural color more. The blonde highlights were growing out and it looked weird. haha

In March I turned 20 years old. It was about time!! Now I don't feel so weird being married and thinking about children and stuff like that. Chase spoiled me on my birthday. We went out with friends to Chuck-A-Rama for my birthday dinner and then went bowling at fat cats. That night was a weird give-a-way night so a guy would say "whoever gets 8 pins first gets a prize" and if you got it you won something and it was a different request every time. Chase and I won a free slushie and 2 free movie tickets! It was great! We used the tickets to see the Hunger Games. One of my favorite gifts I got for my birthday was the snow gear that Chase bought me. I got snow pants, a snow coat, thermals, gloves, socks, goggles, and a sled! We took all of our stuff up to Kelly Canyon and went sledding for a day. Oh yeah! I got a job at Chuck-A-Rama as a Cashier/Hostess/Waitress! I love my job. I earn a lot of money and have so much fun with my co-workers and the people that come in.


In April, Chase and I started our Spring Semester at BYU-Idaho. I was getting really bored so I was happy to return to school...but now I'm wishing it was over of course. Aaaand...that's about it for April.


In May we celebrated Chase's birthday! We went to the place that we had our first date...Swan Valley :) Oh how I love that place. We took a picnic, some games, and pillows and blankets down there and just relaxed for the day. We had a lot of fun :) When we got back we had a bunch of friends over for a BBQ/birthday/game night. Our friends are great cooks! It was so much fun getting together to celebrate Chase's birthday. Our friends are the best. We also celebrated our first anniversary. ONE WHOLE YEAR!! Go us! :) Big surprise for me though...Megan Lambert (my very very VERY best friend) called me up on Friday and told me that she could come to Idaho if I wanted her to come. Of course I said HECK YES and so she came and hung out with us for the weekend. :) I loved having her there. I missed seeing her and hanging out. That Saturday we went to Jackson Hole just for fun. While we were there we had lunch and shopped and just relaxed. Megan tried on a $41,000 fur coat. Crazy expensive right? We then returned to Rexburg and spent the evening playing games, eating dinner, and watching the Patriot. Good movie. Megan had to leave on Sunday morning and then I worked all day long. For our anniversary on that Monday we went out to dinner at Olive Garden (one of our favorites) and then bought a cheesecake and went home to enjoy the rest of the evening together. Oh...and cheesecake is significant because on our wedding night we ate cheesecake in our hotel room.


I'll upload pictures of our weekend with Megan later.


And NOW it is June!! Is it just me or is this year going by SO QUICKLY?! I am so excited for the rest of the year. Carly (my oldest sister) comes home from her mission NEXT MONTH! July 20th! I can't wait! School is going well for both of us and we are very anxious for it to be over. haha Only about 2 1/2 more years. Lame. Chase's window washing business is going well. He has been very busy with it lately. I am working a lot and have been super tired lately but I'll be ok. Hopefully I will keep posting more every week so you guys can know what's going on in our lives more.