Big Brown Eyes

Dearest Christmas, Please Come Back!!

2010-12-30T12:26:00.000-08:00

So, I'm sordof in denial that Christmas is over. I refused to let Ryan take down our Christmas tree last night, and instead we left the lights on and slept by it all night. Christmas just went by too fast, and I'm having a hard time letting it go.

Ryan's family just left yesterday (we had a blast having them all here for Christmas) and Chanley and I have no idea what to do with ourselves now that they have left. We have just bummed around in our pj's all day...trying to entertain ourselves (and failing) and trying to get used to the quiet again. Chanley keeps trying to go outside because she thinks all her friends are out there playing without her. She LOVED having everyone here. She absolutely refused to take any naps the whole week, because she didn't want to miss out on any of the fun. Poor girl was running on no steam whatsoever by the end, but did suprisingly well! She would wake up every morning at the crack of dawn, sit straight up and listen for Carter and Syd. When she heard them she would get so excited! We all had a fantastic time. We don't get to see family very often, so this was such a treat for us.

Hense, the roaming around aimlessly in our pajamas all day.{*sigh*} Hopefully we'll reach a full recovery soon. :)

Thanks for coming Dianna, Mark, Tay-Tay, Brand, Jesse, Syd, and Carter. We miss you!! Please come back! :)

I did an awful job taking pics of our fun week, but I'll try to scrounge some up from Brandi and post them. But for now, here's some pics of our house. I had a fun time decorating this year. Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!!

Our Sweet Lil' Girl

2010-12-08T07:54:00.000-08:00

Chanley is SUCH a sweet, cuddly girl and I love it! She is so good at giving hugs and kisses, and loves just to cuddle up on my lap. It's heaven. :)

Cute experience. The other day we were eating at A and W. Chanley wanted to get down from the table and walk around, so we let her. Next thing I know she was walking towards an older lady in a nearby booth. This was a little uncharacteristic of her, since she's pretty shy around new faces. Anyway she went right up to her and just put her little hand on this lady's leg. Then she put her head on her leg and gave her a hug. (Well, her leg a hug, since that's all she could reach.) The lady just melted. :) She looked at me like, "I think she's hugging me!" She told us that Chanley just made her night.

I just love my girl.

Just the Three of Us

2010-11-28T22:44:00.000-08:00

We had such a good Thanksgiving weekend. Just the 3 of us. :) We stayed in most of the time, but it was perfect. Just cause.

We...

Laughed (a lot.)

Stayed in our PJ's for 3 days straight. (Ok, maybe that was just me. Ry just loves it when I wear my sweats. Not.) ;)

Cuddled on the couch.

Ate Turkey and Pie together.

Watched a lot of football. (Even Chanley seemed interested. Ry was so proud.) There was one point she had fries in one hand and pizza in the other while she was watching football and Ry gushed, "Channy, you're SUCH a good girl!"

Decorated our tree. The best part by far was Chan's excitement when we turned on the lights. She ooh'd and aw'd all night. Lil' cutie.

Wrapped presents. (Well, tried anyway. Chanley was helping.) :)

Listened to Christmas music.

Stayed up late watching movies. (Ok, Ry stayed up late while I snored next to him.)

Watched old Christmas cartoons. Love those!

Shopped the Black Friday madness....yeah dumb move.

Took naps. Glorious naps.

Memory I don't want to forget.

Tonight we were all laying on mom and dad's bed. Chanley's so funny. Sometimes she just gets in a really cuddly mood. (Which i LOVE.) Chanley would lay her head on my chest and give me a big hug for like 15 sec, and then sit up and lay on Ryan's chest and do the same thing. Then she'd sit up and lay her little head on my chest again, and then Ryan's... She went back and forth. Just cuddling with us. She must have done that for 20 minutes. She had this cute little grin on her face and she just melted our hearts to pieces. It was one of those moments that I could have stayed in forever.

I know, mushy mushy! I love it. :)

I am so THANKFUL for my little family. Hope ya'll had a good Thanksgiving.

Watchin' Football. Can't have Thanksgiving without football, or so I'm told. (Bah!)

I had to share...

2010-07-21T13:02:00.000-07:00

Chanley's gift for Ryan for Father's Day. We put these in a frame for him to put in his office. Believe me getting Chanley AND the words in the same shot was not an easy feat, but we had fun. :)

Ry, thank you so much for being such a wonderful father to Chan.
She couldn't adore you more.

MIA

2010-07-18T21:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry everyone I have been awful about updating lately! What can I say, life has been NUTS! I have about a gajillion pics I need to post of our recent adventures. Since I last posted we went to Nebraska to visit Ryan's sister, and went to Idaho to visit my family for two weeks. Not to mention Father's day, 4th of july, girls camp, and just plain summer pics...Don't worry I'll post all those soon. Until then I'll post a recent pic of Chanley. She's growing up so stinkin fast!! It makes me a little sad...

Here's just a few updates on our lil girl.

-She's got tonz of hair all of a sudden! And in the sun it almost has a reddish look to it. We pretty much think she's the cutest baby in the world. I've had a hard time putting pig tails in her hair though because it makes her look older. :)

::She just got her 4th tooth!! She doesn't look like my baby Chanley anymore...she's looking like a little girl! (tears *sniff*) Can you tell I'm having a little trouble getting used to this growing up crap. :) Anyway she did pretty good teething wise. She all of a sudden bit me a lot more and started drooling, but other than that I had no idea she was cutting teeth!
But let me tell ya those little buggers are sharp!

-She loves to swim and be outside, we're pretty much at the pool every day. She also loves to go on walks in her stroller. Any time the door opens she is bookin' it over there to try to get outside.

::She is starting to say momma!! She's been saying dadda for awhile but not momma... needless to say I was pretty excited the first time she said it. Don't laugh but it almost made me cry.

-She is soooo ticklish. Particularly her feet, under her arms, and under her chin. It is hilarious how loud she giggles. She also loves it when I lay her down and tickle her with my hair.

::She loves to walk, but isn't quite brave enough to do it on her own yet. We bought her this toy that she can walk behind and push and she gets this big triumphant smile on her face.

-She has learned how to take off her diaper. That's been fun. :)

::She is a very good eater. She especially loves fruit. The other day I was making freezer jam with my mom and she sat in her high chair for 2 hours eating strawberries. Needless to say she is a roley-poley baby. She has rolls on her wrists, her belly, her thighs...aw we love it! You just have to squeeze and kiss those chubby cheeks.

-She loves to make messes. I feel like some days all I do is just follow her around picking up after her. She really loves to scatter papers (then try to eat them), and pull all the dvd's off the shelves (and put them in her mouth), and the speakers...well you get the idea.

::She love to clap, wave and jabber. We just discovered Barney and she loves it when they sing. She starts to move her arms and clap with the music. She also loves it when mommy sings and dances in the kitchen with her.

-She LOVES her daddy. Everyday when he comes home from work she gets so excited and just wants daddy to play with her. Ryan is also amazing at putting her to bed every night. She'll just lay her head down, look up to make sure he's still there, then put her head back down and repeat it until she falls asleep. Its so adorable.

::She's a really, easy-going, relaxed, chill baby and for that I am very grateful. She does pretty good at keeping to her schedule during the day but is even happy if she skips a nap. The only issue we're having is that she LOVES to wake up in the middle of the night and come to bed with mom and dad. Any advice anyone on how to get her to sleep in her crib all night? I complain about her not sleeping through the night, but secretly I know I will miss her little hands grabbing at my face in an attempt to wake me up every morning. There's nothing better than waking up to her little smiling face next to mine.

Every day I marvel at the many blessings in my life. Sometimes I just watch Chanley and get so overwhelmed with joy knowing I am her mother. She brings so much laughter and happiness into our lives. I'm so grateful for my Chanley girl.

--::--

3 years baby!

2010-05-27T21:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Ryan and I celebrated our 3rd year anniversary. Wow I can't believe it! It blows my mind how fast time flies, and yet I can't remember life without Ryan. He's my best friend... he's my everything. He continues to amaze me every day and I'm more in love with him now than ever. Don't get me wrong our marriage has it's bad days just like everyone else's, but when it comes down to it he's the one I want next to me at the end of the day and the one I want to wake up to in the morning.

I love you babe. Here's to many more tomorrow's together.

You are my sunshine

2010-05-11T14:24:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day 2010
Hope all you awesome women out there had a wonderful Mother's Day. I know I sure did.
Now that I am a mother I have a teeny tiny idea of what my mom went through raising all of us.
Being a mom means your time is no longer your own.
My mom is the perfect example of sacrifice and love.
She would do anything for us.
Mom, THANK YOU!
I only hope I can be the kind of mother to Chanley that you are to all of us.

Also thank you Dianna, for raising such a wonderful son.
I couldn't have asked for a better mother-in-law.

~~::~~

Ryan and Chanley--THANK YOU for making my first Mother's Day so special,
{I even got breakfast and dinner out of the deal!} I love you both so much!

~doesn't get any better than this~

Oh HAPPY, HAPPY Day!!

2010-05-07T13:54:00.000-07:00

HALLELUJAH!

WE FINALLY GOT A {real} MATTRESS!

Yes you heard right, a MATTRESS!! For some reason, we just never got around to buying one. (I know crazy right?) We've moved around a lot since we've been married (7 times to be exact) so it was just a hassle to move it around. (Plus, they're pretty darn pricey!) So what have we been sleeping on you may ask? A good ole' air mattress. We just put it on our bed frame. It worked alright for us, but it's been THREE YEARS! It was soooo time for a real one. Don't you think?

Chanley representing all of our joy.

{My Faith}

2010-05-05T11:05:00.000-07:00

Today I'm feeling gratitude. Gratitude for my Savior, for my life, my family... Today we {hopefully} reached the end of a long, {crazy} difficult ordeal for our family. It hasn't been easy by any means but even so I know we can be made stronger through our trials.

Having a bad day? Watch this sweet, short video HERE
{You may have to scroll down a little but its a short video called "My New Life."}

Everytime I listen to this woman's story it inspires me to live my best life.

There really is so much to be grateful for...so much.

Playing catch-up

2010-04-13T21:26:00.000-07:00

Wow i have really failed horribly at blogging these last few weeks. In my defense though, it has been a pretty crazy around here. In fact we are leaving in just a few hours to travel to ID for McKay's farewell. I'll post more about it later. Until then, here's a few updates:

We had a great Easter- My family (bless them) drove all the way here (9 1/2 hours...8 people...) to see us. It was fun to show them around a little bit of our new turf. We went to the Aquarium, which was cool, I'd never been to one and it kept everyone (even the babies) pretty entertained. The boys went on a tour of Investco field, and we did the usual Easter stuff. Of course it was great to watch conference as well. I absolutely LOVE conference weekend, I really look forward to it every six months.

Chanley's first Easter. (More pics to come)

Fun at the aquarium{disclaimer- so of course my camera's battery dies right before we get to the cool fishies...I was so bummed. So sorry for the lame fish pics}

We closed on our condo! We finally got into our new house last Thursday. It was quite the process. Every time we move I am reminded why I hate it so much. Actually it hasn't been that bad for me this time, because Ryan has done the majority of the work since I've been taking care of a sick baby. I've been able to pack a bit when Chanley is sleeping, but other than that Ry has moved it all. (I know, he's the best). On top of moving, I also had to prepare a talk for church on Sunday and prepare my lesson from YW...yeah it was kindof a stressful week.

We're pretty excited about our new place, its perfect for us. And we're very VERY excited to not be renting any more. It's such a liberating feeling to know you own your own place.

Closing day! Pic of us and our realtor (who was a total sweetheart!)

(Sorry for the poor quality pic...it was on self timer)

This is why I'm LUCKY.

2010-03-17T18:41:00.000-07:00

How'd we celebrate St. Patrick's Day? Mint Oreo shakes, Netflix, and hangin out as a family.

Perfect.

2010-03-12T14:37:00.001-08:00

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Celebrate good times, come-on!!!!

2010-03-12T11:13:00.001-08:00

So Ry and I have some good news! We put an offer on a condo and they accepted! We are so so excited about everything about this place. Things go pretty quick in the area we were looking at so we had to snatch it up fast. Its really sinking in now that we are actually doing this. We are so excited/nervous/scared/happy...ect. We've experienced every emotion in the book these past few weeks, but we are really excited about purchasing our own place! (Even though you feel your signing your life away when you sign all those papers) We're scheduled to close on the 30th so hopefully everything goes as planned. Cross your fingers!

Oh bytheway the video above is of Ryan and I boogying down at the thought of owning our own place!!! No more renting! Wahoooooooooooooooo!!!!!!! Aww we're growing up... (tear*sniff*sigh) :)

Spring Fever!

2010-03-02T18:17:00.000-08:00

Hello SUNSHINE! I'm so so ready for SPRING! I can feel it comin and I can't WAIT! Its been a beautiful couple days here in Denver!

Today I had a pretty bad case of SPRING FeVeR! I was sooooo pumped/modivated/excited/itchin' to:

-- clean our place from top to bottom...

--get more organized and make a 30 day meal plan

--sell all our furniture

--buy all new furniture

--clean out my closet

--get rid of a bunch of clothes and shoes I haven't worn in ages

--become more crafty :make new pillow cases for our bed/get a new sham and redecorate Chanley's room

--Also I'm SO excited for garage sales (I admit I totally love findin' little treasures and getting a BARGAIN)

Is this a bit obsessive??? Probably...but I can't help it! Spring is in the air!

The hospital...not Chanley's favorite place.

2010-02-16T19:59:00.000-08:00

What a week! I am so so so so grateful it is over!! So on Thurs Chanley wasn't getting any better so I was getting a little worried. She had so much gunk in her and the bulb syringe wasn't cutting it. I called a nurse and told her all of Chan's symptoms and she thought it would probably be good to get Chan to a doctor that day. So Ryan left work early and we took her to a pediatric urgent care near our home. The doctor was a little concerned with her O2 level and could here some wheezing when she listed to her breathing. She also said that Chan had an ear infection! Poor girl! No wonder she was so miserable. The doctor diagnosed her with bronchiolitis and said she wanted Chanley to stay at the hospital that night. We ended up waiting 3 or 4 hours while they tried to find Chanley a room at a nearby pediatric wing.

Bronchiolitis is a form of RSV and the whole pediatric unit Chanley stayed in was FULL of babies with this. So here's a little rundown of the illness: your lungs have braches of broniolioles which are very small, especially in babies. They get inflamed and get filled with mucous and it makes it hard for O2 to get to that part of the lung, so the baby has to work harder to breath. So they hooked Chanley up to O2 and started trying to get as much mucous out of her as they could. They had this really nifty machine that kindof acts like a vaccuum and sucks the boogies out. It worked so much better than my bulb syringe. Chan hated every second of it. She would kick and wiggle and scream and cry and try everything to get loose. She was soon known as the "strong-willed" baby to all the drs. and nurses. They had an O2 moniter taped to her toe monitering her blood O2 level and Chan kicked it off every time they would put it on. She's a smart little girl, she learned pretty quick that the people in yellow masks and gowns meant bad news and would try anything to get away. She was such a good little sport though. There was either a dr, nurse, or respiratory dr in our room every hour, checking O2 levels, sucking boogies, giving her eardrops, giving her Tylenol, taking her vital signs, and giving her her antibiotics for her ear infection. It was a very long few days for all of us. Ryan and I got sick as well, and I soon discovered that the only thing worse than taking care of a sick child is being sick YOURSELF while trying to take care a sick baby. I stayed with her the whole time and slept on a fold out chair at night. Ryan took some time off work and would go home at night to sleep because there wasn't enough room for both of us to stay, and then would come back to the hospital as soon as he could the next morning. We ended up staying at the hospital a few days longer than we thought because every time they took Chan off the O2 she dipped too low. Steve Collis, a good friend of our was able to come to the hospital to help Ryan give Chan a blessing. I'm so so grateful Chanley was able to recieve that and that I married a man worthy to give that blessing to her. I have a strong testimony of the power of the priesthood -it has blessed our lives so much.

They let Chanley come home on Sunday night with O2, which hopefully she won't have to use for long. She has already improved so much since we've been home and is almost back to her old self, which we are so grateful for. Hopefully she continues to get better. Thank you everyone for all your love and prayers!

P.S. Hope everyone had a great Valentines Day!

My sick little babe :(

2010-02-09T20:10:00.000-08:00

Whew it's been a very exhausting few days. I've decided nothing quite tugs at a mothers heartstrings than seeing your baby sick. Chanley started acting a little fussy on Sunday, and throughout the day developed a little cough. That night she didn't sleep or eat very well, and the next day she had a very nasty cough, runny nose, and was running a fever. There are times when she will just scream and be totally inconsolable. It seems to really flare up at night, she'll get pretty upset so we'll rock her and rock her until she calms down, and then she'll cough and start crying all over again. It must hurt her little throat to cough. You just want to cough up all that mucous for her-I feel so helpless! Needless to say Ryan and I haven't slept very much in the last few days. Last night Chanley had a temp of 102 and I stayed up most of the night holding her and wiping her head with a cool rag. Today I thought she was doing a little better, she took a few naps as long as I was holding her. But then later on she seemed miserable again. At one point I was holding her and she must have gagged as she coughed because she threw up all over her, all over me, the carpet, EVERYWHERE. Poor little girl. I wish so bad I could make her feel better. Well Ryan just went to buy a humidifier...hopefully that helps.

More pics..

2010-02-04T15:17:00.000-08:00

Still playing catch up. Love this girl.

Cuddling close to Daddy

Aren't those shoes simply ADORABLE?!?

A pond by our house that we stopped at on our way home from church one day.

5 weeks!

oops! This is Chan's face after she pooped on daddy! Hahahah

Bath time!

1 month

Awwwww

So sweet.

Soakin up the beautiful fall sunshine.

Isn't this just the sweetest picture? I think so.

Love her facial expressions!

Chan and Daddy checkin out the pretty sunset.

3 weeks

I can't believe that Chanley is 6 MONTHS OLD! Wow time seriously flies. I'm still trying to catch up on Chan's pictures...here's some more! These were taken right after our move to CO when Chanley was just 2 weeks old. (P.S. I wouldn't recommend making a major move right after you have a baby.)

Chan's pics continued...

2010-02-01T07:53:00.000-08:00

Chanley with her great-grandpa and great-grandma Townsend.

Daddy adores his little girl incase you couldn't tell. :)

My cousin Katie -this is actually a rare pic because Chanley is actually taking her binkie..something she hasn't done since...

Deciding she doesn't like that binkie very much...

Grandpa with Chanley.

Chanley's first REAL bath. And she LOVED it! She looked like she was at a spa or something. She would just lay there and put her feet up and sigh. It was too cute! This was actually Chanley's signature look for a long time. She would always put her little fist up by her face.

Chan slept throughout the whole game. Thanks sweety.

My sisters and daddy

At the Dome in Pocatello watching my brother Ryan's football game.

Worn out after a long day... I really dislike moving can I just tell you.

Aunt Aubrey hanging out with Chanley while mommies clean.

These pics were taken in the middle of our move. Ryan's dad, and my mom and dad came to help us. Ryan and his dad left with the U-haul early and drove to Denver so that we could get the keys to our new apartment. They drove all night actually and then unloaded everything by themselves. (Not an easy feat but they were good sports about it). My dad left the next day to get back to work which left my mom and I PLUS our babies to clean out our apartment. WOWWWWEEEE that was quite the experience. What we thought would only take a couple hours ended up being a whole day (and might I add slightly stressful) event. Have you ever tried cleaning an apartment from top to bottom with not 1 but 2 babies?? This is pretty much what our day consisted of:

-feed the baby (ies)

-change diaper

-keeping babies entertained

-start washing the cabinets

-change diaper

-feed babies

-continue washing the cabinets

-check on crying baby

-get teething tablets for Aubrey

-feed babies

-change diaper

-finish washing the cabinets

ect.

you get the idea...

Aunt Aubrey looks concerned...

Before and After--standing in front of the hospital where Chan was born.

Taking Chan to the doctor!

She loves sticking her tongue out. :)
Ryan's cousin Whitney, Sydni, and Chanley

Getting loves from cousin Sydni-12 days old! Ryan's sister Brandi and some of his cousins were kind enough to come help us pack before we moved to CO. I have no idea how we would have done it without them since I was SOOO extremely exhausted....we'd probably still be in Rexburg actually. Thanks guys!!!

I love this face

Hangin out with Daddy watchin sports.

Aaaand she's awake. :)

10 days old -I had to hurry and take this picture before Chan woke up. Chanley slept in her crib very rarely at the beginning. She LOVED to sleep with mom and dad. She didn't start sleeping in her crib at night until she was about a month old. Now sleeping through the NIGHT is a different story...we're still working on that.

I'm still trying to catch up on all my pics of Chanley. It's kindof an overwhelming feat since I have so many to go through but I've got to just buckle down and do this. These pics are the last we took in Idaho before our move to Denver. Little Chanley was just 2 weeks old when we moved.

Catching up on Chan's pics!

2010-01-26T15:24:00.000-08:00

LOVE her smile. :)

Cheerin on Uncle Ryan -Chanley's really enjoying the game. :)

Chanley at her first football game-9 days old! You gotta love it. :)

Big Yawn

She's always been really alert

Chanley loves to put her blankets right up to her face

Chanley playing in her crib!

Whoops! haha daddy gets peed on for the first time.

8 days -Chanley getting a sponge bath. She looooves her baths. :)

Ever since Chanley was born she has loved getting her diaper changed. She gets this big smile on her face and starts kicking her legs really fast. haha. This little girl loves bein naked! :)

1 week old. She loved playing with that little stuffed puppy!

So sweet.

Waving goodbye.

6 days old -Going to her first doctors appt!

This pic makes me laugh. :)

Ryan emptied the diaper genie and this was how many diapers there were after just a few days.

4 days old-going out for the first time. She had to go back to the hospital to get her blood taken. It was so sad watching her get her little foot pricked, she was such a brave little girl!

Grandma Visser

Uncle Brandon

I love all of her facial expressions :)

Uncle Ryan- Chanley looks so small!

Peace

Uncle Jimmy (as McKay prefers to be called) :)

Grandpa Carl

Great G-pa Bill

Grandpa Carl, Nana, and Jessie

Great grandma Diane and Great grandpa Bill

Tay what'd you do to her? haha jk

Aunt Tay

So precious!

Aunt Tay and Aunt Becca

Aunt Becca

Chanley with Grandma Dianna

3 days old! Chanley meets the family!!

ChAnLeY jOrDyN

born:

8/19/09

3:03 a.m.

6 lbs 13 oz

19 1/2 inches long

Ok so here's the start of me catching up on Chan's life so far... I posted pic of the day she was born so I'll start with right after we brought her home from the hospital...

Chanley is 5 months old!!

2010-01-19T10:19:00.000-08:00

Wow I can't believe that Chanley is 5 months old! I've decided watching your child grow up is a bittersweet process. It is so amazing being able to watch her grow and develop each day, yet a little sad because its going sooooo fast! She's not my tiny little baby anymore. :( Chanley has been such a blessing and she puts a permanent smile on our faces all day long. Our lives have changed so much since she's been born. She's the best decision we've ever made. Now anyone that knows me knows I LOVE to take pics and I've got several hundred of Chan...yeah crazy I know. Someday I'll try to catch up on all of them....aw someday.

Sleep talking

2010-01-18T22:00:00.000-08:00

So I had to write some of the funny things that Ry has been saying in his sleep lately. He's never been one to "sleep talk" before so I wonder if this sudden bout is because he is a little sleep deprived. (AKA-Chanley). It all started a few nights ago. I climbed in bed after putting Chan down and Ryan curled up next to me so I thought he was awake, and suddenly he says to me very matter-of-factly, "I'm a man." I'm thinking...yes hunny I sure hope so. :) I asked him about it the next morning but he denied saying any such thing.

The next night I woke up in the middle of the night because I thought I heard Chan, and I thought I woke Ry up cause he cuddled up next to me and said very sincerely, "Alysha... I love you." Awwww how sweet is that! :) I told him I loved him too and then I fell back asleep. Come to find out the next morning that Ryan didn't remember the conversation at all! (Soooo I guess this means that Ry loves me even when he's not conscious of it! Is that true love or what??) :)

Ok so then a few nights ago Chanley woke up in the middle of the night and Ry got up to get her. (He always brings her to me whenever she wakes up so I don't have to get up...I know he's such a sweety). Anyway so this particular night I told Ry to just pat her bum for a second to see if she'd go back to sleep and he says to me, "Alysha, I don't have time." WHAT?? Wait a second...Im thinkin you got some other pressing business you need to get to? I was a little confused by this but I was too tired to try to figure it out so I just let him bring her to me and I put her back to sleep. Of course the next morning Ry doesn't remember a thing. Funny eh? We'll have to see if the sleep talkin continues...its kindof amusing. :)

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-28T08:56:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas was so great this year, we were bummed it went by so fast. I'll post more pics soon! Happy holidays everyone!

Our Thanksgiving '09

2009-12-16T09:01:00.001-08:00

Love my little family

We found some cool rocks by our apartment and decided to stop and take some pics.

Sydni and Mark's creation

The weather was so beautiful we all decided to go on a walk.

Haha Carter representing how full we all felt

So we decided to go to a yummy restaurant for Thanksgiving dinner. It was soo delicious!

Cousin Sydni givin' Chanley loves

haha priceless

Aunt Tay with Chan

He really loved Chanley. He would light up and get so excited every time her saw her. It was way cute.

Our nephew Carter. Love his facial expressions!

--::--

Our Thanksgiving was so fun this year. Some of Ryan's family were able to come visit us, and it was so great to spend time with all of them! The little ones grow up so dang fast! We are campaigning pretty hard for Ryan's sister and her family to come live in Denver when Jessie is done with dental school. :) We'll keep tryin anyway.

Anyway we had soooo much to be thankful for this year. Here's a quick little list::::

First and foremost the Gospel. Don't know where we'd be without it in our lives.

Our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ

Our baby girl Chanley

Our marriage

The temple

Our families

Our friends

The prophet

A car that runs

The missionaries (so proud of you Jake)

Graduating college

Ryan's job

Our apartment

Food/clothes/heat! ect

Our health

The mountains outside our house

Our new ward and callings

Freedom

Card games

Papa Johns pizza :)

Our week in Idaho

2009-12-04T11:00:00.000-08:00

Daddy was pretty excited to see Chan after a whole week!

Chanley after her first airplane ride!

Luke was SO excited for the first snowfall he couldn't wait to go outside and build a snowman, even though there wasn't a whole lot of it yet. He had such a good time with dad.

Precious.

Chanley loved swinging in Aubrey's swing

I love all her different facial expressions :)

Chanley playin with uncle Ryan

I had a lot of fun taking this pictures of Aub. They turned out so cute!

Channy

Luke loved his halloween costume! He was still wearing it a few weeks later. :)

Taking a walk
She's such a cutie!

Grandpa and Chan-he was so good at putting her to sleep

Aunt Aubrey and Chanley with grandpa

So after Chanley's blessing Ryan had to drive back to CO for work, and Chan and I got to go back to ID with my family so we could spend some time with my family. We had a really good time, and it was fun for them to be able to spend some time with Chan. After our week was over Chan and I flew back to Denver and Ry picked us up at the airport. It was a little bit challenging getting through security on my own with a baby, but everything else went awesome! Chan was great during the flight, she just looked outside the window at the clouds and slept most of the way. Everyone kept talking about her and how cute she was. We did have a little blowout when we were decending into Denver, so I had to change her on my lap and ended up wrapping a blanket around her because I was out of clean pants. All in all it went pretty smoothly-we will take the hour and a half flight over eight + hrs in the car any day!

Chanley's Blessing

2009-12-01T12:57:00.000-08:00

I love Chan's facial expression in this one. So cute!

I had to get a shot of her adorable shoes

Great-grandma Grace

Great-grandpa Bill

Grandma and grandpa Visser (with Luke)

Grandma Dianna, Mark and Chan

LOVE her eyes

I love this picture of her

Chanley with "Uncle Jimmy" as he prefers to be called. :)

A shot of her darling dress

AdOrAbLe

Grandpa Carl with Chan

Sleeping beauty. We interrupted her nap to take some pictures. :)
Sorry sweetie.

Uncle Keefe holding Chanley

Outside the church before the blessing

Ready to go!

Getting ready to go to the church! She seems pretty excited about it.

Aunt Tay holding Chanley- It was so fun to be able to spend the wk end with Ryan's family!

---::---
We finally blessed Chan! Wahoo! It was quite the process trying to figure out the best time and place for all of our family to make it, we joked that by the time we finally blessed her that she would be able to walk up there by herself. :) We ended up traveling to Ryan's hometown in Wyoming and blessed her on November 8th. I was a little worried about how Chan would do with the long drive but she was an absolute ANGEL, which I am really grateful for. My family was able to travel from Idaho to be there and it was so wonderful to share this special day surrounded by loved ones.

The blessing was absolutely beautiful and the spirit was so strong, of course I cried during the entire thing. I am so grateful that I am married to such a wonderful husband who holds the priesthood and was able to hold our little girl in his arms and bless her. My heart is so full with gratitude to my Heavenly Father for the many many blessings He has given us. Ryan and I thank Him every day for sending Chanley to our family. She is a very special little girl and has the sweetest spirit. I feel very grateful and humbled that God has chosen me to be her mother.

HaPpY HaLlOwEeN!!!

2009-11-02T13:37:00.000-08:00

Soooo sweet!

Chanley in her halloween outfit. (It was pretty tough getting this picture...she must have pooped in it three times before I could finally get a picture of her in it)

LOVE this lil girl!

Chanley with her first pumpkin :)

The carmel apples were so hard to eat! It took me all night just to finish one. Chet and Ryan didn't seem to have any trouble though.

There was soooo much carmel on those apples. Yummmmm

They look soooo good!

Chanleys look in this pic is priceless. :) She looks a little disgusted with us.

Can't wait to try these beauties!

Taste test!

This was my first time making carmel apples and it was A LOT of fun!

We made yummy carmel apples!

We went over to our good friends Chet and Kristi's house for Halloween. It was so fun! We played games until after midnight. This is their little boy Braden. He LOVES Chanley and always gets so excited when he see's her. He's a cutie.

Haha too cute if I do say so myself :)

So I decided I would get in the Halloween spirit and make these spider cupcakes to give away. They were a lot of fun to make. I was a little worried at first but they didn't turn out too bad!

They turned out soooo cute!

Ry did such a good job carving the pumpkins!

We went to a pumpkin patch to pick out some pumpkins. We picked out one for each of us.

We had SUCH an awesome Halloween this year. It's so fun to be starting our new family traditions! Its Chan's first Halloween!! Awwwww

~ Chanley is born!! ~

2009-10-28T10:55:00.000-07:00

First family pic- Leavin the hospital.

Already Daddy's lil' girl

Ry was so sweet in the hospital, he changed EVERY SINGLE one of Chan's diapers :)

Pretty impressive eh?

I love this picture. :0)

so cuuuuuuute!

Sooooo cute!

Had to take a pic of the back of Chan's head to show off that hair!

Aunt Aubrey with her niece Chanley-how cute is that?!

Love this face!

xoxo

There's no feeling in the world that compares to holding your newborn baby.

Uncle Lukey

Grandma V. holdin Chan

Ry sleepin. We'd been up for quite a while.

Love her.

sweety

Proud daddy

Aunt Becca

I'm a grandpa!

So amazing. She's perfect.

SHE'S HERE!

Daddy-to-be is pretty excited. :)

I love how Aubrey curls her tongue haha

Luke got a little bored waiting so he started watching movies

Luke was so excited for the baby to come. He kept asking "did she come out yet?" He'd would be so disappointed when we'd tell him not yet. He held out until 1 am but then he finally fell asleep.

They had Taco Bell right in front of me. :) All I got was ice chips.

Ry and Aub. just waitin to meet the baby....

Last look at the big belly!

Hmmm...havin second thoughts about this...

Lets do this...how hard can it be?

About to put on the hospital gown. There's no turning back now!

The delivery room--gettin pretty excited!

Bring it on!

Going into the hospital...sorry about all the pics but we had to document everything. :) We were pretty dang excited!

~::~

Chanley was born August 19th, 2009 in Rexburg, Idaho. We were admitted into the hospital at 11 am and she finally came at 3:06 am the following morning. We should've known she'd come in the middle of the night, because thats usually when she'd come alive and do her gymnastics in mom's tummy. :) The night before we went to the hospital she was particularly active and even woke Ryan up because she was kicking him so hard! (She must've been pretty excited to come out and knowing her parents who could blame her?) jk. Needless to say neither of us slept a wink that night and little did we know we wouldn't be getting anymore for the next couple weeks. (Chan had her days and nights a little mixed up at first.)
Anyway after some grueling labor, (I now have a new appreciation for my mother. Thanks for going through all that for me..) our little girl was born. She weight 6 lbs 13 oz, and was 19 1/2 inches long. Her poor little face was a little swollen from the delivery, but she was still a little doll. She instantly had her dad wrapped around her finger. :) We love, love, LOVE our little girl!

Prego pics!

2009-10-27T12:36:00.001-07:00

3 days before Chan is born

Me and my cousin Kate

Luke and Becca

Cute clothes for Chanley

The diaper game that some found questionable :)

Presents-Yahoo! :)

Nannette, Sydni, and Jessie playin a game

Brandi and Aunt Norma

cute cute. And those cinnamon rolls were amazing!

My lil niece Syd

Ry's little sis Tay

~36 weeks~

My cute sisters-thanks for your help too!

The balloon flowers turned out SO CUTE! Thanks Ry, Lindsay, and Jared!

My mom came up to Rexburg to help throw me a baby shower-love her.

My aunt Amy measurin my big belly

Pacifier cupcakes :)

Yummy food

My cousin Sheena with Aubrey

Baby Showers!!!
SO much fun! Thank you so much mom, Brandi, Aunt Amy, Aunt Norma, and Dianna for throwing them, you 're the best!

More of our summer! --Kirsten's Sealing--

2009-10-27T09:02:00.000-07:00

On the ride home-thought this was a cute pic. Ry is feeding Aubrey while Luke is watching a movie on his lap. Oh and then there's McKay... :)

My cousin Kirsten and her hubby Brant-such an awesome day for them

LOVE these ones of Aub

McKay lookin all dapper :)

~Love this~

Brandon: the photographer

He looks a little bored :)

It was such a beautiful day I just had to post all these awesome pics that Brandon took of Luke while we were in the Temple
~::~

This past summer we had the chance to go to my cousin Kirsten and her husband Brant's Sealing in the Bountiful Temple. It was a really neat experience, I'm so glad they let us share it with them.

Our Summer '09 part II

2009-10-26T18:22:00.001-07:00

Cute Tatum

Love that face!

Ry is such a bum -I didn't weigh THAT much! :)

My cute grandma

My cousin's little girl Tatum. She liked eating the dirt :)

-My hubby-the football star- :)

My cousin's daughter Sydni, my cousin Megan, and Aubrey

Townsend get-together! It was fun to get to see everybody!

-Love this one of Aub-

My cousin Katie and Aubrey

McKay got his Eagle this past summer-it was an awesome experience! We are so proud of him!

Our Summer '09

2009-10-26T14:57:00.000-07:00

And of course our Lagoon trip wouldn't be complete without our western picture-quite the family eh?

Eating pizza on the hood of our car on the way home-gotta love it!

Ry after 2 days at Lagoon

My Uncle Jared-goofball :)

My dad and uncle Jared are the crazy ones in the front.

My Dad and Luke- They had a lot of fun

My big belly. 36 weeks :)

Water park! My favorite part

Ferris Wheel!

Luke-too cute!

RiDeS!!! (Guess who was the designated photographer?)

My mom and Aubrey-Love her rosy cheeks!!!
Lagoon!

Goin to the Famous Preston Night Rodeo! Dad and my brother Brandon

Ryan hangin out with Aubrey

My cousin Katie holding Aubrey

Luke. Gotta love snow cones!

Aub and daddy-so sweet.

-Love it-

Always a happy baby :)

My mom and Aubrey

Aubrey

Jumpin on the tramp

Luke gettin all wet

We were visiting my parents one weekend and it started pouring...so naturally everyone went outside to play!

Graduation!!!

2009-10-26T09:24:00.000-07:00

WE DID IT!

My mom and I

My dad and darling little sister Aubrey

Me and my little sis Becca

I had to post this pic cause Ryan's mom, my mom, and Nannette all showed up wearing yellow. It was too funny!

Ry and his dad

Ryan's dad and Nannette

My family -well some of them

Showin off my big belly!

Ry, his mom, and Mark

- All the graduates-

Ryan and I graduated from BYU-I this last July. Wahoo! It was sordof bittersweet because of course we were excited to be done, but yet we had a blast bein' college students. So many good memories! Minus the freezing weather, we are really going to miss Rexburg and BYU-I. But we're ready to take on this next part of our lives!

Blog

2009-10-26T09:13:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm going to try to do better at this blogging thing. So to all of ya who keep asking here it is! It will be nice to keep all our fam updated on our lives since we don't live near any of them anymore, :( but mostly we just want to show off our lil' gal! So enjoy!