Caiden goes snowboarding.

I'm seriously in awe of this child. Here's how I expected snowboarding to go down...
1. he would hate having his feet strapped in, thus freaking out.
2. he would see snow and get so distracted with eating it that he wouldn't want to snowboard.
3. he would go down once, fall, and not want to go again.
4. he would get bored quickly.
5. we would have wasted the money on his rental.

I was both pleasantly surprised and a little bit shocked at what actually happened...
1. he was, at first, a bit freaked out that his feet were strapped in, but he got over that quickly.
2. he did eat a lot of snow but it didn't distract him from how much fun he was having snowboarding, it only added to it.
3. this kid hardly fell, it was amazing. I think he fell a total of maybe 3 times, one of them pretty hard. But when I went to pick him up all I ever heard was "again, again" with a big smile on his face.
4. he did not get bored, but by the end of 3 hours he was exhausted and just wanted to lay down. He was asleep 5 minutes into our drive home.
5. absolutely, without a doubt, not a waste of money.

Christmas.

Christmas Highlight Real from Chelsey Heidorn on Vimeo.
Our Connecticut Christmas celebrations started on Christmas Eve at my sister, Jen's house. We had a huge family sleepover, all 13 of us. On Christmas Eve night we dedicated the evening to sharing our favorite childhood Christmas memories. Jen shared with us her favorite memory was acting out the nativity, and she had the grand babies + Scott do it. They looked so cute in their little costumes, I had to share some pictures. The magic of Christmas was magnified by the soft sprinkle of snow that night. Caiden woke up bright and early Christmas morning and enjoyed some episodes of Curious George in bed with me while we waited for everyone else to get up. The rest of the morning is a blur of torn wrapping paper, the biggest smiles, and the warmest feeling of love. I've said it before, but seriously this little guy is my Christmas spirit. I wanted nothing more than to see his face opening his gifts. And I got to magnify that x4 with the sweet faces of our nieces and nephews. It was perfect. We had a big breakfast, took naps, and then went to my parents house to open even more gifts. We were all a bit spoiled this year. But underneath all the gift giving and receiving my heart is turned to the real reason for this holiday. I'm so grateful for the Christmas season to feel the love of my Savior and to celebrate His birth, His life, and to feel of the peace only He can offer.

Gender Reveal.

I had all these grand ideas in my head of how this gender reveal party was going to go down. Maybe it's the holidays, or the traveling, or the actual pregnancy, but I was just too worn out to bring them all to fruition. So while there were no boards with old wives tail gender predictions, or bows/bowties for each member of their family to wear to show their guess, and there was no big decor, I can honestly say it was perfect in every way.  At our ultrasound we had the tech write down the gender. Then we brought that envelope to a store where we picked out two outfits and had the cashier ring up and wrap the outfit that would work for our baby's gender. The night of the reveal we had a dinner complete with my biggest cravings: cheeseburgers, feta and spinach omelets, and chips and salsa. We each grabbed a ribbon my mom brought over to show our gender guesses. I desperately wanted another boy, but was almost positive it was going to be a girl. Almost every member of my family thought it was going to be a girl. Miles thought it was going to be a girl. Caiden switched his answer between "just a baby" and a "baby tiger" frequently. We were all very pleasantly surprised to open up a little boy outfit. I couldn't be happier! I can't wait to hold this little guy in my arms, watch my son become a big brother, and see how much love my heart can hold.

Atlanta.

We've moved 12 times in the last 5.5 years that we've been married. During that time we've lived in five different states and nine different homes. We've also been on more vacations than I can count and have visited five different countries, we are truly blessed. But because of the constant moving and traveling I've developed a bit of an itch. If we stay in one place for a while I start to crave a new adventure; it's what seems natural. The longest we've lived in a single place was the year and a half we lived in Connecticut post-grad. We were very happy there. We saw ourselves living there for a long time, but I also felt the itch to get out and go somewhere new. And although I grew up there my entire life and was surrounded by my family and friends, it just didn't feel like our home. We pretty seamlessly transitioned to life in Atlanta from Connecticut. We love the weather, we love our area, we love all the walking trails and parks. We've made good friends, love our ward, and Miles loves his job. We truly feel like we are in the right place, like we are home.

Holiday Parties.

Nothing like a few holiday parties to get you in the Christmas spirit. We went to a Christmas Sweater party at our friend's, the Willis', house early this month. It was actually a lot harder to find an ugly Christmas sweater than I thought. We bought Miles's sweater and the stocking on it at Goodwill and I sewed that Santa stocking on. I bought Caiden's sweater from the girl's section at a children's consignment shop and took the sleeves off. I actually hard the hardest time finding him a turtleneck, which was both annoying and kind of made me kind of happy because I don't think anyone should be wearing one for real. I found my sweater at good ole Walmart. The party was a lot of fun and the Willis' were the greatest hosts. Last week Miles and I went to his work's Christmas party. It was Great Gatsby/roaring 20's themed. I started looking for a dress as soon as the theme was announced in November. I wanted to be sure to find something that would work. His office doesn't take parties lightly, every one dressed up and that made it so much fun. Caiden helped me make my headband. Miles was looking awfully dapper. They had a photographer there which was nice because I didn't want to carry my big camera in. It was fun meeting his co-workers. The only bad part was the line for food. We probably waited close to 30 minutes to eat, and to a pregnant woman that feels like at least 2 hours. They had dancers perform and had a DJ. Once I finally got some food in my big ole 19 week belly I was a happy camper. It was nice to have an evening together without distractions. 

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree.

I think we may just have a Christmas tradition of getting a baby tree. We've done it for the last 3 years. But with the number of ornaments we have it just works better. Plus you can't beat the smell of fresh pine in your home so at $25 a baby tree is the best bang for your buck! Caiden was so excited to go pick out a tree again this year. He was running up and down the isles in giddiness. This kid is my holiday spirit I tell you. He gets me so excited for Christmas. Each morning he asks "mommy we go to Neticut [Connecticut] for Cistmas [Christmas] today?" and when I say no he says "ohhh dang it" Yeah, we've learned we have to watch what we say around our parrot. Dang it is his favorite phrase. After picking out the perfect baby tree we headed home, turned on the Christmas music, munched on some donuts, and started decorating. Caiden redecorates the tree almost daily. He likes to keep it interesting.

2nd Pregnancy.

oh the difference in size between my first and second pregnancies.

Our original plan had been to start trying for another baby in September, then it got pushed to October, then November.. we just kept pushing it because we weren't ready. I was having so much fun just me and Caiden and I was scared to interrupt that. But after talking to several friends this summer that suffered from secondary infertility, I got really nervous. So we decided in July that we would start trying in hopes that we would be pregnant by November. That was not the case, we got pregnant in July. It's a little earlier than our original time table, but we are excited. I spent the first few weeks crying every time I thought about how my relationship with Caiden will change. I'm still really nervous about it. Hopefully it will be a smoother transition for all than how I picture it in my head.

This pregnancy is a lot the same as Caiden's and also a lot different. With the symptoms lining up with Caiden's with just a few extra things I've allowed myself to be hopeful for another boy. I'll also be happy if it's a girl. Most of my family thinks it's a girl. Caiden keeps telling me it's a baby tiger. He's also taken to telling me that "baby gone mommy" which has been incredibly nerve wracking.

My Pregnancy at 19 Weeks
* My food cravings have been exactly the same: chips and salsa, turkey sandwiches (oh the torture), grapes with cheese, feta and spinach omelets, and one new one: cheeseburgers.
* My hair gets greasy so fast. I used to be able to wash it every 3 days, now it needs to be washed every day. Dang hormones!
* My leg hair virtually stopped growing, and I'm not complaining about it. This is pretty much the only perk so far.
* Morning sickness wasn't too bad this time around, only lasted about 2 weeks.
* Maybe it's because I'm chasing Caiden, but I'm so much more tired this time around. I get exhausted around 11 and again at 2 and am ready for bed around 9.
* Crazy acne break out. This has been the hardest for me. It made my first trimester miserable. It's cleared up now, but did a serious number on my self confidence and my desire to ever be pregnant again.
* Felt baby move for the first time around 17 weeks. I felt Caiden move around 14 weeks and he was active constantly. I guess I assumed that was normal. So when I wasn't feeling baby move at all and Caiden kept telling me "baby gone mommy" I started to believe him. It was nice to hear the heartbeat again at 16 weeks to reassure me. Hopefully this baby is just more peaceful and calm than my boy. He has 2 speeds: full speed and asleep. It's a lot of fun but keeps me busy! A relaxed baby would be a welcomed change.
* I started showing around 8 weeks verses 20 weeks with Caiden. Thankfully I haven't grown too much since then though, I thought for sure I'd be a blimp by now. Around 12 weeks I had to start rubber banding my pants because I couldn't do up the botton anymore! And I'm already wearing maternity dresses to church because my skirts just don't fit. I bought a pair of maternity leggings and they are life altering I tell you.


All in all we are very excited. Caiden has taken a particular liking to our friends baby boys in the last few weeks. He asks me if he can "touch der cute baby toes" at church, has to be standing or sitting near a baby if they're around, sits with his arms around them, hugs them incessantly, and just generally loves to be around them. He gives my belly kisses and tells people he has a baby in his belly too. I can't believe I'm already 19 weeks. Hopefully the next 21 will fly by and crossing my fingers this baby will come all on it's own this time.