Yosemite with the Youngin'

I remember a few months before Elin was born I polled some moms on The Bump for advice on traveling with a 3 month old in Europe. I wanted to see what they recommended in terms of strollers, sleeping arrangements and such. I remember one mom criticizing me for wanted to travel with a baby that young. I decided I shouldn't tell her that we were also planning a trip to California when she was 6 weeks old. And not just California, but Yosemite. Granted we did not camp in a tent but we stayed in a cabin with propane power and an outhouse in the middle of nowhere. So it's a little like camping. Quite a bit like camping actually. For all the fun details about Chateau a la Chance you can read about our visit last year here. It was a little different this year as we had a teeny little baby with us. 

This year we invited our good friends Steve & Diane to join use along with their daughter Hannah. They used to be our neighbors in Virginia and it was their first time meeting Elin! We all enjoyed getting to see each other again with nightly cookouts, hikes around the cabin and good old fashioned catching up by the campfire. No computers. No Iphones. No TV. Given the few modern conveniences the cabin offers, this wasn't difficult to do!

Of course we had to show them around the park so one of the days Steve and Colin tackled the 8 mile Perimeter Trail while Diane and I walked the kids around the valley. It was quite a first for Elin and Hannah as the temperature that day was 104 degrees. We took a very short "hike" straight to the Merced River and sat for a good hour to cool off. After deciding Elin had enough of that we camped out in an air conditioned cafe in Curry Village for the rest of the afternoon. The heat was enough to exhaust all of us and we enjoyed a lazy dinner by the firepit that evening (fortunately the cabin is at a much higher elevation and therefore it was a bit cooler!). 

The rest of the week was fairly uneventful. Colin's dad and stepmom joined us for a couple of days before we headed south to San Diego to spend the week with my family in San Diego. Elin got to meet everyone in the neighborhood and even got to spend an evening with her Grani Karen while Colin and I joined my dad for a Padre game. It was a great week and I am so glad we had the time to bring Elin home to meet everyone!

Glacier Point before Colin and Steve's big hike

Exhausted after an afternoon in Yosemite Valley.

A visit to Tuolomne Meadows

Hanging by the campfire. Ugh, I look enormous!

Cooling off in the river

 Steve & Colin marveling at their accomplishment

Diane, Steve & Hannah at Glacier Point!

Elin update & a hospital stay.

So I have decided my blogging just isn't that exciting these days. I used to blog about some fascinating adventures. Like swimming with jelly fish, scuba diving, visiting Angkor Wat and living on a remote, desert island (uhm, Guam) but these days my days are about as exciting as getting a good deal at the grocery store or getting Elin to take a two hour nap...which is a huge success by all measures for this baby.

However when I really think about it, having a baby IS a big adventure. I've just been too sleep deprived to realize it. It's funny how everyone tells you having a baby is going to be the best thing on the planet and by the end of the pregnancy you are absolutely convinced that is true, because nothing is worse in the middle of a June heatwave than waddling around with an extra 45 pounds on your body. HOWEVER, after giving birth to an cute little 8 pound baby and spending a week completely exhausted wondering how something that tiny could change absolutely everything in your life, you realize you want to kill every person who "oohed" and "awwwed" when they saw your growing baby bump. Then I realized after Elin passed the six week mark that they were right, babies are pretty much the best thing on the planet. We just had to work together to learn how to cohabitate, sleep through the night (NOT the day) and eat on a schedule that doesn't chain me to the couch all day. I can honestly say I absolutely love this little munchkin and now I understand why people have more than one child (I wasn't so sure 2 months ago), because watching them grow and change every day is just spectacular!

Our precious little Elin is smiling, cooing and well, pooping up a storm these days. I'm no longer terrified to take her to the store with me, found she loves bath time, we learned she loves to go on walks and car rides. We also learned she loves to swing. So much in fact it's the only place she'll sleep at night. We learned this during an unfortunate trip to the children's hospital in July. Elin came down with a 100.5 degree fever one night after several days of gas pains that left her screaming for an hour at a time. We decided to bring her into the ER just to be safe and we are sure glad we did.  After the triage nurse took her temperature (which shot up to 101.7) we were rushed to the back for a mind numbing series of tests. Already weary and sleep deprived we spent the wee morning hours watching our tiny daughter get poked, prodded and spinal tapped before being brought up to the oncology ward what would be a 2 1/2 day stay.

It took awhile for me to realize the reality of the situation. Fevers in newborns are taken very seriously by hospital staffs. We were in the oncology ward because they suspected sepsis and she needed an isolation room. She had a spinal tap to rule out meningitis. It took four nurses and ultimately, an IV specialist to get an IV started:

 

She ended up going on an intense two day round of antibiotics to clear her system of what the doctors felt was a bacterial infection. Colin had to be up at school for both days so I pretty much held Elin and all her wires and tubes for most of the stay. My mom was kind enough to tell me I looked "so old" in the picture we sent her. Thanks mom. 

On Elin's second night one of the nurses brought in a Fisher Price swing to help her calm down from one of her screaming fits. She ended up sleeping 7 hours. Which means I slept for 7 hours. It was amazing and I ordered that exact swing when I got home. Thank you Fisher Price! 

So all in all, Elin was a champ. She barreled through that fever like a freight train and ultimately, nothing serious came back on her cultures. We got to take her home on her 1 month birthday with a clean bill of health. She's been great ever since, something we are immensely grateful for. God is good!

They created a special "nest" for Elin since the hospital crib was too big for her. 

Hanging with dad during his quick visit from school in Williamsburg. Colin battled 2 hours of traffic each way to spend an hour with his munchkin so I could take a shower. Best husband ever!

Hospitals are exhausting, don't you think?

Home from the hospital. Happy and healthy!

Introducing Elin Grace!

Well it's August and I promise you the truth when I say I've been trying to get an entry in since June 21st. On June 21st Colin and I welcomed our daughter Elin Grace Chance into the world. Elin (pronounced "eee-lin") weighed in at 8 lbs 1 oz and 21 1/2" long. Since then, well, we've been busy. The shock & awe of being thrown into full time parenting is unbelievable. Being a person who doesn't function (AT ALL) on little sleep, it's been quite a roller coaster. But I must admit, it's been pretty awesome. We've had a very eventful six weeks, lots of relatives in town and an unexpected stay at the Children's Hospital have kept our schedules full. I'll have to catch you all up on that later but for now, here are a couple of photos of our cute little bug.

And so here I am...

still pregnant! Granted my due date is still two days away but if you've ever been pregnant you probably know, it gets old! I left my job on June 8th and since then I've been forcing myself to nest. I've decorated the baby's room. Scrubbed the floors. Done about 86 loads of laundry. Scrubbed the bathrooms. Planted flowers. Washed baby clothes. Set up the baby swing and pack-n-play. And baked. Baked my brains out. I am prepared to accept full responsibility for Colin's squadron's failure at next the PRT (Physical Readiness Test) as I've baked some lovely treats...sometimes three times a week. Sorry guys. This girl is nesting.

Pregnancy is a wonderful thing. But all wonderful things must come to an end. I'm just trying to figure out when this little gal will decide that is going to happen. So far two of my good friends, Tessa & Alyssa in our squadron gave birth to handsome little boys 11 hours apart two weeks ago. Alyssa shared my due date. Grrr. As if that isn't bad enough, another gal due July 5th is on the verge of labor right now. Drat. And then I check my Facebook at 4am this morning (sleep is a long lost memory). My friend Allison gave birth to her baby girl yesterday. Her due date was June 27th. Good grief! Either I'm going to have a very patient little daughter. Or I'm going to have one heck of a stubborn, "I will come when I'm darn well ready" type of daughter. Either way, judging by her size on the last ultrasound and the sudden growth of my stomach in the last two weeks, I'm going to give birth to a whopper of a child.  I never thought I'd be so excited yet terrified in my life!

So until she arrives I will continue to nest, rest and relax for hours in the pool like I did today. It was glorious people. I highly recommend it when you're 14 months pregnant and it's 95 degrees outside. Really, it rocks.

And since I have no desire to give you nightmares tonight, I will not post a picture of myself in a bikini. Instead, here's are a couple of photos I took last week.

Can that bump get any bigger?

Nesting is in full gear!

So I hit my 36 week mark and have just one more week until this kid is considered full term. Honestly, by the way I'm looking, I'd say this babe is cooked. But that is just her mother's opinion...which I think is fairly valid considering I am walking (er, waddling) around carrying a bowling ball (who gains an ounce every day!) everywhere I go.

 A picture of me at 33 weeks. Dear goodness...

So since I'm at 36 weeks I think I hit my nesting point. For example, Colin and I hit up Home Depot on Thursday morning. We came out pushing two full carts of plants, planters, potting soil, a ceiling fan and more, yes more paint supplies. I put myself to work planting hydrangeas, a new planter of herbs and a mum that although I believe is seasonal, refused to die and therefore I have decided to try and relocate it to a new home for the summer. Hopefully it'll survive better than the two gardenias and boxwood that keeled over this spring. 

A few rows of corn, tomatoes, carrots, basil & onions. Whenever Cheddar gets thrown outside she retaliates by eating the corn leaves. This may explain why the onions and basil are sporting a trampled look. 

Encouraged by my friend Peyton at Peyt's Island, I decided to try my hand at herbs again. After the first planter did so well this spring I decided to add another planter. The parsley and rosemary look like they're on steroids. As much as I hate throwing away herbs, I have to keep them from overtaking the smaller plants! 

Moving to the inside, we are almost finished with the baby's room. Tired of painting and with one room to go, I picked out one sample color and decided it was good enough. Since I doubt our kid is going to have issues later on regarding the paint color or her room as a baby, we decided to go with that color. It's a pretty pale, lime green which will go nicely with the sea coral curtains and crib skirt my mom is putting together. Since the room does not have a closet we bought an armoire from Pottery Barn to double as a closet and dresser. Seriously, this kid is well on her way to a fancier wardrobe than me, or even her Aunt Courtney...which is really saying something:

Based upon the recommendations of several friends we purchased a Babi Italia crib. I am already in love with it. 

Baby still has a quilt in the making but if its anything like the one below, she may reach her first birthday before it's finished. I started this butterfly quilt during the hurricane last year and just finished it up a few weeks ago. I'm great at starting projects. Terrible at finishing them. 

That's it for now. We have a few more small projects on tap and hope we can accomplish those sooner than later. Between work and school, Colin and I are staying busy right up until D-day!

April Baby Shower Fun!

So I have to admit things haven't been all that exciting around here lately which is why the blog has taken a backseat. Although I think the real reason is I have avoided the camera like a disease as I've come to find pregnancy weight just isn't all that flattering on me! 

However I did want to share my latest (and last trip before baby) trip to San Diego last month to see my family. It was a great week. My good friend Chelsey came down for a visit with her two boys! My sister Courtney treated us to a Padre game on Friday night which was a blast. Court works for the Pad Squad (the Padre's pep squad) and was able to not only get us park passes but free parking. We were expecting a spot in the parking lot adjacent to the stadium (which totally trumps a $20 spot in the twelve story parking garage that takes 30 minutes to exit after a game). Imagine our surprise when the Chief of Police escorts us to a private spot right in front of the stadium. Apparently it was law enforcement appreciation night, imagine our luck!

The next day my good friend Julie threw me a baby shower at my parent's house. We must have had a good time because we all forgot to take pictures! Thanks to Chelsey we did get a shot of the yard before the guests arrived. 

Navy girls! My good friend Crystal from Guam came with her adorable daughter Caroline. Mickey to my left made an amazing quilt (in ONE day no less!) for the baby. She rocks! Chelsey is looking AH-MAZING after having a baby last year. I hope I can do the same!!

Me in all my enormity with Courtney and my dad before dad escaped the mass arrival of baby shower guests. 

I received a ton of adorable gifts for the baby. Getting it all home was quite a challenge but with the help of my mom and the USPS, we managed to get it home to Virginia. It really makes me realize how fortunate I am, I haven't lived in San Diego in 3 1/2 years but so many women made time to come to my shower! I really had a great time in San Diego and can't wait to bring Baby Girl back to see everyone in a few months!

As if one shower isn't enough my sister Carissa and friend Tessa threw me ANOTHER baby shower in Norfolk last weekend. They did a spectacular job and once again Baby Girl came away quite the winner!

She'll be rockin' some sparkly pink TOMS thanks to Andrea!

Every heard of a diaper wreath? Isn't this awesome? Thank you Sara!

Humble pie moment. My reaction to this object? "Aww, a chew toy!" That's Tessa next to me letting me know that dogs have chew toys, babies have teething rings. I guess I still have a few things to learn....

Rissy made Baby Girl a quilt and diaper bag, The quilt has this awesome yellow minky backing that is super snuggly!

My good friend Mary.

Team J&A: My coworker Kristyn and my boss, Amy. I love them!!

Team Guam. My Guam girls who now live in VA and NC came to celebrate with me!

My neighbor Joanna who gave birth to a baby boy just 8 days before my shower. Isn't she amazing??

The fabulous hostesses with the mostesses! Thanks Tessa & Rissy!

Working Girl!

One of the fun (or not so fun, depends on your preference) things about being a Navy wife is the lack of employment options. It's fun because if you're like me you get to quit your full time job, get married, move to a tiny island and declare yourself a stay at home wife. For most of my time in Guam my job pretty much consisted of: going to the gym, swimming in the ocean, golfing, scuba diving and socializing. I took a part time job with Hallmark towards the end of our tour there but for the most part, it was all play, very little work.

Then I moved to Virginia. I started to feel pretty silly not having a job when most other women I knew did. So I searched. For ten months. Not kidding, the job market just isn't what it used to be. Then again, I'm sure you're aware of that. I'm sure I could have gotten a job at Macy's or as a waitress if I really needed to but from experience, I knew I'd be borderline miserable and what good would that be for me? So I waited. I volunteered, worked with the Spouse club at Colin's squadron, traveled to see family and friends. Then I got pregnant and figured it was time to put that hope away and focus on my new permanent job 9 months down the road. Of course, what better timing than to get an offer? Right after Christmas, J&A Racing, a company that puts on 4 major running races here in Hampton Roads contacted me and asked if I could fill in until the baby is born. I find it hilarious that that very morning I was lying in bed trying to figure out what to do with myself for the day when I once again pitied myself for not having a professional purpose in life. Literally fifteen minutes later I opened my email and discovered the offer. If that isn't God speaking I don't know what is!

So two months later I'm still enjoying myself. It's a great company and we're getting ready for our biggest event, the Shamrock Marathon weekend. The company does a great job putting on family friendly races that appeal to everyone from toddlers to first time joggers to elite runners. We wrapped up Virginia is for Lovers 14K this month which was a blast. The 8-ish mile course featured music, candy stations, cheesy pickup line signs and even a wedding! The weekend was exhausting but nonetheless a blast. It felt great to be back in the running world again.

Shamrock is in a couple of weeks and the comedy here is that my coworker is due the week after the race. If she goes into labor before then, well her job becomes mine until she comes off maternity leave! I've got some tough shoes to fill so I'm hoping for the sake of 28,000 runners that the baby decides to hang on until d-day!

It's a........!!

So it's been awhile. But I suppose pregnancy will do that to you! Anyway, just a quick update on the happenings in the Chance household:

I'm feeling better! Gone are the nauseous days of the first trimester. I'm eating much better and still running 8-9 miles a week. This baby LOVES to run, always settling in for a nap once we get going.

Colin started grad school. So when he's not flying 5 days a week he's studying his tail off all the time. I wish I had half his motivation.

I got a job! Great timing I know. However it's a fantastic setup for me and will allow me to work up until the baby is born. I work for a local race event company. We just finished the Virginia is for Lovers 14K yesterday and still have our biggest event, the Shamrock Marathon next month. It's a great job worthy of a separate blog post for later!

Perhaps the best update of all. We found out on Thursday that we're going to have a  baby GIRL!! It is sufficient to say I'm absolutely elated with the news. Colin's adjusting very well. Mostly because he has an excuse to buy a shotgun now. I think he's going to be a pretty awesome daddy. If anything, he got to accompany me to the ultrasound and he thought seeing his daughter for the first time was pretty stinkin' cool. 

It was a fairly eventful appointment in the fact that she was NOT interested in showing us her girl parts. Hence why we found her curled up in a ball with her legs crossed. The technician patiently spent over ten minutes wiggling my belly in hopes of waking her up. Finally after I shifted to my side, followed by some more wiggling she gave us a peek, probably in hopes we'd let her get back to her nap. The appointment was only 25 minutes but I was so anxious to find out that it felt like an eternity. The phone calls that followed later were fun, my parents are pretty excited, as are Colin's. I even got my first baby girl outfit from my co-worker, it even has little ballet slippers sewn into the feet, how cute is that? I think it's all starting to feel more real. More real than just the thought of a goldfish swimming around in me. I'm sure it'll get even more real as I continue to expand in more directions than I care to accept. At least I know it's all for a great cause. :)

Me at 19 weeks.

Baby Chance at 20 weeks!

It's a Girl!

Despite being ticked off at being woken up, she gave us a little wave. How cute is that?