Selfie

Eli absolutely loves the camera and having his picture taken. He will bring the camera or my i-pad up to me and say "cheese!", meaning that he wants his picture taken. I was cleaning out my camera today and found a lot of pictures Eli had taken. Many of them were of himself. I still can't believe our baby is turning into a toddler. Where has the time gone?

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

Alex, Eli and I found out today that we will be having a little girl join our family. We are excited and shocked. We walked into the apartment today certain that we were going to be having another little boy join our family. We are so excited to have a little girl. Alex said that he is scared at the thought of one day having to let her go and get married. I on the other hand am very very excited to start shopping! And Eli, we'll he just knows that mom is tired all the time and feeds him weird foods when it is time to eat. He is going to be such a great big brother.

I was telling the ultrasound tech that I was afraid that something was going to be wrong with the baby because I have been sick so much. Right after I said that the baby gave us the thumbs up saying that she is a-okay!

Why Casa Grande?

When Alex and I talked about leaving Rexburg, Idaho, we were so excited. We were excited for new adventures and to see where life would take us next. When the day actually came to move out, I was very hesitant. Alex and I had always talked about moving to Arizona to be away from the cold, icy, snowy Idaho, but we never knew it would actually happen. I was comfortable where I was at in my little apartment and surrounded by my friends. We knew where we liked to eat, where the park was, and that had become our home for 4 years and it felt like we were saying goodbye so quickly.

Alex moved down to Arizona about 3 weeks before Eli and I came. I was excited to get down to Arizona and be a family again, but when I got to Arizona all I saw was brown everywhere and I wondered what had I gotten myself into. We left the green mountainous Idaho and came down to the desert. I have never lived in the desert before and so this was going to be an enormous change for me. We arrived in August which happens to be one of the hottest points of the year. I thought I was going to die. This was also our first time in a family ward and it was strange not to have a bunch of college students running around. It was an adjustment.

A couple of weeks into living here, I asked myself, "Why in the world are we here?" It had seemed like everyone else had an established life already and we knew that this was a temporary home for us. Alex still has to apply for a Physician Assistant Program and so I didn't know why we would make ourselves to comfortable when we were only going to be here maybe a year or two.

I hasn't been until the past couple of weeks that I have started to realize that I think I am here to learn.  Since we have moved into our ward, I have been involved with the Young Women. When I received this calling, I felt very inadequate. I have worked in the Relief Society but have never had the opportunity to have calling with a younger age group. I felt like I was in middle school all over again. I wonder if they will like me, am I wearing the right outfit, what if I say something dumb....I know it is ridiculous.

I have had the opportunity to work with the youth these past couple of months to get ready for the Gilbert Temple Cultural Celebration. This was such an amazing experience. A once in a lifetime experience actually. I knew it would be fun and amazing, but what I didn't expect is to learn to much from the strength and enthusiasm of our youth. These endured countless hours of dance practice, singing practice, prop making and dress rehearsals. They did this all with smiles on their faces.

Then on the day of the performance, March 1st, 2014, rain was expected. The kids were a little bit bummed, but they were showed up on time and willing to perform. When we arrived to Discovery Park, right next to the temple, at 1:30 pm, the sun was shinning and it looked like the kids were not going to have to worry about their performance for President Monson and President Eyring at 7:00 pm. They practiced, had a full dressed rehearsal, and then at dinner at 5:30 pm, you could see these dark clouds rolling over the area. We were scared that the rain was going to come down while the kids were performing. While we were walking over to the park to be in our spots by 6:30 pm, our greatest fears came true. The rain started to come, and it came down hard! We thought maybe at some point it would stop, maybe when the prophet arrived. The kids were soaked, cold and soaked, but they did not let that dampen their spirits. They had the biggest smiles on their faces and they were so excited to be performing for a prophet of God. Their optimism was radiating.

They performed in the pour rain and were soaked to the bone by the time they were done, but they were happy. They were happy that they were able to stand for what they believed in and have fun while doing it. If I was their age, I probably would have complained that I was cold and wanted to go home and probably would have opted to want to sit in the car. They stood out there for the entire two hours and then walked a mile to get back to the car to leave. Not only does that take physical strength, but mental strength.

I have learned from these youth that I can do anything, just like they did. Before we left, Nettie reminded that kids that "They can do hard things". From seeing them go through this experience, they have taught me that I can do hard things, I can stand up for what I believe in and become a better person every day. I am grateful for the opportunity that I have to work with the youth and the chance I have to learn from them. They have so many more trials than I had when I was a youth. They also radiate strength and they are such great example. I am grateful that we are living in Casa Grande and are able to have amazing example around us, not only the youth, but every one that we have come in contact with. I now know that we are supposed to be in Arizona to become stronger individuals and in the end a stronger family unit.

Here are some of my favorite pictures that I have found from this weekend. Enjoy!

CHEEEEEESE!

Eli loves having his picture taken. Whenever he sees a camera he smiles and says cheese! I love that he enjoys to have his picture taken. I was looking through our camera the other day and found all of these pictures that we took of Eli because he asked us too. He makes us laugh every day and it is so much fun to see how wonderfully he is growing up.

We also found out that we will be having another baby in August! We are so excited and Eli will have a friend to play with. It will definitely be a fun experience to have two children running around the house.

Busy Bees

It has been forever since I have updated our blog, but our life has been super crazy over the past couple of months. So let me give you a brief update on our lives and what has been happening and then bombard you with pictures and movies!

Alex - Alex got a job in Casa Grande, Arizona. He is working at the Southwestern Eye Center and is absolutely loving it! He has always been so interested in eyes and now works with them every day. He comes home every day and tell us how much he loves his job. He moved to Arizona and lived by himself for about a month and a half because I was not finished with school yet. Since he was by himself and was very bored, he told the people at church that he was bored which landed him a very busy calling. He is now the Ward Clerk in our ward and is loving every moment of it. Every day he learns something new.

Chelsea - I was able to finish up school and my internship this last semester which is a huge feat for me. After Alex left I was blessed to have many family members come stay with me to help watch Eli. I also had the best neighbors and friends in Rexburg that anyone could ask for who were always helping out with Eli. Alex and I were able to walk together in graduation in July and then we packed up and moved to Arizona. I now spend my time playing with my cute son and loving spending the time with him now that I did not get to spend with him these last couple of months.

Eli - Eli is such an adorable little boy who brings so much joy into our lives. He is so sweet and is growing up way to fast. He is now 16 months old. He walks around and explores everything. He still loves music and playing with his dad's guitars. I introduced the viola to him while here in Arizona and he cried! I guess he is more of a Rock n Roll kind of kid. He has 8 teeth and uses them to eat, eat, and oh yeah eat some more. He smiles a lot and loves to laugh and run. He also has found a love of reading. He will bring books to us and say "more?" It is also fun to watch him sit and read books to himself. His words do not sound like anything but it is definitely cute. He is loving Arizona and the bright sun which allows him to hang out by the pool almost daily.

Well, that is the brief update on us! Now for pictures! I hope everyone is doing well and is loving life just as much as we are!

Eli's first time finger painting with Aunt Lacey

We graduated! We have been so grateful for our friendship with the Dimond's! We miss them already!

I have no idea how I would have been able to get through the last year of school without Paula! I love this girl!

Look at all those teeth!

We went to the wedding of Noah and Caroline in San Diego, California. They were so beautiful and it was our first time visiting the San Diego Temple. 

Eli loves his big boy bed

He loves his Corduroy book

We celebrated Alex's birthday! I made him a cake out of watermelon!

This video is from forever ago when he was first learning to walk

He loves to play his ukelele

In this video, Eli was watching a Kirk from Gilmore Girls doing the robot and decided to join in at the end.

Too Long Overdue

So we have been terrible at updating out blog lately. We have been so busy and have not even thought about it which is awful! So let me give you the wonderful Hallam Family update!

Alex - Alex is an amazing man and is keeping himself busy this semester with being an at home dad. Eli loves having his dad home and having some male bonding time with him. They are always playing and golfing. Alex also recently took his National EMT test and PASSED!!!! He is now officially a National Registered EMT. I am so proud of him. He studied really hard and passed with flying colors! He is also spending time applying for PA school and is hoping to start school next fall in 2014. In the meantime he is applying for jobs in different parts of the country so he can start getting his patient experience hours needed for PA school.

Eli - Eli has recently turned 1!!!!! I have no idea where the time has gone. He spends his time trotting around and falling on his butt. He is an adventurous little boy and loves to learn. He is constantly exploring and getting into everything! For his birthday he got a ukelele which he loves, but still loves dad's guitars more. He is definitely a music lover though. He also loves to dance. He has a cute little head bang and squat when he is dancing. Eli also loves baths. He actually just loves anything that does with water. He is such a sweet little boy as well. Whenever we are eating dinner. He always shares a bite with us and then will take a bite himself. He still loves to cuddle which keeps mom sane many days. He is also constantly playing which keeps mom and dad active. If Eli could spend all day outside he would, he loves all kind of weathers. He loves it when the entire family is together, that is when he is the happiest. When mom or dad leave, he if not a fan and will sit next to the door crying. He loves Spanish and Portuguese. Whenever he talks to anyone speaking those languages he sits there and smiles. It is quite cute. He has also learn to throw, not necessarily straight. Anything he throws usually goes up and hits him in the head. He is not the biggest fan of the vacuum or the hair drying. He always runs away when he hears one of those. He is just the cutest little boy and we love watching him grow up!!!!

Chelsea - This semester I am full time student, doing an internship at the hospital, and tutoring Epidemiology. I am super busy but am loving everything that I am learning. My classes are hard but fun, which doesn't sound right but it is true. I am currently interning at Madison Memorial Hospital with the Infection Preventionist. Her name is LuAnn and I think that she is just amazing. She is kind and patient and is very knowledgeable. I am learning so much and am very grateful for this opportunity.


At the end of this semester we will be leaving Rexburg, Idaho and moving on to some other place in the world. We are not really sure where we are going yet, but hopefully we figure that out soon. It is weird to think that we are finally moving on from our undergraduate career because this has been such a great part of our life together. This is where our Hallam Family life began and it is a time we will never forget. Alex graduate last semester in Biology with a minor in Chemistry and I will be graduating in Health Science with an emphasis in Public Health and we cannot be more proud of ourselves.

Now here are TONS of pictures that we have just not put up. So be prepared for some cuteness! We had Eli's 1 year pictures taken and while we were doing that. The photographer, Tyra Andrews, is AMAZING. She has been taking our pictures for a long time now. She took our engagement pictures, our 1 year anniversary pictures, Eli's newborn pictures, and now Eli's 1 year pictures and family pictures. I am sad to be leaving and have to find another photographer. I don't think that we can do it. We also have some candid photos in here on some adventures that we have had. ENJOY!

This is Eli's hiding place for almost everything. If we are missing something it is usually in the couch or in one of our shoes.

First thing in the morning and Eli has to have his ukelele. And he fell and scratched his nose. Poor kid.

Can't believe our baby is one already!