Faith and religion are not topics that I typically discuss with the general public. I choose not to talk about these things primarily because my faith in God is something that I hold very near and dear to my heart, and because I have multiple friends and associates that choose not to believe in God I have usually found it better to just keep the topic quiet. I can have my beliefs while others have theirs, and no one has to feel the need to feel defensive, upset or offended. I hope that for any and all reading this that you understand that my intentions in writing this post are not to offend or to push my personal belief system onto anyone's life, but to simply share a little piece of my heart and part of something that has brought me so much comfort and happiness in my life. My belief in God is such a big part of who I am as a person, and today on this Easter holiday, it feels appropriate to open up the window to show you all a little bit about why it is that I choose to believe what I do. 

As I've grown up and lived through my own individual experiences, like most everyone I have had my up's and my down's. In my 26 years of life, I have felt extreme joy and absolute sorrow, insane elation and deep fear, the purest love and the worst of heartbreak. I live in extreme emotions, and have felt almost all of them at some point in my life. The one emotion that I have never had to fully feel however is the emotion of being completely and utterly alone. There have been times in my life, at some of my lowest moments, where I have  made the mistake of feeling that there is no one else in the world that has ever experienced the same pain or heartache that I was experiencing at the time, but the few times that has happened, I have always gotten a kind little nudge from a loving Heavenly Father to remind me that no matter how hard life seems sometimes, that there will always be at least ONE individual that has walked this earth that understands exactly what I am dealing with and feeling, because He has suffered it all. In the Garden of Gethsemane and while hanging on the cross, Jesus Christ felt the pain and suffering of not just me, but of every single individual who has ever and will ever live on this earth. His death and his resurrection three days later have made it possible for every single individual on this earth to not only never have to feel alone with what they are going through, but also to know that no matter how dire a situation may seem that it is always possible for happiness and good to come out of every situation because God is good and wants us to be happy! The best part about this gift is that is was given completely selflessly; all we have to do is choose to believe that the gift was truly given to us, take it into our hearts, and let the love of our Savior heal and fix whatever it is that we are needing to get back to our own internal place of peace and happiness. I am so grateful for this gift, and can say with complete certainty that it is a BIG part in how I am able to make it through the hard times in life with an optimistic attitude. Even when life doesn't seem so great, God is ALWAYS good. 

I'm so grateful for holidays like Easter that allow me the opportunity to quietly ponder and remember all of the blessings that my Heavenly Father has given me. I truly believe that "With God nothing shall be impossible" (Luke 1:37). Thank you sincerely for allowing me to share some of my feelings and thoughts with all of you. My heart feels so happy and full, and I love being able to write down on paper (in a blogging sense at least) just how much joy I'm feeling and why.

I hope that all who celebrated today were able to have an amazing Easter and time spent with those you love most!
{Lots of Love, Kyle & Chelsea (and Baby Girl) Pett}

How far along? 24 weeks, 4 days. Maternity Clothes? Yes, but I've found myself in an awkward stage with the weather where it's still too cold to start wearing the cute maternity dresses I've bought for summer/my last trimester, but a little too warm for the long sleeve shirts and sweaters. This has me digging through my closet desperate to find shirts that are long enough to cover my belly until I'm able to go out shopping and has resulted in some interesting combinations like the one above. ;D Sleep? AMAZING. I know it probably won't last so I'm trying to soak as much of it in now as I can. I started listening to meditation and relaxation techniques at bedtime for birth prep, but feel like they've done an amazing job helping me get the much needed rest and sleep as well!  Food Cravings? I'm back to craving sweets.... ALL THE TIME. Even while writing this post I wanted something sweet and tried eating some strawberries to curb it but can still think of nothing but the box of girl scout cookies in my cupboard. It's a real problem! My next doctor's appointment is my glucose test though so I'm going to have to work hard to fight this specific craving unless I want to be poking my finger everyday for the rest of the pregnancy! Queasy's? I am SO happy to announce that I feel like I have finally made it fully past this stage of pregnancy! I can't remember the last time something made me feel really sick to my stomach! It is the best! Now that baby girl is getting bigger though she's pushing a bit more on my stomach and diaphragm so heartburn has somewhat replaced any queasy feelings. I've heard that heartburn in pregnancy usually produces a baby with lots of hair on their head though, so I'll take it as a good thing as see what she comes out with! Current Pregnancy Project? Usually you hear of women "nesting" and wanting everything to be ready for their baby as they reach their last month of so of pregnancy. Well...by the definition of the word I have been in a perpetual "nesting" period since about 14 weeks. Since that's a decent amount of time before our sweet girl actually gets here, I've been working really hard to keep myself busy with different projects to prepare for when she arrives. It helps give me a peace of mind because I feel more prepared for her arrival in a sense (though I'm sure there will still be plenty of surprises along the way), and also keeps me busy with something fun as Kyle stays extremely busy with his schoolwork and studying in the evenings.  I'm really close to finishing my current project which is our sweet girl's nursery! It is so exciting to be able to put together her room and know that this is the space that she'll be spending the next few years of her life growing in! I'll be sure to do a full blog post with more pictures & details about everything in it once her due date gets closer, but these pictures show a tiny sneak peek of the wall her crib is on to help you all get as excited as I am about it. :) Best pregnancy moment so far? Kyle and I finally agreed on a name for our sweet little girl!! Family and close friends already know what it is, and the internet world will get to hear it once she's made her debut to the world. :) I do have to say just how much I've come to believe that each little baby spirit does have a name that is truly meant to be theirs; I had looked through SO many different names and gone through countless options with Kyle while trying to decide on one for our little girl. There were plenty of names that I really liked, but for some reason they just didn't seem to fit quite right for her. The name that we officially decided on was one that had been floating around in the back of my mind for quite a while (surprisingly it wasn't even one of the names on the 500 million different lists I read) but I hadn't mentioned it to Kyle because I thought he might find it weird. I finally decided to throw it out on the table a couple of weeks ago though, and once I said it out loud and we'd both heard it, it was amazing how quickly both of us were like, "YES! That's the one! That's the name that she's supposed to have!" and just like that it was settled! It just felt right and we had to go with it! Moral of the story: trust your pregnancy instincts with stuff like that... it might just be your sweet little one telling you what it is that they'd like to be called by once they're officially here, and it could save you a LOT of time reading through different baby name lists! :)

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful start to your March! Thank heavens that Spring is finally on it's way!
-Lots of Love! Chelsea & Baby Girl Pett-

blouse: downeast |striped tank & sweater: target | jeans (maternity): ross