40 Weeks and Counting...

Well, the day has arrived - our little girl's due date, that is.  What does that mean?  Not much, so far.  I feel like she could come any minute, but I've been feeling that way for about a week and a half now, and she has yet to make her appearance.  I'm not complaining.  For a while, my back was killing me, but I think that may have been the Lord's not-so-subtle way of telling me to slow down and take it easy.  The last couple of weeks have been good.  I mean, I don't sleep great at night, and I feel large and slow, and as a result of both I've been extra ornery (David will attest to this), but for the most part I've been relatively comfortable.  More than anything, I'm just excited to meet our little girl!  Here are some pictures I forced myself to have taken just today, on the 40 week mark.  

The following is a letter that I wrote for our baby several weeks ago.  Feel free to read it, or not, but I felt like it would be an appropriate addition to this post as it will probably - hopefully - be the last one I write before her arrival.

Dearest Afton,

  At least I think your name will be Afton. You won't be born for another seven weeks and I want to meet you before officially giving you a name.
  You're kicking around inside me right now.  It almost feels like you're talking back to me as I write you this letter.  Feeling you kick is the most incredible feeling.  Every time you move I think I fall in love with you a little more.
  I have enjoyed being pregnant with you.  Sure the first few months were full of nausea and fatigue, and I'm sure these last couple of months will present some new discomforts, but it has been amazing to feel you grow, and spend time enjoying the process.  We've walked many, many miles together, eaten plenty of chicken salad sandwiches and ice cream, and even traveled to several different states!
I feel like I'm getting to know you already, for some reason.  I feel like you will be a very special girl, and that you and I will have a special, close relationship.  I have to ask you in advance: please bear with me!  I've never raised two girls before, and I have a lot to learn.  You'll have to be patient with me.  But I already love you so much, and I know that Heavenly Father loves you to a level we can't even comprehend.  And he's sending you to us!  We're going to do the very best we can.
  Your daddy and I were so excited to find out you would be coming to this world and to our family.  Your big sister Paisley was no less excited, although I doubt she really understood what was happening.  Along with our excitement came a few concerns, as you would be arriving during Daddy's last year of school, when expenses would be high and income would be low.  Our health insurance was not very helpful, so financially, we knew it would not be easy.  But we also knew how blessed we were to be welcoming you into our family, and we knew the Lord would provide.  And now, several months later, we're just more excited than ever.
  Afton, there is so much I want for you in this life.  I want you to love it.  I want you to be as happy as a little girl can possibly be.  I want you to know and feel how loved and adored you are, and how important you are to this family.  I want you to know and feel how much your Heavenly Father loves you.  You were with Him not long ago.  He sent you on this great adventure so that you could have a body and experience life in all its hardship and all its magnificence.  He also sent Jesus Christ, his own son, a long time ago, to feel all the pain and hardship you would ever feel.  Jesus suffered for the sins that you would someday commit and the hurts you would someday have.  He even showed us how to be like Him, so that we could become like Him and go live with our big heavenly family when this great adventure on earth ends.  Afton, Jesus Christ is your friend, your bog brother, and your Savior.  He is always there for you, and you can - and should - always turn to Him.
  There are so many things I want to teach you and experience with you.  I'm so excited to hold you and rock you, to kiss your little face and tiny fingers.  I can't wait to play with you, read to you, laugh with you, and watch you become everything you can be.  This is just the very beginning, and I can't wait for it to start.

Love,
Your adoring mom.

Paisley the 20-month-old

OK, so I realize that most parents stop doing monthly updates on their children when they pass their year mark or whatever.  But I feel like by the time Paisley's year mark came around, I was just barely getting the hang of this blogging thing!  And besides, the things she's doing now are just so much cuter and funner to write about!  I imagine some day I'll look back and be so glad that I wrote all of it down, while at the same time laughing at myself for what silly young mother I was.  I hope a few of you (grandparents especially) appreciate it too!  On that note, here's Paisley at 20 months!

Paisley's newest loves:

• Pumpkins! (See picture below)  She is obsessed.  If she could, she would spend all day walking around the neighborhood looking at all of the different pumpkin decorations, reading books about pumpkins, or looking at pictures of different kinds of pumpkins.  No one knows where this fascination came from.  I was excited for her to be Tinkerbell this year for Halloween.  I think she would make the most adorable Tinkerbell!  But with her love for pumpkins, we decided that Tinkerbell can wait till next year.  It looks like this year we'll have two little pumpkins for Halloween.  
• Snowmen.  As we were getting the Halloween decorations out, she saw a little life-like snowman that Oma puts out at Christmastime.  He is her newest friend.  Every morning she is excited to go to the cupboard and wake him up.  She then proceeds to put a blanket around him, read him books, and give him hugs and kisses.  She often tells him spontaneously, "I love you, Snowman". Once, while picking him up, his head popped off.  Not realizing how horrified she was, I said something about him being hurt.  This prompted a flood of the saddest tears I've ever seen, along with several apologies and hugs to the snowman once she was consolable again.  Needless to say, she cares deeply about her new friend.  The only way to get her to put him away is to tell her he's tired and needs to go to sleep.  
• Smelling flowers (See pictures below).  She will go to great lengths to be able to smell flowers she sees.  I don't even think she's really smelling them, sometimes she just kisses them. 
• Books.  OK, this is not new. But it seems like the older she gets, the more she loves them.  She has a short attention span when it comes to playing with toys, and especially watching movies.  But she can sit for quite a while just flipping through books.  She'll often bring me a book, sit down on my lap, and say, "Read a book gether, Mama". Often she'll add a "Please?". Try saying no to that!  
• As I write this, I'm realizing how futile it is to try and write about all of Paisley's loves.  She's amazed and excited about so many things, and it's so much fun to relive the magic of these things we've come to see as ordinary.  Pumpkins, snowmen, bubbles, balls, or trains, or even friends for example.  It's no wonder God tells us to be like little children.  If we could all appreciate those little things in life, the world would be a very happy place.  

On Tuesdays we go to a singing time group at a friend's house.  The best part about this singing time is that the people live on a little farm with cows, chickens, ducks, alpacas, and lots of other fun animals that make farm life so magical for little kids.  Paisley's favorite part?  The giants pumpkins out front.  Every time we go to see the animals, she says hello to all of them and then tells me "See punkin first".  Of course, she never tires of seeing the pumpkins so we never really get much time with the animals.  

On this pretty Sunday morning, Paisley and I went for a walk around the neighborhood.  She had to stop and smell every flower, low or high, fenced or not.  

Our Little Sponge

When it comes to learning, Paisley is just a little sponge.  She soaks up everything!  I don't say this to brag. OK, forgive me if I brag a little.  It's just so thrilling for me to see her developing and becoming her own little person!  Lately she loves to count everything.  She counts up to ten, though I'm not sure she always gets the right number when counting objects!  She's putting little sentences together.  Some we've heard lately include:
"Mama, putchya shoes on please", while handing me my shoes in bed.
"No, don't want it."  We hear this a lot lately, especially at bed time.
"Happy Birthday to you, Opa!"
"Sing 'I a Child of God', Mama." Or whatever song she feels like hearing.  If it's one she knows she'll often tell me the words to each phrase before I sing it.
These are some of many little phrases that we hear from Paisley, and every day she's stringing together new words.

Bed Time

If you read my last Paisley post, you'll know that switching to a big kid bed was a bit of an adjustment.  Thanks you to those of you who made helpful suggestions or comments!  I'm happy to say that after a few days of being consistent about letting her cry herself to sleep (I know, it sounds awful and it was agonizing), we have developed a routine that she's happy with, and she goes to sleep like a champ - most days.  She loves her bed and wakes up happy, and if she wakes up at night she can put herself back to sleep.  Just in time for the new baby.  Let me just say, God answers prayers.  

A Weekend at Spring Haven

Over Conference weekend, we had the chance to go to a cabin called Spring Haven in Hobble Creek Canyon.  It was so nice to get away from everything  for just a few days.  The cabin has all the amenities you can't live without, and lots of added luxuries, but it does not have cell phone service or internet.  I forgot how nice it could feel to be disconnected from the world and just enjoy the scenery, quiet thoughts, and being with family. Our friends Jeff and Sam were even able to come up for a night which made it even better!  Here are some pictures.

Paisley loved throwing rocks into the pond more than anything.

See the cabin down below?  Yes, I hiked all the way up there - twice - at 9 months pregnant!
And once in a dress.   Thank you, thank you.

I can't end this post without saying how awesome it was to be able to listen to General Conference.  I put in a link up at the top in case you're interested in listening to it or learning about it, but basically General Conference happens twice a year, and it's a chance the world has to listen to revelation to prophets from our loving Heavenly Father.  I believe with all my heart that the talks given are words of a loving Heavenly Father to all of us, his children.   Every time I listen to them I feel like I'm being spiritually filled, and I go away from it feeling closer to God, feeling his love more in my life, and with a new resolve to do a little bit better.  All in all, it was a great weekend.