It Just Keeps Getting Better

May 2013 and I'm almost caught up. If I thought April was eventful, May did its best to rival it!

 First off, before Afton gets lost in the mix, she's 7 months old!  She's happy, smiley, and tons of fun.  She sits on her own, eats all kinds of pureed foods, pulls herself up on things, and is sleeping better than ever, though still not through the night.  She got her first two teeth in Canada (more about our trip to follow), and she was inspired to crawl by her cousin, we think, because she just wants to go go go!

Lately we've spent Friday mornings at the tumbling gym with Taylor and Violet.  The kids have a blast!  

When my mom came to visit on her way back from Hawaii, she brought the girls some pretty little Hawaiian dresses.  Paisley must have been thrilled with hers cause she has never posed better!

This is what May evenings look like around here.  It's days like these that make me sad to be leaving Utah.

Well, the best part about this month has two parts: 1. David took his first CPA exam and rocked it!  (Of course we didn't know he rocked it until a few weeks later). 2. Exam taken, we were finally able to leave for Canada to attend my brother's wedding.  So on May 18, we got in the car and drove the 17 hours it took us to get to Calgary.  We were both dreading the drive with two little girls in tow, but they did great!  The first Sunday we spent some time at my dad's house.  It was his first time meeting Afton and it was so nice to see him with the girls.    

That night we had a sleepover with Sydney (sister to be) while Ryan, David and Nate went to the mountains for a little bachelor party camping trip.  It was so nice to have some girl time and hang out with Sydney.  It was also nice seeing these two girls get to know each other:

My two babies, Ginger and Paisley, hitting it off.

On Tuesday, we went to Lake Louise with Dad and Pam.  Dad carried Paisley in the hiking pack he bought for us, and David carried Afton on his front.  We hiked up to the Tea house, and by the time we got up there, we had hiked a few miles on top of/through waist deep snow!  On the way up, we saw mountain goats, and some people not too far ahead of us said they saw a cougar!  The weather wasn't ideal and the snow was rough, but it was great to get out with my dad just like old times.  

We were lucky enough to be in Calgary for my baby sister's high school graduation!  It's been a long time coming, but I was so proud to watch Andrea cross that stage and receive her diploma.  Here's to my beautiful baby sister and many accomplishments to come!

On the same day Andrea graduated, Marisa and Philippe got into Calgary with their two kids, Eli and Asha.  I wish our stays could have overlapped for a few more days, but I'll take what I can get!  It was good to have a day just to relax and hang out with my sis, and finally get to know Philippe a little better. We met little Asha for the first time, and loved seeing the kids interact.  I've decided if there is a love almost as great as a parent's, it's gotta be the love of an aunt.  I mean, how can you not adore these kids?

Don't mind my hair in this one.  Did I mention it rained almost the whole time we were there?

And finally, the reason we came.  Of course, I took next to no pictures of the main event, but luckily the had a professional for that.  Ryan and Sydney were a radiant couple and their wedding was absolutely beautiful.  They are amazing together, and I am genuinely thrilled to have Sydney as a new sister.  Congrats Ryan and Sydney!

Overall, the trip to Canada was wonderful.  We ate some good food, attended great events, and did some fun things, but most of all it was just nice to see all those people that I love so much.  

On the 27th, we got in the car and headed back to Utah.  We had a whole day to recover.  Then on the morning of the 29th we took the train to the airport where we embarked on our trip to the Netherlands.  More about that in the next post.  

The Month of All Months

April 2013.  This was a huge month for our family.  My mom came to visit (twice!),  Afton hit her half-year mark, David and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary, and David graduated with his Bachelor's degree and Master's degree AND turned 25!!  You'd think I'd have more pictures to document this eventful month, but I don't.  In fact, 2 months later, neither I nor David can remember what we did to celebrate our anniversary, it was all such a blur!  But it was a great month and I just have to say how incredibly proud I am of my awesome husband.  I don't know how he's done it, but he's managed to be an incredible dad, husband, provider and student all at the same time.  No one could have done it better.  Now on to the next chapter of life and I can't think of anyone I'd rather start it with.

For David's birthday we had some friends over and had a Wreck It Ralph themed birthday party.  David loves the movie and the idea was too fun to resist.  I loved putting it together.  We had sliders and fries and Vanellope Von Schweetz cake.  It was just fun to be in good company and celebrate my hottie of a husband.  

Park time with Grandma

Afton the 6-month-old.  She weighs 14 lbs. 13 oz.  She's 26 inches long.  And she's sweeter than ever. She's really starting to look like her own little person. She can officially sit up on her own and hold a bottle by herself. She grabs at our plates and things we're eating, and she's starting to pull herself up on things and do a sort of army crawl.  She's sleeping much better, waking up once or twice a night.  We still have some rough nights, especially when I've eaten dairy that day, where she's up every 1 -2 hours.  But for the most part, she's a pleasant and easygoing baby.  Not to mention stinkin' cute.  

Easter, Birthday and a Little Bit of Flag Football

March 2013.  It was a great month.  Too great to forget, so let me tell you about it!  Well, first off, it was my birthday.  David made it such a great day.  He took me to brunch at a great place on State Street called Joe's Cafe.  The picture below is of me and Joe himself.  Then he took me shopping and got me some awesome fluorescent Saucony runners (translation: running shoes for any non-Canadians reading), and some bright pink skinny jeans.  We relaxed in the afternoon, and then went to get an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen.  When we got back to the house, there was a group of our friends waiting and we had a nice little birthday party.  It was perfect.  

 So once upon a time, I played on an intramural flag football team.  I was invited by our awesome friend Sam to be on her ward team, and I decided for it in hopes that I could finally understand this football thing.  Like, how does it work and why do millions of men across the world spend hours on end watching it?  Well, it turns out flag football is a lot different from real football.  And it's a lot more fun playing than watching.  But in spite of never winning a game, we all had a blast and I can honestly say that I enjoy watching football just the tiniest bit more.

 Wanna know a secret?  I LOVE Easter egg hunts.  I know they really have nothing to do with the real meaning of Easter, but I love them nonetheless.  And this year, I LOVED having a daughter old enough to enjoy it.  We took Paisley and Afton to a park and hid eggs all around the playground.  She was ecstatic, and seeing the excitement in her face was more fn than any egg hunt ever.

Afton is 5 months old!  As the picture shows, we gave her her first taste of solid food this month.  Pureed green beans.  I would normally wait until 6 months, but I've been at my wit's end about the no sleeping situation, and I thought maybe some solid foods would help her sleep better.  She liked them!  But she's still working on the spoon-feeding thing.  Mostly she just tries to suck on the spoon.  

Speaking of the sleep situation, this is by far the biggest challenge for all of us.  We're often up for hours at a time at night with Afton.  She's gassy and uncomfortable, so she cries and cries, and just when I start to think she's going to sleep, she starts to cry again.  We've tried just about everything, but nothing seems to help.  Well, I mentioned this to a friend from church, and that night she was on my doorstep with a C-pillow. (Like a Boppy pillow, but different, and apparently often used in the NICU to help babies feel like they're being snuggled).  I've started putting Afton in the pillow at night and we've all been sleeping MUCH better.  Also, after changing my diet a hundred times and constantly watching what I eat, I'm pretty certain that a lot of Afton's tummy troubles can be attributed to me eating/drinking dairy.  I am totally o.k. with this.  When forced to choose between milk and sleep, I choose sleep every time.  

Afton is almost sitting up on her own, she's squawking and making lots of cute noises, and she loves playing peek-a-boo.  She loves to stick out her tongue and spit.  She and Paisley adore each other and we adore them both.  

Birthday, Valentine's Day, and 4 months old!

Happy Birthday to Paisley! (Okay, back in February)  It's hard to believe it's been 2 years already.  Paisley is as spunky and full of life as ever.  She's talking like crazy, as always, and she's got the energy of, well, a two-year-old, I guess.  Which is a lot more than I have!  She's certainly developed a will of her own, and she's clever too.  When Afton was born she learned a new trick.  It goes like this: Paisley notices I have my hands full (for example, holding Afton is her heavy car seat).  She looks at me, I look at her.  She gets a mischievous look in her eye, and I realize she's about  to perform her trick.  My eyes widen in panic and I watch helplessly as Paisley goes running in the opposite direction.  Sigh.  It is wonderful to watch her becoming her own little person.  She's funny, and playful and challenging, and we couldn't love her more.  We had a few little birthday parties for her, as it turns out.  She was thrilled with all of it.  We took her to have pictures taken and curled her hair for the first time.  She looked adorable, if I say so myself. 

 Valentine's day was pretty low-key.  One of these days we're going to figure out how to balance the day of love and a birthday on the same day, but this is what it looked like this year.

And, of course, Afton hit her 4 month mark this month.  We celebrated with a mini photo shoot.  This month she holds toys, sits up alone in her Boppy pillow, rolls front to back whenever possible, and tries her very hardest to lift her head and do sit-ups when placed on her back.  She sleeps absolutely terribly, and we're up  6-7 times a night, sometimes for long periods of time.  Aahhhhh! But no matter how exhausted we both are, when she wakes us up bright and early in the morning and flashes us one of her smiles, we remember just how worth it it all is.  

Backtracking to January

Backtracking to January 2013.  Here's our 3-month-old.  Early this month she rolled from her front onto her back, started laughing, found her feet, and started grasping objects.  She still cries quite a bit, but we've found a magic position.  As long as we hold her facing out with an arm around her middle, she's as happy as can be.  She's still really gassy, and has a hard time at night, but she's had some 6-hour nights which I have thoroughly enjoyed!

Bangs, Baby Blessing, and the Best Christmas Yet

This is my back track to December.  First off, I got bangs!  Bold move for me.  I can't remember the last time I did anything with my hair besides "take off what you have to".  Here is a picture of me and the girls, me looking like the exhausted mother or a new-ish born baby - with bangs. 

 Here is our adorable 2-month-old.  Her eyes are huge and beautiful.  She is starting to smile and I don't think I've seen anything more endearing in my life.  She crinkles up the top of her little nose and like a playful little lion cub.  She's 10 lbs, 6 oz. of sweetness and fun.  She sleeps pretty terribly, but she's getting better at it.  We moved her out of our room this month, which helped.

 Afton was blessed by her Dad in church on December 2.  It was a beautiful blessing.  He blessed her that she would be a light in the lives of others so that they would have the desire to come to know Jesus Christ.  Here are some pictures of us on this very happy day.

 Afton's first Christmas and it was a great one.  The girls got lots of gifts, and it was so much fun to watch Paisley get so into it.  The first gift she opened was a Minnie Mouse doll from Oma and Opa.  It was love at first sight.  Her next gift was a Book of Mormon.  Once she opened that, her life was complete and she sat down with Minnie and started "reading".  She was thrilled to open her Minnie Mouse scooter later on too, and her giant princess castle tent from Grandma.  The girls both received pink cowgirl boots, lots of cute clothes, and pretty much the entire Toy Story collection.  Oma, Opa, Grandma Patti, and Cindie all helped to make this Christmas extra special for all of us.  It was fun this Christmas to watch Paisley start to grasp the real meaning of it all.  She loves to sing sings like "Away In a Manger", and read the nativity story.  She especially loves looking at baby Jesus in the nativity scenes.  She even adopted one of them as her own and loves to keep him under her pillow at night, and wherever else she goes.

 The greatest Christmas present ever.  I am ecstatic, and can;t wait to use it.  Can it stop snowing already?

All about Afton

So, eight months ago, we had a baby!  Of course, everyone knows that by now, and I would have blogged much, much sooner, if it weren't for two things: 1. Limited number of pictures allowed on the blog (who knew), and 2. Limited number of hours in the day.  So there they are, my sad excuses for being so terrible about documenting the past 8 months of our lives, which happen to be the first and only months of Afton's.  The next several posts will be my attempt to back-document, if not for your enjoyment, then for ours and Afton's later on.

  

Afton the 1-month-old

A friend from church offered to take these newborn pictures for us and I think they turned out beautifully.  They really captured Afton at this tiny stage of her life. Afton is wonderfully unpredictable.  She is so sweet and adorable, but she's having a rough time getting used to this outside of the womb thing.  

Her bottom has been sorer and redder than I knew was possible, and we both cry when it comes time for a diaper change.  

As the pictures show, she's still a little jaundiced, so we've been in and out of the health center for blood tests many times in this short month.  She cries a little harder every time she has to be poked.  

She's extremely gassy, so she spends her nights grunting in the bassinet next to our bed. Between the sore bottom and her gassy discomfort, none of us get much sleep during the night, but we do get lots of cuddle time!  

When it comes to spit-up, Afton is a champ. This is true especially, but not only, after a feeding Imagine a hot water bottle with no lid on, and that's the closest equivalent I can think of when it comes to spit-up.  Squeeze her, tip her, poke her, or pretty much move her in any way, and up it comes.  This is a whole new adventure in parenting for me!  

Ok, so what makes all this worthwhile?  Just look at this face!  I'm reminded daily what a wonderful gift from our Heavenly Father this girl really is.  Paisley is thrilled with her little sister and besides the occasional urge to jump on top of her and hug her to death, she does really with her!