Cousins

Jacob called me around noon and said that he was heading over to PV mall with Natalie and Preston, to let Preston run around at their inside play area, and to see if I wanted to meet them. Of course I did! Since they were only here for a week, I wanted to get every minute with them that I could. I hurried Amelia and Hayden through lunch, nursed Avery, and we were on our way. Even though we only got to hang out for an hour or so it was worth it, because after they go back to Idaho I don't know when I'm going to get to see them next. I didn't get any pictures of them playing in the little play area because I was too busy talking to Natalie, but here are some cute pictures of them "driving" the ride on ice cream truck. I just happened to have 75 cents on me (what happened to those things being a quarter?!), so they got to ride it one time. They thought it was so fun. It was really cute. It was nice getting to spend time with them. One of the things I miss about being in Utah is that I was only a few hours away from Jacob and Natalie and I felt like I got to see them pretty often. Now that I am like 16 hours away, they have only been down here twice in the almost year that we have lived here. I miss seeing them all the time!

Cupcakes

More pictures of Avery in another one of her adorable cupcake outfits. I think I am going to be able to make a small album for her just with all the pictures of her in all her cupcake outfits. On second thought, that's a good idea . . . . :)

Family Pictures

After church, everyone came back to my house for dinner. "Everyone" included my parents, Robyn and Jane, Jacob's family, and my Grandpa. I took a TON of family pictures. I'm thankful that everyone was here in town and able to get together and have Avery's blessing, even if the reason they were all here wasn't a happy one. Here are some of my favorites.

John and Avery.

Typical family picture. My hair looks lame, Brooklyn looks like her right arm is amputated, and Austin looks like he really has to pee. Heaven forbid we could get this many people to all look cute at once. Haha

Avery and me. (Man, why didn't someone tell me to fix the front of my hair?!)

Hanging out on Dad's arm.

Avery with Aunt Robyn and cousin Jane. (We missed Uncle Joe and Henry.)

Avery with Aunt Natalie, Uncle Jacob and cousin Preston.

My mom with her girls and their baby girls.

Three generations: My mommy, me and my girls.

Avery with Grandma and Grandpa.

Avery with her Great Grandpa Paul Greer.

This picture gives me such joy every time I look at it. He just looks so happy with her. I only wish that my grandma had been able to still be here and be in the picture with him. I am so glad that he is still here to be a part of Avery's life, and the lives of my other kids.

A Name and A Blessing

I have to divide up the posts about Avery's blessing because I have a ton of pictures, but I also wanted to include this post. After her blessing, a friend of mine came up and said that she had written down some things from Avery's blessing. She said that she had always wished that she had done that with her kids (So had I!) and that she just happened to have a piece of paper and pen in her lap from something else she was working on for Primary. So when John started to bless her, she started writing it down. I am going to save the original paper she gave me to put in her scrapbook, but here is what she wrote down (it's paraphrased from the blessing, not word for word):

- Bless you with a desire and strength to learn about Heavenly Father and gain a testimony of him.

- That you will learn to love the Gospel.

- That you will grow and be a good example to others.

- That you will have the desire to serve a full time mission

- Strive to serve.

- That you will meet a righteous LDS man, and be sealed for time and all eternity.

- As you grow, be successful in life so you can be with Heavenly Father and Savior again.

- Health and Strength

- We love you very much

- We are proud that you chose to come to our family to gain a body.

Her blessing was beautiful. I am so proud of John for doing such a good job, and thankful that my friend had the presence of mind to write it down for me. I think it would have been cool to have a copy of mine to read, so I am excited that I have this for her to read when she is older.

“Every member of the church of Christ having children is to bring them unto the elders before the church, who are to lay their handsupon them in the name of Jesus Christ, and bless them in his name."

Doctrine and Covenants 20:70

Dressed In White (and a little pink too)

I know that it is pretty unusual for a LDS family to bless their baby in a dress that has pink rosebuds all over it, but this dress is very special to me. It is the dress that I was blessed in. My younger sister Robyn was also blessed in it, and so were all 3 of my older girls and Robyn's daughter. It is really special to me that all 4 of my girls have been able to be blessed in the same dress that I was blessed in. I like creating little traditions like that for my family. Hailey talks about how she is going to bless her daughters in it too, when she has her own family. I think that it's cute that she wants to carry on the tradition.

I thought Avery looked so beautiful in my dress. She is definitely a lot smaller than her sisters were when they were blessed! She was drowning in the dress! That's ok, because I think it's cute. When I first started taking her picture she was sound asleep, which made taking pictures a lot easier. However, a few minutes into my little photo session she woke up and I was able to get some adorable awake pictures too. She is just so cute. This is maybe a tenth of the pictures that I took. I couldn't help myself. At least I will have tons to choose from for her scrapbook!

Amelia Turns 6!

Today my Gummy turned 6. I can hardly believe that she is already that old! She has been so excited for her birthday, I think she has talked about it nonstop for at least the last month. I didn't post all the pics of everything she got, but I posted pics of the bigger items just to give an idea of the stuff she got.

Once again I tried my hand at birthday cake making. I think I am getting a little better. This time I decided to try out carving a cake, instead of having a flat one, and I carved a domed ladybug cake. It was super messy to make, but I think it turned out cute. She said it was the best cake ever, so that's good enough for me!

I think it's funny that this sleep mask was one of the things she was most excited about. She has wanted one for a long time. I'm not sure why it's so exciting, but it was definitely the cheapest item on her wishlist.

I love Amelia so much. She is so smart, and artistic and silly. I remember when I found out I was pregnant with her, it was such a shock. John and I had only been married a few weeks, and we hadn't even given any thought to having a 6th child. (Although we obviously didn't give any thought to NOT having one). I am so glad that we did, because she is so fun and a wonderful addition to our family. I love to watch her constant thirst for learning and for all things artistic/musical. I hope that she continues to hold onto that love, and I can't wait to see the amazing young lady she grows into. I love you Amelia!

So Fast

This picture makes me kinda sad. Tomorrow she will be 3 weeks old, and already I feel like she is getting so big and becoming this whole other person. I can look at her earlier pictures, and then look at this one, and it's crazy how much she has already changed. It kind of makes me want to cry when I think about her getting bigger. I almost started bawling when I thought about her being Hayden's age and walking around and talking and everything. John thinks I'm a little crazy (ok maybe more than a little) but I just can't bear the thought right now. It makes me think of that Lonestar song " let them be little, 'cause they're only that way for so long". I know that she will be little for a long time still, but it already seems like it is going too fast.

I love how tiny and cute you are Avery. Please don't grow up too fast. I already feel like your sisters did, and I need you to stay tiny for a while longer.

Avery's First Day of Church

* Disclaimer: I know this is kinda turning into an Avery blog. haha I can't help it. She is so cute, and I don't want to forget anything later. Plus, my other kids aren't being that exciting lately. *

Today was Avery's first day going to church. She was so cute all dressed up. Of course, I had to get a picture of the 2 of us since I actually looked like a human being today and who knows when that will happen again!

Nothing really to blog about, I just like how she matches the sheets on my bed. haha :)

In The Swing Of Things

Avery hung out and slept in her swing for the first time today. It was nice to have her in there, where I could keep an eye on her and get some stuff done around the house.

There are 2 things I especially like about these pictures:

1. I love her swing. It is the same one I had with Hayden, and I just think it is so cute.

2. I just love her jammies. My bff Hailee and I really got into cupcake stuff while pregnant with our girls (her daughter Isabella is 6 weeks older than Avery) and so I have TONS of baby clothes that have cupcakes on them. Every time I put her in one of them, it makes me smile. :)

Giraffe Jammies

I just love her in these giraffe jammies. They are so cute! I had to have them as soon as I saw them. Something about animals on the feeties that just makes them too cute to pass up.

I'm not sure why I only ended up with pictures of my dad and Avery today, but that's ok. I seem to get less pictures of him with the kids than my mom, so I will take as many as I can get. Plus they turned out cute. :)

My dad being silly with Avery.

Now a real smile.

Close up of her adorableness.

Hideous picture of me, but I wanted to make sure I got a picture of her whole body in her cute giraffe jammies. Ignore the fact that I am wearing the same shirt I wore yesterday. Other than on here, no one saw it since I didn't manage to leave the house or anything.

Happy

John took this picture of Avery and I today, and so far it is my favorite of the 2 of us. It makes me smile every time I pull it up and look at it. I made it my profile picture on facebook because I like it so much. Of course, the reason I probably like it so much is because I actually felt like a human being due to the fact that I managed to shower, do my hair and wear non maternity clothes! haha I also like the silly little look on her face. She was making silly faces in most of the ones he took, but this is the one that I look the best in. Sorry Avery! :)

Bathing Beauty

Today I gave Avery her first bath at home. I waited a few days because her skin was kinda peeling and the nurse said she only needed one maybe a couple times a week because more than that would dry out her skin.

As you can tell from the pictures, she thought she was in heaven from the moment I set her in there. Some babies might cry when they are having a bath, but not Avery. Not a peep from her the entire time she was in the tub. She was so happy and content to be in there. The only time she cried was when I took her out. Boy was she not happy then!

Happy 2nd Birthday Hayden!

I can't believe my baby boy is 2! Where has all the time gone? He is just getting cuter by the hour, and although it makes me sad that he's not a little baby anymore, I still just can't get enough of him. I just love him so much I just can't take it! The little boy I never thought I would have. Sometimes I think I love him a little too much, if that's possible. I just want to hug and kiss him and squeeze his guts every chance I get.

It was fun to get to have my parents here for his birthday, but I was enjoying Hayden so much I forgot to take any pictures of him with them like I had planned. Lame, I know. I had planned on taking a picture of him with John and I too, but having a new baby and NOT having had a shower very recently, I smartly opted to just let John be in the pics.

He had a ton of fun playing with everything he got and eating "CAKE!". It has to be all caps, with an exclamation point, because that's how he says it every single time. Hilarious! I'm glad he liked it, because once again I tried my lame hand at cake making. I don't know that I am getting any better, but the kids like it so I guess that's good enough for me.

The birthday cake. He was super excited because it had a car on it. :)

Hmmm, and which one should be first?

Hello? Is anyone there?

Way excited, because the puzzle makes sounds when you play with it.

"Helping" dad because he wasn't getting it together fast enough!

Playing with his cool new track that's almost as big as he is.

A firehouse and truck. Fire trucks are his favorite thing ever.

Cute dinosaur puzzle. Hayden calls them "Roar's". hehe

He sang to himself while he was getting sung to. He loves singing the birthday song.

Finally! CAKE!