Thankful - And Proud of It !

Reed thinks Aftyn is looking more and more like me. So, I thought I would take a picture so I could see. I still think she just looks like herself. What do you think?

In the 6 months of Aftyn's life, as of yesterday, here are some of the true joys she brings into our lives :

- splashing and playing in baths. Reed LOVES to bathe Aftyn. I let it be his time with her when I can because he enjoys it so much.

- talking, even when it means we can't hear each other speak because Aftyn is being so loud. She is just beginning to find her voice, and we have so much fun listening to her at night when we're together.

- Changing her diapers. Aftyn loves to suck on her big toes, and is pretty flexible because of this. When you take off her diaper, she has decided it's the best opportunity to get to them. We generally have to separate her foot from her mouth in order to get the diaper back on.

- Getting her dressed and accessorized. Maybe that's just fun for me, but I love it when she looks cute and her hair is all done.

- Cuddling. Oh, I love it when she's in a cuddly mood. I think she loves to cuddle and be smooched on. She gets a big smile on her face and often giggles. So cute. She loves to touch our faces also when she cuddles.

- I love that she's so aware of the world around her at this point and finds interesting things to look at everywhere. I also love that because of her interests outside herself, she wants to move to get things. I think this is so exciting! I can't wait to show her all the beautiful things in this world.

- I love that she loves music. I sat her in front of Lawrence Welk this last Saturday, left the room and then peeked around the corner at her. She was in awe, staring at the tv screen with all the colors and music coming from it, with a big smile on her face.

- Most of all, I love the personality emanating from her little body. She is so dang lovable!

She just started this yesterday . .

Don't mind the "whining", she gets tired of her tummy sometimes. But also notice, she kind of gets up on her knees towards the end. That's the first time I've seen her do that. I was just showing/helping her do that a few minutes before, but she wasn't really getting it. If you can't tell, her "new" thing is moving her jaw up and down and making sounds while she does this and it makes NEW sounds. She likes to "talk" a lot.

The Many Faces of Aftyn

(This is her "oh-ing" face. She says "ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh".)

Can you believe her top is actually the

first dress she ever wore to church at a week and a day old?

What the Hay - it's Picture Day!

So, a little fly buzzed in my ear that it was time again for Photos With Aftyn, our weekly

debacle that starts with smiles and sunshine and ends with tears and naps.

So, older sis, what do you think? Aren't her legwarmers colorful and fuzzy? And if you've got anything bad to say about her mommy-made legwarmers, here's what Aftyn's got to say:

"Whatch-you talkin' 'bout Willis?!"

Post Edit: If you were one of the early viewers of my original post and remembered somewhat different pictures, let's just say I chose to take them out. I'm not sure they were the best specimen of my work in photography. I'm not looking for perfection, but too many people thought they were "weird." Whatevah.

A Note to Grandma from Aftyn:

Dear Grandma,


I tried your carrots.

I loved them like I've never loved any food before, except milk.














I had to focus a lot - they were yummy, I had to enjoy every bite!

You can't tell it from my face, but I'm saying Thank You. They were delish!

Why Do:

Why do babies, as soon as they lay in the warm water that is in their bath, feel the need to empty their bladders? As in, go wee wee! I noticed a few baths ago that cute little Aftyn, as soon as she felt settled and all warm in her bath, just let it go. Which I wouldn't have even noticed except that I was looking in that general area to make sure that WASN'T happening. And then she did in her next bath also. Does this happen EVERY bath time and I'm JUST noticing? Ew.

Just had to show :

I just had to post this cute picture with my oldest niece, also the oldest grandchild, holding her 3 youngest cousins. From left to right are Aftyn, Phoebe, Lucy, and holding all 3 is Kierstin. Cool, huh?

So It Must Be Thankful Thursday!

Gratefully, I feel much better, happier and thankful today.

I probably didn't explain well, but with Reed in the bedroom, I didn't get to talk to him or touch him or hug him or anything for the last 2 days. This might not seem like that big of a deal, but Reed is always hugging me or kissing me or rubbing my shoulders, and I think it might happen more often than I realize because I miss being shown how much he loves me by how often he is touching me!

And so, today I am thankful. I am thankful Reed woke up after sleeping all night, which he hadn't been able to do the night before, to no fever and hardly any body aches.

I am grateful to all the people who offered help and condolences. Thank you!

I am grateful that Aftyn and I haven't gotten sick. I am grateful for soap, and the awesome cloths that are made by Norwex and to which I attribute my lack of sickness. I am grateful to the fabulous woman in our ward who came up with little sample packs for people to try their cloths, who loaned me a few. They have been lifesavers!

I'm grateful for my sister Alyson who takes cute pictures of Aftyn for me.

I'm grateful for life returning back to "normal".

Whiny Wednesday?

Whiny Wednesday. I'm pretty sure that's a post nobody wants to read.

Life's a bit tough right now. Not really, not tough as in : we're out of a job, someone in my family has a deadly illness, or we're losing our home.

No, just tough as in: Reed's sick with the swine flu, because of this and the fact that we have 2 young children in our home on a daily basis (counting Aftyn) he has to be quarantined to our bedroom and can't really come out without spreading the disease. And I can't go in and spend time with him because I've got Aftyn to care for all day long and when she's finally down for the night, so is Reed.

So I guess life seems tough because I don't have my normal backup support from Reed. I know there are people with much harder trials than this. But right now, this one is kind of hard to swallow. Sorry, this seems to have turned a bit whiny.

Okay, well I just had to get that out of my system. I guess I needed to have someone listen to me, and I'm feeling better now!

On to better, much happier news. I am so excited for Thanksgiving! I love the holiday season because I get to watch Christmas movies and listen to Christmas music. I love the time spent with family that makes it so memorable. I'm excited to share these holidays with Aftyn, even though I know she most likely won't remember them this year. I love the feeling of *love* I feel this time of year.

Recent photos

Our sunrise on Halloween morning - rather fitting that it should have so much orange, huh?





Aftyn really does like her hair - when she's happy, she touches it but only momentarily. Which is why it's hard to capture with a picture, she's just too quick! I finally caught her at it while sleeping. So cute.

Haven't we all had THESE moments? I don't generally have Aftyn wear bows at home, but I found the perfect one on this day and so she was wearing it while playing. I heard Aftyn making some funny fussy sounds from were I was in the kitchen, I came around the corner and found this:

She could only see out of the top of her headband - Reed and I got a pretty good laugh from this.

Right after this photo, I fixed the bow. I'm not that mean.

Cute video

Please don't mind my commentary - I couldn't help it, I'm the mommy. :P