Time Well Spent

So it happened. The heavens smiled upon us here in Arizona and deemed us worthy of a bit of cool, fall weather. Just a bit. Temperatures have gone back up. But for a couple days we had some A-MAZ-ing weather.

And what did I find myself doing on these blessed days? I was inside. Trying to get Ammely to self-entertain so I could do two days' worth of dishes and vacuum and get dinner together and finish some laundry and iron Ammon's work shirts, etc...

Then I had a moment. One of those mommy moments that I'm sure will come in plenty over the next infinity of years. Ammely was fussing and I was feeling frustrated with my ability to get anything done in a day. Then I took a deep breath and allowed some calm and inspiration to flow into my heart. And the realization came to me - right now I am fortunate enough to be a stay-at-home mom. And surely this implies trying to keep a clean house and make things nice and ready for your husband from day to day. However, the emphasis here is mom. I shouldn't spend so much time trying to get Ammely to play with the same toys she's seen a million times so that I can get something else done. I should spend more time WITH her...doing things she wants to be doing. I should get down and play with her. Explain to her that she has toes and fingers. Show her some colors. Read her a book. Let her look out the window. Go for a walk. Take her to the park.

And so we did. We went for a walk. To the park. I hadn't showered or put on makeup. I left the dishwasher wide open right as it was in that moment. I packed up the diaper bag, put everything in the stroller and out we went. And she LOVED it.

She stopped fussing. She watched the big kids get off of the school bus. She felt the wind on her face and watched the leaves rustle around on the tree. She looked at the flowers on the bushes. She listened intently to the birds.

It's easy to forget how new everything is for her. How big and grand. How marvelous. How beautiful. She's experiencing all of the Lord's handiwork for the first time. I need to do better to remember that it is my privilege to share with her in her discovery. To show her the beauty. To explain what it is and where it comes from.

And if I do that - who cares if my dishes are dirty? Or the laundry isn't finished?

But guess what? That got done later too. Amazing.

It was so amazing in fact, that we did it AGAIN the next day. We went for a walk. To a different park.

I was a little more prepared and had blankets and bottles so we could stay a while.

And boy, were we enjoying it...

...until...

Yes, the best laid plans...

I did a pretty impressive job of turning off the camera, grabbing my phone, and hurling myself over Ammely to prevent too much water damage.

I also did an impressive job of timing the sprinklers so that we could leave the park without getting completely drenched.

So it didn't go like I planned. But oh well. We made a memory.

Colorado in July

At the end of July we were fortunate enough to get to fly up to Colorado and spend some time with my family. We had been wanting to take a trip up there to show off Ammely before she was, you know, walking, talking, going off to college -- while she is still our baby.

So somewhat apprehensively we headed to the airport. To get on an airplane. With a 3 month old. I was nervous. Very nervous. I absolutely did NOT want to be that mother with the screaming baby that everyone on the plane has equal amounts of pity and hatred towards.

However, Ammely was a real winner. She gave the security guard a big ol' smile and charmed our way right through the Phoenix airport. She even got her own "ticket." Which she found to be quite delicious.

And as luck would have it our flight to Denver was not full, so they let us have a seat for Ammely - for FREE! Such a blessing. Especially for a first time flying mom. So we got her all settled in...

...then got her all cozied up to Daddy...

...just to find out that the baby gets the window seat. It's required. Lucky duck.

All went well. Really well. She was an angel baby the entire time. She even did great during landing. As evidenced here:

Sidenote: When I say "we're going down" I mean that the plane is heading downward because we are landing. Not that the plane has lost an engine and is dangerously falling towards the ground.

Upon landing we had yet another adventure at DIA.

One of the great happenstances of this trip was the fact that one of my oldest, bestest friends was getting married while we were there. So during the sealing, Ammely got to hang out with Grandma...which she did not mind in the least. She got to go shopping and pick out toys. As featured here:

It was wonderful to get to be there for Serenity's wedding - to see her with her sweetheart. Not so long ago I found an email from back in 2010 where I was talking to her about falling in love with Ammon, and she was talking to me about how she was starting to see this guy Jimmy - and now we're both hitched to those boys for time and all eternity.

And Seren got to see my princess! However, I think it was Ammely that was in awe. I mean, Serenity looks gorgeous - just like a princess.

At the wedding we got to show her off to many friends and old ward members.

The following day, we had lots of family out to the house and got to enjoy much company that way. Ammely met Aunt Beth, Uncle Danny, Cousin Steven, Cousin Kailey, Cousin Tasha, and Grandma and Grandpa Breakall.

Grandma Breakall was happy to pass on a bit of advice as we all enjoyed a cool Colorado evening. Ammely seemed glad to have it.

Ammely, Kailey, Tasha

All in all the trip was fabulous. Ammely got to have bath time with her Grandma Breakall.

Nap time with her Grandpa Breakall.

And chill time with her Uncle Jared.

Heck, we even got to watch the Olympics!

We were sad to go. And nervous once again. However, the angel was once again an angel. She looked like this most of the flight home to Phoenix:

No Greater Joy

Ammely has started to laugh - or at least is trying. These moments are so sweet!

For Daddy's Special Day

This year, in an effort to do something nice for Daddy we got to know a little bit of what it must be like for Daddy all of the time.

Daddy is always doing hard things for us to make us happy. We know it isn't easy for him to go to work, or to school, or to shoulder many worries and responsibilities because he is Daddy.

And now we too know how hard it is to do nice things. Getting Daddy a Father's Day present was no easy task.

In fact, it was downright miserable.

 I thought I hated it at the time.

But then, when all was said and done, I took a moment to reflect on what happened. And I looked at what I had accomplished.

And I thought..."Hey!"...

"That wasn't soooo bad. This turned out pretty darn good."

And I DO love Daddy.

I REALLY love Daddy.

He's such a great guy.

Okay, okay. It was hard at first, but I love the guy. I'll do hard things for him with a smile!

Besides, look how great this is! My hard work and smiles will surely put a smile on Daddy's face too!

And if not, there are always other sweet things for Daddy on Father's Day...

We sure learned a lot. Thank you Daddy, for all that you do for us. We know it's hard and downright miserable sometimes. But we love the smiles in the end.

We sure do love you!

An Anniversary

Well, the most magical day of the year rolled around again - June 11th! - -Which means Ammon and I have been married for two whole years! To mark the event we decided to take an evening and go back to our favorite place - same place as our honeymoon, same place as our 1 year anniversary - Scottsdale, Shearton Desert Oasis. Since we were only going to be staying one night we upgraded the room. This one had even more awesome features, like TWO fireplaces. And a full kitchen. 

And a two-person jacuzzi tub. In the room. Not the bathroom. The bedroom. Jut plain awesome.

 As usual, we had an AMAZING time. Good food. Good talks. Good time watching shows and just hanging out with eachother. Good to reflect on another year of the awesomeness that is our life together.

And who had the most fun on this romantic getaway you ask?

Well, Ammely of course! (What? It's not so easy to just leave your 2 month old behind, especially when she's nursing and whatnot.)

I mean, there were pillows four times her size.

And towel animals to make friends with.

And gigantic bathtubs. 

And time to spend with Daddy.

And a crib!

Yes, Ammely definitely enjoyed a night in luxury. We all did.

2 Months, A Prayer and a Hairdryer

Remember when I said that babies can break your heart? It's still true.

Ammely had her 2-month appointment, which means shots.

All started well. She was perfectly happy to be at the doctor's office - getting measured, just laying on the paper, listening to it crinkle as she wiggled around.

And then they came in and changed her world. With 5 shots. Yes, FIVE shots.  

And even though she did not like them at all in the moment, she did very well. She only cried for a few minutes. It was much later when the pain re-kicked in and she would not forgive her mommy for that kind of an experience.

She started crying as we arrived at Walmart to get her Infant's Tylenol.

The cart goes crooked.

Abandon cart in middle of aisle.

Could I find Infant's tylenol with the rest of the medicine? No.

So I lugged her to the back of the store to the baby section. Infant's tylenol there? No.

Back outside to the 100 degree weather.

To Walgreens.

Lugged baby into Walgreens.

Infant's tylenol? Probably - but I left the paper from the doctor in the car.

Back outside.

Back inside.

Infant's tylenol in the infant's medicine section? No.

Infant's tylenol in the normal people section? Yes. Hallelujia.

Check out. Cashier tries to make small talk. Really? Now, while my child is crying as though death were at her door?

Out to the car.

In the backseat, hoping the A/C speeds up, trying to read dispensing directions from the box and the doctor for the first time.

Give her the drops.

Go home.

Still crying.

Warm compresses or warm bath is supposed to help.

Draw up bath.

Put baby in bath.

No good.

Maybe she wants me to hold her.

Try to fill up normal bath while she is in her infant bath.

Start the water and it goes onto her head.

Stupid mommy moment.

Even more upset little girl.

10 minutes in bath, still no better.

Baby is crying.

Mommy is crying.

Mommy is praying.

Wrap up in towel, sit on bathroom floor, and hold her.

Turn on hairdryer. Hairdry baby.

Crying slows to wimper.

Baby falls asleep.

Mommy offers prayer of gratitude.

I have never been so sad. I have never been so exhausted. And I wasn't even the one who got the shots.

As previously stated, babies can break your heart.

A Blessing

With my family living out of state, we decided to utilize Memorial Day weekend for Ammely's blessing day. This way those working folk and school-bound folk could come down without too much personal trouble.

This meant that Ammely FINALLY got to meet her Grandpa Breakall, or "Gampy Bakeall" as we've been calling him.

It was love at first sight for the both of them.

Seriously, they were very comfortable together. Very.

The same can be said for her Uncle Jared.

It was so wonderful to have my whole family here. It just fills my heart up when we're all together. I hate that we're all so far apart. But so is life and really we're quite blessed with all of today's technologies that we can see eachother and talk to eachother as much as we do.

The bishop was kind enough to let us do the blessing in Sacrament Meeting even though it was not a fast Sunday. So Sunday morning Ammon got his little angel ready for their special moment.

The blessing itself went beautifully. I saw a quote the other day that said something like

"I never knew how much I loved your father,

until I saw how much he loved you."

That basically sums up my feelings for her blessing day. I know she was the one getting a blessing but I felt blessed. I don't think there is anything of greater worth to me in my life than knowing that I am married to a man who holds the priesthood worthily. That he can lead our family to our eternal goals and has the authority to bless our family as he righteously does so.

Another wonderful part of any blessing day is getting to spend the afternoon with so many loved ones. We had SOO many people come to share in Ammely's special moment, we are truly blessed.
Here are a few pictures of a few of the people who were there. I've already had one of those moments as a mom where you go "Darn it! I wanted pictures of such and such and forgot!"  Thus, I do not have pictures of everyone who came. In fact, I have pictures of only a few. At least I have some pictures though.

Uncle Jared, Mommy, Ammely, Daddy, Grandpa Breakall, Grandma Breakall

Grandma Breakall and Ammely

"Uncle" Rocky and Ammely

Uncle JT, Ammely, Grandpa Breakall

Grandma Baysinger, Ammely, Great-Grandma Lords

Janey - this sweet woman has done so much for our little family. Among the MANY things she has done is give us this beautiful blessing dress for our daughter.

This is probably only about half of the wonderful men who stood in the circle as Ammely was blessed. I am most frustrated with myself for not getting the picture with all of them. But alas, what's done is done.

Great-grandpa Lords, Uncle Jared, Cousin Tyler, Ammely, Daddy, Uncle Boyd, Grandpa Breakall
We're missing Grandpa Baysinger, Uncle Kent, Uncle Royal, Uncle JT and Uncle Gage.

As I said, everything went beautifully. Ammely was well-behaved. Ammon blessed her eloquently and correctly. Family and friends joined with us. So many contributed to the good food and good conversation.

I'm so grateful. Grateful to everyone who came. Grateful that the bishop allowed us to do this while my family was in town. Grateful for a wonderful husband who could do this special thing for our little girl.

Grateful that him and her were able to share the moment and bond even closer together. There is something extra sweet about Daddy-daugher relationships.

And grateful for this sweet little spirit who has enriched our family so greatly already.