Balmy Christmas

Zoey's first Christmas was a beautiful, clear, blue day.  It was so nice to see the mountains and the weather was just perfect.  I actually had to turn on the air in the car at one point the sun was so warm. We woke up and got dressed and headed to my parents' house to open gifts.  We got there around 9 a.m. and had a breakfast casserole, biscuits and gravy and blueberry muffins.  Poor Dallin was deathly ill.  He stayed bundled up on the couch.  I've never seen him so sick.  We was running a fever and was all stuffed up.  After present opening I sent him upstairs for a nap and Zoey got a little snooze too.

I loaded up our haul and we headed back to the Plaizier's to open gifts.  Zoey stayed konked out in her car seat and Dallin kept falling asleep in between his gifts.  I sent him to bed and when Zoey woke up she had a pile of presents to open.  She was more interested in playing with scraps of paper and opening drawers.  While Dallin slept we all headed over to Dallin's aunt's house for Christmas lunch.  We had a fun time visiting and doing white elephants.  I actually ended up with a small propane grill which isn't too shabby for a white elephant!  I stayed out of the glitter war that ensued between the boys.

Afterward, Zoey and I ran home and checked on Dallin then bundled up and headed back to my parents' to go see the lights on Temple Square.  I was kind of sad I hadn't taken Zoey to do that yet so it was the perfect opportunity.  What was even better was that tons of people were paying for parking but the parking under the conference center was open and free!  

Temple Square wasn't as crowded as I thought it would be and I think Christmas night may be the time to go.  It was a great spirit and Zoey was a trooper and only started fussing toward the end when she was tired and her nose and cheeks were pink from the cold.

We came home and Dallin seemed to be doing a little bit better.  We went to bed and decided to open our presents in the morning where he wouldn't sleep completely through Zoey's first Christmas.

The next morning was a lot better and we opened our presents around noon.  Zoey was playing with my Twix from my stocking and full on threw an arching back, fling herself on the floor tantrum when I took it away to open her presents.  So I gave her the Twix back and opened her presents for her.  She got lots of fun toys and books and stuffed animals (complete with Curious George and a Hug Me Elmo which are adorable) and like all girls need - clothes.

We had a great Christmas - minus the sickness.  We were spoiled and will be taking a trip with each of our families this coming year - we are so excited.  We loved all the time we were able to spend with our families and at parties and enjoying the season and traditions.  Today we drove through the lighted park in Layton.  It was underwhelming but Zoey loved it.  She's loved everything - the Festival of Trees, Temple Square, parties, nutcrackers, the tree, well, everything but opening presents and my grandpa and Santa. I have a feeling next year will be completely different.

Baby: 10 Months

Zoey has really come into her own. She is so much fun. At 10 months she:

Has really become a daddy's girl. Especially at bedtime which is kind of nice and has freed me up a bit.  

Army crawls and scoots on her bum or rolls where she wants to go.

Gets up on all fours.  Shouldn't be long now.

Is obsessed with the Nativity, Christmas tree and nutcrackers.  She loves when we make them chomp her fingers.

Is on Nutramigen formula which looks like it may have done the trick in clearing up her acid,  Took us long enough.  But it's really stinky and makes her smell.

Has 7 teeth.

Is struggling sleeping through the night.

Has the best expressions.

Is starting to throw tantrums.  Full on arching back, throwing her self, kicking and screaming.  She mainly does this at bath time, getting her diaper changed, getting dressed...who am I kidding - she does it all the time.

Hates being strapped in the car seat, high chair, etc.  See throwing tantrums.

Loves Peg + Cat and Curious George on PBS.

Got her first owie cutting her finger on the vent - didn't even cry.

Plays Peek a Boo.

HATES Santa and my mom's bouncing smnowman.  Screams bloody murder.

Has a hard time with acidic fruits.  Poor little bum.

Has tried bread, rice (LOVED), mashed potatoes, bananas, apples, oranges and clementines.  She loved the fruit.

Has to have ICE water after eating.

LOVES books.

Will shake her booty to any music.

Gags on solid foods like bread and Cheerios and insists that we feed her.

She is our light and joy. We just love our little Zo.

Bedtime Nightmare

I haven't slept through the night in about two months.  The longest uninterrupted sleep I've gotten in that time period is 5 hours.  It's been rough.  I knew what I was signing up for so I'm not complaining, mainly documenting my daughter giving me a taste of my own medicine as I refused to sleep as a baby for my mother.

Granted, she has cut three teeth in three weeks.  She's up to seven of them.  It makes her look so grown up.  But she refuses to sleep unless she's being held or sleeping with me in my bed, which I can't do anymore.  She's getting heavy and it's taking a serious toll on my back.  With our met deductible being up at the end of the month, my weekly chiropractor visits will cease and I can't go as often so she needs to sleep in her own bed.

While I was working, her loving grandmothers snuggled her through all naps.  This girl is not used to sleeping on her own in her bed.  I, too, am guilty of just wanting to hold her as she sleeps but I get nothing done as her naps are in my arms instead of the crib.  Sunday night I decided this had to change.

The tricky part is, the slightest movement like you're going to put her down, she wakes up flailing and screaming bloody murder.  I didn't want to let her cry it out because I know this point in time will be short-lived.  That soon she won't want to snuggle and will probably cry at the sight of me, not when I'm out of sight. So I got the "brilliant" idea to sleep on the floor next to her crib so she could still see me and not feel like I abandoned her as she cried it out.  Did I mention she's never taken a binkie and refuses one?  Her self-soothing skills are sorely lacking.  It seemed like every 5 minutes that night she'd pop her head up to check and make sure I was still there.  Eventually I was able to make a run for it and sleep in my bed for a couple hours.

I was so proud of myself for being a real grown up and solving a parenthood problem.  We had success!  The following night was the same routine, except this time Zoey had figured me out and didn't care that I was on the floor - she knew what was up.  Needless to say, it was a LONG night.  Again, the following night was more of the same.  I eventually let her cry herself to sleep and felt like pretty much the worst mother ever.

I am DREADING bedtime tonight.  It's already more crying and Dallin is on duty currently.  I just don't know what to do to help her self-sooth and realize that bed isn't this horrible place.  I don't know what made her start to hate it, she used to do just fine.  The teeth are cut now so shouldn't be as painful and I load her up on Tylenol so I'm pretty sure it's not pain.  I'm at a loss.  Any ideas out there?  Wish us luck...

Baby: 9 Months

Zoey has been out longer than in by a couple weeks!  Her personality is really blossoming and shining more and more.  And she is funny!  We makes all sorts of faces to be expressive or just to be funny.  She takes to mimicking our faces we make at her too which leaves us all giggling.  She is definitely a lot more interactive and really so much fun.

Nine months has also brought about the stranger aversion and clingy phase.  This has been the most challenging for me.  I can't leave her sight without her screaming bloody murder.  She has also decided she doesn't like sleeping at night either and wants me to hold her all. the. time.  This means a lot of times I fall asleep holding her because I'm so exhausted and it's developing a really bad habit that I'm not happy about.

With me not working any more, it's been a transition for both of us.  I love that she likes me around all the time and clamors up my leg for me to hold her, but also makes me really unproductive.  I try to remember that this is just a phase and there will be a time I will wish she still cuddled and will cry when she sees me rather than not, so I'm doing my best to grin and bear it.  I have to remember her world was turned upside down with me home now too and I have failed at establishing a good routine as of yet.  Most of her naps are spent in the car seat and my goal is to get us in a better routine.  It probably doesn't help that she just cut tooth #5 (another one on the bottom) which may explain some of the sleepless nights.

Another few facts about Miss Zo Zo:

She likes to touch everything

She HATES peas but has done well with everything else

She won't eat the little puffs, she just spits them out - a weird new texture I guess

She won't hold a bottle or sippy cup - she wants us to feed her

She is still struggling with acid.  Her new formula cleared up her ezcema but we're still dealing with tummy issues so I'm going to try Nutramigen.  She HATES the taste of it so we're going to mix the two for a while to see if we can get her used to it.

She loves to dance and wave her arms

Uses her voice like crazy - it's so fun to hear her babble

Scoots backward on her tummy and can scoot on her bum -  no crawling yet

She is a genuine cheeseball

Likes to pull off her socks

Got her first bonk by falling over and smashing her forehead into the table leg - so sad!

Has started to pat my back when I snuggle her

Loves little people her same size

Holds her hands out for people to hold her or pick her up

Loves doggies and monkeys

Wears some 9 mo clothes but mostly 12 mo clothes

Wears size 3 diapers




 

Boo at the Zoo

I was so excited for Halloween this year.  Something about having a child, no matter how small, and seeing new things through their eyes made it so fun.  After much deliberation we went with the mouse costume.  We decided to make it a family theme and I was a cat and Dallin was cheese.  My little mouse was seriously the cutest.

We did lots of Halloween activities this year.  We went to Frightmares, carved pumpkins, went to Boo at the Zoo, did a Trunk or Treat at my mom's ward and then on Halloween went trick or treating to a few house on our street.

Suzanne, Seth and Phin were so nice to invite us to Frightmares.  Zoey's costume was still in the laundry so she didn't wear it.  It was a beautiful day and despite the sunscreen, my poor baby got sunburned on her cheeks!  It was so fun to take the babies on the train and the carousal, even if the carousal did make us adults a bit sick!  We also did the little trick or treat places there.

Boo at the Zoo was literally a zoo.  SO many people.  It was fun to see the animals and Zoey took to pointing to them all.  She loves monkeys.  Curious George probably has a lot to do with it.  We only stood in a couple relatively short lines for a few candies - it wasn't worth the wait for the others.  We had a good time.

The Trunk or Treat was fun.  Lots of candy in a little time.  People would look at us skeptically and ask us which kind of candy she could have and either hand her a Tootsie Roll or licorice (they really thought she could eat those soft candies) or I would kindly tell them that she likes Snickers. :)  I'm sure we looked like idiots and they knew we were going to eat all her candy but it was more for the experience and to get some traction out of her costume.

Trick or treating around the neighborhood was quick and easy.  Lots of people just left buckets out on the porch or knew us and gave us handfuls of candy because there weren't a lot of trick or treaters.  I'd say her first Halloween was a success!
 

Baby: 8 Months

Wow, time is just flying by.  Zoey is just a joy in our home and makes us laugh all the time.  Her laugh is our most favorite thing to hear.  Here are some things I'd like to remember about her at 8 months:

She got tooth #4 on her "birthday!"  It is the 2nd top one.

She signs for "more" but we think she thinks it means too because she only does it when she's hungry.  Especially first thing in the morning.

Claps with her hands wide open.

Weighs about 20.5 lbs.

Is close to growing out of her 9 mo. clothes.

Wears size 3 diapers.

LOVES applesauce.  It's by far her favorite.

Does pretty good sleeping through the night.  We only have hiccups when she is teething or having some tummy issues.

Goes to bed around 9:45 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. and wakes up around 6:45 a.m.  We've had a couple later nights where she's slept in to 8 a.m.!!

Loves to have the palm of her hand scratched as she goes to sleep.  She still fights sleep quite a bit.

Drinks about 6 oz. pretty consistently but takes 8 oz. at bed time.  She has cereal plus a fruit or veggies twice a day.

Dive bombs out of arms.  She has no fear and is constantly wiggling around or jumping. 

Goes CRAZY in her jumper, it is the funniest thing.

Is pretty intense.  She'll make fists and shake sometimes when she's overly excited or frustrated.

Gives the best open mouth kisses.  She loves to give puppies those kisses too... :P  lol

Likes to sleep on her tummy much to my chagrin.

Loves to look at books.

Dances like a mad woman.  Any time music comes on she drops whatever is in her hands and puts her hands above her head and shakes them around.  It's adorably hilarious.

Sits really well and scoots backward.  Glad she isn't crawling yet.

I just can't get enough of smooching those chubby, soft cheeks!

Baby - 7 Months

 Zoey is 7 months old now!  Here is a glance into her world at 7 months old:

She rolls everywhere.  She's totally a pro.

Gives big, open mouth, slobbery kisses.  I love them.

Waves "hi" and "bye bye" by flapping her arm.

Has tried green beans, carrots and squash and was ok with all of them.  She does prefer oatmeal over rice cereal.

Chews like a monkey.  Lips puckered, cheeks puffed out.

"Dances" to music.

Says "mama."  Not sure if she knows what it means but she says it constantly.

Laughs at everything mama does.  It's good for my self-esteem.

Has had trouble sleeping through the night.  We're working on it.

LOVES to jump in her bouncer.  She has no fear and will flail herself backward while doing so.  Luckily she's secured.

Likes little sips of water but it utterly confused by a sippy cup.

Not sure if I've ever mentioned this but is in love with fans and has been since she was born.  She could watch them spin all day long.

Is too big to snuggle under my chin - she's really tall!

Loves to splash in the bath and play with her ducky.

Loves to grab at everything.  Mainly earrings, hair, facial hair, watches, etc.

This age is so much fun.  She's learning so much so quickly and is very interactive.  I can tell it's a little frustrating for her too because she really just wants to get up and go and do things on her own but is still limited by her growing body and incoordination.  I'm going to go claim a kiss now.

Baby Food

Our pediatrician is REALLY conservative.  He was actually MY pediatrician so he's been around for a while.  So we just started rice cereal on Zoey's 6 month birthday.  A couple weeks later we introduced green beans and did that for a week and now we're on carrot.  I chose green beans first since those are the veggies I cook the most.  They went over pretty well if they were mixed with the cereal.  (She hates the cereal plain.  I don't blame her, I tasted a teeny bit and it was like paste).  Today we mixed it with carrots and then she proceeded to eat almost the entire jar of carrots plain.  The theory is by introducing veggies first, they learn to like them and develop a palate for them before you introduce the "sweets" i.e. fruit.  Because once they have the sweets, it's game over and that's all they want.  So we do each one for a week just to ensure there aren't any allergic reactions and if there are, they are easy to pinpoint.

My mom and I also went up to Swiss Days and it was so stinking hot.  Borderline miserable.  And my baby hates to be hot.  So we kept spritzing water on her and actually gave some to her to drink.  She kind of liked it.  Pres. Uchtdorf actually walked right by us so I took Zoey to say hello.  He commented on her, "big blue eyes.  Swiss blue eyes."  :)

Yesterday I got home and found this little guy on the driveway.  After backing my car and driving it forward about four times I finally ran it over.  Ick!  This is the second snake sighting at the house.  Dallin saw the last one while mowing the lawn and it was way bigger than this.  The thing that scares me is that if there is one baby snake, there are probably more baby snakes.

That's what we've been up to!

Birthday Fun

Turning 32 wasn't so bad.  One of my favorite things was all the Facebook messages and texts I got from so many people I love.  Some I hadn't heard from in a long while and it was great to hear from them.  My actual birthday I had to work so that was whatever.  My mom and grandpa stopped by and brought me a couple cupcakes and then Dallin sent me flowers which made my day super nice.

Mary kept Zoey extra long that day and after work I met Dallin downtown at the Cheesecake Factory at City Creek.  It's not my most favorite place but we had giftcards and I really do like the Chicken Marsala.  Dal unfortunately wasn't feeling too well that was a bummer.

When we got home Zoey helped me open my presents.  I got some shoes, a notebook, and a necklace.  I spent the night watching TV and working on my contract job.  It was a nice, pretty relaxing day.

The next day I had a doctor's appointment and Dallin took a half day to come home and mow the lawn so we could play all weekend.  That night we went to the Greek Festival (yum!) with some friends and Saturday we hit up the temple.  It was a really nice birthday.

Baby: 6 Months

Really?  Half a year has gone by?  My, oh my, that went fast.  Her first birthday is just around the corner and if the first year goes this fast, she'll be 18 before I know it.  I'm really trying to enjoy it and be in the moment.  We sure love our Zoey.  She has learned so much the past month:

Rolls over like a pro - front and back.

Hardly nurses at all.

Tried rice cereal for the first time and doesn't mind it.  She's still trying to figure out the spoon.

Has lost a bunch of hair on the side, but it's still really long on top.  Long enough for a "whale spout!"

Looks like her eyes are staying blue!

Sleeps 8-9 hours a night.

Still eats 6 oz. every 3-4 hours.

Is in 6 mo. clothes but those are getting slightly small.

Wears size 3 diapers.

Love to splash in the bathtub.

Has discovered her tongue and will stick it out, rub it on her lips and blow raspberries.

Has learned how to fake cough (from mimicking) and it is adorable.

Likes to "sing."

Grabs everything!  Her hand-eye coordination is really great and is starting to use her pincer grasp.

Has the cutest belly laugh that I need to hear at least once a day.

Has a decent attention span and tries to take everything in.  Thus, gets very distracted by people when she's trying to eat or go to sleep.

Responds to her name.

Some hair in back is past her neck!

Had her first nasty flu virus. :(

Oh we love, love, love her!

Back

I had been dreading the last 4 weeks, but we survived!  Dallin has been traveling for work to Seattle for one week, one week home, Seattle for one week, then Portland for one week.

The first week was by far the hardest.  Him leaving us for the first time and my parents being on trek sent me into an anxiety-driven panic.  Luckily I am surrounded by awesome in-laws and more family to get me through.  And you know what?  We survived.  I did it.  And I'm pretty proud of that fact.

By yesterday, we were all pretty burnt out.  Poor guy had been getting home Friday night, mow the lawn Saturday and do laundry and pack back up to leave Sunday morning.  He and one other guy was the only ones who had to do three weeks, all others only had to do one or two.  What was frustrating was that he even asked not to go and his boss loves him but since he's such a hard worker, they couldn't do without him.

Thursday I was at my wits end.  It had been a long month and Zoey has been so fussy the last few days and I didn't know why.  The only thing that kept her happy was me dancing around with her and kicking a red plastic cup on the ground.  She was so wiggly and it was killing me to hold her since I'd been to the gym and it'd kicked my butt.  Then I accidentally stepped on the cup and the loud noise sent her into a hysteric frenzy.  I put her in her Bumbo to make her a bottle for the nighttime and she settled down unless I was out of her sight then it was the Apocalypse.  While making said bottle I saw  an 8-legged "friend" hanging out by the back door.  Nobody was home so it was all on me to kill the thing or not sleep that night.  I got a shoe and smashed it and spider BABIES went everywhere! Thirty or 40 of them.   MY WORST NIGHTMARE coming true.  I grabbed some Windex which was the closest thing and sprayer the crap out of them to slow them down until I could find the Raid.  It was awful and so, so yucky.  I HATE SPIDERS.  After I finished hyperventilating, I picked Zoey up and she'd had a blow out.  Needless to say, my night was awesome and was more than overjoyed to see my honey Friday night.

We're just having a nice weekend hanging out as a family and snuggling.

Baby - 5 months

Zoey is learning and growing every day.  She is so much fun and has just a wonderful, calming personality.  At 5 months she:

Has discovered her fingers, ears and toes.

Tries to put her toes in her mouth but can't quite get there.

Has bit her thumb (and mom's chest) quite a few times.  It brings tears from both of us.

Is weaning off the "nursing."  Mainly only does it at night to go to sleep.

Likes to hold onto people's clothes, hair, jewelry, etc.

Has learned how to splash in the bathtub.

Has learned how to pull the bows off her head much to her mother's chagrin.

Looooves her daddy and gives him the biggest smiles.  He also got the best laugh out of her ever by waving a plastic garbage sack in front of her face.

Two weeks ago she was 26.5" (97%) and 15.15 lb. (84%).  Two inches taller than other babies her age!

Likes to go swimming and loves to be outside and watch the birdies.

Looooves her dolly and sucking on her pigtails.

Still has the 2 teeth that have poked through quite a bit.  Seemed to be teething a bit more last week but nothing showing yet.

Still eats 4-6 oz. every 3-4 hours.

Still needs her Prevacid.

Is in 3-6 mo. clothing but fits better in the closer to 6 mo. clothes.

Just started wearing size 3 diapers today.

Loves to smile then nestle her head into your chest like she is shy.

"Sings" and "talks" a ton.

Sometimes responds to her name.

Watches everything intently.  You can tell that she is a sponge.  My dad said he's never met a baby more inquisitive than her.

Goes to bed around 10:30 pm and Is sleeping between 8-9.5 hours a night. Wahoo!

I swear she says "hi" and still cries "ma, ma, maaaa" when she is sad.

Is so good with her hand and eye coordination and is starting to grab things with her thumb and pointer finger.

Watches everything we put in our mouths and wants to eat real food.  She also watches us on our phones and iPad and tries to play on them too.  She's smart!

We are so in love with her.  She is our reason and happiness.  We are so blessed to have such a sweet soul in our lives and are eternally grateful.  We love our Munchie more than words!

And just because it's funny:

Bombs Bursting in Air

 We headed up to the fireworks at Eaglewood (per tradition) on the 3rd of July.  When we finally got there, Zoey was hungry so I forced about 2 oz. down her since she was too enthralled with the people-watching to really eat.


I was a little curious as to how she'd react to the fireworks but when they finally started, she was ENTRALLED.  She just sat on my lap and didn't take her eyes off of them...then fell asleep in 10 min.  It was her bedtime anyway.

She wasn't happy on the way home - she got too hot with her jacket on - then got to bed way too late and slept until 9 am!  This weekend was an experiment on how long she'd actually sleep and it was close to 9 hours.  No wonder she cries when I wake her up to eat at 6:30 am.  Blasted job...

Our 4th of July festivities continued on the 4th with a BBQ with Dallin's family.  Mine was partying hard up in Lava Hot Springs.  We had dutch oven chicken, corn, yummy salads and dutch oven peach cobbler with ice cream.  We ended the night roasting s'mores in the firepit.  It was also Zoey's first time on grass.  She didn't mind it at all!  She is totally her father's child.  I have pictures of myself as a baby screaming my head off I hated it so bad and she didn't even mind one bit.  She's so easy-going about everything that if something makes her mad, I really take note and try to not expose her to it again (except tummy-time, sorry Zo Zo).

On the 5th we headed to the rec center to swim with Abuelita and Uncle Brian.  We were sure spoiled to have Dallin home all weekend too.  She loved the pool and loved chewing on the plastic star fish on her floatie.  After about an hour she was so tired we headed for home.  We went over to our old neighbor's house for take out and games.  It was good to be back in our old stomping grounds, I miss it so much.  We have so many great memories there and it just wouldn't be the same without Mags.

On the 6th it was Dallin's birthday and we had family over for a BBQ of hamburgers and to watch the UFC fights.  Dallin and I had gone to lunch at the World's Best Corndog place on Main Street in Kaysville that afternoon.  The corndogs were really yummy and you could get one with a drink for $5.  They even drizzled it with honey if you wanted which was yummy but bordering on too sweet.  I really liked them but they weren't QUITE as good as Disneyland.  I think it was the Costco hot dogs they use which gave me killer heartburn the rest of the day.

I think Dallin had a really great #31.  The UFC fight was actually really good and not bloody which is the only way I'll watch.

Look at my teeth!

So here we are with the 4th under our belts.  Like I always say, once the 4th hits, the rest of the year is almost over and just FLIES by.

Bestie

My best friend, Suzanne, welcomed her little guy the same day Zoey was blessed.  We finally got the two together (Zoey had a cold when we first met Phin so I didn't invite her to come).  We see lots of play dates in the future!  Isn't it amazing how much they change in 4 short months?

Bills

This is more for me than anything, but here is the folder where I kept all of the invoices from the vet and Maggie's insurance claims.  We really did try to give her the best life possible and I know in my heart we did everything possible for her.  We're getting along better each day but there hasn't been a day go by where I haven't thought about her and missed her sorely.  Hopefully time will continue to heal.  Thank you to all who have called, texted, emailed, sent cards and just plain prayed for us, we really appreciate it.

Bite

Dallin had this huge "bruise" on his ankle last weekend.  It was hurting him really bad and he'd been complaining about it for days so I finally convinced him to go to InstaCare last Saturday.  If I'm working for insurance and we've hit our deductible, you better believe we're going to take advantage!

I thought he'd sprained or fractured his ankle somehow. He couldn't put a finger on an incident that had happened to make it hurt, it had just started happening.  I noticed that the area was really hot compared to the rest of his leg.

Luckily we got right in at InstaCare.  The doctor wasn't sure what was going on.  A bug bite, an allergic reaction, a sprain?  All of the x-rays came back negative, we couldn't find a bit on the area and there weren't any scrapes for an infection.  His blood work came back alright with his hematocrit hinting that something was brewing so they put him on antibiotics, allergy medicine and and antihistam
ine to kind of hit it from all angles.

The Benadryl knocked him out so he probably won't be taking that again.  The swelling is finally going down, it's not as red and not has hot so we think it's working.  At least the red area isn't as big (or growing) and it's not hurting him as bad anymore.  It was all very strange and random.  Our basement apartment has been filled with spiders (ewwww) so I wonder if he got bit by one?  I made him an appointment with a family doctor this week to get things checked out and make sure everything is ok.

In semi-related news, here is a picture of the little chompers when they first came in.  It was torture trying to get a picture.  Sorry Zoey.  They are really through now and are easy to see when she grins.

Blessing

I'm really far behind.  Zoey's blessing day was a beautiful, hot, summer day on June 2.  We tried to make it a wonderful day and not think about the decision we'd made about Mags.  I was so excited to get Zoey dressed in her pretty white dress my mom bought for her.  We'd shopped tons of stores before finally settling on this one.  I think it was perfect.

Our families came over before church for photo ops because we knew afterward would be too crazy.  We got Zoey all fed and I was stressed putting her in the carseat in her dress since she never burped!  I was sure she'd puke everywhere.  She fell asleep on the way over and I left her in her carseat for a minute then took her out since she was getting too hot.  She was fine until right before they called her up and she started to fuss.  Yikes!

She calmed down and Dallin gave her a wonderful, sweet, blessing.  Our fathers and brothers were in the circle.  My grandpa wasn't feeling up to it and was so bummed and cried that he wasn't well enough to stand in the circle. :(

After Sacrament Meeting we rushed home to feed the throngs of people.  We had invited 115 people - almost exclusively family.  Dallin's cousin's wife asked me, "Is this ALL family?"  I said, "Yup!  Pretty much!"  It was an overwhelming and awesome sight. Dallin's uncle is suffering from cancer and we had had a special family fast as well.  After breaking the fast I thought about how we'll all be together in the eternities and it was really cool.  I love each of them so much and for so many different reasons and it's so wonderful to know we'll always be together.

We had a lunch of pulled pork sandwiches, salads and desserts.  I spent most of the time running around and didn't get to spend as much time visiting as I would have liked.  Zoey spent the afternoon inside where it was nice and air conditioned and napping in her auntie's arms.  We did miss my best friend Suzanne who was invited to her little boy's birthday party and spent the morning in labor!  Such an exciting day for her!  We were so excited to meet little Phin later on that week.

Maggie spent the afternoon begging for food and laying in the shade.  Lots of people commented on how she wasn't herself and she was just laying around.  She was pretty sick that day.  We were glad that people got to say goodbye.  After things were cleaned up our families got to say goodbye to her.  Our parents all cried. It was really hard to watch.  We finally let ourselves feel the sadness we'd been hiding and let the tears come.

We are so grateful for the Gospel and the miracle we feel Zoey is.  She is so wonderful and I'm so glad that Dallin is worthy to hold the priesthood and give her a name and a blessing.  We felt so loved that day and are so appreciative to all those who came out and supported us and Baby Zoey.