Twinkle Twinkle Little Star by Amberly Faith

I love hearing her sing. Or shall I say, my heart melts and I die a little of happiness every time I hear that little voice. Can she please stay 3 years old for at least five more years?

Clips from Fall 2016

I get to spend every day with them.

They depend on me for food, cleanliness, play, safety, learning, and fun.

My calling is to love, to nurture, to teach them who their Heavenly Father is.

There truly is no greater gift than to be their Mama.

I am the luckiest.

And motherhood is saving me.

I love you both to the moon and back, my Amberly and Violet!

Violet Aurora 10-11 months

Her middle name means 'dawn' or 'light' and it is so fitting. Violet turned 11 months which means she is nearly 1 year old already! She loves to wave, crinkle her nose when she smiles, crawl all over the place, bobble her head to music, cuddle when she's tired, raise up her arms whenever we cheer for her, play with cords, say 'mih mih' for milk, and 'mama' as she is very much a mama's girl. She is petite for her age and still has very little hair (slowly but surely I'm watching it grow!) Bananas are still her favorite food although she adores pretty much all fruit. She is so spirited; it's as though that tiny body cannot even come close to holding such a glowing vivacious soul. We love you Violet Girl!

Alaska by Jon Part 2

Kayaking Ketchikan with the Marrieds

Alaska Cruise Part 2!

Alaska Cruise Part 1

We never wanted to come home. And we highly recommend the Holland America Cruise line!

Violet Girl Highlights Video

This sweet babe is nearly 9 and a half months old and such a ray of sunshine in our lives. 

33rd percentile for weight and 16th percentile for height and a little bundle of joy and spirit.

Loves bananas and the sound of her loud babbling.

Says "Da da da da" and we're pretty sure you know what it means

Semi-crawls but mostly rolls around

Loves people and to be social and play

We love you Violet Girl!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIsesWRswRg&feature=youtu.be

Violet Girl at 8 Months

Just like that, my Violet girl is 8 months old!

Violet, you have 4, let me repeat, 4 top teeth that seemed to pop out all at once.

Those were some rough nights :/  but we love you anyways.

You started sitting up on your own around 7 months and you are scooting and rolling all over the place whenever you get the chance. You love to play with your tongue and blow bubbles and make the cutest babble sounds on your wrist with Daddy's help. It's hilarious!

You say "Ba ba ba ba" 

"Dah da da da da"

and "Ma ma ma ma ma"

You love and I mean love to eat solid foods and I don't think you'll be nursing as long as your sister did. You light up any room with your wide-open smiles and bright happy eyes. 

We just adore you Lady Violet Aurora!

We joke about your little personality and how you go from 0 to 60 with that temper of yours.

And you are LOUD when you're angry, my spirited little soul. We tried to capture those upper teeth of yours in these photos. 

You still love your older sister, albeit she is getting rougher and rougher with you which obviously isn't your favorite. You two girls are our entire universe and I will do my best to teach you to be best friends. 

 8 month pictures with Daddy.

Amberly has started copying Daddy and also calls you her "Little Chunky". Needless to say, we're all pretty crazy about those rolls on your little legs and arms. The.best.

We are so happy you came to our family.

Thanks for being a such a Mama's Girl and making me feel like one in a million whenever I walk in the room. You just light up and laugh when you see me and it lights up my soul. I love you, Baby Girl!

Lyrical Jazz - "Stone Cold"

Who knew I would still be dancing at age 30 with two kids?
I am completely okay with that.

Dancing will forever make my soul happy and alive. It will forever bring me back to myself. I believe with all my heart that there will be dancing in heaven. :)



Elite Company and ADA Staff, June 2016

7 Months with the Littler Lady

Vivacious Violet,

At 7 months you are all over the floor and I know you will be happy when you can crawl and be on the move. You are starting to sit up on your own and it makes you so proud of yourself. Your two bottom teeth are prominent and darling and it looks like one on top is close to cutting through. This seems to irritate you at night and in the early morning but you have been an angel about going right back to sleep after crying out for a few seconds. You love food. Anything on the spoon making its way towards your mouth puts a gorgeous gummy smile on your face! (I know the feeling, Baby Girl) 

You laugh and smile easily. You search for your Mama when you hear her voice or if you haven't seen her in awhile. You love your Daddy, but you are such a Mama's girl. You suck your thumb almost as much as your pacifier. You smile at me every morning when I come to get you and you love to watch your older sister. 

You are such a ray of sunshine and your family adores you, Violet Aurora!

Bryce Canyon and Zion's National Park 2016

Memorial Day Weekend 2016

Violet Aurora at 6 Months

Lady Violet

What a ray of sunshine you are in my life!

And in your daddy's life.

And pretty much anyone who looks at you because chances are you'll give them a full out gummy smile.

Now that you are sleeping 11-12 hours every night you are happy. Furthermore, MAMA is happy and now we are all having so much fun! You started sleeping through the night at 4 and a half months. 

And somewhere between then and now, you even graduated from the laundry room and you sleep soundly in the same room as your sister!

It was a day to celebrate for sure. I am still so so so grateful that you are now sleeping through the night. That was a long road and so much work but we did it, Baby Girl! 

 You actually enjoy tummy time as long as you don't get bored! That little smile...

Your sis is learning how to share with you and how to take care of you. 

She always smiles when she sees you and my goodness do you adore her. You look for her and your eyes always follow the sound of her voice. I love watching you interact, it is so rewarding. (Except for when Amberly steals your toys, etc)

5 months

My little snuggle buddy. I still try to take naps with you a few days a week because I know I will blink and you'll no longer be a baby. :(

 We love love love your cheeks and your chunky legs!

You have stolen my heart.

And you still have a bit of a temper. Mostly if you get bored you want everyone to know about it!

A few Sundays ago, all Mommy and Daddy wanted to do was take a nap but you kept blowing bubbles and grabbing our faces and obviously weren't too keen on the idea. It's cute now but we were pretty tired at the time!

My world.

 You LOVE the water. You just coo and kick and splash the entire time, no matter how tired you are. 

We love our family swim days. :)

And while you are still my spirited little one, you are such a little sweetheart!

So darling. 

I am crazy about my new double stroller, and even more crazy about being a mom to you girls.

At six months...
You weigh 16.7 lbs (50th percentile)
You are 25.75 inches long (48th percentile)
Your head is 16.4 inches (25th percentile)

Your two bottom teeth popped out the day after Mother's Day and it looks like more are coming! SO CUTE although I'm always sad to say goodbye to the completely gummy grins.

Your hair is growing on top albeit it is a painfully slow process! Ha we do love the little tuft of dark hair right at your neck line though, you get lots of comments on that awesome little mullet you've got going on. :)

You love and I mean love eating solid foods. Our first try with the avocado was kind of a bust because I didn't mash it up well enough for you and it all came back up. Second try with the banana mashed up really well was a success. I think currently your favorite food is peanut butter or watermelon though. You get pretty excited about getting those flavors in your mouth! You have also tried broccoli, strawberries, apple sauce, rice, and today you loved trying some of Amberly's green smoothie.

Your eyes are changing. They still look blue sometimes if you're wearing blue but they seem more of a dark green/hazel color these days just like your Grandpa Mecham. :) You are breathtaking.

We adore you and the light you spread every day. You are perfect. And life is good.

Amberly age 2 and Lady Violet

Amberly age 2

Just a few short clips put together from my phone because I know I'll blink and she'll already be 8 years old. And that hurts my heart. A lot. Making these short movies seems to be the only way to make time freeze as a mother. I love my girls pretty fiercely! :)

Family of Four - Short Video Clip

Life has been one major adjustment for this tired mama from November until now. I wouldn't trade it for the world though. I sure love my little family to pieces.

A Testimony from my Father

I love my Dad. I have been a Daddy's Girl for as long as I can remember, and I have always admired his faith and commitment to the gospel. My parents have been asked by our bishop to prepare our young men and young women for trek this year. Tonight he went all out, dressed up like Brother Brigham, and shared his testimony of the pioneers who sacrificed everything to journey to Zion. I was so touched by what he shared with our youth tonight. The spirit of God, like a fire, was burning as he shared his testimony. I feel like what he said really reached the hearts of so many in the room, and our young men and women needed to hear and feel it all. So I asked him to send me his thoughts so I could have a record of his eloquent words forever. 

Willie & Martin Handcart Companies    

When I heard the reports of those good brothers and sisters in the handcart companies and their 
incomprehensible, arduous pain, suffering, and deprivations with freezing cold and starvation, I buckled to my knees in heart wrenching supplication.  Why? Why I pled, did they need to suffer so? They are good faithful saints who had implicit trust that a loving God Omnipotent would provide for them; an all-powerful God who with the breath of his nostrils could blow a warm breeze that would make even the nights “comfy;” a God who could provide for their nourishment as He did for the children of Israel with manna from heaven. He should have at the least caused an “Indian Summer” and delayed the raging, ravishing winter. But no, winter was unleashed early in all its fury. Why? Why, I cry. Then comes the solace of the Holy Ghost and I feel joy and praise God for their salvation! They have proven worthy and paid the price to be encircled in the robes of righteousness and embraced in the loving arms of a dear, omniscient Father. Glory be to the Father! In his infinite wisdom we have the eternal example from these faithful saints of what it means to be obedient and to 
sacrifice. God’s ways are not our ways, our ways are not God’s, His purposes will be fulfilled and we will come to understand that to accept God’s will is what is eternally best for all.  As we search the journals of individuals and the miracles that occurred in their personal lives, we will see that God did not abandon His loyal saints. He sent ministering angels to protect, provide, and comfort them in their dire straits.

I sincerely hope that by the end of this summer each of you will not only have a better understanding of obedience and sacrifice, but that you will have a greater desire and ability to live these two basic laws. And that you will have it stamped into your heart that to obey is better than to repent and that sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven.

So let’s have a brief overview of the handcart companies.  By 1856 many humble people in the British Isles and Scandinavia had been converted to the Gospel, which had been restored by Jesus Christ through the prophet Joseph Smith in the year 1830.  These faithful saints recognized and felt the truth that the fullness of the gospel had been restored and that Zion must be established and the Kingdom of God built and strengthened so that the Kingdom of God can be united with the Kingdom of Heaven so that Christ can return and personally reign on the earth. Immigration from Europe to the valley of the Great Salt Lake was very costly and these faithful brothers and sisters cheerfully sold all that they had to pay for ocean passage to America and then to travel on river boat to meet with other saints for the manual trek across this continent.  Many of these poor saints by the time they arrived to begin the trek were practically destitute and could not afford the price of a wagon and oxen to cross the plain.  So Brigham Young was inspired to have them build handcarts, which they could pull and 
push, loaded with their meager belongings. The first three handcart companies departed winter quarters the end of July and successfully arrived in the Salt Lake Valley the end of September and the first of October; showing that this manner of transporting can succeed. The fourth and fifth companies (Martin and Willie, respectively) didn’t depart winter quarters until August 17 and 27. This late departure and the subsequent consequences will be the focus of our attention.  The next five handcart companies that left winter quarters by late June or early August between 1857 and 1860 were all successful with limited casualties. This made a total of ten handcart companies that made the manual trek. After 1860 wagon trains were dispatched in the early spring from Salt Lake to pick up the immigrants and return in the late summer or early fall.  The transcontinental railroad was being built and the journey was greatly facilitated thereafter. From the ten companies there were a total of about three thousand faithful saints who made the arduous journey with handcarts.

So let’s turn our attention to the Willie and Martin companies in August 1856.  The day is warm and it is hard to imagine what the weather would be like when the season changes and the cold snow blows. The saints have sacrificed greatly to cross the ocean and get this far in moving toward Zion.
They are faithful; they are committed to the cause and thy want to obey the revelations to prepare the way for the fulfillment of the great and marvelous work that God has begun with his prophet.  There have already been enough delays and we know that God will prepare a way for us to accomplish his commands.

Levi Savage used his common sense and knowledge of the country and declared positively that to his certain knowledge they could not cross the mountains with a mixed company of aged people, women, and little children, so late in the season without much suffering, sickness and death.  He therefore advised waiting in winter quarters until next spring.  He was rebuked by the other elders for want of faith and finally declared: “Brethren and sisters, what I have said I know to be true; but seeing you are to go forward, I will go with you, will help you all I can, will work with you, will rest with you, will suffer with you, and, if necessary, I will die with you.  May God in His mercy bless and preserve us.”  So it begs the question why would they depart without delay so late in the year?  Why would Brother Savage humbly submit himself to such a precarious adventure?  The answer will never be found in secular history books. Worldly authors refuse to recognize the hand of God and that he directs the outcome of this world.  From their sterile sanitized perspective, mistakes were made and the leadership is responsible for poor judgment.  What historians fail to recognize is that these saints had received an absolute witness from the Spirit that they were engaged in the work of the Lord and that as God lives this is His Church. They will be obedient and observe to the best of their ability their role in bringing about God’s will even if it means sacrificing everything.  And as stated earlier, the Lord was with them as reported in many journals, in spite of the extreme hardships encountered. Because they sacrificed so much, you are the beneficiaries and can witness that the Kingdom of God has grown, become strong and is nearly ready to usher in the great and dreadful day of the Lord of which should be your joy to participate.

The purposes of God were accomplished.  The faithful were blessed, tested, and proven worthy to enter into His presence.  And we have a live example to teach obedience and sacrifice.  As you are required to do things that for you might be difficult, remember the example of your heritage and do the difficult to receive the blessings of heaven. 

Rex Mecham

Having been born of goodly parents...

Violet at 4 Months/We Got Us a Family Here!

The truth is, I have no idea who is reading this blog, or if anyone is reading this blog for that matter. But I will continue to document and ramble because it is therapeutic in a way, and a great way to keep a journal of our life.

The other truth is, we are still in this weird limbo phase over here. 

And it's all because of this innocent- looking face.

"Who, Me??"

Yes. YOU.

Violet Aurora weighed 14.4 lbs at her 4 month appointment (60th percentile)

She is 25.25 inches tall (80th percentile)

And her head was 15.75 inches (20th percentile)

Our pediatrician almost didn't believe me when I explained how rough our nights can be, mostly because she is so stinkin sweet and smiley 85% of the day. She won him over fast and he just kept exclaiming "She is so sweet!"

It's true.

But my oh my is this little babe spirited. And yes, still giving us a run for our money!

A sufficient lack of sleep for over four months straight can give anyone the Baby Blues, and I have been doing my best to deal with this phase of mommyhood as best as I can. 

I pulled my cello out the other day. Hello happiness. I am still not what I would call a "cellist" but I may be on the road to arriving there one day. I can make it sound beautiful some of the time. ;)

Again that sweet look of innocence. We're pretty good friends during daylight! 

And then per usual during a time of weirdness or crisis, I hacked half of my hair off of my tired, often unkempt head. Who has time for thick long hair when two young girls are so dependable on you?

#Iwouldratherworkout

And I hate hash tags. So I am not even sure why I threw that in there but there it is.

I vowed in college never to go shorter than this length ever again. Some people look darling with pixie cuts. Other people...just wish their hair would grow back in a day or two after making that mistake. 

 Speaking of hair, this little Goose's head of gorgeous fine curls is getting rather long. It is so fun to play with her and convince her that she needs to have "Elsa hair", not that that takes much convincing at all. She loves it. 

And I love her.

Throughout the day I ask Amberly about each of her buddies in her life, but I never fail to remind her who her best buddy is. Pick me, pick me!

And while I am learning and adjusting and going off of very little sleep and still not fitting in my pants or favorite skirt or looking how I would like to look in my fitted shirts

I am happy.

My girls mean everything to me.

And every now and then, we have moments of perfection and pure joy.

For example, this moment after the girls had a bath together.

 

 Or conquering the crowds at the zoo with the two munchkins. (Minus my extremely challenging and awkward trek to the entrance with a baby falling out of the wrap I was wearing and me trying to push the stroller with one hand.)

 And last Saturday which was the perfect day as a family of four. I should have taken pictures but we were just soaking in every moment. We had a family picnic in the sun, the girls both took a long afternoon nap simultaneously, we had time to clean, we went swimming at the South Jordan pool, got Cold Stone and Pizzeria Limone after (Jon and I agree this is the best pizza in the universe), and had a really magical day.

As Jon and I often quote from one of the weirdest, funniest movies ever - Raising Arizona -
"What, are you kiddin? We got us a family here!" - Nicolas Cage

Just trying to remember to soak this all in. 

And that's all I have to say for now.