Winter Vacation Pictures

Keep the earth below my feet
For all my sweat, my blood runs weak
Let me learn from where I have been
Keep my eyes to serve, my hands to learn

We had the best vacation, it was so good for all of our spirits.  Looking at these pictures made me all teary again.  Those lyrics are from Mumford and Sons song "Below My Feet" and I love it.  Hope you all had a very merry Christmas and that your new year is off to a great start!  

Samantha's blessing dress

Samantha is now 3 months old and was blessed at our church on Sunday two weeks ago (I'm a Mormon and you can find out more about my faith here).

We had a bunch of family come to town for the weekend and the blessing on Sunday and it was such a great time.  I always get really nervous when we have "events" or people coming around just to see us.  What if I'm not that exciting or they have a horrible time?  This time I didn't worry about that stuff at all once everyone was here!  It was excellent.  So excellent I didn't take many pictures because I was having too much fun and leaving my phone elsewhere...oops!

But anyway, I had to make her a dress!!

I always go through the remnant bins at JoAnn's and had found this lovely fabric there a while ago.  It's like eyelet, but there are no holes...I'm not sure what it's technically called.  Anyone know?

Anyway, I used the Geranium Dress pattern in size 3-6 months to make this and lined it with the lining from a linen skirt that I don't fit into anymore.  That's slippery stuff, lining.  But it worked out.

Traditionally blessing outfits are white to symbolize purity, I wanted a tiny pop of color here and there, and these were the perfect touch.

We put a onesie under the dress, and a white cardigan over, and some adorable little shoes that were a gift, on her feet.

And a tiny pink felt bow from this Etsy shop in her luscious hair.

It turned out just as I wanted.  Simple and adorable.

Aren't those cheeks the best?!  

Well that happened fast.

My newborn is now a solid 2 month old little baby!

I didn't even realize what day it was on the 13th (2 weeks ago...) until it was already past picture taking time.

She's still sleeping incredibly well, usually only waking up twice per night at most, with one of those times being between 5 and 7 am and that's practically morning.

She had her 2 month well check yesterday and she's a solid 12 pounds, 23 inches tall, and with the smallest head of all of our children, it's only slightly larger than normal!

She has started smiling adorably at us and the bigger kids adore her.

She's blessed our family tremendously and we are so lucky to have her!

She's the cutest, I know.  ; )  But really.  She is. 

Baby Samantha

So I've been a little busy lately...

Isn't she perfect?

2 weeks old yesterday.

I haven't been super gushy though, but this pregnancy and delivery and recovery went pretty much perfectly.

I'm serious.

At the level of "any female who's given birth will hate me if I tell them how well it's gone."

I'm already back to my pre-pregnancy weight.

I'm back in my jeans....actually I never even got maternity clothes (thank you hair tie around the button trick).

Nursing is going wonderfully.

She wakes up only three times, sometimes only twice, at night to be fed and goes right back to sleep.

She doesn't cry for sport, and the noises of her siblings don't bother her.

Sounds like I'm lying, right?  Happily for me, I am not. 

See, you hate me already, don't you?