Portland AIHC Conference + Ami and Poppi + Emi and girls = A whole lot of Oregon love

Aren't these three pictures the cutest!  It was so much fun to see mom and dad.  They haven't gotten to see her since she was two months old.  I love seeing my parents play with Isla.  We had so much fun playing crocket, Rumicube, eating yummy food, visiting the Farmers Market and lots of walks.  Mom made a beautiful baby sun hat for Isla to match a cute swimsuit set I bought her while shopping with Emi.  Emi, Mila and Sage were so wonderful to join us.  We loved having all of us together.  You will have to look at previous posts to see the pictures of them.  Some how, I didn't get any shots of or with my mother, which is a real shame.  I guess we were spending to much time having fun together I didn't break out the camera.  Thank you so much for making this a wonderful and special trip for us mom and dad!  And thank you Emi for making the huge effort to come down with your girls.  We love you all.

Visit to the Watts

Jared came home a few friday's ago and exclaimed that he was getting a new work schedule.  Which meant, that we got a week off of work!  So with very little discussion, we packed our bags, madly finished a young women's project I was working on and hit the road at 8 am then next day.   Though we wanted to surprise everyone, we decided we ought to give Anita and Kim a heads up.  Jared did spend a good half hour making up a an elaborate and totally bogus story about what we were doing while driving and talking to Estee.  Needless to say, she was elated when we pulled up at her house instead of the waterfalls we were "looking for" in NV.

 Estee and Sadie was so cute with he.  She was loving all the play time.

Isla also got to try frozen blueberries for the first time.  Delicoius!

We had a nice visit with Ann and Cal.  Isla was delighted to play with Ann's remote, glasses, fingers.  Anything.  I think she wanted to show Ann and call all she could do.

 

We had a wonderful time together. It was so much fun to sew with Anita and Estee and find the cutest fabrics at Bernina.  Lindsey and Andy came up twice with Charlie.  It was so wonderful to hold a little new born again.  Thank you to Carter, Kim, Anita for sharing your home with us once again.  We wish we could have seen all our friends in Logan, but it was fun to catch up with a few of you and share a little time together.  You hold a special place in our hearts.

Isla loves babies

For anyone who has brought a baby around our little baby, you would know that Isla loves babies. She starts shrieking in delight shaking her hands and scooting closer. She can't wait to give them hugs and kisses; something she does more to them than us I think. We got the special opportunity to see lots of family this past month or so. We all got to meet Charlie, the newest member of the Watts' family. He is a sweet little newborn who sleeps like a champ from what I've observed. He is so darling. Needless to say, Isla LOVED him too!

 How sweet is this, a daddy and his little baby

Isla enjoyed Sam and Cooper more than ever. They were so cute together. I think Cooper might have been a little jealous of his mommy sharing some love with Isla. Sam was such a good cousin with her. He kept helping her with balloons and other toys and Cooper quickly followed suit. She couldn't have loved all the toys and attention more. It was adorable.

After our Watts visit we got to see a bit of my family in Oregon. Emily came down with her daughters, Sage and Mila. Isla's excitement and love for Mila was so intense that Mila wasn't quite sure how to handle it. Though they occasionally shared sweet hugs, kisses and toys. Isla was a little bit more loving to Mila than she would have preferred, including a few slugs to the cheek in the bathtub (by accident of course) but Mila got her back by teasing her with toys. It couldn't have been more fun to see them interact and learn from each other.

 

We love our cousins and are so grateful for all our time together!  We miss the rest of our cousins.

Mothering

My feelings on this have become increasingly deeper these past few months as I have felt I was being asked to do a lot of this on my own.  I know now that I was wrong on the "alone" part, but that my gratitude for this very humbling and sacred life of a mother is deeper and more real than it has ever been.   During this challenging time I have been reading a book, "Expecting Adam" by Martha Beck.  In the beginning stages of her very challenging and life-altering pregnancy she says,

“The word mother is more powerful when it is used as a verb than as a noun.  Mothering has little to do with biological reproduction – as another friend once told me, there are women who bear and raise children without ever mothering them, and there are people (both male and female) who mother all their lives without ever giving birth.  The bad news is that not all of us have the good fortune to be born to our real mothers, or to stay with them as long as we need them.  The good news is that, while mothers are often in short supply, mothering is not.  Against all odds, despite every thing that works against it on this unpleasant, uncomfortable planet, mothering is here in abundance.  You can always find it, if you’re smart and know where to look. … You have to let down your defenses in order to be mothered.” – Expecting Adam, Martha Beck 

I loved her thoughts as she was unexpectedly "mothered" by two amazing women in this terribly difficult and painful time in her life.  Her words are beautiful and very real.  And then just before Mothers Day a wonderful woman and friend in our church sent me this.   I wanted to share it with all of you for it buoyed my up and helped me realize how much Heavenly Father has carried me through these past months when I have done much of what Jeffery Holland describes.  I love the realization that I have finally come to know this week, that "one cannot see mother and not see God," that more so than any other time in my life I have the opportunity, responsibility, and blessing of joining in His work than ever before.  I hope to humbly, reverently, and with all my love, help my children to know their Father in Heaven and of his divine plan and love for them.

From http://lds.org/ensign/1997/05/because-she-is-a-mother?lang=eng

My gratitude to my own mother is trully indescribable. The way she has literally shaped my life knows no bounds. I love her. And I am so grateful to the many many others, mother-in-law, sisters, sisters-in-laws, and friends who have "mothered" me with so much love. Thank you.

Meet 8 months old Isla

Isla still loves bath time.  She waits on the bath tub excitedly as if fills up. 

 Putting on lotion and playing with dad afterward is right up there in her book with splashing in the tub.

Sometimes she even get's to play in her bathrobe after, until it's time for bed

In addition to the metal grain scoops that she likes to play with in the bath tub;

 Thanks to Grammy, Isla got some new, safer, bath toys

Isla's new trick ... push up's!

other favorite (and often dangerous) objects include:

anything plastic, particularly bags that she can now rip open with her two bottom teeth

anything paper, which she also likes to rip with her teeth and and eat (guess we are not to far off when we call her our kid:) ... get it? 

pens, also potentially messy
anything carved in wood (i.e. designs in our bed frame, the staircase posts, etc.) which she likes to lick and pick at

an infant medicine dropper (resembling a small turkey baster)

 and anything she can lift and tip over, which are now getting heavier and heavier;
i.e. cooking pots or  her entire toy basket

Isla also love eating.  Infact, she prefers feeding her self.
Not the best thing when baby food is what's for dinner.

She has always been a good eater and is game for trying out anything new.  Her fare now includes: steamed broccoli florets

 and corn on the cob remnants

Isla seems to be more adventurous with each day and has become quite the acrobate.  

Her repertoire is comprised of:

 Striking poses while she teeters along holding our hands and going from room to room

Stretching to GREAT lengths to watch anything on the computer (this particular shot is her stretching across half the couch to watch General Conference)

Isla is a great dancer/jumper.  She loves to jump in her jumper or better yet, while holding hands.  She jumps/dances in sacrament meeting whenever we sing.  It's pretty darn cute, how she lights up when music is playing.  

And last, she loves gardening.  Just like her mom and dad.  She looks forward to watering in the green house each day and is adamant about holding the hose herself.

 

If she is really lucky, she gets to ride around with dad while he prunes and checks the sprinkler system.

 Mostly though she gets to play on a blanket while we get our hands dirty.  She loves it.

We love this little munchkin.  She is the light of our lives.  She makes us laugh every day and is usually nothing but smiles.  We are so grateful for the greatest little blessing in our lives.