afton's blessing day

On March 2, little Miss Afton was blessed in our church by her dad.

The blessing Afton received was beautiful. 

And I feel so incredibly blessed to have married such a wonderful man. 

Branson gave such a heartfelt, eloquent blessing to our baby girl. 

[And it came to pass that I fell further and deeper in love with him.]

We're super lucky to be surrounded by priesthood holders

 and so many in our immediate family. 

Both of our dads, Branson's grandpa and most of our brothers

were able to stand in the circle and participate in the blessing. 

We're so grateful for these guys.

[the men from the blessing circle]

It was a beautiful spring afternoon, 

and Little Miss Afton looked like an angel in her dress.

When I was blessed, my mom and my aunt Alyna made my blessing dress, and I thought it would be sort of special if Afton could say that her mom made her dress, too. So... I'll brag and tell you that I attempted to follow a pattern for a baby dress, but it was ridiculous. So I bagged the pattern and just cut and sewed, pinned, and cut and sewed some more until it was just about perfect. It turned out much better than I anticipated. I am pretty proud and hope that someday, this dress will be as special to Afton as my dress is to me.

It was such a special day, 

and we had over one hundred of our family and friends attend and support us. 

We're so blessed. 

[And amazed that almost all of those hundred-plus fit in our house for dinner afterwards. 

Our home was bursting with love. And family. And food.]

[Such great legacies on both sides.]

[Afton and her cousin, Tessa - only 6 months apart. They're bound to be best friends.]

[Four generations - my grandma, me and Afton, and my mom]

I'm so lucky to have such wonderful women to pattern my life after. 

And so grateful for the examples they have set for me. 

I'm trying so hard, and can only hope to be just like both of these amazing women.

[I love my dad.]

[Such a happy girl!]

We love our baby girl.

And we're so blessed to have her.

afton's two month

Little Miss Afton is two months old! 

We can hardly stand how cute she is and how fast she is growing.

Afton is:

... such a great sleeper at night. Some nights we get 6 or 7 hours of sleep. Lucky us. [Though, she has started taking these little 10 minute cat naps during the day, then stays awake for hours. It makes it hard to get a lot done, but it's hard to complain when we sleep so good at night.]

... still a snuggler and loves to be held, but has started demanding a little bit of alone time each day where she just wants to lay on a blanket on the floor and talk to herself. 

... entranced by lights. She loves them and can just stare and stare at them all day.

... so strong and has started thinking she's so big. Holding up her head, kicking her legs, pulling up with her arms. It's amazing.

... starting to fill out a little. Her little thighs are adorably chubby now and her little cheeks just are pinchable.

[Though, her shoulders and arms and waist are still so skinny. We're still dressing in newborn clothes -- 0-3 month clothes fall off her shoulders 80s style. Ha ha.]

... officially a fan of my hair. She seems to be comforted by wrapping her hands in my hair and pulling it up next to her face. I'm trying not to make it a habit - we don't need a hair puller on our hands in the future.  

We're still smitten with this girl.

And just can't get enough of her.