Family....

Since Mia has been born, we have been surrounded by family and it has been SO wonderful!!! :) First of all, my sister, Carrie lives in Canon City and she's been around for all of the pregnancy and was our first visitor in the hospital after Mia was born (her and Aspen!). I'm VERY grateful for my sister for being here and I am so glad she is close to us. I can always depend on her and my girls adore her.

Then on July 3, my mom came out and boy, I don't know what I would've done without her!! My mom is the greatest person ever! I love her so much and she was such a help! I was sad to see her go and I tried REALLY hard to convince her to stay! :)Aspen absolutely loves her grandma and even started consistently walking just to show off for grandma! :)


Then July 31, Leif, Lurlyn and Leify came to visit for a few days! We LOVE when they come! Leify and Aspen played so well together; they were so cute to watch! :) Leify started really standing on his own while

Then on August 5, we went to WA for Grandma's funeral. Me, Aspen and Mia got on the same flight back to Portland as Leif and his family, so they were able to help me with the girls...and THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT Leif and Lurlyn! Its seriously craziness to travel with babies and I don't know how I could have possibly done it all alone with two babies.
While we were in WA, we stayed with Randy and Teresa and their kiddos: Abby (9), Tanner (8), Scott (6), Fischer (4), Kiersten (2), and Garret (7 months). Aspen sure had fun with her cousins...she played outside with them and even got pecked by one of their chickens! Garrett fell in love with Mia's binky and tried to steal it from her all the time. :) It was super fun for my girls to be around their cousins. And to see Aunt Teresa and Uncle Randy...they both just loved them to pieces...Mia cries basically all the time she isn't eating or sleeping, but her aunt and uncle were able to calm her. :)





Also in WA, Aspen and Mia got to spend more time with my mom. Aspen got really attached to her grandma. Aunt Carrie was also there and they always enjoy her. There was ton of family around for Grandma Q's funeral and it was fun for my girls to see my cousins and my cousins' kids and my aunts and uncles and everyone who was there. Aspen was in 7th Heaven since there were ALWAYS tons of kids to play with. Some of my cousins's kiddos and my brother's kiddos taught Aspen to jump on the bed and she just thought that was the BEST thing ever!

We also got to see Grandma Vi and Lurlyn and little Leify again and that was fun.




Being around all this family made me wish we lived a little bit closer. I LOVE Colorado Springs, but it would be nice to be just a bit closer so Aspen could play with her cousins and such.
While I was still in WA, Malo's mom got to our house. I got there with the girls the next day, August 15th and Aspen and Mia got to visit with their Grandma Diane. Grandma Diane bought them some cute matching outfits (girls clothes are always fun!). It was nice to have her here.

Orange Polyester Pants

My Grandma Quackenbush had 9 pairs of orange polyester pants that she rotated wearing over the course of many, many years. Most of my memories of Grandma include her wearing those awful orange pants. Grandma passed away August 3 at the age of 89 and I asked my mom if I could have a pair of those pants. Not to wear, because I just couldn't pull it off like Grandma did, but I'd like to make a quilt with the center squares being parts of those pants. :)

Grandma was such a wonderful woman; she was quirky and ornery and had a heart of pure gold. She has lived with us (mom and us kids) since my grandad passed away 23 years ago so we have always been close. I was born on Grandma's 60th birthday and so I always teased her that she could never get away with lying about her age because I only had to add 60 years to mine. :)

Grandma loved to sing. In church she'd always sing loudly and with such enthusiasm - even though she was usually way off key, I still smile thinking about her singing. She used to sing these awful cheery good morning songs to us in the morning to wake us up...when you have seminary at 5:45am and wake up grumpy like me, its always fun to have that! :)

I love my Grandma Quackenbush so much. She was and is an amazing example of love. She loved children and was always surrounded by them. She loved her husband fiercely. She loved her children and her grandchildren and her great-grandchildren. She was always so proud of all of us and let us know we were loved. If anyone ever projected love, it was Grandma Q. :-)

Me, Aspen and Mia flew out to WA for her funeral, which was beautiful. There were many of the people whom she has loved and have loved her in attendance to honor her life. Although it was a sad time, it was also a time of comfort because I know that she is with the love of her life again. She is walking hand in hand with my Granddad and sitting at Jesus's feet learning and loving. I know she is happy and well; her work on this earth was complete and now she is with Heavenly Father again. I know I will see her again someday...and until then, I will smile when I think of my wonderful Grandma Q in her horribly wonderful orange polyester pants.

And now, since I got back tonight after 10 days, I have a lot to do. I have a visit from Leif, Lurlyn and Leify to blog about, my trip to WA...and of course, to catch up on everyone else's blogs from when I was gone. But tonight I am going to snuggle up with my hubby and hope that I have many more years to be with him on this earth.

Aspen and Mia

I just thought this was so sweet. Aspen was pushing Mia in her swing and then talking to her and I thought it was sweet and wanted to share! :)

Today marks 6 years that Malo and I have been married. Its hard to believe so much time has gone by and at the same time its hard to remember what life was like when we weren't married. :) I feel very blessed to be married to my best friend in the world. Malo is a great husband and a REALLY wonderful daddy to our two amazingly spectacular daughters! :)

We thought it would be neat to bless Mia on our anniversary, so Malo blessed her in church today. It was a really special day today. We are so grateful for both Aspen and Mia in our family. Being a mom has brought me the most joy I could imagine. And seeing Malo being such a great dad to our girls has made me fall more in love with him than I thought I could.

Oh and Mia has finally grown enough that she is in newborn diapers instead of preemie diapers...AND she ALMOST can fit into newborn clothes without drowning!! We only have a couple preemie outfits, but its been so hot she's mostly in her diaper anyway! Yay for growing Mia! :) :)

Anyhoo, here are some pictures from today. :) Here is our little family...that doubled in size over the course of 12 months and 13 days! :)

Aspen and Mia (see what a good job Aspen does of supporting Mia's head?!?! haha!)

Carrie and Mia, me (unfortunately still looking pregnant 4 weeks later! ugh!) mom and Aspen

Mia on her blessing day...

Mia's cute little feet (yes, they are shaped just like Malo's, but they're still cute!!)

Stop crying, please!

So Aspen absolutely HATES when Mia cries. If Mia is within Aspen's reach, she will go up to her and try to stick her fingers in Mia's mouth - I'm thinking her thought process is that her fingers sooth her when she's sad, so they must sooth her sister, too, right? :) And if that doesn't work, Aspen just screams louder than Mia cries, as if to block out the sound of her crying. Its not a sad scream, or even a mad scream, its just a LOUD noise! SO I caught a picture of it the other day and it cracks me up everytime I look at it. I think perhaps I am a bad mom because I laugh at a picture of Mia crying and Aspen screaming to drown out the crying...but its one of my favorite pictures ever! :)





















And here's a pic of Aspen trying to make Aspen feel better by putting her fingers in her mouth!

Long overdue thanks...

Mia will be 4 weeks old tomorrow! I can't believe it. I was so convinced I was going to be completely recovered and out of maternity clothes - back into my regular clothes by the time a month was up...HA HA HA! Little did I know! :)

Anyway, another thing that her being almost 1 month old means is that I haven't thanked my sister for all she did. She took an entire week off of work to take care of Aspen for us so Malo could be with me in the hospital. As many of you know, I had pre-eclampsia and was admitted to the hospital a couple days before Mia was born...they were going to induce my labor after I was there for a couple days because my vital stats weren't improving, but then I went into labor on my own about 4 hours before I was to be induced. Anyway, I needed Malo there with me and my wonderful sister, Carrie, took the time off work and came up here and took care of my Aspen. I can't even expain how grateful I am for her being so generous with her time and that I didn't have to worry about Aspen.

Also, my mom came out earlier than she was planning on coming to take care of us! I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO glad that she did; I do not know how I would have managed to work on recovering and take care of my two baby girls without my mom here. So a big huge THANK YOU to mom and Carrie! And a big thank you to Alicia for watching Aspen for most of my doctor appointments. I am truly blessed with great friends and family! Thanks! :)

Walkin' and squawkin'!!

Well, Aspen is FINALLY taking some steps on her own!! She has been "able" to do it for awhile, but has been too much of a chicken...but now she's on the move! Last Friday she took 4 unassisted steps, then 5 on Saturday...now we're up to 12!! Wa-hoo! I suppose she likes the attention she gets from each step...its been a bit rough for her since Mia's been here; she is 100% used to being the center of our universe and has had a bit of a hard time adjusting to having to share some of that attention. So I am sure she "hoorays" and clapping and excitement with each step she conquers are a big part of why she's finally decided its cool to walk. :)

Baby Mia is a squawker! She will only sleep if swaddled tightly or snuggled up with someone. She is a pretty funny little one. She is still confusing night with day and thinks night is the time to be wide awake and alert. So needless to say, our little family is quite sleep deprived...Mia's shirt says it all...sleep is for the weak! Haha!

I am so incredibly grateful for our two amazing daughters. I can't believe how much our lives have changed in just over a year. I don't know why we've been so blessed, but I certainly won't complain!!! :) I couldn't be happier than I am right now, I have the best hubby ever and two wonderful girls. :)