*Cue the emotional mother post*

It's 2:12am and I just laid our sweet little babe back in her crib. The last few nights, around this same time, she's woken up crying. I'll go in her room and pick her up, hold her in my arms and snuggle her close. She lays her pretty little head on my shoulder or rests it on my head, cheek to cheek. And as tired as it makes me to have to get up multiple times every night when I already have a hard time going to sleep before 1:00am, I can't help but love those moments.

Tonight, she let me hold her like I did when she was a newborn, cradled in my arms and looking straight at me. In the dark, I could see her eyes open wide, just watching me. I hummed a bit and swayed back and forth... and then I cried as I realized that at this time one year ago, I was in the hospital with Dan awaiting the arrival of our beautiful daughter.

I'd gone in to be induced at midnight, one week past my due date, and we were just ready to have our little girl here. We sat in the dark hospital room listening to her heartbeat on the monitors and dreamt of what it would be like to finally have her here and what she would look like.

Seven hours later, we were in the operating room and Dan was holding my hand while the doctor delivered our baby by cesarean section. Then they brought her up so I could see her. She was better than either of us could ever have dreamt about. And Dan and I looked at each other and just smiled. We couldn't stop smiling because that tiny little lady had just made us parents and we already loved her more than we ever thought we could.

And now it's a year later! A whole year! And that tiny baby has grown into the most amazing little girl. She brings so much sunshine to our home each day.

She has a cute little laugh and we love the way she scrunches her nose to do a big cheesy grin for all those around her.

She crawls like lightening and will stand up by herself if she's distracted, but we can't quite get her to walk yet. And, secretly, that's ok with me...

She dances to just about any song that comes on and, oh, we love to watch her dance.

She can say "Hi, dad" and "mama" and has the sweetest voice you've ever heard. Jabbering all day long and singing too.

She has three, almost four, teeth.

She loves to snuggle her baby doll and all her stuffed animals.

She's so smart and already knows just how to do things like a little independent lady.

She loves to read and even knows how the pages are supposed to be turned.

Everyone who knows her falls in love with her inward and outward beauty... especially her mom and dad. She has us wrapped around her little finger! And we love every minute of it.

This year has been absolutely wonderful. Aurora has made our lives infinitely better.
We don't know how we ever lived without her!

Happy 1st birthday to our little princess! We love you!

Birthday Highlights

Today I turned 25! A quarter of a century old... and it was a fantastic day!

Here's the highlights:

One||Aurora let me sleep in and then we had a dance party to N'sync

Two||When Dan got off work, he surprised me with a gift! A fancy, new straightener (my old one was held together by tape...), two Toblerones (yum!), and the sweetest, most thoughtful card

He was cute. He said, "You wouldn't tell me what you wanted [I didn't know], so I got you something I knew you needed plus some candy I knew you loved."

Uhm... hello! Those are the best kind of gifts!
Besides, that new straightener works like a gem!
AND Aurora loved playing with the tissue paper. New favorite toy? Yes.

Three||THEN Becca picked up Aurora so Dan could take me out for some alone time.

Four||Alone time part 1: Taking me to get a pedicure at a nail salon!

I've been wanting to get one for forever (I've never had one before)
and it felt great
and my toes look cute
and the chair was a massage chair.

*sigh* Relaxing!

Five||Alone time part 2: Going to see Maleficent at the movie theater!

I've been wanting to see it for forever
and Dan and I both loved it
and we got a reward from our Rewards Card to use for next time (One regular movie ticket for $1)
and we got "The Mega Deal" including a tub of popcorn and two large drinks... Yup, then we got to laugh over the fact that Dan, Mr. Salt-Lover, added WAY too much salt to the popcorn haha

Six||A surprise visit from my best cousin/friend, Melissa!

She called me earlier in the day to wish me a Happy Birthday and then said she was going to come down to see me for my birthday since she was off work until 3:30pm the next day!

It was so SO great to see her! She hung out with us the rest of the night and then slept over. I just love that girl!

Seven||Making Dorito Taco Salads and two birthday cakes (which turned out to be not-that-awesome) then eating them and playing games with Jeremy, Kaela, Jack, Harlie, Cody, Laura, Melissa, Ryan, and Dan.

Funny thing was, Dan, Melissa, and I had decided to make dinner and thought we'd invite Kaela over since Jeremy was at work.
Then Cody and Laura called Kaela to see if they could come over so she invited them over.
Then Jeremy got off early... sooooo...
Our dinner for four people turned into a dinner for eight people haha

It was fun though, AND they sang to me and Jack blew out my birthday candles, so that spur of the moment thing worked great!

Eight||The many people who sang to me by phone or in person!

I woke up to a voicemail singing from my mom and dad
Erin and Cole called me and sang
Steph text me to wish me happy birthday
Becca babysat for us and wished me happy birthday
My Grandma Barclay called me
My best friend, Natalie, called me and we talked for an hour!
And I got many more texts and Facebook wishes from friends, family, and my ward!

I am loved ♥

Nine||The wonderful gifts and cards I got from Dan's parents and Grandma and Grandpa Rigby!

They know how to make me feel loved AND Dan's mom keeps me looking sexy with a good supply of Mary Kay makeup haha Seriously though!

Ten||Being blessed with beautiful weather and a beautiful attitude about the world all day!

Honestly, I don't think anything could've brought me down! Life is seriously great!

I'd Never Do That...

Tonight is one of those nights where I eat my words as I, once again, realize that something I said I'd never do as a parent when I was a non-parent, I now do as an actual parent.

You know... we all know those people who aren't parents who say things like "Oh, I'm never going to do that when I have kids!" Well, yup... that was me.

So here I sit, tonight at 11pm not going to do something because Aurora is asleep. 11pm is her bedtime.

Before I had kids and our friends with kids would say that they couldn't come to something because their kids had to be in bed, I'd say to Dan, "I'm never going to do that. I'm never going to say we can't come to something just because our kids 'have to be in bed'. Kids can sleep anywhere! We'll just bring them and they can sleep at our friends' houses or whatever."

Well, Dan gently reminded me of this comment when I said, as an actual parent, "Ya know, we're going to have to start limiting our late night hang outs with friends because Aurora is starting to get on a sleep schedule and needs to be in bed by 11pm." haha

I've since learned that kids do better when they have routines; sleep schedules (aka 'bedtime') included. AND I continue to learn new things as a parent every day.

So the question you may have then is: Are you sad that you can't have your late night hang outs anymore??

And to that, my answer is: Not really.

INSTEAD of going out, I've had the lovely opportunity tonight of rocking my sweet, beautiful baby girl to sleep. I got to put on a movie favorite of mine, What About Bob?, and enjoy eating an avocado with a spoon, straight from the shell. I've had time to blog and blogging is completely relaxing to me. AND I get to have a bit of "me time" where I just get to sit and do nothing but relax in my pjs while Aurora is sleeping and before Dan gets home. "Me time" is nice... AND, sometimes, needed.

Parenting is definitely rewarding! We love our wonderful, little babe!

And, besides, we had a full day today.

Dan had a doctor's appointment this morning. And had blood work done. Hopefully they can figure out what's wrong with his body. It's time for him to start feeling good again! What a blessing it would be for him to be rid of his aches, pains, and ailments!

After the doctor's appointment, I dropped Dan off at work and Aurora and I headed over to the horseshoe pits to watch Dad and Erin compete in the doubles tournament with their partners for the Utah Summer Games. We braved the high temps with Mom and Cole and had a good time. PLUS, Erin and her partner won the bronze medal for their bracket! I love that horseshoes is something we can all do as a family. We've loved attending league on Thursdays and Dan loves pitching! We're looking forward to other tournaments this summer that Dan can participate in, too.

Aurora and I continued the afternoon with Artic Circle burgers at my family's house and then going over to visit her daddy at work. I love how excited Dan is all the time to show off our daughter and carry her around. He's such a wonderful father to Aurora! I sure love him!

When we finished there, we drove over to our Aunt Amy and Uncle Trav's house for a little birthday cake and ice cream for Grandma Rigby's birthday. She ended up leaving early with Grandpa because she wasn't feeling well but it was sure fun to spend a small part of her special day with her! The longer I know her, the more I grow to love her. She is one amazing lady! AND spending some time with the cousins and Dan's mom and dad and Caleb was lots of fun! Yummy cake, delicious ice cream, juicy blueberries, and lots of laughs!

Pretty Darn Great

9 Things that made the last 2 days of our lives pretty darn great:

1--I started out my Sunday morning with a 1.5 mile walk from my house all the way to the cemetery. It was a beautiful sunny morning and the smells of summer/spring are in the air and I just loved it!

2--I went to church with my family yesterday because Erin was giving a talk in Sacrament Meeting on gratitude. She did great! I ended up staying for the whole meeting and I went to Sunday School and Relief Society with Collette since both our parents are in the nursery. I was so SO glad I went with her. In RS they covered a talk by Elder Dallin H. Oaks called "The Keys and Authority of the Priesthood" from the April 2014 priesthood session. It's a great talk that helps us as men AND women to understand the priesthood a bit more. Needless to say, this talk was exactly what I needed. The topic has been on my mind lately and I was blessed to have the confirmation that my Heavenly Father knows me and knows what my needs are by having me be in that specific meeting to hear that specific talk at that time. Then I got to share what I had learned with Dan and we ended up having a good discussion about it. The gospel is so true!

3--Dan came to pick me up at my parents' house after church on Sunday and my mom and Erin were kind enough to watch Aurora for a little while so I could go with Dan over to his family's house to spend some time for Ryan's birthday. That was lots of fun! Cody, Jeremy, and Cody's friend, Carter Brown, were playing the guitar for us; we spent sometime outside flying a huge foam airplane, riding the mini-motorcycle around the yard, and swinging on the tire swing; we had a yummy frenchtoast dinner and lemon bars for birthday dessert; and just spent time as a family. I left around dark because they were about to start a fire in the backyard and I needed to get back to Aurora. Dan stayed for a bit longer and then I picked him up and we headed home. I missed him while he was having his brothers weekend activities so I was glad to have him home!

4--Our whole fam slept in this morning because Dan had the day off. Aurora slept in until 1pm! And even then we had to wake her up! haha That girl!

5--The rest of today was spent with my family to celebrate Memorial Day. Dan and I ran over to check the car wash (Sparkles) for our Uncle Trav while he's gone and then it was on to my family's house. We had the most delicious barbecue in the backyard complete with marinated steaks, dutch-oven potatoes, watermelon, and a summery salad then a jello-poke cake for dessert! It was hot hot hot outside so we mostly hung out under the canopies and laughed and talked until it was decided that we'd better go swimming...

6--Dan, Erin, Cole, Mom, Dad, and I took Aurora up to the Aquatic Center for her first ever swimming trip tonight! She loved it! The water was the perfect temperature and I'm pretty sure she could've just stayed in there for days. She cried when we left haha It was so fun to see how she reacted and it was great that my dad and mom were able to take some pictures for us! First time! Hello! Pictures were a must!

7--After swimming, we all met up at the cemetery to visit my Grandma Dorothella's grave. Alex and Becca met us over there too and my dad played the bagpipes for my grandma. It was such a beautiful moment to hear my dad playing them for her just as the sun was beginning to go down and everyone around was placing flowers for loved ones gone on.

8--To finish out the night, we headed back over to my parents' to play a little game of horseshoes. It was nice to just sit out in the backyard and enjoy everyone's company. And the weather was perfect! We even played fetch with Bec and Alex's dog, Tech! It was fun ...The only thing that made it not so nice was when a stray horseshoe bounced up off the cement behind the pits and smacked Becca straight in the face! Oweee! That poor girl! We'll be moving observation locations for next time... haha

9--When we got home, we all took showers to remove the remaining chlorine and then I fed Aurora while Dan played with my paints I'd left on the counter. When I walked by a couple of hours later, I noticed he had used his artistic skills to paint the ant bait I had on the counter. haha It's actually pretty good! Who knew ant bait could look so pretty!?

Thankful

Today I am thankful for the little things...

1. time I get to spend with Dan, no matter how little that might be with our busy schedules or what we're doing... even if it's cutting wood on his birthday (I split wood with an axe all by myself for the first time ever! haha)
2. the work Dan and I have been able to do over the last few weeks
3. hugs
4. my mom inviting me to go to a relief society women's conference with her and hearing exactly what my HF knew I needed to hear
5. my family
6. Dan's family
7. prayer
8. being able to hold Dan's hand and cry with him at Kelly's funeral
9. good weather and sunny skies
10. knowing families are forever and that this life isn't the end
11. jumping on the trampoline with Dan--laughing and having a good time after such a long, long day
12. all the family we've been able to see these last few days
13. the love Dan and I have for each other and the support we are to one another (I really am married to my very best friend ♥ )
14. mornings where we get to sleep in
15. school and the things I've been able to learn to better my life
16. our home
17. 5-day weekends

Sometimes the daily struggles of life can keep me from being thankful for the little things. It's easier to complain about everything than it is to just be thankful for what I do have. Writing down and remembering all the things I'm so blessed to have, really help. When you're focusing on all the good in your life, it's really hard to be negative and you're able to see things clearer; to be there for others and become less selfish. 

Fishie Fishie Fishie

This weekend has been good.
Dan and I had an entire day off together on Friday and it was wonderful.
We went to lunch together at the Hong Kong Buffet.
We tried out the new ice cream place here in Cedar: Sub Zero (Totally cool to watch. They make your ice cream right in front of you with liquid nitrogen!).
We went fishing at the lake on the hill and I even caught a fish! (Dan only caught 14... not as impressive haha)
We had dinner at Brandon and Krystel's house then we all went to The Greenshow for the Shakespearean Festival at SUU.
We went fishing again after that and I saw the most amazing sunset.
That was a good day ♥ Being with Dan makes me so happy

Saturday I had a meeting in St. George for Megaplex orientation at 7am. So fun (Please sense the sarcasm..)
I only fell asleep for a brief moment and I realized some people are so dumb haha it definitely made things better sitting in between Becca, Kaylie Hadlock, and Denny Munson so we could laugh at all the comments
After the meeting, Paisha, Landon, and I stopped by In 'N Out on the way home then we all worked the afternoon at the theater.
When I was finally done with work at 530pm, I was tired and didn't feel good (thank you, soda and ice cream) so instead of hitting up The July Jamboree like we do every year, we went to my family's house for a minute to get me some meds for my stomach (we think I have an ulcer) then Dan took me to dinner at The Pizza Factory.
We tried a new pizza there and got salad bar. It was heaven!
We then decided we'd better go see The Amazing Spiderman so we stopped at Wal-mart to get some treats (aka taffy!) haha and then went to the movie
We LOVED this Spiderman SO much better than the other 3 with Toby stupid-face. You must go see it!

Sunday, we went to church and then to my parents' for lunch. Navajo tacos! Mmmm! Thanks Mom and Dad ♥
After lunch we all played cards together (Nerts and Farkle Frenzy--definite family faves!) and then Dan and I headed home to take a nap.
At 730pm we went to Amber and Dan's for Whitney's birthday party.
Amber made some yummy rootbeer float cupcakes that tasted just like you were having a rootbeer float!
And after everyone else left and Chloe was put to bed, Amber, Dan, Dan, and I played Xbox Kinect games and told stories that made us laugh our butts off. Dan Shoemake is hilarious! haha
We left their house at about 11pm and realized we hadn't had dinner yet.
Lucky for us, Dan's mom and dad had just made spaghetti so we went over to their house and ate dinner then played Oh Heck (Another family fave) before heading home at 1230am.

Love weekends like this ♥

Golden

Golden Year Birthday was truly golden.
The whole weekend was a blast and I got to spend it with almost all of my favorite people.

Friday night we went to the Groovefest and we got our first snow cones of the season from The Tiki Shack (mmm!). We hung out with both of our families and even Koda was there to share the evening with us. To finish out a great night, Dan surprised me with my birthday present a bit early!

Oh you guys, it is the best birthday present! SO FUN! Dan definitely did a good job! The camera is one of those instant ones where the picture just pops right out of the camera... ♥ love me some instant photos! I spent the whole rest of my night taking photos. Dan and his cousin, Alyssa, got to be my very first models. Lucky them!

Saturday was my actual birthday and I got to start it off by waking up at 8am to go pick up our Bountiful Basket with my mom and Alyssa. We love Bountiful Baskets... Such a good deal! Check it out. Serrrriously. Then we all got ready for the day and headed to the movie theater to watch Brave. What a cute movie! AND thanks to good ol' Facebook everyone at the theater wished me a happy birthday. haha It was fun!

After the movie, we decided to eat a late lunch at Lupita's Mexican Restaurant. It was very yummy and we even splurged a bit and tried some fried ice cream. Talk. About. Delicious. Oh. My. Gosh! If you have not tried the stuff before, then you MUST. It is glorious!

When we finished at Lupita's we decided to go have a looksie at the Antique Mall at the Depot on Main Street. They have a lot of beautiful old items and some fun hats hehe Aren't I sexy?

The rest of the evenings planned involved reservations at Milt's up the canyon but we ate such a late lunch that I was full and had kind of a stomach ache due to the fact that I ate ice cream and ice cream makes me a bit sick, unfortunately... SO, I asked Dan if it'd be ok if we cancelled our reservations and did something else. He said that'd be ok so we went home to lay down for a bit and relax. I ended up falling asleep on the couch on Dan's leg haha while he watched an episode of Grey's Anatomy. I woke up promptly after the show was over and Dan said he thought maybe a walk up the canyon would help us feel better and wake us up. He then told me I should change into something more comfortable like gym shorts and a t-shirt. I really tried to resist the clothing change but he was very insistent and then said I might want to be in something I wouldn't mind getting wet in... this is when I became suspicious of these plans to go "on a walk".

If I remember right, this is how Dan surprised me with dinner last year haha poor guy had to try to recover his surprise plans and we went to the canyon park. As we pulled in the parking lot, I began to see lots of familiar vehicles and that's when I knew... surprise party! haha Dan had reserved the park for my party, made me a cake, invited all our friends and family, filled up water balloons for water balloon volleyball, and prepared a BBQ all for me! Oh what a good time!

Cake was smashed into faces and hair and water balloon volleyball turned into a huge water fight so after the party, Dan and I headed home to clean up and to spend some time with just the two of us. We had a great conversation about life and the gospel (which was cool because our lesson in Gospel Principles was just a continuation of our conversation) and then Dan sang me "Happy Birthday" and gave me a kiss and I was officially 23!

Here's to a great year #23!