More firsts...

Obviously with a new baby there are a lot of firsts... so here are a few more "firsts" for Afton...
1) First official yogurt trip...get used to those Afton because your mom loves Yogurt Mill ;-)
My friend Kelly was nice enough to grace us with her presence for the outing.

2) First trip to Sushi Garden. Sushi Garden is a Bringhurst family favorite. I'm not really into Sushi but their appetizers and teriyaki is very good. Afton had fun sitting in her carseat and watching everyone else eat!

3) First homemade hairband. Yes, I jumped on the bandwagon and tried my hand at hairbow making. And...confession time... I liked it...and I am pretty good at it so I think I will keep on doing it. Plus Afton looks pretty dang cute in them if I do say so myself.

4) First trip to the cabin and seeing snow. The snow thing she could really care less about, being as she is only 3 months old. But she LOVED the cabin. She loved being held all the time by my dad and she loved snuggling in her jackets and blankets to keep warm.

Below is her on the couch. I just thought she looked even smaller than usual... if that's possible!
Hanging with Grandpa, making silly faces. This is her "Mom, what did you do that for?" face.

Mommy and Afton. Thank goodness for self-timers or I don't think I would ever be in any pictures with Afton.

Daddy and Afton.

This was also the first time Afton got to try out her spiffy boots (another hand-me-down from her cousin brielle. Although I don't think they've ever been worn, so does that count as a hand-me-down? Let's just call them a gift.)

Afton fell asleep while Chad was holding her like this. It was super funny. She was OUT.

Then she fell asleep in a similar position with my dad. And if you notice Oliver is trying to bite my dads hand and play. He feels a little left out sometimes...

Then Afton had a blowout during her nap and got some of the said blowout material on my dads shirt...I'm trying to not put gross images in your head and I am also not trying to talk about my little girls (poop) on my blog for her to later read and get mad at me. So that's my way of saying it without saying it...get my drift?
Outfit #2 for Afton and my dad after the mess is cleaned up. Ha ha It just wouldn't be a day with Afton without cleaning up a diaper mess right?

Family picture outside the cabin...yes Oliver is included. After all he is our first(non-born) child.

We all were a little tired on the car ride home, including Afton... a few minutes after this picture she was asleep.

And Oliver's favorite pastime in the car... getting his nose prints on the glass and accidentally rolling down the window!

What I've learned so far...

I don't pretend to be a pro at the whole motherhood thing after only 3 months. But I do feel I have learned a thing or two about how to be a good mother.
So here goes...
1) Be patient. Even if your baby is screaming in your ear just coo and talk to them. A lot of the time this will calm Afton down very quickly. I know that she likes the sound of my voice and my smile. So even when she is feeling bad, my happy face will most likely make her feel better.
2) Schedule, smchedule...I really don't think it's completely necessary to have a strict schedule for a newborn. I read babywise and while I liked some of the ideas, I wasn't a fan of the whole book. We just could never get on board with the "cry-it-out" method. I don't think its mean or cruel really but it just wasn't working for Afton or Chad and I. And she really doesn't have a set feeding schedule either. Like she doesn't always eat at 7 am for her first feeding. Sometimes, but not always. And sometimes she likes to go 2 hours during the day between feeding and sometimes 3 or 4. So I let her decide when she's hungry and we do our best to fit everything in around that. And I am not putting her down to bed by 8 every night. I would much rather put her to bed at 9:30 or 10 when we go to bed. That way she will sleep 7-9 hours and wake up when we wake up in the morning. Makes sense to me! I have found that if I just trust my instincts, that is the best.
3) Let others help... Sometimes I like to be superwoman and do everything myself, but I've found out, it's ok to let others help. Especially since we moved in with Chad's parents has this been true. I can actually cook dinner because I usually have someone who can hold her if her bouncer just isn't making her happy and I am up to my elbows in raw chicken. We also have amazing parents who watch her so that Chad and I can go out on dates.
4) Dad's are just as important as mom's...Chad is an amazing dad. I know there are a lot of background dads out there. You know...the ones who think babies should be left to the mothers. That's insane. It definitely takes more than one person to raise a baby. That's why I am so lucky to have Chad. He is always willing to rock her to sleep when she is cranks or give her a bath or just dance with her. She loves daddy's beatboxing and silly dance moves...In case you haven't met my husband he is VERY silly. And I have a feeling Afton will take after him in that respect. And I will admit that I have to remember that Chad is a parent too sometimes. I get so used to being with her all day and doing thing's a certain way that sometimes I am not always open to
new ideas. Sorry about that Chad...
5) Relax! I am trying to not be an uptight parent. The instinct to be so kicks in when someone wakes Afton from her nap for being too loud or when someone doesn't hold her the right way or when...etc... Get the picture? It's easy to stress when you have a new baby. It's easy to be more annoyed than happy. I am trying (hopefully successfully) to NOT be like that. I am pretty sure it's working. It's so much better to just enjoy being a mom than to worry about HOW you are being a mom.
6) Take time for yourself...and you will be a much happier parent. While I love being home with Afton everyday it is nice to have some alone time once and a while or go on a date with my husband. I feel that it is sooo important to make time for those things or you just go crazy.
7) Breastfeeding is natural and wonderful... The first few weeks, was rough (maybe even the first 6-8 weeks) but now its better. I look foreword to the time when I get to feed Afton. It's the one thing only I can do. It's our time to just be near each other and enjoy the quiet time. When I away for a feeding and someone is giving her a bottle, I hate it. I miss her and I know that she misses me. She really doesn't care for the whole bottle thing and I like it that way :-)
8) People are very friendly when they know you are carting around a newborn. People in stores love to smile at the stroller and wonder what's under the blanket. Many actually ask to see Afton. I almost always have someone offer to open the door for me when I have her with me. And many people love to tell you that their wife/daughter/sister etc just had a baby. Weirest comment? A lady in khols the other day told us about her grandson that had webbed toes. TMI khols lady, TMI. But despite the oddballs it's refreshing to have people be so friendly. Yesterday while running errand downtown, 2 men opened up two different doors for me at the same time. We all laughed and smiled. It was funny.

There are definitely a lot of other things I have learned but my brain can't recover them right now. Plus I am thinking that Afton has been napping for an hour and might wake up very soon so I better end this while I can.
I love being a mom!

12 weeks down, many more to go!

Dear Afton-

You are 12 weeks old today! I feel like just yesterday you came to us. I can honestly say it has been the happiest 12 weeks of our lives. We love you more everyday.
You are getting so strong. You have a lot of strength in your legs and you like to stand a lot(with mom and dads help of course).
You have also has found your hands this week. You just love to stare at your tiny fists and you also like to suck on them too.
You have started sleeping through the night pretty consistently. Last night you broke your own goal and slept 9 1/2 hours! Mom and dad are definitely happy about this accomplishment. I must say that it is nice to sleep so long and be refreshed in the morning. So thank you for that!
You are such a happy baby and you are really starting to get your own personality. You smile all the time and talk to us often.
You love your bouncer and looking at the animals move. You also love when daddy dances with you. That's your favorite.
We can't tell you enough Afton how much we love and adore you. Thank you for being our daughter and being so wonderful! We love you.

Mom & Dad

A month of Afton

It's been a month since I blogged and I just have too much to post about, so here is a recap of February. Yes, it is all Afton. Our life doesn't really consist of much else lately... or at least not much that matters as much as her!

Showing off her outfit for a wedding reception...she is a very stylish baby if I do say so myself! (8 weeks)Ha!

I just loved this picture of my two favorite people.

Sitting with Aunt Kate watching the Superbowl...actually I am secretly going to teach her to hate the Superbowl like I do. So much for the secret part. See she is so bored she is yawning.

Mom, I just woke up, please get the camera out of my face...
(9 weeks old)

Visiting Grandma Tracy and showing her how she can hold herself up.

Getting tired of holding her head up...it's getting very heavy!

Taking a nap with daddy and Oliver...

Playing while Oliver naps.

I have started helping my dad with some office work and Afton goes with me. Here she is helping me work...ok, so maybe she doesn't really help, but she sure looks cute anyways!

Smile!

Here she is trying out her pack n play for the first time. It will be her crib for the next 6 months. We moved in with Chad's parents to save some money for when Chad goes back to school in the fall.
Mid binkie spit...her favorite past time.
(10 Weeks)
Getting a bath in the kitchen sink.

(11 weeks)

Conehead...this might only mean something to me. When we were little my mom and dad would put soap on our heads in the shape of a cone and call us "coneheads" after the characters on the T.V. show "Coneheads."

"I'm ready for my closeup mom!"

And lastly I got her to model two new outfits from Costco...
(12 weeks)

I want to eat her she is so cute! Look at that double chin...

She has recently discovered her hands and loves to chew on them all day long...

She also likes to kick her socks off all day long! Boy will I be glad when summer hits and I can let her go barefoot all the time...

Hopefully now that we are settled in the posts will be much for frequent and much smaller. Although I can never seem to narrow down the pictures I want to post of Afton. So they will definitely be more frequent and we will work on smaller :-)

A Blessing

We blessed Afton on February 6th, so almost a month ago. It was really a wonderful day. It was wonderful to have all our families at church with us for the special occasion. All of Chad's family was there and my mom, step-dad, dad, step-mom, brother, younger sister and aunt were there as well. We had it on fast and testimony meeting, so Chad and I were both able to bear our testimonies. My mom and step-dad also both bore their testimonies. It meant so much to us to have all our families there for the special occasion and the spirit was very strong.
Chad did a wonderful job blessing her. It was short but very sweet and profound. I am so lucky to have a husband that can bless our children and who is worthy to hold the priesthood. Afton has a wonderful dad!
Here is the little lady in her blessing dress:

Michelle let us borrow the dress that both Katie and Rebecca were blessed in. It's almost 20 years old but is still in perfect condition. Chad's aunt Linda made it. I just loved it!
A proud mom and dad:

Mommy daughter:

Grandpa, Micki and Uncle Cody

I just thought this picture was so adorable and had to share:

The whole Bringhurst clan:

A close up of our girl:

And here she is much happier to have shed her 20 pounds of dress! It was nice while it lasted

Thanks to our families to making it such a happy day! And thanks to our princess for being the one to bring us all together.