One year

It has been a little over a year since we moved away from all of our family and friends and set out on a new adventure together.  In that year we have had some of the worst days of our lives and some of the sweetest days as well.  We added a beautiful baby girl to our family, we made new friends, tried new foods, and grew as a family.
I can't believe it has been a year.  Time has just sped by.  It seems like the harder I try to hold on to every moment and enjoy the here and now the faster it goes.  I find that I can't hold on and more then I can hold back.  As I watch my baby, my last baby grow up I want so much to keep her just how she is.  I find myself wanting to push her back down on her bum when she stands up to walk, but I just can't hold her back and end up encouraging her and cheering her on instead.  As it should be.
Over the last year I have learned so much, I cannot even begin to list off everything I have learned.  I have learned to let go of the little things that are unimportant so that I can cherish what is.  I have learned to be less of a stickler about bedtime and cuddle more.  I have learned to hold onto my babies because soon enough they are going to pull away and run off on their own.  I have finally learned to make the mundane divine as I work backstage to keep the house running, the kids happy and fed, and be everyone's personal cheerleader.  I have learned to be less selfish so that I have more of myself to give.  I learned that I didn't move out here to save the world, I moved out her so God could save my world, my family.  I have learned to dance in the rain, figuratively and literally, and I have learned that when storms come the safest thing to do is to hold onto my family for dear life!
Speaking of being less selfish, this post was supposed to be about Abigail.  My baby girl is one today!  Can you believe it?  We have been her for that long.  This girl is my joy!  She is my bonnie blue eyed baby.  I prayed that she would keep her blue eyes since non of the other kids did and it was a tender mercy from the Lord that she did.  She is always smiling and giggling.  Abigail was my "drive across the country having contraction to get to a new place" baby.  :)  Everyone said I would give birth on the way, but she held on and had perfect timing!  It was miracle after miracle the way she got her and when she got here.  Abigail had brought me joy during some seriously dark days as I struggled with depression and anxiety again after moving here, but her smile was like a ray of sunshine.  Every time I saw her smile shining through the darkness I felt like Heavenly Father was telling me he loved me and everything would be ok. She has brought me so much joy and I look forward to sharing many smiles with her.

Happy Abby

I can't believe I forgot to blog about Abigail when I did the other kids!  My sweet Abigail, the newest member of our family.  She is the joy of our lives!  She is our happy, smiley Abby.  She is always smiling and laughing.  One time she started crying because she wanted to eat, but she was smiling and laughing at the same time.  True story!  When she smile her whole face lights up and it's so infectious everyone else starts to smile too.  One thing I love about her smile is that it seems like she is so happy her little body just can't contain it and she moves her whole body around trying to make that smile big enough to contain all the joy.   She laughs at just about everything too.
Abigail is 6 months old now.  She tries to crawl, it goes like this.  She gets her legs up under her stomach and then she thrusts forward, but her face is on the floor so it kind of gets smashed as she pushes herself forward.  Half the time she still goes back, but who needs to crawl when you can get everywhere by rolling?  She is starting to really get her legs up under her and her body up as well, she will be crawling before too long.  Time for a baby gate on the stairs!
Our family just wasn't complete without our happy Abby.  She truly is our little sunshine.

All smiles

Benjamin is my helper, Glen is my clown, Elizabeth is my little mother and my sweet Abigail is my joy, my smiley girl.  She is always smiling.  Even when she is upset she smiles.  One day she was at my neighbors house while I was getting a root canal and it went longer then I thought and Abigail got hungry.  As I sat feeding her my neighbor said she was so funny.  She was sitting and playing happily and then all the sudden she started to cry.  She only cried for a few minutes when she went back to smiling and laughing, then she cried again for a short time.  She did that for about 15 minutes and then fell asleep.  She is so quick to smile and it fills our home with joy!  Sometimes she smiles so big I wonder how her little body can hold so much joy!

When Elizabeth was a baby holding her filled everyone with peace.  When I was pregnant with Abigail I knew that where Elizabeth was our peace bringer, Abigail would be our joy.  Sure enough she is all smiles and giggles.  Some times  all I have to do to get her giggling is look at her.

Each of my children is unique and makes our family complete.