Happy 1st Birthday, June Bug!!! 

-- Blogged by JME

I can't believe my sweet little baby is not a baby anymore.  She is 1!!!  She has changed our lives and we love her so much.  It is hard to believe that a whole year has gone by since she was placed in my arms for the first time.  I love everything about her from her cute little pigtails to her precious little toes. 

Hmmmm . . . That looks tasty!

 We had a Ladybug Birthday Party for our little June Bug.  Recently, we found out that she is allergic to dairy. Thanks to a friend of mine who hooked me up with a dairy-free cake and frosting recipe, we were able to pull off a cute little Ladybug Cake just for her. 

 

 

We had a nice little combined party with my family and N8's family.  It was fun visiting with everyone and enjoying a summer evening in the backyard. 

 

Pooh Bear had a fun time practicing back handsprings with her cousins, Pounder and BJ.

 

And June Bug decided to practice her Stink Bug crawl. 

She sure loves her Bapa!

Aunt Pookie and Jocy had a good time too!  Jocy even dressed up for the occasion with a matching Ladybug outfit that went with the theme.  What a cutie!!!

 

We even had Uncle Easton there who drove quite a ways.  We were so glad to see him and appreciated that he made such an effort to be there. 

 

 

My brother Maverick and his friend Kelbel came out for some fun!  Thanks for all your help with scooping the ice cream, Mav!  Great way to put your muscles to work!!!

 

It looks like someone is batting her eyes at her daddy, ready to open some presents!!!

Opening presents can be hard.  You have to practice.  That's why you have so many birthdays.  But on the first one, you need a little help from mommy to get the hang of it. 

 

 

 

"Hmmm . . . .Some toys from Pookie, Pooh Bear, and Jocy for the new sandbox Grandma gave me!  Pretty cool!"

 

 

 

"Wow . . . A Beach Ball Sprinkler  from Aunt L, Uncle R, Z, Pounder, and BJ!  That will keep me nice and cool this summer!"

 



"And a nice upgrade on my car seat from Mom and Dad!  It's about time!!!  I was getting pretty cramped!"

 ". . . Woohoo!  Llama Llama Red Pajama from Grammy Lu and Bapa!  My favorite book!!!"

 

June Bug loved her cake.  She almost looks like the Joker from Batman in this picture.  "Want to know how I got these scars?"

June Bug loves to share!

"All done destroying my first cake.  Now what?"

After a little clean up time, June Bug got to play with her little second cousin (once removed).  They are about six months apart.  They both have such beautiful blue eyes. 

 

What a beautiful little girl we have!  We feel so blessed to have you in our lives. 

 

You make us laugh a little louder and love a little harder.
(Adelita's Way - Alive)

Happy Father's Day - Blogged by JME

For N8's first Father's Day, N8's aunt arranged to have me pick up a bass and amp that N8's grandpa had passed down to him.  N8 didn't know I had picked it up, and so on Father's Day morning June Bug and I surprised him with it.  N8 was very excited to get it.  It is the same bass that Paul McCartney uses.  I had been hearing N8 talk about this bass for years and was so happy when N8's aunt contacted me about it. 

 

 

I'm so grateful to have such a wonderful husband and father for our little June Bug.  N8 is our baby's best pal and definitely a Prince Charming for our Little Princess.  Her whole face brightens when he walks into a room or comes home from work.  He makes up for the things that I lack.  When I'm completely out of patience, I know he will be patient for both of us.  When I've had a lot to do during the day and haven't had much time to spend with our daughter, he steps right in and plays so hard with her, wrestling and talking to her and reading her stories, even when he's had a long day at work.   

 

 
He truly enjoys sharing the things he loves with June Bug, especially his love for music.  He teaches her so many wonderful things.  I am so grateful for him!  He is my best friend and the best daddy I could have asked to have for my sweet child. 

 

Happy Father's Day, N8!

 

Happy Mother's Day - Blogged by JME

My amazingly beautiful and talented sister took these pictures a year ago today. 

Today is my first Mother's Day as a mother. 

For a long time I hated Mother's Day.  It was the most dreaded day of the year for me.  I remember one Mother's Day that was particularly difficult.  N8 had been home for about 7-8 months after an 18-month deployment when he received orders to be gone for yet another year, this time to Germany.  It turned out to be a wonderful experience, but at the time my heart was broken.  Not only was I losing my best friend for another year but dreams of starting our family were again being delayed. 

As I sat in church during that Mother's Day sacrament meeting, I tried holding back my tears, my arms feeling so very empty.  I watched the little children walk up to the front to sing to their mothers.  A woman who had a brand new baby approached me.  She didn't know me well at all, but asked if I would hold her precious bundle  while she went to the front to help with the rest of the children.  I held that sweet little newborn in my arms and felt a warm comfort fill my heart.  I looked right into that little baby's eyes and knew that this was a tender mercy from my Father in Heaven.  I felt that my Heavenly Father knew that I needed to hold that infant.  At that moment, I felt very strongly that He was aware of me and that in His time, I would be a mommy.

As I look back now on the long years I waited to be a mother, I can see many opportunities and tender mercies that the Lord blessed me with to be a mother to children that weren't mine.  I was able to love and nurture my sweet little nephews and have almost always had callings in the primary, serving and teaching the little children in my ward.  Even though the blessing of being a mom to my own child didn't come right away, I can see that the Lord's hand was in my life, teaching me and helping me grow.  I am grateful for His timing and for the lessons He taught me that have helped me grow and become the mother I'm now able to be to my own child. 

Today, nothing is sweeter to me than hearing my June Bug try to say 'mama,' or getting her out of her crib in the morning after being away from her all night, smelling her and seeing her hair all a mess, loving her little arms around me and her slobbery open-mouthed kisses.  I love watching her face light up when I walk into a room.  I love to hear her giggle. 

She sure has taken me on the hardest ride of my life, but I've loved every minute of being her mommy.  The sacrifices I've made, the sleep I've lost, and meals I've missed have made me love my daughter even more.  All of those sacrifices have also helped me realize more of what my own mother has done for me in my life.  I'm so grateful for her, for the good examples she has set for me, and for all that she has done to make me who I am.  I'm grateful for N8's mom and for the things she has done for my family and for all that she did to help N8 become the wonderful man that he is.  I'm also so grateful for some of the women in my life, my close friends, that may be a little older than me and a little wiser, that have helped be a mom to me in a way, even though I am not their daughter. 

To all of you beautiful women, happy Mother's Day!

Pups, Ducks, Parks, and Pigtails (Updated) - Blogged by JME

N8 took June Bug to the park the other day while I was at work and put her in a swing for the first time.  She really loved it, so we both made another trip out earlier this week.  She recognized the park when we got there and was so excited she had another chance to swing. 

She is also a big fan of slides and had a great time with help from mommy. 

Crawling through the tube was a blast!  She did that over and over again and never seemed to get tired of it.   

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Last Sunday, we went to Grandma's house (N8's mom) for Z and BJ's birthday party and June Bug's great uncle brought their new golden retriever puppy, Sunny!  June Bug fell in love the instant she saw this little pup and had a great time playing with her.  I love her little dimples.  She gets those from her handsome daddy.

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Recently, N8, June Bug, and I go out on Sunday afternoons when it is nice and feed the ducks.  June Bug loves it.  This particular Sunday, Bapa and Grammy came along (my mom and dad).  This is the first time I put June Bug's hair in pigtails and I absolutely love the way she looks with them. 

She just looks so big!  She let Bapa carry her around the whole time with her little luvee (blanket).  She is Bapa's girl!  

The lake was beautiful and there were so many different types of ducks.  It was a lot of fun!  

My cute cousin (Jo Jo) gave me this sweet little outfit for a shower I had last year before June Bug was born.  This outfit was inspired by the swimsuit she is wearing in the picture below.  



Jme on the left, Jo Jo on the right


This is Jo Jo and I when we were really little at the pool.   Jo Jo saw this outfit and it totally reminded her of this picture and so she bought it for my little June Bug. 

June Bug looks like such a doll in this, Jo Jo!  I'm so glad she is big enough to wear it now.  It makes her look so bright and springy and it goes so well with her personality.  

My sweet little princess!  I just love you to pieces.   

A Trip to the Zoo - Blogged by JME

N8 and I celebrated our 9th anniversary yesterday by taking our little June Bug to the zoo.  It has been a tradition in the past to go to the zoo for our anniversary, but this was the first "official" year that June Bug came along.  

I say "official" because last year she was with us, just not in the same way.

Our little one had a wonderful time.  She saw a giraffe for the first time, aside from the 'Sophie' squeak and chew toy she has. 

 
She also saw some Lions . . .

Tigers . . .

 





 

And her very favorite . . . Bears!!!

 

She has a stuffed bear at home and a couple of books with pictures of bears.  She recognized the word when we were showing her the bears.  She became very excited and interested.   

I'm almost convinced that if we had let her, she would have climbed right into the bear enclosure and mauled those bears more than they would have her.

 

She did get to touch the statue of a bear.  She liked that a lot. 

 

June Bug's favorite books are the Llama Llama books we get from the library.  She absolutely loves Llama Llama and finally got to meet him at the zoo. 

 

The zoo wasn't very crawler-friendly. June Bug was constantly in the stroller or in Mama's arms. It took us awhile, but we finally found just the place for June Bug to stretch her legs.

 

She even got to play a game of peek-a-boo.

 

 

 

We had to make sure we stopped in and saw Daddy's favorite animal . . . the sloth. I'm not sure if we've posted this in the past, but N8 was able to hold a sloth when he was in Colombia during his old sailor days.

She was fascinated with the bright strange birds she saw. 

And loved the monkeys.   June Bug's great Aunt A gave her some fun jungle-themed stickers to put up on the wall.  It has monkeys on them and ever since she was very small, we would show them to her and say, "Monkey . . . OOOO OOOO OOO EEE EEE EEE."  That was probably the first word she recognized and when she first started to crawl, all we would have to say is monkey and she would crawl right to it.  She even tries to mimic the noise. 

Somebody made these out of Lego's.  We thought they were real from far away.  They were really cool! 

 The gorilla was very friendly.  He came over and posed for us. 

This orangutan was a little shy and kept his distance. 

I told June Bug that this ape-statue is a statue of her daddy.  She thought that was pretty silly and laughed and laughed.  Mama's so funny! 

She loved riding the elephant's trunk.  You almost have to make an appointment to get your child a chance to get this close, let alone take a picture on this elephant.  It is always overrun with kids. 

We had a fun time seeing this goose with her goslings.  She was just out roaming around with the little fellas.  Not something you see every day. 

 

Of course, the peacock has to show off. 

 

 

 

 They added this new exhibit to the zoo and this was the first time we were able to see it. It had seals, a sea lion, and otters. It was pretty fun to see.  

 

We had a really great time.  I think June Bug really enjoyed herself.  It was a very cold day.  We had to stand in the sun a lot to keep warm.  June Bug ended up with a little sunburn on her cheeks but I think it was worth it.  It was nice to spend our anniversary as a family.  I'm so grateful for the man I married and for the father that he is.