My baby sister is a wifey...

This past weekend we drove out to Arizona for my sister Laura's wedding. Laura and Bryant were married in the Mesa temple and had their reception in the backyard of a friend's home in Chandler that night. It turned out beautiful! Bryant is so good to her and makes her so happy, we are happy to have him as a part of our growing family.

Laura looked so beautiful - her happiness shined through her amazing smile the whole day...

Jasmine finally got to meet some family and friends that live out of town...

She had lots of cousins and aunts and uncles to keep her entertained...

It was incredibly hot that day. They were having a heat wave. My brother Derrick chased down this ice cream truck right behind the temple. The driver seriously lucked out that day, he sold like 25 items in five minutes. Laura and Bryant got teenage mutant ninja turtles... yummy!

We felt so blessed to have so many friends and family make the trip out to Arizona to support Laura and Bryant on their big day.

Our cousin Brittany made the wedding cake... she is 18 people... and so amazing talented. It was seriously some of the best tasting wedding cake I've ever had.

We are so glad that our little family got to be there to be a part of their special day. We are even more excited that Laura and Bryant got to start a little family of their own that day! I love the gospel, and the temple, and forever families.

10 Weeks

I can't believe our little girl is already 10 weeks old. Here are some highlights from the last couple of weeks.

She is really loving her time in the bath these days. She has figured out how to splash around and make herself move. We have to watch her really close to make sure she doesn't flip right over.

She has discovered her toes. She isn't sure what to think about them yet, but she definitely knows they are there. She is an outside girl and has just noticed trees in the last couple of days - she thinks they are amazing, especially if the wind is blowing through them. She is also really into ceiling fans, and seems to find them quite funny.

She loves music and especially when her Grandpa Milloy sings to her. She has brought so much happiness into our home and our family and we are just so grateful to have her!

Mother's Day

So this last Sunday was my first official Mother's Day and it was a great one! Jasmine surprised me by wearing this cute onsie - very appropriate. I got to go out to dinner with my hubby and he gave me a sewing machine, which I am really excited about.

Being a mom is the best thing I've ever done (besides marrying her dad) and is the thing that I am most proud of. I wouldn't go so far as to say I am good at it yet, but I am learning and really trying. I love watching this little girl grow up - she makes me more happy than I can express.

I am so grateful for the examples of so many good mothers in my life - my mom, grandmas, aunts, sister-in-law, and girlfriends. I love you all and am so grateful for your listening ear and willingness to answer my questions... it means so much!

Biker Baby

Last weekend was the River Run out in Laughlin. It is a big biker rally, and Patrick likes to go each year so that he can spend time with some of his family that come down from Utah. This was Jasmine's first year, and she had a blast.

The weather was beautiful... not too hot and not too cold with a little breeze.

We saw some really cool bikes - it gave Patrick all kinds of ideas for future toys he would like to acquire.

We went out to Oatman (an old mining town) and saw more bikes there. Oatman is known for the wild donkeys that wander freely. This year was a lot of fun, because there were tons of baby donkeys around.

Here is our girl... as you can tell she enjoyed herself. The motorcycles (which can be pretty loud) didn't seem to bother her at all and she just liked being outside hanging out with her mom and dad.

Beach Baby

Yesterday was such a beautiful day, and we really wanted to do something outside. So, we decided to take Jasmine to the beach and introduce her to one of our favorite places. We weren't sure how it would go, but overall we would say it ended up being a great success.

Jasmine laying out and working on her tan... (Note to grandparents: Just kidding, she was bathed in SPF 50, no sunburn for this girl)...

Pretty girl in a goofy hat, but it did the trick, no sun in her eyes... We will definitely be going back!

I just had to put these up too... this is Jasmine taking a nap in her bouncy chair before church today. As you can see, she has kicked her blanket off, squirmed her way down in the chair to where she is showing us some belly, and her feet are hanging over the edge of the chair. We really need to get her sleeping in her crib!

Waking up is hard to do. Silly baby... that's all for now!

6 Weeks

Jasmine is already six weeks old and is changing in front of our eyes daily. She has a new toy that she absolutely loves. It is her Baby Einstein playyard and she can't get enough of hitting the rattles and making sounds. She's even figured out how to kick one of them with her feet.

We have also had her begin taking naps in her crib to get her used to sleeping there, with the hope that we will soon have her out of the bouncy chair in our room and in the crib in her room.

She is also holding her head up well enough now that we can turn her around in the Baby Bjorn so that she can see what is going on. This girl loves to go for walks and explore.

We have a checkup with the doctor next week... I can't wait to hear the official numbers. She has really started to put on weight and she has definitely gotten longer. What a big girl!

Blessing

On Easter Sunday, we were able to bless our sweet baby Jasmine. My mom made her the most beautiful dress to wear. (For more on why we do this see here.)

Her aunt Sharon and cousin Hayliegh sent her this beautiful bracelet to wear with her beautiful dress.

The dress... my mom did such an amazing job. She is so talented!

We felt very blessed to have so many people come out to support our little family. The Ridges...

All of the grandparents and great-grandparents from my side of the family...

Patrick's family including his grandma who came all the way from Utah...

And of course all of my brothers and sisters (even the Arizona ones) and little Maddie (we missed you Gwynne) including our future brother-in-law Bryant...

And one last picture of our girl in her beautiful dress with her uncle Derrick. We truly are blessed to have such a loving and supportive family.