May Happenings

This past month has been filled with fun family activities and I wouldn't have it any other way. I guess it started on the last weekend of April when my mom got remarried in the Draper Temple. My mom had a pretty good turnout from most of my siblings that night at their ring ceremony, even Nilza and Sabrina flew in from Texas for the occasion.  I was glad at how happy Addie was that night as she was passed around from one family member to the next. The greatest thing about that day though was knowing that my mom found someone she can be really happy with. Congrats Mom and Bob Senior! 

Getting ready to go to my mom's wedding reception

Addie and GiGi (the Flower girl/dog)

The following week we went to the Payson Temple open house with Danny's family. That temple is beautiful! Danny's uncle Tim came with us to the open house and we had a pretty good talk about our religion on the drive home. Danny and I still have conversations about that talk pretty frequently. After the open house the whole family met up with Jill and Joey and we all ate at Apollo Burger before finishing the day off at the aquarium. Spending the entire day with the Fergusons was really fun. 

Payson Ut Temple

Not too happy to be a squid

Aquarium

Danny and I went on our very first date without Addie the following week. You would think that after seven months of having Addie it would be easy to go away for just a couple hours but that wasn't really the case. It was harder for me than it was for Danny. Danny's mom paid for everyone to watch the Avengers but since Rand and Ashley had already seen it they offered to babysit Addie for us. I was kind of a wreck after we dropped her off. They have three kids so I never doubted their abilities for one second, I was just worried that Addie might give them a hard time. She has been such a mama's girl lately and she's super shy with most people. She's also going through a phase where she's absolutely refusing bottles. We were prepared though and we made sure she had plenty of Gerber banana food to keep her satisfied. Danny and I dropped her off and I couldn't even get myself to tell her goodbye. We ate at Red Robin before joining the rest of the group for the movie. I wasn't allowed to text Ashley about Addie for the whole night but that's where my mind wandered to every five minutes. Danny assured me she was fine and at the end of the night everyone survived. Ashley later told me that Addie kept saying "mama" which felt good because she's constantly saying daddy now days. I loved how excited she got once she saw Danny and I at the door.  It was a long four hours but it was also good to just have couple time with Danny where we didn't have to worry about waking up a sleeping baby :). I'm sure one day Danny and I will be begging people to babysit so we can leave the house every now and then. 

Avenger's Movie Date

For Mother's Day we spent time at my parent's house and then went back to West Jordan the following Sunday for Aria's birthday party. I can't believe that little girl is now two years old! She's the whole reason Danny was hoping for a baby girl when we were expecting Addie.

We have been trying to spend more time with my side of the family this month especially since my parents are moving to Europe next week. It's so crazy how fast things have changed. My parents got their mission call ten days ago and gave their farewell talks yesterday. They leave next week to start working all over Europe until their missions officially start in January. It's a unique situation and I'm going to miss them a lot. They are planning on coming back the end of June for a week or two and then they plan on coming back for the holidays this winter. I guess Addie is going to have to get to know her grandparents better through Skype. 

Waiting for Grandpa and Grandma's mission call via skype

I've loved all of this extra time I've been able to spend with my parents and siblings. My dear friend Jessica Correa got married three days ago in the Draper temple and had a beautiful temple sealing. Danny had to work but that night we all went to the reception with my parents, Sam, Ammon, Lamoni, Allen and JoAnn. This was by far the fanciest wedding I've ever been to and it was a lot of fun. It was an outdoor reception that was held at a mansion with the most coolest grounds we've ever walked on. I wish I took pictures of the property but maybe I'll post those after Jessica gets her wedding pictures back. I did get a few of Danny and Addie though near one of the many duck ponds. 

The only bad thing about this past weekend is that everyone that went to the reception ended up getting food poisoning. I've never had food poisoning before and I hope to never get it again. By Saturday night we were feeling better so Danny and I went on a date (of course with Addie). We were craving soup so we went to Zupas. I love my little family and I love creating memories with Danny and our baby. 

Family Date

Zupas

Today is Memorial Day and Danny and I are just waiting for Addie to wake up from her nap so we can go out and create more memories. :)
 

Mother's Day 2015

Last August for our first anniversary I was given a white eternity book from Danny. Today is Mother’s Day and I was given that same book with updates. By far the best gift I’ve been given so far. On the latest page I was given a sweet note from Danny. I just have to type it up because I love it so much . . .

To Gina on Mother’s Day,

I want to share with you what I felt the first time seeing our daughter. I will never forget that day. We woke up early that morning to go to the hospital. We stayed there all day. I remember the whole time thinking how crazy it was that after nine months we would finally see our daughter. Ha I remember watching The Lost World Jurassic Park while you were going through contractions. We finally turned it off and pushed out a baby. Seeing you go through so much pain, sweat and tears was heart breaking. I was however glad you didn’t give up, even though I know you were struggling. After the struggle is when a miracle happened. Our daughter Addisyn Rae was born! When I first saw her it was a little weird because it still didn’t hit me that she was ours. Maybe because she was purple and the head was a little deformed? However when I got to hold her for the first time it was love, and I knew she was ours. I loved her face, she was so chunky and cute. I was never so happy and so scared at the same time. I was now a father. Words cannot express what I felt that day when I was able to hold our Addie in my arms for the first time. They cannot express how I feel this day seven months later when she smiles, or cries, or laughs. I love being her father. However my favorite thing about being her father is seeing you as her mother! I was so scared that night when I was holding her and the doctor was cleaning you up. He kept cleaning and cleaning. I thought I would lose you and that scared me more than I have ever been scared. I’m glad we have survived this time together with our daughter. You are the best wife and mother! I love you so much. You are my world and I hope I can be as good of a father as you are a mother!

Love,

Danny

Mother’s Day 2015

Mother

Mother. This title is such a sacred calling in my eyes. 

I was very scared to become one myself because of how serious I believe this role to be. I don't believe that giving birth makes you a mother, instead it's much more than that. It's about sincerely caring for someone else and putting their needs before your own. 

I just looked up the definition of mother in the dictionary and all it said was "a woman who gives birth to a child". Wow I literally just got done saying that I don't believe this. There are so many nonbiological mothers who are in every sense still a mother. This goes for adopted mothers, foster mothers, step mothers, grandmothers, teachers etc. In my case I felt like a mother before the birth even happened. I started to love, worry and connect with Addisyn during those nine months before she was born. 

I'm grateful for my birth mom, mom and for my step mom. I'm also grateful for the most recent mother in my life - the woman who not only gave birth but raised Danny. I got very lucky as far as mother in laws go. 

Growing up I seemed to easily connect with a lot of great role models in my life. I'll forever be grateful for all of my "second moms" out there. 

The best thing about growing up with all these mother figures is that I know exactly the kind of mom I want and hope to be. 

I want to be 100% involved. I want to be genuinely interested in how Addie's day at school went. I want to know who her best friends are. I want to know who she has a little crush on. I want to be aware of her insecurities. I want to build up her self esteem. I want to help her nurture her own talents. I want to be silly with her. I want to dance with her. I want to sing with her. I want to tell stories to her. I want to wipe away her tears and hug her.  I want to be in the front row of whatever activity she's involved in. I want to teach her that bullying is unacceptable.  I want to build forts with her. I want to go on walks with her. I want to be someone she can be proud of. I want to find answers for her questions. I want to explore new places with her. I want her to know how much I love her dad. I want to never talk bad about someone else in front of her. I want to be someone she can trust and open up to. I want to point out the Holy Ghost in her life. I want to create a positive atmosphere for her.  I want her to know that even if I disagree with her I will still always love her. I want her to hear daily that I love her but most importantly I want her to feel this love every single day for the rest of her life. 

I also want to give her siblings and I hope to be this same mom to each one of them. 

Motherhood. It's a scary and beautiful thing.