Lacey's blessing day was beautiful! The Arlington 3rd ward was filled with all of our family and close friends who came to witness the sweet event. We chose to bless her in the 3rd ward, opposed to the 5th ward that Mike and I belong to, because we have both known and loved the members of that ward for years. Mike grew up in that very ward and it is the ward that his parents are still in. My family was also in that ward once upon a time. We will always love that ward and it was very sweet to be able to bless her there. The blessing was wonderful. Mike was joined by both of our fathers, brothers-in-law David Badger and Ryan Nish, his friends Jeff and Allen, Bishop Crumpton, and Gordon Piper (who sealed us in the temple). It was absolutely amazng to see my wonderful husband use the power of the priesthood to bless our daughter. I could not have been more proud of him than I was in that moment!
After the blessing, the mass of people moved from the church to our home. I've never seen that many people in our house! It was a little crazy but such a joy! It meant so much to have each person there to celebrate such a special day.

This is one of my new favorite pictures! I LOVE the look on Lacey's face. Here she is getting a sweet little kiss from Richard. Richard is Andy and Kerry James' son who I taught in preschool. The James family has become very much a part of our family and we are always grateful for their friendship. Andy, Kerry, Brit, and Rich-- we love you guys!!!

Our happy family! Regretably, we did not get pictures of everyone who attended. Poor Lacey was so worn out that she slept through most of the party. By the time she woke up, people had left so we weren't able to capture everyone. Even still, thanks to everyone who was a part of our day. It was wonderful!

Lacey got to join Nanny at work this week. Mike's mom works at UTA so Lacey and I spent some time with her while he did a spinal screening on campus. It was a great screening and Lacey had lots of fun being adored by Nanny and all of her friends at work. I'm pretty sure we made Nanny's day!

Here's a picture of Lacey is the yellow dress that she wore to church last Sunday. I wanted a yellow dress for her for two reasons: 1. Because Mike LOVES her in yellow. He calls her his ray of sunshine so yellow just seems appropriate. 2. Because I remember being a little girl, 8 maybe, and desperately wanting a yellow dress. I wouldn't settle for any other color and my mom searched until she found one. Fortunately, I still have that yellow dress in my closet so Lacey can wear it some day.

A tribute to GREAT neighbors!

Alex and Lacey
Alex is the ADORABLE little boy of our good friends and next-door-neighbors, Nora and Roger. We loooooove our neighbors! Nora, as it turns out, was friends with Amber and Brittany all those years ago when the Whelans were Arlington residents. Nora and Roger moved in next door about a year ago and we soon saw them at church... we've been friends ever since. It's such a blessing to have them nearby! Alex is 3 and loves Lacey. He's so sweet with her! Lacey has been great practice for him as he is very soon going to be a big brother to Addison. She's due in just a few weeks! We can't wait to have a new little friend for Lacey.

Lacey is TWO MONTHS OLD already!!!

Ok, I'm finally adding some pictures! Sorry Kayla, Lacey and I haven't gotten any pictures together recently but I promise, I will do that this weekend. It's not often that I look picture worthy these days so I tend to stay behind the camera. :)

Lacey had some fun this week playing with Nanny and Papa Hughlett. She is getting more fun and more beautiful every day! She's now smiling at everyone and she's started to "talk" to us. She makes so many fun happy baby noises. She is particularly in love with Daddy. She starts looking for him as soon as she hears him walk in the door and then it's all smiles once she sees him. They've started to get their own Daddy-daughter time this week. I've just started going back to the gym which means I've left her with him a couple of times now. Big step!! They do really well together. It's great for them and for me as I have been loving getting to work out again. Lacey is just the most wonderful little addition to our lives and we cannot believe how much happier she has made us. She is the sweetest and happiest little baby and we can't get enough!

In other news, Mike had his sleep study last night. YAY!!!!! Seriously Kristen, we totally owe you! He considered not going last night because he was too tired even to drive to the lab. Fortunately, he did it and he managed to sleep better than he has in years. (Meanwhile, I had a very restless night because he wasn't here. First time without him since we got married... sad.) He'll get his cpap machine soon and then it's on to better sleep and more energy for all of us. Life saver!

And tonight, we will accomplish another big new parent milestone: date night! Mike and I are, gasp, leaving Lacey with his parents so we can have our first date since she was born. This will definitely be difficult for us but we know we need to do it sooner or later. The plan is to go to PF Changs but who knows-- we may end up at McDonalds to speed things up!

That's all for now. I'll update again on Tuesday when she has her two month check up. She's definitely growing so it will be interesting to see just how much. Check back later!

Spending time with Papa Hughlett

Here's Lacey with Nanny Hughlett!

Daddy's little "Love Bug"