Alyssa's Blessing

Alyssa was blessed on the 4th of July. Jared's sister Christina gave us this blessing dress that I think her first daughter Annie Alyssa was blessed in. Isn't it beautiful! My sister Kara made the perfect hairbow to go with it. Alyssa was a perfect angel during the blessing and she even slept well for me the night before. She is such a sweet baby and I love the peaceful spirit she brings into our home as all of her siblings are anxious to watch over her.


I love how Jon loves to dote over all the kids when he visits.

Alyssa with her Grandparents


My parents gave Alyssa this adorable outfit for our red white and blue family pictures. I love the hairbow my sister Kara made too!
Rebecca has been such a great helper with Alyssa. She's learning the essentials of mothering like...changing diapers, doing laundry, burping babies, etc. I'm feel so blessed to have her.
Rebecca accepted Jared's challenge to read all of the work and the glory books. I think she already finished one this weekend!
Alyssa and Grandma Knight

102 Cookies

Cooking with Chef Rebecca

Rebecca loves to cook. This time I just handed her the recipe for chocolate chip cookies and she made them all on her own - the final count was 102 cookies! Hopefully she'll take after her Aunt Kara and become a fabulous cook as she continues to learn the secrets of the trade.

Cleaning and Scrubbing...

Can wait 'til tomorrow
For babies grow up we've learned to our sorrow
So quiet down cobwebs and dust go to sleep
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.
My mom had a cross stitch with this saying on the wall in our home and it means a lot more to mean now that I have my own family than it did back then. It has been sad at times for me to realize that this is probably the last little angel to come to our family (until the grandkids start coming) and I want to treasure the moments I have with my little ones before they are all gone.


This picture reminds me of a photo of me as a baby - maybe because the angle accentuates Alyssa's double chin and chubby cheeks.
I love watching babies discover the world around them for the first time. The intense look in her eyes reminds me of my brother Jon when he was little.

What color will her eyes be? So far Daniel is our only blue eyed child. I think Alyssa might take after him instead of her hazel eyed sisters.
I love Alyssa's long slender fingers...hopefully they'll be "piano hands" someday!

Rebecca in Annie Jr

Rebecca just finished up her acting debut after doing 7 performances of Annie Jr. for her music theater class. She starred as the orphan "Molly" and had the opening lines of the play as well as several "solo" lines in the songs. She did a great job but is relieved to finally be done. After 6 months of play practice twice a week... she's ready for some extra free time.

For Uncle Jon

Go Broncos!

The Best Decision I Ever Made

Was Marrying Jared 11 years ago today. He was definitely worth the wait!
Last year we celebrated big with an overnight excursion to island park...

But this year we had to keep it simple and just go out for dinner since we just had a new baby.

It's Always Fun...

When Grandpa Comes!
My mom and dad brought up this cool castle for the kids to "storm" with marshmallows and beans from their catapults.
Ready...
Aim...
Fire!

I was so grateful for all their help while I recovered from Alyssa's birth. My dad surprised me by making windows in the kid's playhouse and cleaning out underneath the fridge (a very nasty job!).


And I keep on discovering the results of my mom's hard work deep cleaning my house after too many months of my neglect during my pregnancy- the toilets, tubs, floor, inside cupboards, etc. I am so grateful for all of their help. Rebecca noticed too because after they left she said... "Mom when I have a baby, will you come up and clean my house like grandma did?" A few months ago when pregnancy was the pits for me she said when she grew up she didn't want to have kids because pregnancy is too hard. She just wanted to live next door to a family with lots of kids that she could enjoy. I'm glad that now that Alyssa's here, she has changed her mind.