The Blessing and 4th of July

June 30-July 9

Lived

-Its been two weeks already? Some weeks my days seem to blur together and i blame that completely on my school work. Last week i played major catch up after being out a week with the ear infection and Leighton's cold. Proud to say i am officially caught up though and hopefully i can keep it that way.

- Alright, starting two weeks ago. Leighton and I ended up staying the rest of the week in Logandale getting better from our sickness. Then Kaden met us down there Friday. I was so happy to finally see him. A week is too long to go with out him.

Katie's watermelon are growing like weeds.

 

-Saturday was Teisha's birthday and Kaden and I wanted to go to Vegas so we made a quick but fun little trip out of it. We ate breakfast at Hash House a Go Go. If you haven't been there i highly recommend it! Then we went to Tiffany's & Co. and bought Leighton a little heart necklace for her blessing. This is something Kaden and I had been planning on doing since before she was even born. We thought it would be something sweet for her to have forever. Then we ran some errands and went back to Logandale to meet Camille and Alex. I could not be blessed with a better best friend! It has been so amazing to see her so often this year. I am so sad that she is moving so far away but i have a feeling Kaden and I will be visiting quite a bit.

- Sunday July 1st was Leighton's blessing. Grandma Handy made her dress and it was so special of her to do and the dress is absolutely beautiful! She is a very talented woman and i am so grateful for her offering to make it. Leighton looked absolutely gorgeous. The blessing was very sweet, we held it at Penn and Nancy's home rather than at church. It was nice to have such an intimate spiritual experience with our closest friends and family. I tried to remember everything i could from her blessing. The one thing that really stuck out to me was that Kaden said "bless her that she may continue to be an example to her family as she already has been." or very close to that. I thought how interesting, she total has been and i feel like that all of the time. We were so grateful for all of the men who stood in on the blessing and for their priesthood and that they hold those sacred keys. What an example they are to Kaden and I. Being able to bless a child is such a special experience. I was happy to have both of our fathers, Vance, Kyle, Trent, Grandpa Leavitt, and John their to stand in and place their hands on Leighton as Kaden gave her a name and a blessing.

 

All the little Leavitt girls after Leightons blessing.

- Wednesday was the 4th of July. Kaden got home from work just in time to get ready and head down to the parade. Leighton slept through most of it and well being 3 months old, she is a little too young to enjoy it.We had fun watching Grace, and the twins get excited though and look cute all dressed up in red, white, and blue. After the parade we walked to the park. It was nice to relax under a huge tree and watch the excitement around us. Leighton played on a blanket next to us along with Aria. Donna brought her down celebrated the day with all of us as well. What an amazing holiday 4th of July is. Really it is a shame that our nation is truly only celebrated one day out of the entire year. It is nice to have a reminder of how blessed we are to live in this great nation where we are free.

- Thursday July 5th was the 1 year anniversary of my accident. I didn't dwell too much on it, other than it reminded me of how blessed i am. I was just barely pregnant with Leighton then, and i am so grateful that nothing happened to her and that my injuries were minor. I met with my attorney on Thursday. What a weird thing to have to have an attorney to settle a car accident. I guess we will see how everything works out in the next couple of weeks and if i can close my case anytime soon. I am still seeing a chiropractor and haven't been cleared yet.

- Saturday my dad came up and stayed with us. My mom and Hannah are in Florida and my dad was wanting to look at lots on the mountain. We drove out to panguitch lake and up to mammoth creek. It actually seemed really nice on the mountain even with the shingle fire going on. The very last stop we made was at a cabin. All of the lots that we saw seemed nice and had a lot of potential but they were just lots. The cabin seemed perfect the moment we walked in. Every cabin we have looked at before has had a dirty, old feeling to it. This one is 30 years old and seemed spotless, and dustless, and just right for our family.Hopefully next weekend my mom will have the chance to look at it.

 

Learned

- I need to get Leighton going on a legit sleep schedule. I want to know exactly what time to put her down at night, when she should wake up, and when to put her down for naps. I have read healthy sleep habits, happy child and i have really liked it. It makes sense, but it doesn't spell things out how i would like it to. I know that nothing really can. Leighton should be sleeping on her own personalized schedule. Right? If anyone has advice on this i would love to hear. How many naps does your baby take a day? How long do they sleep for at night? When do they go to sleep and When do they wake up? Leighton right now goes to sleep at 8 pm and wakes up at 630 am taking 4-5 short naps a day. She had been going to sleep at 9 and waking up at 9 and taking 3-4 naps a day until i messed her schedule up last week in Logandale.

Loved

- I loved all of the time that we had to spend with our family the past couple of weeks. As busy as life is getting, it is so nice to see them so often. Spending time in Logandale, having Leighton's blessing, and celebrating Independence Day were all amazing. It is not very often that we get to do such big things so close together. I loved that we had the opportunity to give our daughter a name in the church. That when i filled out her blessing certificate form i was able to check off that she was born under the covenant. She will be raised in the gospel and have the opportunity of growing up going to nursery, primary, and young womens. I loved that we were able to celebrate our great nation, be patriotic, wear our national colors, and place our right hand over hearts as the flag was walked down main street. Seeing respect for our flag is one thing that still gives me hope in not only our country but its people as well.