A Blessed Day & Tibble Fork

We waited to have Livvy's blessing for a myriad of reasons: 1. I wanted my sister Nicole to be there and she came home from her mission in December, 2. We were anxious to get out of the crazy cold/flu season before exposing Livvy to the world, and 3. With my family living in Washington we needed to wait until there was a long weekend available for them to come down. All in all, President's Day Weekend it was!

Pam made Livvy's dress using fabric from Kyle's Grandma Tuft's wedding dress and it turned out amazing!

When my family comes to town we have to cram a hundred things into the limited time they're here, so Saturday morning we went to the Provo City Center Temple Open House and then up to Tibble Fork. That also checked off our "Explore Utah" resolution for the month of February. I did not realize that it would be bride central up there. I also didn't realize how many brides risked falling through ice in order to have their bridals taken on the frozen lake #allforthepictures. It was really gorgeous up there though.

I also stood on the ice, #allforthepicture

Siblings

Today Milo was dancing to Daniel Tiger and Livvy started giggling. He noticed her laughter, turned to face her and danced harder, to which Livvy full-blown belly laughed in response. The dancing and laughing continued and for ten minutes my house was filled with nothing but baby laughter (and my happy tears cuz I'm a psycho mom like that).

This time last year we found out about the imminent arrival of another baby. I've made no bones about how that news rocked my world. During one of my therapy sessions, Lura explained that it's common for women to feel some measure of grief for the loss of their baby's childhood once they discover they're again pregnant. I teared up after this explanation. It rang true for me. Finding out I was pregnant marked the inevitable end of our family of three, and though I didn't have the words for it before, I realized that I was mourning that ending. I felt like I was doing Milo a disservice and taking away his childhood before he even had a chance to experience it. His personality was just starting to shine through and I loved watching it develop.

I had no idea the gift a sibling could be.

I didn't know that Livvy's face would light up every single time she made eye contact with Milo. I had no idea my boy was so tenderhearted until I saw him put Livvy's blanket on her once, try to put her fallen sock back on, and try show her the pictures in his book. I had no idea that Livvy would crane her neck tracking Milo's laughter. I couldn't picture Milo sharing when we found out we were expecting, but every day he tries to give her his food, toys, and even sippy cup (a very special gift indeed!). I couldn't see him caring about the baby's tears but he tries wiping them with his own blankie. He reaches out to give her a hug then leans his head against hers (his approximation of what a hug is).

I had no idea that instead of taking away anything from him, I was giving him a built-in best friend.