My little Tutu girl...

When I went home to Victoria, my Mom told me to turn around while she put something on Jayna, when it was on, I looked to see the cutest little tutu! My Mom got it for her and was so excited, lol. I had a onesie that matched perfectly, so I was excited to take some photos of my sweet baby girl in her new tutu! haha. I even edited them in Lightroom, which I hardly have time to do anymore and I'm trying to get back into it! Here are my favorites!

Grandpa John and Grandma Jane

I am so lucky to have such amazing in laws! I love my Mother and Father in law alot. They have been there for me throughout the last 4 years when I have needed them. They have always totally included me in their family, and are so fun, easy going, and loving. I am a lucky girl, and I really appreciate everything they have done for us! I saw them the first day we got to Victoria and they absolutely adored Jayna! Dad kept saying how shocked he was about her strength, that she would set a record for only being 6 months! haha. Here they are with Jayna when they first came over...

We went to White's Spot for lunch and had a good time talking together and they enjoyed playing with Jayna.

While Jayna was sleeping, we stopped at Witty's Beach.

What awesome grandparents, they get down on the floor and played with Jayna. She loved Dad's voice, she just kept looking over at him!

Jayna is going to be one loved girl by sooo many family members! Thanks Jane and John for being such wonderful Grandparents to our precious baby girl!

Girls will be girls....

I have a best friend...her name is Heather. We have been best friends for 14 years now, since grade 8. I think that is pretty amazing actually. I have moved around a lot and Heather has stayed in Victoria. Sometimes we don't talk for months, just the busy life, but when we do, nothing has changed. You meet a handful of people in your life that it's like that with. We just pick up wherever we left off last. When I came to Victoria for a summer visit my Mom looked after Jayna and Heather and I went to one of favorite places we would go as teenagers. It's right by her parents house. It's so beautiful there. We just talked and tanned and it was just us two, just like old times. We were really missing when we were young and had waaayyy less worries and responsibilities. We had a ton of free time and would just go to the Beach or wherever for hours and hours. Oh how we miss those days!! Life is really good now too, but man, we had it good back then in a lot of ways. It was so fun to just be us girls again for a few hours! I'm very grateful for Heather in my life, she has always been there for me when I needed her, a listening ear and a gentle loving heart. She has always been encouraging and supportive to me, she is a true friend, she is my best friend.

The view from where we sat and talked...

I can't believe we are 28 and 27, we haven't aged that much, and I still feel about 18 inside in alot of ways haha!

Visit to Victoria to see Nana!

So, this is Andrew's third summer selling for Vivint, so I guess I can say I am a Vivint wife. haha. We are gypsies, we already kind of were, and now for sure we are with this job. I have lived in so many places...all my life actually, so I am used to moving. This summer we have been in Camrose and Red Deer, and we will be a few more places before the summer ends. I was always planning on taking a trip back to Victoria to see my parents and other family and friends. Plus, I really wanted them to see Jayna, since she had changed so much since the end of April! It was so fun to go home, it was a good break and nice to get some help with Jayna during the day. I took these next few pics right after we got off the plane. Jayna was a perfect angel on the plane, which was awesome. And Nana couldn't wait to hold her!

I snapped a few shots of Jayna and my Mom the next morning, July 2nd. She is just over 6 months old here...and my Mom is about 45 lol.

Near the end of our visit, it got really hot outside and we went to the Resavoir by our house to relax in the sun and water. As usual, Jayna is chill wherever we go.

Thanks Mom for being my Mother and such a good example of Motherhood. I love you, and Jayna is going to have an amazing Nana!

My Mother's Garden..

After I got home from my Mission in Toronto, back in 2007 I came home to a totally transformed backyard! Where there used to be grass and a trampoline, was now a huge garden of flowers and plants. It was totally different. I was really bummed my Mom gave away the trampoline because we had it since I was a little girl, and there were a lot of good memories associated with it. But soon, I was happy to look out and see all the beauty my Mom and Dad had worked hard to create. I think flowers are one of God's most detailed, and most beautiful creations, and it was too beautiful of a day to not snap some photos!

Milestones...and Motherhood

As I wrote the Title I wondered...what does a Milestone really mean? So...."Milestones are constructed to provide reference points along the road. This can be used to reassure travellers that the proper path is being followed, and to indicate either distance travelled or the remaining distance to a destination." So, in life we have milestones. In the life of a baby, there are many milestones that tell us how they are developing and if they are a bit slower or ahead of the average pace. I just know Jayna will do everything in her time and when she's ready. The first smile, the first laugh, following you with their eyes, learning to hold a bottle, cup or toy, learning to sit up on their own, crawl, learning how to swallow food and eat for the first time, to respond to her name, walk, talk, hug, kiss, and the list goes on and on. What a responsibility we have as parents to teach our children. As soon as they can follow you with their eyes they are learning. Learning from our example and seeing what we do! Children are smarter than we think. I have seen parents talking away before maybe about something they shouldn't be talking about infront of their child thinking they aren't listening...until the child repeats it out loud later on! Children listen even when we don't think they do, this I know. Children see even when we don't think they are looking, this I know. I feel the responsibility of this knowledge and pray I can do my best to set a good example and always remember I have little eyes and ears watching me! haha. Of course I can't be perfect, but being aware of this helps me, especially as Jayna gets older and I have other children. But just because she is a baby doesn't mean she isn't learning how to be from me, so I need to make sure I am setting a good example. It is so interesting to me how everyone is so different in parenting and to see that. Like, just the way parents talk to their kids, hold them, soothe them, pay attention to them, it's all so different. I guess that's why we are all so different from eachother, and it's rare to meet someone that was raised a lot like you were. Like for me, my Mom always made us smoothies with toast cut into strips with butter on them, and we would dip the toast into our smoothies! Sounds gross? Well, it's soo good. But if I wasn't raised that way, I might think that it was gross if I saw someone else eating it. Amazing, cause Andrew was raised on the same thing!! Also, we ate waffles with peanut butter, peaches, and syrup and it has to be Aunt Jemima LIGHT syrup. Weird right? But I was raised on it, it's amazing. I never knew there was more than one way to make Kraft Dinner till I saw my one friend make it when we were teens, or my cousin who follows the instructions to a T...I had never once looked on the back to see how long you cook the noodles for! haha. Food aside, there are so many different ways to parent. It's crazy to think that when Jayna observes things for the first time, alot of it will be biased to how I do it or think. Until she is in school, when she asks me a question that she doesn't know the answer for, Andrew or I will be the ones to tell her, and that will be her first experience of knowledge about whatever she has asked. That is so interesting to me! Because for lots of things there could be a variety of answers, but her first experience will be the ones we tell her! And then that forms the way she thinks, what she knows. So much of it comes from us, Ashley and Andrew Forin. It is such a heavy duty to think of parenthood and all that it intitals. It's such a big deal that anyone pretty much can have a child, literally create a life, and bring that life into the world and influence that life for the better or worse. Sad to think of the children being brought into the world as a "mistake" or that are neglected. Being a Mother is a holy calling, it is a privilege, it is an honor. It is very hard work, it is 24/7. It is a blessing and a joy. It is a huge responsibility. I have only been a Mother now for almost 6 months and some days have for sure been better than others. I have learned that I am at my best for Jayna when I have balance in my life. When I get a little break here and there, and when I get sleep. And those two things are really hard to get! But I try to do that so I am my best for her. Life is great, it really is. I wanted to have a baby for a few years, was thrilled to be pregnant, and everyday I look over at my growing daughter and think, "wow that is her, she is really here! This is what she is like!" It is an incredible feeling. I am so excited and thrilled for her to see her achievements and to watch her reach her milestones in this life. What a gift Heavenly Father has given to us as women, to be Mothers. Here is Jayna sitting for the first time! I quickly went and got some pillows and the camera. I got emotional when she did this, I was so proud of her! I called Andrew right away at work and he was excited too! Nose dive! She didn't cry or anything, she was fine, good thing it's a soft ball! lol Having a nap after the hard work Lately Jayna has been grabbing at our cups, Andrew has let her drink out of them a few times, and she totally knew how! So cute! I thought I would let her try out her own cup. It was the cutest thing ever, because she discoverd that if she sucks, some water comes out and she would suck in a bit of air after each sip and her eyes would go big, and she did that about 5 times. haha So I put Jayna down on a blanket while I was doing some dishes. A minute or two later I heard a noise from her and looked over to see her sucking on the hardwood floor, and she had mirgrated like 4 feet from her blanket with her legs under the couch not being able to go back any further! I called her name, "Jayna" in a surprised tone and it startled her, she did a little shake and her eyes got big and she looked up. Then she smiled so big and did a little giggle! Oh my heck, I love my daughter!So another milestone, she can crawl/move backwards...still working on moving forward.lol So on June 25th, Andrew and I felt like Jayna was ready for something other than breast milk...RICE CEREAL! She had been grabbing at our plates and was so strong she would grip a plate full of food and pull it towards her! haha. When I got the Rice Cereal ready in a bowl and was walking towards her she was sooo excited, arms and legs wiggling like crazy! It was so funny. She ate the whole serving and didn't spit anything out, she was a pro for her first time! We were really proud of her, and excited for this new experience and to see her reaction. We took lots of pictures and even some video of her eating. For the last 4 days, I have been feeding around 5pm, that seems like a good time for her, and she is loving it.

We are proud of you already Jayna, you are going to accomplish great things in your life! xoxoxoxx