On September 27th, Amelie chose to be baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was beyond wonderful to watch her be baptized by Bryce and to see the light that filled her that day. She got a journal from Grandma Brenda and wrote 20 pages the day of her baptism–pages about how she felt after she was baptized, how she knows Heavenly Father loves her, how she hopes to go to the temple someday. Beautiful beautiful words. She is so sincere and already seeks for truth and light. We love her so much.

Before the baptism.

At home afterwards in the darling dress that Grandma Austin bought for her.

It was wonderful to have Grandma and Grandpa Austin with us for this very special event and for Amelie to have the love and support of so many family members.

In our family, we have two birthday seasons: September and April (well, April and May if we count Bryce). It’s fun, but always a little crazy trying to fit in all the celebrations. We only do “friend” parties on certain years and this year happened to be one of those years for Amelie, so we had three birthday parties this past month.

We had a combined party for Amelie and Hayley. Here’s the cake I made.

Brad and Michelle brought a piñata. The kids were in heaven!

Bless their hearts, they all tried, several times, but it ended up taking some grown-up help to get the candy to spill out.

The Opening of the Presents.

Calder requested owl cupcakes for the party that he shared with Keian and Ellie this year.

Opening presents. We love our cousins.

And now, a photo series:

“It’s a rough life being the birthday boy.”

The Blowing of the Candle.

“Did you see that, guys?”

“Okay, okay. Maybe it’s not so bad being the birthday boy after all.”

Calder is 6 years old today! And what a great 6 year-old he is–helpful, affectionate, playful, silly, intelligent, and sensitive. Calder is really enjoying kindergarten and his teacher tells me that he is always attentive in class and doing great work. Here are some pictures that I think really capture his big and funny personality. Thank you, Cortney, for taking these of my sweet boy!

Hi, Calder!

Q: What’s your favorite color?

A: Blue.

Q: What’s your favorite treat?

A: Cake.

This kid is so funny.

Q: What’s your favorite food?

A: Ham and cheese sandwich from Kneader’s.

Q: What’s your favorite movie?

A: Star Wars. Every of them.

Isn’t he so handsome?

Q: If you could go anywhere tomorrow, where would you go?

A: To where Santa lives.

Q: What do you want to be when you grow up?

A: You know! A dancer!

Seriously one of the sweetest boys around, always ready for a hug or a snuggle.

Q: What’s your favorite song?

A: “Let it go.”

Q: What’s your favorite animal?

A: Cheetah. And gorilla.

Classic Calder.

Q: What do you hope happens to you this year?

A: I have fun.

I’m sure you will, Sweetheart. You are the king of fun and we love you!

Okay, okay. So I didn’t make it by my 30th birthday. But it will still be pretty close! I’ve been busy the past three days attending my doula training workshop (amazing!), so I forgot about posting these. Today’s prompt:

What’s your favorite and least favorite thing about parenthood?

I’m going to start with my least favorite thing. Hmmm…I guess my least favorite thing is listening to kids bicker and argue. I try to teach them to use calm voices and chill out, but it still happens and it drives me bonkers. I also really dislike the whole potty training thing.

My favorite thing about parenthood is giving and receiving in this amazing relationship of love. These little ones have a permanent hold on my heart and I am connected to them forever. And being so needed and loved is transformative. I know that some day I won’t feel as needed, at least not in the very physical sense that I am now, but I think we will always have this bond.

Remember this little guy and his favorite blankie that went everywhere with him?

Calder, 2010

Looks like it might run in the family.

Liam, 2014.

Thank you, Aunt Bobbe, for being the blankie supplier for the Haymond boys!