We're so Proud of You!

And it's not the last time you'll hear us say it! Your mother and I love watching your cognitive and motor skills develop, and it's so fun to play with you! Making you smile is one of my favorite past times, along with showing you new things and talking to you about them. It's absolutely incredible to watch you start to recognize things in the world around you, get excited when we play, and learn to hold things in your hands. You are simply the cutest baby I have ever seen, and we are proud your every milestone, however small it may be. Your mother and I show you off to everyone at home, work, church, or online. When people ask me how life is going, I talk about you, and I couldn't get your mother to talk about anything else - even if I wanted to.

Although it is a priceless privilege to be a part of, part of us can't stand to watch you grow up, my sweet little daughter. We just don't want to miss anything, you know? We cherish every waking moment we have with you, whether you're awake or not. We're obsessed with taking pictures of you to try and capture the way you are right now. We have to take hundreds though because you're changing everyday, which brings me to my point:

Ayden, please don't grow up too fast.

There's no hurry, darling. You turn yourself over and lay on your belly and cry because you can't crawl just yet, and I understand. I am impatient too sometimes, but that impatience has often made me miss parts of my life because I was so busy looking forward to things that were coming down the road. I guess you've helped me realize how quickly life passes if we're focusing on what's next, and I wanted to repay the favor.

I know you want to crawl and laugh and walk and talk and run, and you will have time to do all those things, but please, don't forget to enjoy life the way it is - right now and in the future. We're so proud of you just the way you are. We love you with all our heart, and we want you to achieve your fondest dreams, but we're patient, sweetie. We're not as concerned about getting you somewhere as we are about the journey along the way. I guess a lot of parents might say "I can't wait till she laughs, crawls, and walks!" because they're anxious to see all their child can do, and there's nothing wrong with that. For me and your mother though, it's different. I think it'll be a joke between me and Mom that when we talk about your future we'll say "I can wait until she laughs! I can wait until she talks!" and so on. Of course we're excited to see those things and record them for you, of course we want to see you grow up, and of course we want to  be there for you every step of the way, but you know what? We're proud of you just the way you are right now, so please please please please please don't grow up too fast.

Love you, sweetie.

- Daddy

Likes and Dislikes at 4 Months of Age

Dear Ayden,

Here's you at 4 months of age! You are such a little angel, baby girl!!

You are growing up so quickly, here are some of the things you like and don't like!

Likes:

You like mom and dad to make you fly in the air, we think it'll bring your first laugh!

You like to play with my hands and face when you eat

You like when daddy comes home from work and plays with you

You like Meeko

You like your little cousins, Bray and Mille

You like eating

You like playing with your toys

You like flicking your ears and pulling on them

You like drooling

You like your crib

You like to smile

You like your swing

You like touching different textures

You like kisses and hugs

You like white noise

You like when mommy sings to you 

You like watching daddy play his video games

You like squirming-especially kicking your feet

You like hearing mommy and daddy laughing

You like your play mat

You like being outside

You like looking cute

You like hitting your chime ladybug

You like silly noises

You like when we tell you we love you

You like learning new things and going new places

You like hanging out at the grandparents' houses

You like being carried around to see what we're doing

You like dog noises

You like hearing a lot of different people talking

You like your family and all the fun things we do together

Dislikes:

You dislike sitting in sacrament

You dislike being on your tummy for very long

You dislike when we wipe your nose

You dislike being constrained

You dislike having socks on too often

You dislike when hair clips are on when you're in your car seat or bouncer

You dislike stop lights when we're driving

You dislike being up too late after bedtime

You dislike our neighbor's loud noises when you're trying to sleep

You dislike wind in your face

You dislike when mommy's not there when you wake up

I love you so much sweet girl! You're the most amazing little person in this entire world! Your father and I are so in love with you and we cherish every second we have with you!! 

Love, Mommy

How I Met Your Father

Dear Ayden,

I wanted to tell you about how I met your father :) It's not gonna be as long as the show "How I Met Your Mother" haha but it does include some back story and signs from the heavens and what not! :P Here we go, starting back a ways:

It all began when I was choosing which college to go to. I was all set to go to USU with my boyfriend at the time. We had everything planned and I had even chosen a place to live! Then, I got my acceptance letters from BYU-Hawaii..it was the last of the letters. I had been accepted by USU then BYU then BYU-H. I had only applied there as a kind of joke, just wanted to see what would happen. I hadn't thought about what I would do if I actually made it in! When I got the letter, everything changed. Everyone was full of advice and opinions, it was the hardest choice I had had to make in my life! Then my mom told me something that really helped, she told me to choose for me, to not think about my boyfriend or anything like that. So, I thought and thought and thought and I crunched the numbers and thought some more..finally after I was pretty sure of my choice, I decided I needed to talk to my boyfriend about it. It was tough but I told him I'd decided to go to Hawaii for college. We were going to miss each other but we decided to make the long-distance thing work. You see where this is headed right? :P

Then the August before I was to go, my family had been accepted into the Nauvoo Pageant. I was not too thrilled about it and my attitude wasn't what it should have been. I didn't want to go out there, spend a week of my last month away from home, my boyfriend, my friends! I didn't have much say in the matter and so off I went. When we got there, I was upset about it. Something changed though..I decided to leave my phone at the house we were staying at and I only spoke to Cavin in the morning and at night before falling asleep. Some nights we'd get back late and the talking would be minimal. Then, before I even knew what was happening, I found myself not thinking about him as much as I used to. I cared about what the other guys in Nauvoo thought, I even flirted with your Uncle Jacob hahaha can you believe that?? (Oh, I met your dad's family out there in Nauvoo, before I ever even knew he existed. They were crazy and they loved Nauvoo! With my attitude about Nauvoo, it made me think they were a little weird but very friendly! haha) I mean, I was a big flirt back in my day so it's not so surprising for me but, now that he's my brother-in-law it's kinda funny to me :P

When we got back home, I felt strongly that I needed to break up with Cavin. Just out of the blue, there it was! I later realized that the Lord was hardening my heart and getting my feelings for him out of the way so I would do what I needed to do. So I convinced myself to do it! The first time I brought it up, a bunch of stuff about dating others and long-distance all came out and after some tough discussion, we decided on an open-relationship. Then a little while later I called him and said I felt guilty and all this stuff and he wanted to just enjoy the rest of the time we had. So, that's what we decided to do. Then the day before our 8-month anniversary (didn't realize it then) I just ended it! I broke down and told him he needed to let me go. It was crazy! All of this had come from nowhere, we didn't have any relationship problems, we were great and actually had been leaning towards marriage! The Lord obviously had something planned for me if this is what I needed to be doing, there had to be a reason.

So, I went out to Hawaii! Didn't know anyone, all on my own to live the college life. I was expecting to find that reason real soon! There had to be some amazing guy that would be thrown into my life, like right away. Well..lets just say that the Lord works in mysterious ways, in His own time! haha crazy guy ;) There wasn't a single guy out there for me. Where was the guy that was gonna sweep me off my feet? So, that's when I started having doubts, what if what I felt before wasn't right and I had thrown away all my chances of happiness?? I was freaking out! Luckily, I had great friends, a great sister and actually a great ex-boyfriend who helped me get past all of it. One of my friends reminded me to think of how sure I had been about needing to break up with him. That helped because I had felt really sure! Thank goodness I had them or I would not have been available to marry your dad! If I had gotten back with my ex, my life would be so very different and I wouldn't have you..I am very lucky to have a Heavenly Father who brought me safely to you and your daddy!

At the beginning of my second semester out in Hawaii, I felt strongly that I would not be coming back at the end of it. Didn't know why, but I felt good about the decision so, I went with it. I started planning an adventure out to Italy, narrowing down families to take me in as a nanny! I was really excited about it :) When I got home, we went to my grandpa's 90th birthday party and I was talking to my Uncle Jeff and his family about my big plans out there and they were talking about how exciting it was and for some reason they were more excited about it than I was..? Made no sense. I would later find out that that was the Lord's handy-work again! :P

About two weeks after I got home from school, I met one Samuel Bartholomew. My brother, Channing, and his wife, Courtney, had really wanted us to get together. They said it was "destiny" :) Channing had texted me when I was in Hawaii, the day after Sam got back from his mission actually and he said "I just met your future husband" and I laughed it off, such a silly brother! ;) Courtney kept telling me that her and Sam's mom, Lisa, were both telling Sam to meet me and that we were meant to be! I couldn't remember having made such a big impression on Lisa..I'm certainly glad I did whatever it is I did! :)

Channing had invited Sam down randomly to watch a movie and I was impressed when he was happy to do so. Seemed so far to drive at like 8 at night just to watch a movie! I guess he had heard just as much about me as I had heard about him so it was probably curiosity. When I walked out from helping Rhy and Porter in PJs and I saw him..he was just so different, he was very cute! It wasn't love at first sight but I remember thinking that I wanted to get to know him better! We laughed and talked and joked about the Mission Impossible 4 movie we watched, it was fun! A couple days later he messaged me on Facebook and we started talking about Pride and Prejudice haha then that started some really fun chatting, late into the night and we set a double date up with Chan and Court because we really liked each other. That first one didn't work out cuz Court wasn't feeling good so we went on a date by ourselves. We talked and ate at Wingers and went to park and played on the swings and then went home and played games with Austin. It was fun :) Then we had a double date with Chan and Court the next day. So much fun! Pretty much, we saw each other and talked to each other every day!

I knew after the first date that I was in love. I had actually told my friend Allie that whoever got my old boyfriend out of my head was the guy I was going to marry! Sam got him way, way out of my head! Like, Cavin who?? Sam was incredible!! I prayed about it and actually said "Heavenly Father, I think I'm in love with this man! If this is a joke, you gotta take away this feeling inside of me!" The feeling didn't go away, I was all warm inside and I felt like I was gonna burst and I started crying and I couldn't stop smiling, I had never felt like that before :) I thought I had been in love before him but I'm telling you, the love I had for your dad was so much stronger and more amazing than I'd ever felt in my life!! So, we started dating and about two weeks after we had started dating, we were engaged!! Whoa! We had talked about it about four days before that. It takes someone super special to make Hannah Atkin jump into an engagement! But I didn't feel like I was jumping..I had never felt so sure of anything! Ever! This is how the proposal went :)

It was my 19th birthday and after work Sam came and picked me up to go ring shopping. He had asked my dad for permission the night before after we all went and played frisbee at the park and dad said yes!! So, we went to the Layton Hills Mall and started our search in Kay Jewelers. I couldn't find anything that I liked..then we went across to a place called Schubach Jewelers and we found it! It was perfect! The manager said "this is the one! Look at her face, you can just tell she found the ring she wants!" So, that was the one! But, Sam said he'd come back for it later...I started like freaking out, thinking that it might be gone if we wait! Sam took the manager aside and talked to him about something..I figured it was like a payment plan or something like "hold it for me" or I dunno? I was so worried! I loved that ring!! He said not to worry so I tried not to. Little did I know, the reason Sarah had come to look at rings with us (she worked at the mall and I thought she was just excited) was so she could buy it after we left! He had given her cash and she did the deed! :P I thought it was impressive for him to have enough cash to just buy the thing :)

We were supposed to be going to his parent's house to have a BBQ. Anna's birthday is the same day as mine so we were all gonna celebrate together. Sam wanted to stop and do some geocaching, so we did. I didn't understand why we weren't going to go and help them make food or something. We were looking for one and I was like "so, why am I crawling around on the grass??" He just laughed and we went and found one more before he said we could finally go home. He had been driving around and had called his dad and stuff and that was weird but it was whatever. We got to his house and he said "just one more! This one's going to change your mind about geocaching!" I was like "ok, whatever dude" haha so we went along the raspberry bushes and he would say warmer and colder depending on how close I was. He said once I found the box, I had to give it to him since it opens special. I don't know why I didn't think anything of all this crazy behavior but I wasn't catching on. So I handed it over to him like "heeere ya go!" and then he opened it and there was a ring box! He knelt down and asked me if I would marry him! Of course I would! Then all of the sudden, out from behind a shed came his family and my family and it was awesome!! I hadn't expected to even see them for my birthday, they all had things to do! He had worked it all out and everybody was there! I could cry just thinking about how amazing that was of him to do! We had an awesome BBQ and it was an amazing, amazing day! :)

Crazily enough, about a year later I found out I was pregnant with you, my little angel! On May 10, 2013 :) My birthdays with your father have always been pretty amazing :) Just a couple years ago, I had a whole different life planned out for myself and I'm so glad that I listened and went with the life the Lord had planned for me! Every single day since I met your father, the Lord has proven again and again that I made the right choice! It's like: we found our house and it was perfect and the Lord was like "ya see?? I told you Sam was the right guy for you! Just watch, life's going to be perfect with this man I sent just for you!" The same thought popped into my head when we got our car, when we celebrated holidays together, and especially when we had you!! :) He was right :) The reward might not have come as soon as I had wanted it to but, it happened the way it was supposed to! With your dad, things just worked. I had always heard that when you're truly in love, it just works! The Lord doesn't put obstacles in front of a love like mine and your father's :)

I can't even tell you how glad I am I found your father! There were a lot of things that led me to him and many times, that if I hadn't listened to the Lord, would have made me miss him! Man, life is good! I love that man! Sam, your sweet daddy, is one crazy, incredible man! The moral of the story: listen to the promptings of the Lord because if you do, you'll be led to a great man like your dad :)

Love, Mommy