Life in 3 months

Today Kaiya is 3 months old. I'm sorry, but until she turns one, I have no choice but to celebrate her monthly birthdays! I have been thinking all day today how I just can't believe that it has been 3 months since our angel entered our lives. Where has the time gone?! Well, a lot has happened in 3 months for our baby girl, so here's a small recap:

• She has traveled to California, Idaho and Canada and through the mountains of Utah County :).
• She has been a baked potato.
• She had her first play date with the neighbors' 3 month old, Mia.
• She has started a modeling career, thanks to her mom's obsessive picture-taking.
• She has learned the value and importance of tummy time... Ok, no she hasn't . She hates it! But mom and dad are TEACHING her the value and importance of tummy time!
• She has found her smile and readily uses it pretty much on cue or whenever someone tickles her chin or gives her a smile of their own.
• She has enjoyed the spoiling of her grandparents.
  
  
• She has heard loving prayers offered by her parents and been given blessings by very special men in her life.


• She has ridden a Harley.
• She has been the recipient of tender mercies and miracles from God and has been the most tender mercy and miracle that God ever provided to her parents.
• She has seen the beautiful face of the voice she heard for nine months while growing and waiting to make her grand entrance into the world. That face and that voice will always be special to her -- I KNOW that.
• She has found her hand and loves it! She will stare forever at her little fist with such focused determination until she finds a way to get it to her mouth. And when it gets there, she turns it into a slobber spunge!
• She loves the sound of her voice. She talks and talks and talks (and talks loud) and can stay amused by her noises for unlimited amounts of time. Truth be told, we love her voice even more than she does and love to talk with her.
• She tried out her first laugh at 2 1/2 months old while daddy was making funny faces and odd noises at her. We have loved every little giggle she has given us ever since.
• She survived her first injury when mom dropped a book on her sleeping head. She screamed with her eyes shut for about 5 seconds and then went back to sleep. Tough little cookie!
• She has decided that pooping is not fun. (And yes, her mother is still talking about poop.) Though things are much, MUCH better coming out, the damage was done in those first few weeks of life and she screams and fights the inevitable every time it's time to go. This makes life interesting every day as mom waits for the "poop episode" as we like to call them. I guess the trauma is understandable when you poop literal rocks for the first 3 weeks of your life.
• She has made friends with a horse named Chase
• She made it through two tough hearing exams, which were failed because she had excessive fluid in her ears. Then after a lot of prayers and Heavenly Father's healing power, the fluid disappeared and she passed her hearing test with flying colors. Now she has to listen to her mom's sad excuse for singing for the rest of her life! Maybe being deaf would have been nicer!
• She gives her mom and dad 8-9 hours of sleep at night these days. Are we in heaven?!
• She has developed a good punch -- she practices on her new favorite toy ball.
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• She found a way to always have such a distinct sparkle in her eye and a grin that could light up the city of Las Vegas. She is magical!!

I could go on and on with all that Kaiya's short, 3-month life has experienced, and all that her 3 month existence has done for us and those that love her most. But the most important thing that I can think to say in all of this is that my heart is so full with a joy that I, so many times, wondered if I would ever have. The longing is still so fresh in my memory and in my heart and yet, in one single day 3 months ago, that longing was filled in a way I never could have anticipated. In every way, shape and form, Kaiya is our miracle and our witness that Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. She is the result of our fasting, praying, wishing, and hoping, and ultimately Jessika's most unselfish act of love humanly possible. How did we get so lucky? Why were we given a blessing that every day feels so undeserved? We love you more every day, little Kaiya-bear.