Daddy is a Pro

Daddy has this parenting thing down to a tee these days. Did you know he can feed you and play is game at the same time?! He doesnt even need to use his hands!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You have the best Daddy in the world. Did you know that? I don't think you will ever understand or fathom your Daddy's love for you. He is so proud of you when you achieve even the littlest things. He was super proud of you when you were playing with the play station controller. He is going to be so excited once you and Auron and him can play together. Sometimes at night when you are having a rough night and I have had enough, Daddy takes you and wraps you up nice and cosy and rocks you and sings to you and whispers sweet little things to you. Oh how I want you to know how much your Daddy loves you.

Who's that Handsome Boy?!

I am convinced you are going to have a crowd of girls following you around when you are older. You already do, except they are all a bit old for you if you know what I mean!
Every time someone walks past or looks at you, you break out it the happiest cheesy grin. It wins them over every time. I am so blessed to have such a happy baby. You make me smile every day and brighten up even the cloudiest days. I am so glad we have you in our lives I can't imagine a life with out you and all that you are.

Nanny Kaye Comes to Visit

Not long after Grand-Nana had been Nanny Kaye came to visit too! We were quite popular this year with visitors! Last time that Nanny Kaye had visited was when Lili was a baby. Daddy was super excited to have her visit. She couldn't believe how big your were!!!! you are a huge baby by the way, you are completely off the charts for your weight.....here's hoping that you slim down a little once you start walking. Your siblings were pretty fat too.

Nanny Kaye gave you almost all your bottles while you were here, and changed lots of nappies and had lots and lots of cuddles. You are so lucky to be loved by so many people.

Passport Photos

Knowing that Nana was unwell and that we would likely have to go back to New Zealand I tried to organise your passport as soon as possible.
Taking your photo was TOUGH. As soon as I got the camera out you would start laughing and smiling, or try and run away. It took a few shots before we got the "money" shot.

Nana, Grand-Nana and Grand-Graeme

In March Nana, Grand-Nana and Grand-Graeme came over to Australia to visit you. Grand-Nana had been very unwell and didn't think she would live to see you born. She held in there though and was so so happy to finally meet you. While I was still pregnant with you she hurriedly crocheted you a blanket just in case she was too unwell to finish it once you were here. That blanket is always on your bed.
Your impending birth was such a light in her life when things seemed so bleak. It was almost as soon as they went home from meeting you that she began to go down hill quickly. She loved you so so much Ammon. I wish that you would be able to remember her. She even chose your name.

First Cold

My poor Ammon, this week you had your very first cold. You sounded so sad, like a poor little puppy. What was the most sad about it was that you lost your little voice. I hated seeing you so sick but there wasn't much to do other than ride it out. Luckily you were a happy sick baby, you just sounded terrible!

Daddy's Lil Man

Daddy doesn't usually care too much about what you wear. He is always concerned about why you kids are never wearing socks though. However when we went shopping last week Daddy really really wanted to buy you this cool outfit.

Stop Growing!

I cant believe how fast you are growing! You are growing so fast I can barely keep up. I buy you new clothes then 2 weeks later you are too big for them. I'm sure if I just stare at you for awhile
I could see you grow right in front of my eyes. I weighed you last night because I was sure you were huge! you weighed 8.4kg. That is more than double what you weighed when you were born and you're not even 4 months yet. I shouldn't be surprised as all you do is eat eat eat!

What is that SMELL?

Ammon, you are with out a doubt the most STINKIEST kid ever! Your farts stink out the whole house, your dirty nappies make us all want to gag. To make matters worse you are such a farty bum that we are always getting nasty whiffs of your odours all the time. You are lucky you are so cute otherwise we might have had to put you outside to live.

What's in a Name

You may wonder why and how we chose your name. It took us a little while to decide. Daddy has chose both Auron and Lili's names but we still couldn't really decide on yours. We had a big long list of ones we liked. We had settled on calling you Carter, that was your name right up until a month or so before you were born.

We decided that although Carter is a lovely name, it just wasn't YOUR name. So we changed our minds to Ammon. I liked that it started with 'A' just like Daddy and Auron. We also liked Ammon because of the Ammon you are named after in the Book of Mormon. A valient and strong missionary who laboured hard to serve his Father in Heaven. We hope that you will continue to follow his lead and achieve great things in your life, while keeping your Heavenly Father at the centre of your life.

Your middle is name Julius. Grand-Nana was having a hard time while I was pregnant with you and we felt it would be special for her to pick your middle name. She decided on Julius after her Daddy. I have been told he was a kind, gentle and loving man. He is another great example to follow.

Your second middle name is Pineamine. We chose this name for many reasons. Firstly each of our children is given a Maori name to tie them back to their heritage and ancestry. Pineamine is Maori for Benjamin. The second reason we chose this name is because it is Daddy's middle name. I thought it would be special for you to share a name with Daddy, he wasn't so keen on the idea but he likes it now (I think). Finally King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon was a wise and faithful leader to his people, I have always loved the story of him,

As you can see you are named after many great great men. It is our hope and prayer that you will learn about them, and follow their examples as you live your life.

A photo of you and Grand-nana. She prayed that she would live long enough to meet you. Knowing that you were on your way kept he strong through a tough year. 

Your Baby Blessing

On the 8th of March we had your Baby Blessing. We had put it off a little later than usual so that Nana and Grand Nana and Grand-Graeme could be there for it.

We had a very special day for you. Uncle Ra and Nicolette, Cindy, Richard along with Mitchell and Lachie, Aunty Mel, Uncle Chris, Sotarah, Ethan, Bronte and Nana, Grand-Nana and Grand-Graeme all came especially for you. We filled up two big rows in the chapel.

Daddy blessed you that you would be a good example and a wonderful Missionary just like the Ammon you were named after.

After your blessing we all came home to have a special "Christmas Breakfast" It was a beautiful warm day. Everyone loved having turns to hold you and cuddle with you and I barely heard you cry at all that day.

We are so blessed to have you Ammon, You were very much wanted and prayed for, We love you all the way up to the moon and right back down to the earth.

Just Easy

You are such an easy relaxed baby...so long as I remember your dummy when we are out. Wherever we go you are happy to just chill in the pram and have a sleep or keep an eye what's going on around you. You hardly make a fuss, you are such a blessing.

Superheroes

Auron loves loves loves superheroes, and he has made sure to get you in on them as soon as possible. First it was putting Ironman's mask on you and calling you "Ironbaby" and then he begged me to buy you Superman PJ's from Big W so you could be Superbaby.

Smiles!

Yey! You are finally smiling. We all love trying to get you to crack a smile. It's so cute, you're just delicious!!!!!!!! It's even better when you throw in a good giggle to really get us excited. I can't believe how fast you r are growing up, I love being able to have proper squishy cuddles with you now that you aren't an awkward squirmy alien.

Crashing Our Date

Today we went out to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. You were lucky enough to come along and crash it. Lucky for us you were a good boy and slept most of the time.

Coming into Your Own

We are loving seeing you grow into your own little self. When you were born you were a carbon copy of Lili and Auron but now we are seeing more of your own unique features. Last night we were spoilt with a good 3 hours of awake time when you graced us with a million of your first smiles. Unfortunately you were too quick for us to catch a good one on camera. I'm sure we will have plenty more opportunities in the years to come.

Falling More and More in Love with You

We are falling more and more in love with your squishy little face everyday. You are growing bigger everyday too! It is almost time to put away your first lot of clothes. I am pretty sure you are the biggest baby so far. You were the smallest when you were born but you are growing out of your clothes faster than Auron and Lili did. There are some cute little overalls I can't wait for you to fit. I tired them last week but they are still too big.

Sisters...what are you going to do about them?

I guess this is what happens when you are the baby in the family...

Chilling in the Sun

Whist Auron and Lili spent a few hours in the pool....you lazed about in the pram under the shade of the apple tree.

First Time to Church

Today you made your début at church. We were slightly late, walking in during the opening hymn. I passed you over to Marcelle who was ridiculously excited to finally get to hold you. I didn't get you back for another few hours when you needed to eat. You were so happy and content, and looked ridiculously cute but I forgot to get a photo.
You did a few impressive nappies, I had to change you 3 times in half an hour! After church I stripped you down and we hung out in the car while we waited for Daddy to finish working in the office. You loved it.

It's a hard life being a baby. You weren't impressed about having to wear Lili's hat

Happy New Year Ammon

You have no idea how glad we are that you are here to ring in the new year with us! We have been waiting for you for a long time. I think this year is going to be full of plenty of exciting mile stones for you. We can't wait to see you learn to smile and walk and talk. It will be a year of firsts!

At only 11 days old you have already made our family even more wonderful. We can't imagine a life without you. Auron is in love with you and always wants to hold you and make funny faces for you. I'm not sure how you feel about that but I am sure that one day soon you will be best friends. Lili on the other hand is only just starting to warm up to you. On the first day we bought you home she didn't want to be anywhere near you and said that you were 'yuck'. Yesterday she gave you a kiss so we are making progress.

So far you are a pretty relaxed baby and I hope it stays that way. We can't wait to see what kind of personality you have. So far you are more like Auron than Lili but I am sure as time goes on you will come into your own.

Happy New Year Ammon

Love

Mummy and Daddy