1 Month Old

Lilia is growing so fast. She loves her bouncer and especially the vibration movement. She is all snuggled up. She does not like to be bundled very much accept when asleep.

I love this look on her face. She is so cute. She is holding her head up and gives me a smile here and there.
Daddy just got home from work and found her in her bouncer. I had just put her in it so I could start dinner. She loves to be held and you can not help but hold her!

This is her one month old pictures. This rocker was given to her by the Ostermillers. She is going to love this chair as she gets older.

Grandma gave her this doll. I thought I got a picture of her next to the doll when she was first born but I can not find it. Here she is at one month old. Soon she will be able to hold the doll!

Twilight for Men

Great article in the Mormon Times.

'Twilight' for men: All men are vampires

By Michael De Groote

MormonTimes.com writer

Tuesday, Mar. 10, 2009

Lilia Cheyenne Melelani

Lilia was born on Friday, February 27, 2009. She weighed 7 lbs. 3 oz. and was 19.5 inches long. We do have pictures of Tasha but decided not to put them here for all to see!


Here I am holding Lilia right after birth. They have cleaned her up a little. She was really clean after birth. I am so thankful that Tasha let me help with the birth. I did not do much. It was so amazing. Tasha did a great job.


Here she is in the nursery. I had a wrist band so I could go into the nursery. She is so perfect. She was very alert and had her eyes open a lot. The nurses were very good to me. They explained everything they were doing.


I am giving her a bath in the nursery. The nurse took a lot of pictures.


Daddy, got to the hospital around 7:30 pm that night. He was so excited. I had instant messaged him a picture of Lilia right after she was born. He let everyone on the airplane know what was going on and why he was flying.

Asher is standing outside the nursery and is looking in. I am saying goodbye to Lilia for the night.

This is a picture of us with Tasha at the hospital.

The nurse gave us some instructions and checked Lilia out of the hospital. Her name was Shelley. She was so excited for us. All of the staff and Dr. treated us and Tasha so well.

The hospital insisted that I be wheeled out in a wheelchair. I have been wheeled out before but not under such a happy time.

Here is a close up on her feet. You can see where they did the PKU test.

Mommy holding Lilia. She looks so beautiful in this yellow outfit. Thanks Aunt Jenelle!

We can not stop looking at her. She is so cute. She makes such interesting sounds and facial expressions.


Tasha and Lilia


Welcome home, baby Lilia! We are home! This sign was on our door. We also have a little sign in the yard. Our neighbors are so excited to have a little one in the culdesac.

Grandpa and Grandma

Little Cupcake....look at the frosting! My roommate in college gave this bow to me. I think I will be learning how to make them!

This is Grandma "Louise", who Lilia is named after.

This is my first bath at home. She was great. We did not move quick enough and the flood gates opened. I am sure we will get better.

Photo shoot while she was wide awake. She did not like the bow or hat! The Bailey's gave us this cute little spring outfit.

Daddy loves to play the piano with his little girl.

Her favorite spot and Daddy's!

Daddy took this picture and I am really asleep! She sleeps about 3 hours at a time.

Here is my church outfit. Thanks to the Mortensen's! We did take her to church on March 15th. We did not let anyone hold her or touch her. Everyone had to see her!

We are so thankful for all the prayers and work in our behalf and Tasha.

Lilia has arrived!!!!

Lilia was born on Friday, February 27, 2009. She weighed 7 lbs. and 3 oz. and was 19.5 inches long. She is so adorable. Here is Tasha and Lilia with us. Tasha is amazing and we love her so much.


Wow, I am so excited. She is so small and her hands and feet are so little and so cute. Here we are both relaxing.


Here is the excited Dad! He is so cute with her. Asher talks to her and adores her. She has dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. The nurse said she looked like Asher.


Here is Lilia in her cute little onesie. Tasha gave this to us when we first met her. We took a picture and then wrapped her up in the pink blanket. She is a wonderful baby. She is so good to us. She is eating really well and sleeps a lot. She opens her eyes and looks around a lot between 8:30 am till about 2 pm. She does sleep during this time but is alert after eating.

Registering for Lilia

Babies R Us here we come! Okay, this store is a lot of fun but it is also expensive. I think I had just as more fun at Walmart and Target!

Momma and I went to Babies R Us to register. We had a great time. I took my camera but forgot to take pictures inside. Asher met us for lunch. When we showed him what Momma's purchase was, I remembered my camera! This outfit is so cute!

This last weekend we went back to Babies R Us. Momma and Pop, soon to be Grandma and Grandpa purchased us a bassinet. While we were there we asked to borrow the scanner and took a few posed pictures! I could not stop laughing. We actually did not get the bassinet here. They did not have it in stock. Babies R Us in Nashville had one though. We were heading that way. We went to a temple sealing for a family in the other ward. It was amazing. The two little kids were sealed and everyone was very happy. It was a great day. We then stopped by Babies R Us and got the bassinet.




On Monday we put the bassinet together for FHE. It was a lot of fun. Momma supervised and held it when needed. I took pictures and held it when needed as well.

Here it is all done and ready to go!


The blanket in the bassinet was made by my friend Debbie. She made it years ago when she found out we were adopting. It is a flannel rag quilt. It is so soft. The pink and white puppy I could not resist getting.


Tuesday was a big mail day. I got a few packages. I got my Publix Baby Club kit. I like shopping at Publix and it was free. They sent me a book and coupons. The book is huge and has great illustrations and instructions. I will continue to get more stuff. Yeah!



The Mortensen Family sent Lilia a gift. The outfit is so cute. Thank you. We miss you so much!

Meeting Tasha

We had a great trip to Utah to see our birth mom Tasha. She is so energetic and cheerful. We had a great meeting and enjoyed getting to know her and her family. She amazed us so much. Tasha is so thoughtful. She got us a gift with the cutest baby girl things! When they came into the room Anna handed the gift to us and told us that this was for our baby girl. Oh, I was so surprised and it was so touching. Anna is Tasha's little girl. She is three years old and so smart and happy. She was so good while we talked and got to know each other. We brought her some books. She had so much fun looking at them and Asher got to read to her. Kunuffle Bunny is my favorite! I mentioned this book earlier on my blog. I can not wait to see our little baby girl with bows in her hair wearing the cute pink "onesie".

BABY GIRL!!!!!

We are so EXCITED and words are not enough. We got a call on Saturday night from our Birth Mom. She is amazing. She told us the news and it was great. She asked the case workers not to say anything because she wanted to tell us herself. She was so excited and so are we. She is due March 8th and is having a baby girl. We talked for about an hour and half. We will be going to Utah to meet with her. We feel so blessed and are so thankful for the support, prayers and fasting in our behalf and now for our Birth Mom as well. Thank you so much.

Asher and Amy

Camp Crafts from Years Ago

I have been to YW Camp for a lot of years. One of my first years as a leader we made a doll. I think it was suppose to be an angle with wings. I never got that far with the craft. I painted the doll and put her together. I made the one on the left about 8 years ago. I remember they had extra dolls that the girls abandoned and so I took one that was half painted. I got my bin out of half finished crafts out last week and decided to finish this doll. She is the one on the right. I think they make a great pair of friends. They are going to go in the bedroom upstairs. It is a girls bedroom with the yellow beds and furniture. These two dolls will be perfect addition to the room.

Christmas Cards

In the past when we get Christmas cards I never know exactly where to put them. I have tried putting them on the mantle of the fireplace but we always run out of room. One of my students gave me a card holder but it only held 10 or so cards. Then I realized I could follow my in-laws and use their idea. They have a wall with mirrors on it in the living room. Well, we don't have a wall with mirrors but we do have a front door. So, for the last couple of years we have taped our cards on the back of our door. It stays shut because of the cold weather and so we get to enjoy a great view of cards from family and friends.

Tender Mercies

I sat down tonight after dinner and started reading the Ensign. The articles and stories are always great. Here is one of the quotes that stood out to me.

"When words cannot provide the solace we need or express the joy we feel, when it is simply futile to attempt to explain that which is unexplainable, when logic and reason cannot yield adequate understanding about the injustices and inequities of life, when mortal experience and evaluation are insufficient to produce a desired outcome, and when it seems that perhaps we are totally alone, truly we are blessed by the tender mercies of the Lord and made mighty even unto the power of deliverance."(see 1 Nephi 1:20) Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, "The Tender Mercies of the Lord," Liahona and Ensign, May 2005, 100.

I think these tender mercies are acts of service from others. Sometimes the person does not even know they are delivering you. You never know when a smile or a note can make a difference in someone life. Just my wandering thoughts tonight. The last two months have been great. I have had so many blessing come into my life. Mostly by me serving others. Thanks for letting me serve and sharing your families with me.