B+M+kids= craziness: Miriam's Baby Blessing

One of the first things that we did in our new neighborhood and ward was the blessing and party celebrating the coming of our daughter Miriam. It was a pretty hectic time leading up to it as we had to unpack, organize, paint, fix, etc. our new home. In the weeks leading up to this we had Ben and my third anniversary, my brother's high school graduation, mother's day, my dad's coming to town, my school finals, actually moving, and the day before was my 26th birthday. Needless to say, May left us a little worn out.

It was a wonderful day. Up until the day before I was wrestling with myself on whether or not to buy a blessing dress. I had made John a blanket for his and had always hoped to have something to pass to my daughter someday that was special. I caved. I found this gorgeous dress at the LDS Distribution Center and made the rhinestone flower on this headband myself. Miriam looked absolutely precious that day and I was glad to get so many pictures of her. I actually wasn't able to take too many of just her on the actual day so the pics of just her I took the following day.

Here's a group shot of some of our guests. We had Ben and my immediate family and their kids as well as our grandparents and some of our friends. I had wanted to keep it small and I think that it worked out nicely.

This is my niece Kaylee. She is a week younger than John and is my sister's third child. Isn't she so darling? I don't know why, but for some reason she is the only kid besides ours that I took a picture of. I must have been too busy handling the hosting to take any pictures of anybody :(

Kaylee's mom aka my sister Milika. Isn't she cute?! I always tell people that she's the beautiful one of the two of us, cause she is. She's got great skin and seems to be effortlessly beautiful. I hate that. ;) Lol. JK sista!

YAY!!!!!!!!! I got a generation photo. I always wanted to have one. This is my mother's mother Roseann, my mother Sara, myself, and Miriam. Four generations.

One of the most special parts of the week was having my dad fly in from Hawaii. He spent time and money to be with family and it really meant a lot to me especially because I really want him to know his grandchildren and for them to know and love hime. I've learned a lot from my dad. Many of it has come in hindsight and I wish that I could go back in time and soak up more of the knowledge that he tried to impart to me during those growing up years. He's a good man and has a good heart.

Grandpa Tafui and our sweet girl. We gave Miram the middle name Losana which is tongan for Rosanna. We did this so that our children would have a piece of family and heritage in their names. I still don't know a lot about my Tongan family background but I hope to learn and love it along with my children.

Ben and I each with our turn to hold this special girl. She has truly changed our lives. We had a great family before she was born. We loved each other and we truly loved and still love so much our son John. Miriam allowed us to love yet another person and for me, to love more people so much more than I thought possible. She has truly affected the three of our lives and everyday is full of new experiences and happiness together.

These next two picture are our attempt at a family portrait. Unfortunately I waited to long to get it organized and, as you can tell, John just didn't want to participate. He just couldn't hold still with all of the excitement occurring around him. Ah well, C'est la vie!

Here is our next attempt. At least Ben was able to corral John, but a happy face just was not in the cards for us. Maybe in the coming years.

Blessed on June 5, 2011. In this picture you can really see how precious she really looks and what an adorable, darling, cute, loveable, and so much more baby she is. Just like her brother was before her. We sure are truly blessed.