She....Is....BEAUTIFUL

I had such a good time visiting family in California the last two weeks. It's amazing to me how you can "barely" know someone, and feel such a deep love for them. My cousins have never lived close to me. Growing up we saw them about every 5 years. Yet, I feel so much affection for each of them. As adults, we have taken it upon ourselves to build relationships with one another, even those who did not show much interest as teens and young adults.

This time I had the joy of spending most of my time with my cousin Quin and her daughters Jaelynnn and Ashlynn. Ashlynn is the sweetest, noisiest, stinky baby :) . She is so tiny and precious, and very good, only cries to eat, sleeps a lot, and smiles in her sleep constantly. Even though she is breast fed her poo's are especially stinky, who knows why. Her Momma says she never had that sweet newborn smell. She grunts and makes noises all the time, even in the deepest sleep. She still tries to suck on your arm, neck, or whatever else her mouth can catch on, if she is hungry. Their is nothing more precious than a new born baby. My favorite thing to do is bath kids. It is such a fun, intimate time. They are coralled, happy, relaxed, etc. Ashlynn's umbelical cord had just fallen of before I arrived, so I had the honor of giving her first real bath, and every bath she needed the entire time I was down there. It is amazing to me how fast they change and grow. I could see it happening before my very eyes that Ashlynn was changing, losing that brand new infant look, and getting the sweet baby features, gaining weight, losing her preemie wrinkles, growing out of her preemie outfits. Her diapers went from being overlapped to the tabs being and inch apart. I am going to miss not seeing this little one grow up!

Here are some of my favorite photos of the beautiful Ashlynn Grace: