Moxies Big Day

Moxie's Blessing Dress. Can you believe how long it is?? I am 5'6 and if you hold it up to my neck, it goes down below my knees. It is pieced together and really has the look of antique things. There is also a petticoat underneath that dress... and its just as elaborate as the dress is. It was fun to hear the gasps from the audience when she was taken up front for the blessing. I know that's prideful of me. But, really the dress is beautiful. It would be very difficult to find a dress like this. I know. I tried. That is why all my girls were blessed in this dress. Can I tell you how much I love this dress? A whole lot.

My Mother made this for Thing 1 to be blessed in. When she offered to make the dress for Thing 1, I told her I wanted it to have a vintage feel. I love all things old, and I think she captured this dress perfectly! She is so talented with sewing. You can show her a photo of something, and she'll just whip it up! I feel really lucky and blessed to have this little treasure! Someone yesterday asked me how I was going to pass this dress down to my children. I think I shocked them when I selfishly said: "oh. my kids don't get this dress. It's mine. I might let them borrow it. But this is mine, and its going in a shadow box for me to loving gaze at for the rest of my life!"
They thought I was kidding.
But I'm not.

This is sweet Moxie sitting on our living room couch. She is all the way at the back of the couch, and you can see that her dress reaches the floor.

She's getting a little irritated now. She had been quite a good little sport up to that point... being very patient waiting to eat. She had had it though, and was ready for food.
I look way tired. Wait. I AM way tired!

This is the Crazyland family. My nephew, Mister, jumped into the photo. He thinks he should just live at my house, and his mom could come and visit him. I think so too. He is adorable, and just gets more fun with each passing day! Thing 3 & Mister are the best of pals, and love to play together.

Jefe's Mother and Moxie. She is such a beautiful woman! And so talented! She seriously could give Martha Stewart a run for her money. She doesn't just have skillz, she has talent!

I just realized that I only have photos of Jefe's family here. My Dad was the one taking all the photos, but somehow my side of the family was neglected. I had my sister, ima10c0w and her cute little family there; my parents; my cousins (who happen to live right behind me. No. we did not plan that!) and my Uncle & Aunt (who are my favorite uncle and aunts btw. He teases Thing 1 that she was named after his middle initial H. And so they refer to her as just H. It warms my heart to see that!)

Anyway.

The blessing was wonderful, and Jefe did a wonderful job. He blessed her with wonderful things, and the thing I remember the most is that she would continue to have the peaceful, calming spirit that she already possessed. He also blessed her to have a keen mind, a sense of humor, the ability to be kind to everyone, and know the truths of the gospel. He blessed her to be able to enjoy all the covenants available to her. He did a beautiful job. Afterwards, he said to me that he wished he would have asked me what kinds of things I wanted her to be blessed with. I had actually thought about asking him to bless her with certain gifts, but thought that might be a bit presumptuous of me... and I didn't want Jefe to think I was telling him how to do "his job".

The one thing I did want him to talk to her about was how we had labored over her name. It was quite the process we through to pick her name. We had her middle name picked out and felt like that would be her only name... But, when she had been with us a couple of days, I told Jefe that I really wanted her first name to be what it is because when I hear that word, it reminds me of peace. This child is SO peaceful that it is just RIGHT for her name to be what it is. It was a labor. But, we chose the name that is perfect for her. And frankly, I love both her names. It is hard for me to choose which one I love more.

She is such a beautiful child and an answer to our prayers. We tried for many years to have another child. We gave up trying and had a miscarriage. Now that Moxie is here, she has been worth all the tears, effort and pain to get her here. She is a wonderful blessing. All of my children love her, and are grateful for her presence in our home. She still brings a soft, peaceful, contented feeling into our home. And I hope that part of her never leaves.