Ayres Insanity

   Well, we finally did it! We had a baby, and she is absolutely beautiful!   As per the usual with this entire journey, nothing went according to plan, but Mac and Katy are now holding their beautiful little girl which, makes it all worthwhile.     At 46 years old, the pregnancy was difficult. I suppose I should’ve expected it to be that way but I just assumed I had the same resiliency I did 12 years ago, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. My body has been through a lot during this process, and I definitely felt it through the entire pregnancy, but the baby was healthy and thriving and that’s what mattered the most.     On June 27th I started having weekly appointments. Everything looked great that day, but by the time I went back on July 2nd things had taken an interesting turn. I had been having contractions for a few weeks, but over the last couple of days they had increased in intensity and frequency, still I didn’t think too much of it, but ...

       Being a mom can be hard, it feels heavy a lot of the time, and so often I feel like my kids success depends fully on me. They’re older now, I don’t have to chase them around and meet their every need, it certainly isn’t as physically demanding as it used to be, but the mental load can be hard to carry alone.       There are so many emotions that come with older kids, you worry about everything. Do they have good friends? Have I taught them how to function in the world without me? Do they have a testimony? I’m pretty sure dads don’t lie awake at night worrying about these things, but moms do. And the weird part is that the older they get, the more they need the influence of their dads, good friends and other trusted adults. I know my kids love me, but it seems like I am becoming less influential in their lives, and that can be a hard pill to swallow, s o I’m always especially grateful when someone steps in and does something that I can’t....

    2024 was a lot. Truthfully, I’m not even sure where to start, but it has been a whirlwind.   I suppose it would be best to start with my gains, most importantly I gained a daughter-in-law! In my last post, I mentioned Hayley, The love of Taevin‘s life. They spent the first year of Taevin‘s college experience in Cedar city together, But as their relationship progressed, and there was talk of marriage, they decided to come home and make those future plans a priority. It was fun having Taevin home from college, for the first month or two he was so full of gratitude for the luxuries of home, I guess being on your own for a while makes you realize how good you have it when mom is around. Anyway, they came home at the end of April and Taevin started planning his proposal. Russ and I took him to a local jeweler who was fantastic! Instead of just creating one ring, he made three just for Taevin! He wanted to make sure everything was perfect and that Hayley was getting exactly...