My girlfriend has been posting something she is grateful for everyday this month! It is a fabulous idea and I know she has had a particularly difficult week. So with the tone of the previous post, I decided that I also needed to “Count my many Blessings”!! So, I don’t know if I will post them all at one time or just a few here and there. But I came up with lots just last night…. Here is my starter:
I thought I put up 22 pints of applesauce….all from free apples. I was so very, very excited. Well, only 4 of the jars sealed. The rest had to be thrown away because by the time I found them, they had fermented. Why am I grateful for that?? Because I found them before they exploded in the cupboard!! That would have been so ugly and disgusting. I just had to dump them down the drain…. Next time, I’ll just freeze them. PS The last four are in the fridge…..just in case!
I’m guessing on the number of candles 🙂 but this is a shout out to my very dear friend who no longer lives close to us!! Linz….you are amazing and I miss you a ton!!!
L-Lovely, in every sense of the word!
I-Incredibly sensitive to others
N-Nice & Organized (need I say anything about tupperware???)
Z-Zaney and full of life!
Y-Yearning for Knowledge (always from the right sources)
I hope all is going well in your neck of the woods!! Kiss and hug all those boys for me!! Love you!
Dear Spike, Spike……
How fun it is to have you at our house!! It is more fun when you are not screaming. We have had a rough start, but every day gets a little easier and we trust each other a little more and figure out more about each other. I’m sorry for all of the times I have eaten something that has bothered you or kept you awake. I wish I could make it all better. You have just started smiling and talking to us. It is so enjoyable to listen to you and so very rewarding to see you smile……worth most of the screaming! I cannot wait to see what the next year has to hold for all of us!! This is a shot of your ‘wild man’ hair….Scuff thought it needed to be documented!! And of course…..here is the great smile we were talking about! Love you! Mom
Sisters leave little notes:
Well, as I sit here, alone, the house is quiet, the baby is sleeping, the children are at a friend’s and I have a very few moments of me time, I wonder what shall I do?? The thought is BLOG. Just a quick update of life with an infant.
The baby is amazing…truly. I am so very blessed with the opportunity to have a new spirit in our home. He reminds me daily of the precious process of mortality. We are so very fragile when we get here—so very dependent upon all of those around us we have to rely on to have our needs met—just basic needs–to be fed, changed, burped, held, loved, cherished. How much trust we must have. How much trust God is placing in us by sending them to our homes!! I do not have that same kind of faith and trust in humanity, yet.
The roller coaster of emotion is very alive and well at our house. It vacillates from elation and wonder (like the above paragraph) to frustration and sadness at not knowing how best to help little people and just stop the screaming and induce sleep. Yes, we are no different than any other home with a newborn. Two days ago the baby screamed most of the day and was not consolable. There are a few nights of not sleeping and plenty of tears to go along. But then there are other days when I just marvel at the entire process and offer consistent gratitude and praise for being allowed to participate, again and again.
I have a painting on my wall in the bedroom. It is a picture of Mary holding her infant, in a room made of stone, gazing up into the morning sun or coming moonlight–I’m not sure which. We see her from the back. The scene is peaceful with blue tones and hues, only changed by the light from hole in the wall. My cousin once told me, “Only a mother knows that look.” I know that look. To me it says, “Help me! Help me to raise this child in a manner pleasing to Thee. Help me know what he needs, when to give it to him and when to withhold it. Help me to be strong enough, wise enough, patient enough…..help me to just BE enough…whatever that is.” and “Thank you. Thank you for this precious gift! These precious moments that will only last for a few short months! Thank you.” There is nothing like the feelings you have with a sleeping infant snuggled into your chest and silence all around as you take in that sacred air and offer your heart and soul in raising this child of Heaven. Indeed it is good that you have offered that, for that is what is required. But in the end, you receive not only what you gave but the increase of another heart and soul who calls you Mother.
I dearly love you Ryan!!! Thanks for joining the party! And welcome home!
First and foremost:
Ryan was born on Saturday. I am completely in love with this baby and cannot believe how incredibly easy it is to love something so precious and small. I should have known the feelings would come.
He is adorable and sweet, and has a very peaceful disposition. I will save you the details of labor….but it was a little scary at the beginning. We were talking about doing an emergency C-section, in fact, we were planning on it. We had to wait a little while before we went that way and as we waited, things settled down, and we were able to have a normal labor. Ryan was 6 pounds 7 ounces, 19 inches long, at delivery. He is loved and doted on by all of his siblings. We are so very grateful to have him join our family.
Third, Johnathan leaves on Wednesday morning for the MTC (Missionary Training Center). He will be there for two and half weeks and then he heads off to Florida for his mission.
So, it has been and will continue to be a very emotional couple of weeks. I forget all the hormones that accompany the birth of a child and all of the adjustment that comes with it. We are still in the honeymoon period of the process. As we move into the full swing of things, I am sure there will be more stress and adjustment, but for now, I am completely happy and in awe of the entire process. And for those of you who are wondering…..check out this hair:
It is a frosty blonde color. Most of my babies have very little black hair….but not Ryan….lots and lots of yummy frosting on top of my cute little cupcake.
Yep….we are down to the wire…for Johnathan and our new addition (still no name). I went in yesterday for an ultrasound. Very little boy, who sucks his thumb and has a round face. The crib is set up. The clothes are washed. The diapers are here. It is really setting in that he is coming and soon. I imagine that after he gets here there will be less and less time for blogging until I adjust to having a new little person in our home. I am getting a little excited to welcome him home.
And feeling a little sad for sending Johnathan off. It has been so fun to have him home for these last few months. (Although the food bill is higher and all of the leftovers are gone!) I know he will be a marvelous missionary!! I cannot believe we will have two missionaries out in the field and a new baby. I did feel a little better about the whole thing when I learned that Elder Maxwell’s mother had a baby while he was serving his mission and President Monson’s mother had a baby three weeks before he was married, after he had graduated from college, been engaged for a year and also had an older sister. I decided maybe it was OK to have a baby this old.
Well…..that is my quick update. Hopefully everything will go well with this delivery. Wish me luck!!
Sorry the quality isn’t so hot. I guess that’s what you get when you try to pull photos off of your phone!! Johnathan received his endowments last weekend. So here he is, our prospective missionary and his very pregnant mother.
I read THIS article the other day and thought it was amazing and have been pondering it ever since.
There are wonderful things about having a new baby—but there are difficult things too. I recognized recently that I have been sad about the timing of this baby. I have been so excited about the possibilities of working with the youth, which I have done a little over the last six years and which is hard to do with an infant. Our new baby will make this possibility difficult to say the least.
The timing of our baby is completely the Lord’s choice. This year, my attitude and disappointment about not serving with the youth is a weed in the garden of my life. (Refer to the above article for a frame of reference for this comment.) It will interfere in my growth and development as a mother and my ability to bond with this baby. For whatever reasons, the Lord in His infinite wisdom and love has sent this child to us and we have the blessing to embrace the opportunity and completely welcome him into our home and our hearts.
How often do we look at the gifts our Father in Heaven has given us as stones and serpents because they are not what we want or they do not look like we think they should or they do not happen when we think they should? Do we not remember that the Lord only gives bread and fish??? [Read HERE–vs. 8-11, to understand this analogy.] He doesn’t give stones and serpents….only good gifts, bread and fish. The negative aspects of some undesired events or circumstances in our lives may be more a product of our attitude and view point than is truly the case.
Difficult circumstances and events are usually tailored to us individually and minister to our growth and development, our understanding and compassion, our faith and hope. We cannot avoid negative experiences..they happen to all of us. [more on this topic HERE–another GREAT article!]
What experiences have you had that you originally thought of as negative, but later came to realize were a blessing or helped you learn??
There is no doubt in my mind that I will learn a lot. I already have, even though I have not fully appreciated the lessons, at this point. I hope I can open my heart more to the process so that I can truly learn the lessons the Lord is choosing to put before me.
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