I am behind the times, and just watched this today. I had a conversation with a friend in which we were discussing the difficulities of being "mom" and how we felt like sometimes we just weren't doing a good job. I know for a fact she is a fantastic mother, and I hope I am doing ok, too. At the end of the day I often feel exhausted, and frequently question my ability to fill this heavy role I have taken on. Even more so now that we are going to welcome another one. The words of Elder Holland brought me great reassurance today, and I know the Lord hears my prayers. I hope you enjoy, and all you mothers take heart.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
A Tale of Two's
So I am officially a horrible blogger, but I decided that life is only going to get crazier so I need to start documenting it. The last couple of months have been filled with a lot of "two's." Bear with me as you read through - the end is worth it!
Turning Two
On Saturday, June 19th, our little Abby turned 2! She woke up the morning and must have gotten some memo that since she would be two, she had to act like it. She ushered in the "terrible two's" in perfect form with several temper tantrums just to make sure we knew she was in fact a toddler now! We celebrated her birthday down in Salt Lake on the 14th at my parent's house with all the family that was around.
Abby is OBSESSED (to put it lightly) with the Disney Princesses. We got her Princess cake (the chocolate one) from a local bakery up here two days before her party. It was DIVINE and everyone loved it. Abby was in love with the Princesses on it and kept waving her hand over it in admiration. I think it made her day. She still carries the little dolls around ALL the time. Her Aunt Aubrey brought the Cinderella cake for her to have all to herself.
She loved opening presents, and received more princess paraphernalia than she knew what to do with. She kept repeating, "Oh, Wow!!" every time she opened something. She was totally spoiled by her Aunts and Babaa's (and Mom & Dad). She is one lucky little girl!
Abby loved her party and talks about having a party all the time. And in her mind, every party must have cake and presents. I tend to agree.
Two Best Friends
Abby's two best friends from the last two years moved out of state at the beginning of June. We were able to do a little photo shoot with them before everyone got busy, and I am SO glad we did. Abby misses her little friends so much and I think I miss their moms even more! We were so blessed to have little girls the same age and move into our little area at the same time. We helped each other (through) quite a bit and became so close.
From One to Two
And finally, we found out back in March that we would be going from our little family of three to a family of four in late November. And yesterday we learned that our little babe is another girl! Abby has insisted all along that the baby in Mommy's belly is a "baby sister" or a "baby gurl". I guess she knew more than we did! She gives my belly kisses and tries to share her "mimi" and "snuggly" with the baby.
.Hand up by her face
Looking up at her chin, lips, and nose with hands up in front of her face.
Her tummy and legs, with her ankles crossed.
It's a girl!
Friday, January 22, 2010
A Spirit of Calm and Peace
Peter, Little A and I sat down after dinner tonight and turned on the Hope For Haiti Now broadcast. Little A was entranced by the music of Alicia Keys and sat motionless as she watched pictures flash across the screen. I was taken aback at her attentiveness. I limit what she is exposed to, but this was different somehow. I know she is far to young to comprehend any of what she sees, but I knew as I watched her look at the pictures and listen to the song, her little mind(conscience, spirit..?) could sense the sadness. I quietly explained to her in very simple terms what I could, and while I know at 19 months old, it likely meant very little to her, she seemed to grasp the sincerity of my words. My mother heart knew this is only the beginning of a lifetime of learning about the desperation in the world that surrounds us. Peter and I discussed the fact that we will have a great responsibility to help Little A and the rest of our children process the events of the world we live in.
As Little A and I sat down to go through the nightly bedtime routine, we opened the Book of Mormon to where we left off last night and as I started to read, I was touched at the timing of the verse that we were on. It was Mosiah 4:16:
I explained, as we often do, what that scripture meant in layman's terms. We then knealt down to say our nightly prayer. We have been helping her this week to say the words herself by whispering them to her and having her repeat them. Tonight I said most of it, but as I prayed for Haiti, I urged her to say the words "peace" and "succor", words she has never learned before. She repeated them, and I felt the Spirit strongly there with us.
We don't have much to give, and giving to Haiti has been in my thoughts constantly since the earthquake struck. The day it happened, Peter came home from work and we both had had the same thought during the day that we needed to give something. We decided to give what we could through the LDS Church's Humanitarian fund, but I still felt we needed to do more. As I thought about, I decided to clean out our closets and donate what clothing, shoes, and other items we had that we just didn't need. Little A had clothes that she outgrew before she ever wore that still had the tags on them. I had intended to send all of it to some charity that would distribute it, but quickly discovered that items (especially used) weren't wanted as much as money was. I finally decided that the best route was to give it to the Deseret Industries, where the money from the sales would filter back into the Humanitarian Fund, and to take the new clothing items to the Church's Humanitarian Center. It just feels like so little.
My heart aches for Haiti, for the children without parents, and for the parents who have lost children, and for those that are just hanging on to life. The First Presidency of the Church released a statement today, and I found it especially poignant.
What are you feelings on the tragedy in Haiti? How are you helping your children understand it? What are you doing to help?
As Little A and I sat down to go through the nightly bedtime routine, we opened the Book of Mormon to where we left off last night and as I started to read, I was touched at the timing of the verse that we were on. It was Mosiah 4:16:
"And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your
succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need;
and you will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain
and turn him out to perish."
I explained, as we often do, what that scripture meant in layman's terms. We then knealt down to say our nightly prayer. We have been helping her this week to say the words herself by whispering them to her and having her repeat them. Tonight I said most of it, but as I prayed for Haiti, I urged her to say the words "peace" and "succor", words she has never learned before. She repeated them, and I felt the Spirit strongly there with us.
We don't have much to give, and giving to Haiti has been in my thoughts constantly since the earthquake struck. The day it happened, Peter came home from work and we both had had the same thought during the day that we needed to give something. We decided to give what we could through the LDS Church's Humanitarian fund, but I still felt we needed to do more. As I thought about, I decided to clean out our closets and donate what clothing, shoes, and other items we had that we just didn't need. Little A had clothes that she outgrew before she ever wore that still had the tags on them. I had intended to send all of it to some charity that would distribute it, but quickly discovered that items (especially used) weren't wanted as much as money was. I finally decided that the best route was to give it to the Deseret Industries, where the money from the sales would filter back into the Humanitarian Fund, and to take the new clothing items to the Church's Humanitarian Center. It just feels like so little.
My heart aches for Haiti, for the children without parents, and for the parents who have lost children, and for those that are just hanging on to life. The First Presidency of the Church released a statement today, and I found it especially poignant.
What are you feelings on the tragedy in Haiti? How are you helping your children understand it? What are you doing to help?
Monday, January 4, 2010
Open For Business!
My etsy shop is up and open for business! You can check it out at http://www.junepopdesign.etsy.com/ !
You can also visit my website devoted just to the items I am making at
I am so excited to get this started and think I have created a couple unique products that I love. Let me know if you are interested in something custom that you can't quite find in stores! I am hoping this will enable me to continue to enjoy staying at home with Little A and pursuing my creative talents.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
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