He Knows and Loves Me

I have been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints my entire life, and I have had many wonderful experiences growing up in the Church. As most of us do, I've had my ups and downs and my share of trials. One of those trials, as mentioned in an earlier post, is that I have recently been struggling with a lack of motivation and having patience with Will. I have spent many days over the last few months in tears and wondering where to turn and what to do. Of course I have an amazing husband and some great friends who have listened to me whine and complain numerous times about the things I deal with. However, I had neglected to remember one very important thing - I have a Savior who loves me and who is there to help me through whatever life may throw at me. I was reminded of this fact through the wonderful Women's Conference that our stake had yesterday. The first part of the conference was a musical program put on by a number of sisters in the stake. They read the story of the Ten Virgins, using the new book and music that has been put out recently. I've always enjoyed that story from the Bible, but this particular variation of it really touched me. Each of the 10 women are given their own identity and story. As I listened to each story, I began to identify with a number of the women. Some of them were faithful and strong women, and some of them had some real challenges. And each woman was somehow connected to the man who made their lamps (Christ). It was such a beautiful program, and the Spirit was so strong. It was a wonderful reminder of the fact that we all need to turn to the Savior and make sure our lamps are constantly filled with oil and shining each day. It made me feel a lot better, and gave me comfort that I can somehow get through my daily struggles and be happy, if I turn to Him and let Him help me.

Off on an adventure, no doubt

I guess hanging out with Mommy all day isn't too exciting for Will anymore, so he and his big doggy decided to hit the road.

Anyone know where I can buy some motivation and patience?

Warning: This post is going to be slightly depressing, so if you're in the mood for something lighter and funny you'll have to go elsewhere.

I have been a mother for almost exactly 3 years now and there are many things that I have learned through my experience raising a child. One thing is that I am not a patient person. Bill tells me that I have a lot more patience than when I started this mothering adventure, but I still feel like I struggle through each day biting my tongue and trying not to scream when Will disobeys or throws a tantrum, which he seems to do on a regular basis these days. I love him very much and I am grateful to be his mother, but I just don't know how I'm going to deal with 2 children when I have such a hard time dealing with 1 sometimes.
The other problem I seem to be having is that I seem to lack motivation more often than not to do the day-to-day mundane tasks that come with being a wife and mother. I love having a clean house and I want to make sure that Will is happy and entertained each day, but for some reason I've been having a hard time feeling any desire to do anything to reach those goals. I'm so grateful for my wonderful husband who helps do dishes and laundry and who plays with Will whenever he can, and I am grateful for things like Park Day and for good friends who invite Will to play with their kids, or my poor son would probably be stuck in the house all day with a depressed mother, and that is definitely not fair to him.
I'm sorry for those who had to trudge through this depressing post, I guess I just needed to get that off my chest. If anyone has any good suggestions for how to be more patient or how to get through the day when you're tired and frustrated, I'd be more than happy to hear them.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

As parents, we always have to be on our guard about what we say or do in front of our children. I'm learning how important that is now that Will is old enough to imitate basically anything that Bill and I do. Luckily, most of the things that Will decides to imitate are either really sweet or really funny. Case in point: Just a few minutes ago Will discovered a small copy of the New Testament on our shelf. He picked it up and started walking around the house saying "Dear Heavenly Father, we thank thee bless the food, in the name of Christ Amen" (This is his prayer for EVERYTHING unless we help him say other things). Once done with the prayer he continued by saying "Chapter 18" followed by a few random words. Basically, he has been with us enough times while we've been having family scripture study that he knows the routine quite well. So even though I worry every once in a while about some of the things that he might be absorbing, I'm glad to know that something positive is leaking in there occasionally.

Letters and more

Will's Great-Grandma Phyllis has always said that Will is a genius...and I'm starting to believe her. He's not even 3 years old yet and he already knows so much. Here's a little sampling of his latest knowledge.

Cross your fingers

Those of you whose husbands are in graduate school (or those of you who are brave enough to conquer it yourself) know that it can sometimes be hard to find a research group that you click with and are excited to work for. You're committing a vast majority of the next few years to these people, for goodness sake! Ever since we moved to Illinois last summer, Bill has been trying to find a group so that he can get started on his PhD dissertation research. Up until now he hasn't had the best luck. Either the subject of the research wasn't interesting, or there was a personality clash with the advisor, or any number of other problems. Well, with any luck, his problems might be over sooner than we thought. Earlier today he was able to meet with some students and go on a lab tour, and when I talked to him he sounded like it might actually be a good possibility. Yay! Even though we still have a long road ahead of us, at least we might have a starting point. So keep your fingers crossed that it all works out!

Singing Time

Like I've mentioned before, one of Will's favorite things to do is sing songs. He especially loves Primary songs. In this video he's singing the fist verse of "I Love To See the Temple". He started acting a little silly, so you can't really tell what good pitch he has, but I was still impressed that he could sing the whole verse by himself. Enjoy!

The Power of Music

Growing up in a musical home, I think I took music for granted. In our house, piano lessons were pretty much required (which I am very grateful for now), I went to sleep a lot of nights listening to my dad writing music in his office downstairs, and we were constantly performing together as a family. It was a lot of fun having parents who were musicians, but for me and my sister it was just the way it was. I never fully appreciated how much of an influence music can have until this morning. Our family had a pretty crazy morning, full of tiredness, crankiness, and lots of stress. And that was all before 9:00. I personally was at the end of my rope, ready to throw in the towel and go back to bed for the rest of the day. Then my wonderful husband came up with a brilliant idea. He said "Turn on some soft music and have it playing in the background all day." I was a little skeptical at first, but I found one of my favorite CDs, put it into the computer and turned it on. It's been playing for the past hour or so, and Will and I have enjoyed a calm and peaceful time together. No screaming, whining, crying, or stress (and Will has been wonderful too). I definitely will be trying this again.

Water Fun

On Saturday the Institute of Religion had their opening social at a local water park, so we decided that it would be a fun family activity. At first Will wasn't thrilled with the idea of going swimming, but after we had been there for a while, and he saw that Daddy was going swimming, he decided that he would as well. He ended up having a blast, especially with the little slide in the middle of the pool.


This picture always makes me laugh. Will wouldn't go down the slide by himself, so he was constantly reaching for Bill to help him.




The boys lounging in the pool


Such a cute boy