Thoughts on Motherhood

I have been super grateful lately and just so blessed!  Recently our church had a church-wide (world-wide) meeting for all the girls/women age 8 and older.  It was awesome to be a part of and to get to listen to the leaders of our church.  This weekend we have our General Conference where the prophet and apostles and other women leaders will be speaking to the general membership as well and we are so excited!  It always leaves me feeling refreshed and ready to set some new goals and be better.  This meeting last weekend was no different.  The focus was really on how we need to be defenders of the family, especially the honored and exalted roles of mother and father. It made me start thinking about my motherhood and how much I love being a mom.  

Here are some of my thoughts about being a mom.  I would love to hear from anyone reading this on how they feel about motherhood.       

There are times being a mom is quiet and joyful and tender. There are times when being a mom is so crazy and hectic and "how am I going to do this." But being a mom encompasses both sides. It means that there will be tender and sweet moments along with the frustrating and trying times.

There are times when Avery runs to me and pets my hair and face gently and says "haircut mommy? Cute!" There are times when she wants to sit on my lap and hold hands. When she sings the songs we sing to her, to her baby. When she jumps and is so excited to help me make banana bread or do the laundry. Or when she laughs and says "gosh!" While watching her new favorite movie.

There will be times when Lyla laughs at the silly things Avery's doing to make her laugh. Times when Lyla kisses my face or gives me hugs. Times when I just squeeze her little self because she loves to cuddle me.

Then there will and has been times when I put Avery screaming into her crib and let her cry it out because she is too worked up to reason with. Times when she is sick and needy. Times when "hug me hug me" is draining and exhausting. Times when I don't want to sing "punzel water song" again, but do anyway just to make her happy.

Times when Lyla has so much gas she can't sleep. Or when she's sick and congested and I don't know how to help her. Or when she only wants me to hold her so I have to do everything while holding her so my right arm is showing some definition even though I haven't worked it out ever. (Haha).

Motherhood is the good and the sweet and the tender AND the frustrating, rough and hard. Without the hard we won't and couldn't know the sweet. It is what I have always wanted to be, a mom and have little ones to call my own.

When I was younger and thinking of motherhood, I didn't think or even know the hard parts could be so rough. But when you love these little people God has put into your life so much, anything that makes them sad or feel bad, is that much worse for you! It's emotional, endless and wonderful. I hope to always have the perspective I do about being a mom.  Some days I need a reminder to have a positive outlook and eternal perspective, but I try to be so so grateful for this calling I have to be a mother and friend to my sweet darlings as they make their way through life everyday.  Even the crazy, hectic days I can find joy in my motherhood.

April 2014...where did you go?

I just found this post that for some reason I did not post last year.  I will do it now just so I have these pictures up.  Can't believe this was one year ago! Time is really going  fast.  

We have of course been busy busy!  I'll let these pictures do most of the talking today.

Happy Easter! These flowers always remind me of Grandma Bennett! She loved them! 

Old woman face! 

String party! (Jake has better ones on his phone...I'll get them later)

Jake ran a half marathon Saturday April 19th.  So proud of him! 

Bill and Jake

Avery can say "bubbles!" 

She also loves to watch the traffic! ha! She says "truck"  and loves to see them! 

Megs graduated too! Double majored in Humanities and German.

Not a great pic, but it was so WONDERFUL to see Amanda get her Masters!

Jake graduated! Majored in Public Health with a Minor in Business. 

Avery helped Megan move. haha! 

Love this pic! 

Hannah (Bytheway) and Avery! They love each other and we will miss them as our neighbors so much!

Update on Lyla Loo

Lyla Jane!  She is a delight! It's not been as crazy as I thought it would adjusting to two children, but it does have it's moments of "how am I going to do this!?" Lyla is a sweet, chunky, rolly, happy baby and we couldn't love her more and how her little spirit has added to our family!   

She is now 5.5 months old. She is becoming more and more engaged in the life around her. She is so so sweet and is much more subdued than Avery. She is gentle and quiet and voices her discomfort but does not usually get super mad or upset about it. 

She is a wonderful little girl and though she is not one to give smiles to everyone passing by, she gives us big happy smiles all day! She doesn't really make a lot of noises when she's happy, she just opens her mouth so wide and grins with a little gasp. She is giving hugs and kisses now too! Open mouthed kisses and then she sucks on our faces! Ha! She'll even grab my hair and deliberately plant a huge kiss on my face! 

She is a snuggler! Her hugs consist of her grabbing on to the back of my shoulder with her chubby little hand and putting her head down on. It's the sweetest thing ever- she does it all day.  She likes to be held and carried in the carrier. Even when she is in my arms she burrows her little face into the crook of my arm. Lyla likes to be close to me. She is very go with the flow when it comes to schedule. She naps well (usually) when we are on the go- carrier has saved us!!- and we are working on getting rid of the nurse/sleep association for night time. She's a good sleeper, except if something is bothering her. Sadly, she has been dealing with quite a few not serious health issues (constipation, major gas, ear infection, congestion etc) the past 3 months so that has set us back on the sleep training, but things are looking up and once my parents and Katie leave us (they are coming tomorrow!) I'm going to really buckle down and help her figure sleep out. She is so close already, I don't think it will be super dramatic, but that's probably me just hoping. Ha! 

She is a little grabber! Wants to grab and touch and eat everything that comes within 2 feet of her. She pulled my soup down (thankfully only warm) on both of us the other day...I've had to keep my eyes open for things she could grab now. She is adorable! She does this little foot toe roll that I find delightful and so stinkin cute!!  

I can't believe how fast the time as gone!  I feel like somehow I missed when she was so small, but I was the one giving her food, caring for her, loving on her. It's just crazy!  We went to the doctors the other day and she is 16 lbs!  So I guess shes never been super small. ha! It's crazy because she has outgrown some of her 6 month clothing already! I'm hoping she says this size for a while because all of Avery's summer clothes are in size 6 month. 

Other updates: 
She just learned to officially roll this week!! 
She tasted bananas as her first real food last week and loved them! 
She loves to play with her teethers, the little rings and small figurines; she's drooling and putting everything in her mouth. 

Basically, we adore this little babe and cant imagine life without her!