Sleepytime

Lily looked so cute in her ballerina jammies that I had to snap some photos before she went to bed tonight. Here she is saying goodnight to Jesus.

And singing Old MacDonald with Mommy. This is the cow verse...she was saying Moo Moo.

She wanted to climb the stairs to her room all by herself. Then she turned around and gave me this cute face. She looks so much like Daddy in this picture.

By the time we made it to her room, she didn't like the camera anymore. Here is her "I'm tired, I'm grumpy, let me sleep!" face.

And so we let the princess go to bed. Goodnight!

Smile for the Camera!

When I ask Lily to smile for me - this is what I get. She doesn't like the flash so she squints her eyes. I love this picture because it shows all her teeth. Say cheese!

Gramma and Grampa

Hi! This is Lily. Grandma and Grandpa invited me over for dinner. They let the slaves who take care of me come too. As you can see in this picture Grandma looks good but my slave didn't get my best side. Oh well, good help is so hard to find.
Here I am with Grandpa. We were having fun playing with Molly the Dolly and some rings. At least the shot shows my new teeth.

Our Savior's Love

The following post was sent to me via email by a friend. It touched me and made me so thankful for the role of the Savior in my life. I decided to share my friend of a friend's story and add some images of Christ. As a mother, I am seeing and feeling the love of God so much more in everyday ways. I am beginning to understand how my Father in Heaven and His Son Jesus Christ must feel for me....and all of us.
" Lucy burned her finger yesterday and I was reminded of our Father's love.

I was sewing- which meant the iron was out, and on. She was sleeping for most of it, but woke up just as I was finishing up. She loves to inspect my stuff and can't do anything else if I have new unusual things out.

I told her (as I have many times before) not to touch the sewing machine or the iron. I said "they could hurt you, make sure not to touch them". She said OK and went on investigating.

When my back was turned, I heard the small yelp and turned to see Lucy running away from me and the iron. She quickly grabbed her blanket as she whimpered and wrapped her finger in her blanket. She sat down in the corner and began, with great 3 year old effort, to fight her tears of pain.

I quickly went over to her, knelt down and said "what happened?"
“NOTHING!” she yelled- but her bottom lip is protruding so far that it brought tears to my eyes.
"Did you touch the iron?"
"No, I didn't... she says with her eyes brimming with tears (serious control for a 3 year old)
"Lucy", I say "I'm not mad at you... I want to help you; did you touch the iron?"
"Yes!" she says and breaks down in sobs as I rush her to the bathroom and begin caring for the pea sized burn on her left thumb.

" Over the next four hours, we took constant care of her thumb, which was blistered badly and continuing to cause her pain. We used ice and water and cold cloths and cold breath. We gave lots of hugs as we talked about how sometimes mommies and daddies have to tell their little girls things that they shouldn't do, not because they are mad, but to help them to not get hurt.

Truly, as this incident was happening, I felt like I was being taught about the process of repentance and the beauty of forgiveness.

When I saw that initial look in Lucy's eyes, where she ran and hid after touching the iron because she didn't want me to know, I thought about how often we suffer shamefully the consequences of disobedience. Often we turn our backs on Heavenly Father possibly feeling ashamed to have disobeyed or maybe fearing His anger will hurt too much. We think the Lord is angry with us or ashamed of us, but He is not. I know He is not, because when Lucy touched the iron, all I felt, as her loving parent, was sadness for her pain - for the pain she had to suffer as a result of disobeying. I needed to wrap my arms around her and comfort her because I was hurting for her, how badly would it have hurt us both if she hadn't let me?

For Lucy's pain to stop, or for her to deal with it- she needed someone who knew what to do to heal a burn. She needed someone who had been burned before.

"She would have had no idea where to turn or what to do. She didn't know that cold water and ice eased the pain, or that comfort at least lightened the load during the part where the pain wouldn't stop.

So it is with the Savior. He warns us against certain things... not because he will be angry with us if we do them, but because he wants to help us avoid the PAIN of disobedience which we HAVE to experience when we disobey. He firmly tells us to be obedient, because justice must take its course and... justice hurts.

I couldn't erase the pain completely from Lucy's thumb, she had to sit and suffer with it - but just like the Lord can, I could help her sort through the pain and deal with it step by step. At least I ease the hurt by being by her side.

It is interesting to be the Mother and love someone so much and hurt so badly as you watch them suffer the consequences of their own actions. As I experience this, it teaches me that my Father in Heaven truly loves me and sees me the way I see my beautiful, progressing, inexperienced 3 year-old. In my eyes, she is perfect in every way, and with a little guidance, she can reach her full potential.

He lovingly warns me not to 'touch the iron', but when I do touch the iron- if I am open and honest and repentant, he wraps his arms around me, shows me what to do to heal my burn and comforts me as I suffer the pain.

If I hide and I am ashamed and I deny touching the iron altogether, then it hurts us both and I suffer on my own without the instruction, the comfort, the companionship and the forgiveness.

I remember, before my girls were born, sitting in the BYU library for any number of hours studying the gospel. I sat in lectures of every kind on every gospel topic, attended Relief Society, Gospel Doctrine, Family Home Evening etc. with uninterrupted study of the Gospel. Now, as a busy... and happy... Mother of 2, I desperately crave that solace.

" I am learning as time goes on, however, that that time was to prepare me for this time and that when I do my best and ask in prayer to be edified, even through the busyness, the Lord teaches me what he wants me to know - when I listen.

As I do the dishes again, and again and again- I am reminded of the peace that is found through sacrificing for others. As I read Book of Mormon picture books, I rededicate myself to be like Alma- whose knowledge of Christ was the driving force of everything he did in his entire life. As I am, again, teaching my girls something I think they should already have mastered because of the hundreds of times we have been through it, I am firmly reminded of the patience my Father in Heaven has for me with the things I have been taught over and over again.

Or as I spend my evenings healing burnt thumbs of disobedient, but wonderful children, I realize that I would be nothing without the Atonement of Christ. "

I couldn't have said it any better. May you feel the tender mercies of the Lord poured out upon you in your lives!

11 Months!

I can't believe we're at 11 months already. In only a few short weeks Lily will be one year old. Everyone has told me how quickly this time passes, and I really did believe them, it just passes even more quickly than I would prefer. Lily is so busy now. She's into everything! Here are some of her best busy moments from the past week....

Chasing the cat into the bathroom. Poor Daisy could only escape Lily's eager reach by jumping up on the counter. Lily soon forgot about the cat after she pinched her fingers in the drawer. Speaking of drawers....

Drawers are Lily's latest obsession. She opens every drawer she can and promptly empties the drawer of its contents. So helpful! On this day, she decided to make just enough room in the drawer to fit herself. Something tells me I won't be taking pictures of this when she's five.

And here's the princess "feeding" herself. Mommy stepped away from the high chair to scold the dog and Lily took matters into her own hands...and mouth...and hair! Notice the same pajamas in the above three photos. Lily was very busy that day.

After drawers, the next thing that captures Lily's attention the most is dog food. She is constantly trying to eat it, play with it, serve it to the dog, put it in her toys...you name it. If Mommy forgets to put up the dog food before Lily is out of bed, this is what happens. What you can't see from the photo is that Lily's cheeks are filled with dog food.

She can stand up on her own now. It doesn't last long. She gets excited that she did it, claps for herself and falls over backwards. Then she cries and goes back to crawling. She prefers to run along the furniture, hold our hands, or hold onto the dog and walk with her. We think she'll be walking very soon.

Other 11 month happenings:

• she can say uh-oh, no, da da, daddy (which is really doggie), ma ma, ba ba (bottle), and hi!
• she can also say a word that sounds like a swear word that starts with 's' and ends with 't'....we're so proud!
• she can wave hello and goodbye
• she loves to turn the pages of her books by herself
• she loves to sing and dance to music
• favorite song is "Put a Ring on It/All the Single Ladies" by Beyonce
• favorite food is vanilla yogurt
• favorite activity is climbing the stairs
• things she can't sleep without: her pacifier and her stuffed monkey
  

She is always falling and bonking into things now. It is so sad to see her cry and get frustrated as she's learning to walk and negotiate her surroundings. In general she is such a happy baby - always glad to meet new people and interact with others. If only she could stay a baby just a bit longer.

While Mommy is Teaching Piano.....

Lily gave herself red whiskers with a colored pencil while I was teaching piano today. She is so busy now and we have the pictures to prove it.

Bedtime Routine

We've started giving Lily a bath just before bed to help her wind down. She really needed a bath after dinner tonight. Look at that mucky face.

I put bubbles in the water for the first time. She got a kick out of them. She kept trying to eat them off the surface of the water.

Doesn't she look so relaxed and ready for bed? NOT! We put her in jammies and then she wrestled with Daddy on our bed for a while. I love the look of delight on her face. She loves to play with Daddy.