Motherhood

I was reflecting on Motherhood this afternoon.  I woke up this morning to one of my sons bringing me a chocolate chip cookie that we made the day before on a plate with a cup of water.  It was really sweet, he is always so thoughtful and he wanted to make the day extra special.

My children

  My husband was still at work from the day before.  He started his shift at 6 or 7 am Saturday morning and was scheduled for a 24 hour shift at the hospital in Labor and Delivery.  When he works these types of shifts, it really isn't a 24 hour shift, but more like a 27 hour shift.  The hours that residents works are crazy, but that's a whole other topic.  He emailed me and sent me a sweet text wishing me Happy Mother's Day.  And he was so thoughtful to buy me airline gift certificates so I could visit my sisters and schedule a fun trip with them since I live a couple states away from them.  This was totally unexpected because I have only been on an airplane one other time in the past 30 years.  Crazy, huh?
So I got out of bed and made my daughter's favorite bread, banana bread, with her.  Which ended up being a baking session with all of my daughters, and I absolutely love it!  Then I taught one of my sons how to make meatloaf.  He made it entirely by himself.  He was so excited to eat it for dinner.  

How people see my boys

  The day went on.  I opened hand made gifts from my children.  Gifts like bookmarks, homemade soap, coasters, cards, coupons to do chores without complaining.  (I love everyone of them!)  I got ready for church as one son cut various fruits to put in drinking water for the women at church and another son washed and wrapped baked potatoes in foil for dinner.  I taught one son how to tie a tie as he got ready for church.  He was so excited that he did it all by himself!
My husband came home...exhausted.  He said good morning to everyone and then went to bed.

How I see my boys

We all finished getting ready for church and hopped in my van.  We arrived early...yeah!  And I listened to my son give a talk...as I wrestled, and I mean wrestle, a couple of kids trying to get them to sit still and be quiet. (Talk are similar to a mini sermon that the youth in our church prepare and give to the congregation.)  He did an amazing job!  If fact, he made me cry from all the sweet words he said.  And let me tell you, it wasn't a pretty cry.  It was a pretty ugly cry.  And it didn't help the situation when my 3 year old daughter kept asking "Mom, why are you crying?" over and over again.  And I couldn't answer her...because I was crying too hard.
So after all that, I just sat there and reflected on Motherhood.  Isn't it amazing!?  It's hard work...really, really hard work.  It's exhausting and tiring and exhausting all over again.  We shed tears of joy, sadness, frustration, and sometimes tears and we don't even know why. We cook and clean and wipe faces and walls and windows.  We survive on little to no sleep.  We laugh and love, we give hugs and get hugs.  We smile when they accomplish something big, we smile when they accomplish something little.  We rejoice in the good that we see in them.  Isn't Motherhood great!  It's a noble and wonderful thing!  As hard as it may be, as demanding as it may seem, the rewards are immeasurable.
Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful Moms! 
#itwasmom
 

Homemade Baby Wipes

As many of you know, I just had a baby a little over 2 weeks ago.  The thing that I am doing different with this baby is CLOTH DIAPERS!  I was a little hesitant about it, but to my surprise...  I LOVE IT!  They are super easy and I do not have nearly the amount of accidents that I did with disposables.  I figured that if I am washing diapers, I might as well wash some wipes to.  So I decided to make my own wipes because it is SO much cheaper.

These are SO easy to make.  I had some left over flannel, so I cut them up in 8in x 8in.  Then you just to a hem stitch around the edges so they don't fray.  The 8x8 fits perfectly in the wipes container.  

If you are looking for wipe solution, there are many homemade recipes you can use. Click HERE to see a bunch of recipes. Now, I just need to convince the rest of my sisters to change over to cloth diapers!

Real Life - Scriptures

Every day I try my best to read my Scriptures, I'm not perfect by any means, but I try my best.  A few months ago, I accepted a challenge to read the Book of Mormon in 40 days.  This meant that I had to read about 30 minutes everyday.  I did this challenge while my boys were in school.  So I decided that I would read after they left for the day (when it was quiet) which means that I have my two little girls with me that are ages 1 and 3.  If my one year old was awake, I would give her a bottle and hold her while I read.  

I started noticing that my 3 year old would sit on the other couch quietly and pick up the smallest Book of Mormon that she could find and start to "read".  She always would make sure that she had a baby on her lap as well.  

I started thinking about this and just had to smile because that is probably exactly what I look like to her: a quiet baby in my lap while I read from my scriptures.  

Isn't the influence of a Mother so important to children?  Our children are watching us every minute of everyday and they take what they see and it becomes a part of who they are.  What a tremendous responsibility!  It is a bit over whelming, scary, exciting and such an honor!  Wow!  Words can't even describe the role of a Mother!

I am inspired by so many wonderful women.  Whether I see you on the street, at school, shopping, in church, family, friends and even through blogging.  Whether you have little children, teenaged children, grown children, or no children at all.  You all have so many wonderful qualities and are truly examples to those you meet.  I wanted to thank you all for the examples that you have set.  You are truly inspiring!