Happy Mother's Day

Me sharing my yummy brownie heart with my favorite boys, Sam and Conner

Breakfast in Bed

Sweet Mother's Day video made by my sweetie

I can’t believe I’ve been a mother for 4 ½ years already. I can hardly remember my life before kids and before Neil at that. It feels like I’ve been a mother forever but that is our divine calling so in reality it’s true. The other day I was pondering over my life and the many things that have happened, good and bad and how I could have never planned it out better. I remember when I decided to go to Romania. I had planned for years to serve a mission and since it was a righteous desire felt like I would go. When I turned 21 I remember my dad asking me, “Have you prayed about it?” Actually I hadn’t so I did and when I did I realized I was not supposed to go. It was devastating. I wanted to go so bad and felt that it would help me grow so much as a person, especially with my shyness, and spiritually. I just couldn’t see any better way to grow closer to the Lord than to serve Him for 1 1/2 years. I got pretty depressed as I watched 2 of my best friends leave on missions. The Lord definitely had a different plan for me. My friend Connie called me one day all excited about an internship opportunity in Romania she heard about. She knew how much I loved Russia and wanted to go there so told me all about it. I researched it out and prayed about it and decided to apply. Before this time I had had not much exposure to children. I had never babysat before and was very uncomfortable around them. I didn’t hold babies, didn’t know what to do with them so when I told people I was applying the first response was, “but you don’t even like kids!” It’s not that I didn’t like them, I just never had an opportunity growing up to be around them much. It was a fear of mine having kids before this. I always wanted at least 4 kids but wasn’t sure if I’d be able to care for them. The Lord knew this and he sent me to Romania which was one of the most wonderful experiences I could have asked for. I was assigned to take care of 10 babies daily for 6 hours. They had no parents, no one cared what I did with them or was watching me. I learned to love and care for these babies and love them like they were my own. All of them had emotional and physical disorders and it was amazing to see their progression in just 4 months once they had their emotional needs met. My little Diana was my love and I wanted to adopt her so bad and even asked my parents to. She was 18 months old and could not sit up, crawl, talk or smile. She was my little miracle and I was totally drawn to her. By the end of my 4 months she could do all of the above and would just start beaming when I walked into the room. It melted my heart. If I would have went on a mission, which I would have grown tremendously from in many areas, I would not have been prepared to be a mother as I am because I went to Romania. After that experience, I never wondered how I would take care of my children because I was able to overcome my fears and weaknesses on someone else’s children. I can’t wait until the day when I am able to meet Diana on the other side and all of the children I was able to serve. I love my little boys so much and they are such good little boys and I thank the Lord for preparing me so well for this diving calling. It’s amazing what He can make out of us.
My honey never ceases to amaze me. I love flowers but hate spending money on something that will only last a couple days. I’d rather have something a little more meaningful and Neil didn’t let me down. He had a sleepover with the boys downstairs so no one would come in our bed and wake me up. I slept in until 7 but didn’t get out of bed until 7:20. I then took an extra long hot shower and when I got out the boys brought up my breakfast and 2 beautiful hanging baskets of flowers and pictures they had drawn. The flowers should last until fall, that’s if I don’t kill them. For breakfast, Neil made pancakes and eggs and cinnamon rolls, but being as he knows me too well also made a huge brownie heart. Really that’s what my heart desires for breakfast so it was awesome. While we ate we watched a picture slideshow Neil made of my 4 ½ years of being a mother, which was so sweet. The song is from a cd we bought while on our honeymoon in the Bahamas. We bought the cd b/c it was playing in a booth and we loved the sound and beat and were delighted to find the “Love Your Momma” song when we listened to it back at home. Neil plays it all the time and it’s the boys theme song. I love being a mother!