Archive for category: Mothering

We had our ultrasound today at 21 weeks. I was so anxious all day waiting until the 2:00 appointment time. I couldn’t do anything productive. Most of all we were so glad to find everything seems as healthy as possible with our baby. Second of all, we were thrilled with this news:

The odds were completely against us (knowing that the Smiths have lots of boys in the extended fam. Jimmy has 9 boys and 3 girlies in his family. None of his siblings have more than one girl.) I kept feeling like our baby was a girl, but wondered if it was hopeful thinking.

Hannah was completely elated at the news. Her message to family, “We have some VERY exciting news… we’re having a GIRL!!”. The day I told her a little sister 9 years younger would look up to her and want to be just like her, Hannah got stars in her eyes and couldn’t stop smiling.  Let’s hope she’s still smiling when she’s 16 and sharing a room with a 7 year old.

Abe – not so excited. His message to family, “We are having a baby. Today we found out it is a girl. I am so mad. Ok, bye.” After I told him that I thought he would love our baby girl the most and help keep her safe and be a protective big brother, he seemed a little softened.

Max is at a funny stage and will only call babies, “Babies”… they aren’t girls or boys… just “Babies.” We’re trying to convince him that the baby in mom’s tummy is a Girl Baby. We’ll see how that sits with him. Truman – eh – he’s clueless at this point.

Jimmy – he said he was truly surprised. Grandma Smith said it was a MIRACLE. Grandma Price cried with JOY for all of us.  As for me… I didn’t even cry (another miracle)… but I smiled… really big. We’ll be excited to meet our newest family member in 18 weeks (wow – that sounds like a long time!).

I came across this photo from April 2010. I never posted it because I kept hoping that I’d slim down and I could forget that I (once?) had chubs. Well… I’m still in the same state but with a rounder belly full of baby. But… I read once that it’s good to have photos of yourself with your kids no matter how much you dislike what you look like. Your kids will remember you as you were anyways. Anyhoo… this photo and memory made me smile.

You may not be able to tell but Hannah and I were the only ones excited about this idea. Max was refusing to hold hands. Abe was trying to figure out what he was supposed to do. I was laughing because it was soooo not a sing-song lovely moment like the statue portrays. Such is the reality of mothering…

One thing I love about my life is that there is JOY sprinkled throughout. Sometimes I forget to see it. I’m too busy rushing through the day… or too frustrated about something with another tot. But when I take time to play with Tru, his laugh and smile remind me that JOY comes in moments. Snuggles and smiles and apologies from Max remind me that 3-year-olds have tender hearts too. Abe saying, “sooo… you’re not having the best day?” makes me laugh inside (even though I’m still outwardly frustrated at a situation). Hannah’s constant help and cheer bring JOY to us all. Walking into the house from errands with the laundry started and the smell of popcorn in the air reminds me that I am so blessed to have a helpful and willing husband.

Being pregnant and mostly out of our normal routine for the past 2 months has been hard on everyone… but there has been some good come out of it. Instead of me trying to rush about getting stuff cleaned or working on the computer while the boys watched a movie or played, we spent time together playing in the playroom. We’ve read way more books than ever. We’ve built lots of tall, tall, tall towers and castles with legos. Yes, I was throwing cereal on the couch for Tru to snack on for breakfast, but overall… it has been good for me to slow down and just BE with my kids.

The house isn’t as tidy and other chores go undone or get delayed, but I’m realizing that it’s more important right now to take time for my little ones. Perhaps this is part of what Heavenly Father needed me to do… He knows what we need more than we do, eh? He sends us life situations to teach us things that we are too stubborn to learn on our own. Hard to remember sometimes when I get frustrated that so many mothering/homemaking efforts go unnoticed or fail. But even though some days are really discouraging, I love when a SPRINKLE of JOY comes to me… and I actually recognize it.

Anyhoo… I’m grateful that Heavenly Father sends JOY to this mother.  I may not always act like a joyful mother, but my family brings me JOY.  Even though I have crazy ups and many downs, I really can say that I love my beautiful, ordinary life… for I am blessed.

p.s.  my love, Jimmy, had the delightful experience of gathering groceries at Walmart on Saturday night.  Generally he sticks to the list.  But tonight, he came home with potato chips, oreos, twizzlers, and lots o’ hot chocolate packets.  Mostly it was just funny because it’s not like him to do that.  Tonight I might have come home with Milano’s if I was doing the shopping.

p.s. Do you think it means I’m old when I need one of these to keep track of medications and vitamins? I mean – I’m almost 35. I seriously can’t remember 5 minutes after I’ve taken something. The one Jimmy bought for me (see above shopping trip)… was recommended by the arthritis society for easy open. Now I might actually remember to take all my vitamins. They should make these containers with alarms though too so I can take them on time.

p.s. Tru and Max seemed to pull a Freaky-Friday swap on us this afternoon. Tru started climbing all over the place and going down the slide. And Max got a glassy look in his eye and laid down on the couch with his juice. I’m glad Tru is on the mend … and am hopeful that Max only has a slight cold instead of the croup that it sounds like. ay-ay-ay.

p.s. the lights went out at the American Fork Temple today. Of course, nobody panicked. Work went on as usual. Love those smiley temple workers. Also… admire the courage of Adam and Eve. I highly doubt Eve was a whiney wife. Imagine going from living in the Garden of Eden… to the lone and dreary world… which I imagine would give any of us a fright. She was the first mother… and had to figure all that birthing and parenting stuff out without a mother to learn from. COURAGE! Love that example.

p.s. Remember when I had a soft coral colored shirt from Banana Republic… like back in high school. It was my favorite ever! I loved the color and it was so soft. Anyhoo… when I was in need of a new purse (p.s. several day old milk leaking from a sippy cup in a purse still stinks even after 3 washings)… I found the same style for half the price and it happened to be the awesome coral color of the banana republic shirt from days past. Fun for summer – eh. I love this purse because it holds water bottle or sippy cup on the outside side pockets (just remember to remove them same day)

p.s. we got barstools this week. yay! My friend moved and mentioned on her bloggie that their barstools were for sale. We snagged them quickly and got 3 nice sturdy ones for $60. I put the kids to work scrubbing them for Saturday Chores and they are really great. I only took a photo of the before… and I’m not posting the goobs on this blog. Excited about barstools!

p.s. I guess Max got a hold of the camera this week. I just downloaded the images and I saw this one of our computer screen. I do like this photo of our fam.

p.s. Hannah came home from school the other day with this hairdo that she had done herself. She looked like a cute little Scandinavian girlie.