Arise from the dust!!

It's amazing the things you can learn from yourself - things I had forgotten that I had once learned.  I was reading my journal from a few months ago and it felt like I was learning this for the first time.  It was a thought I had while reading in the Book of Mormon in Moroni 10:31, particularly the part of the verse that says, "And awake and arise from the dust." 

Here is what I wrote (and re-learned today!)  "I think the dust is the world, the daily tasks that I prioritize too often, the getting it done rather than enjoying the process with my kids.  Awake and arise!  Get out of the dust!  It's an interesting mental picture to go from laying down in the dust (having it cover your whole body) to arising and standing up (having dust only touching the bottom of your feet).  There are still tasks and jobs that I need to do but my focus on these tasks compared to my focus on my kids should be like dust on my feet as opposed to dust covering my whole body." 

The most important thing to me is Paul and our kids yet I fill my day with things that aren't focused on them.  Yes it's good to clean the house but I can do that here and there rather than pushing through it all and not taking time to sit at the learning table with Kathryn or play on the ground with Nathan.  If I keep thinking, "Let me get this one thing done and then I'll play," I will run out of time to play.  It struck me when I was at the temple that my kids are getting older and I don't want to realize how precious they are only when they are gone.  Today I can start.  Today I can realize it.  Today I can sit and play.  I don't need to multi-task.  I don't need to always be doing something.  I want to learn to sit, to enjoy them.

Kathryn trying on Mom's new running shoes

Kathryn and Daddy shaving together

Nathan (Nay-Nay) in his bunny outfit

What happens at dinner when Little Guy misses a nap 

At least Strawberry Cakes is making progress with potty training

It's Nathan that really needs potty training.  Yes, that is what you think it is that he's sliding in. 

Reading time - I love this!!  And, Nathan is officially sitting up!!

I love when they can talk!

So, Kathryn got big all of a sudden!  I feel like I often hear people say, "Enjoy them while they're babies because once they can talk, they don't stop...  They're much nicer when they can't say anything...  You won't be able to get them to be quiet."  And on and on.  It makes me sad to hear that because of the JOY of hearing this little girl talk.  Motherhood is so joyful! To hear all the thoughts of a discovering 2 year old - what a privilege!!

Here are some of her latest and greatest:

Seeing a man with a tatoo on his arm...
Kathryn:  What's on his shoulder?
Mom: I don't know. What is it?
Kathryn:  Maybe ink.

The day after visiting our neighbors, Charley and Jeanie...
"Where is Charley and Samuel?"
Two days after...
"Where is Samuel and Jesus?"

Listening to the song, Skip to my Lou...
"It said darlin' like I am a darling."

Seeing a map of early church history sites...
"That's where we live in Stake Conference."

Holding her Book of Mormon closely...
"I'm going to keep it comfortable for the covenants.  So I keep it in my heart for the covenants."  (This was one of my favorites.  I love hearing her string words together that she has heard before and form them into some kind of thought.)

After what must have been a lesson in nursery...
"Nephi had an older brother named Zacchaeus and he went to nursery."

And I LOVE THIS ONE...
"I love this breakfast and I love you too!"

It is so great for me to remember what Kathryn says.  It is my kids themselves that bring me joy as a mom.  Yes, I need a break sometimes, and yes, it is nice when they go down for their naps, and yes, when I went to the hospital to have Nathan I was looking forward to a break from cooking :).  But even with these things being true, I find the greatest joy being right with my kids.  It is being with them and enjoying them that gives me the desire to give myself more as a mom.  And hearing them talk is so rewarding.  So, I think it gets better when they start to open their mouths, not worse.