catching up

Wow I can't believe it has already been over a month since my last post. I am finding it hard to accomplish some of the basic things like getting the laundry folded and put away or dinner cooked, so it has been difficult to find time to blog. I think it will continue in the summer since I want to spend time doing the fun summer stuff outdoors that the kids enjoy and the condition of my house and the blogging will have to pay the price. Here are some things we have been up to lately.

At the beginning of May we blessed Kiera. Dani and Tom were in town for Tom's graduation so we wanted to make sure we did it while they were here. Kate was sick and my house was too small to accomodate everyone, so the stress got to me more that I wanted to let it get to me. There were four baby blessings that day and it was fun to share the occasion with those families. I am grateful for all the support of the family and especially grateful for Kiera and the whole reason for the special occasion.

Another reason for added stress and fatigue is that my husband has been working most evenings and Saturdays trying to finish our basement. I don't get much of a break since after the long days with the kids and I finally get them to bed Kiera wants to resume nursing until close to midnight. I am pretty exhausted, but I think things are going to start getting better. Kiera went to bed at 10pm the last two nights and she only woke up twice.

Mother's Day we spent with my family and it was nice to just hang out in the beautiful weather.

Eli bought me some flowers to plant between our bolders which was nice. I think Mother's day and many other holidays tend to get a little too extravagant, so we don't do a lot of gifts for each other. I think it is nice to have homemade things or service oriented gifts especially for mothers day, but the flowers were a nice surprise.
I heard some quotes from a YW lesson that really stuck with me about the importance of the role of mothers.

"Motherhood is near to divinity. It is the highest holiest service to be assumed by a woman." David O. Mckay

"We have made covenants. We made them before we accepted our position here on earth. . . We committed ourselves to our Heavenly Father, that if He would send us to the earth and give us bodies and give to us the priceless opportunities that earth life afforded, we would keep our lives clean and would marry in the holy temple and would rear a family and teach them righteousness. This was a solemn oath, a solemn promise" Spencer W. Kimball

Since I heard those words I have been pondering them a great deal. What a sacred experience that must have been to make those covenants, those solemn promises. I know that this statement is true because the spirit testified to me that I was there making those promises before this life. I have a great resposibility as do all fathers and mothers and I need to work harder to fulfill those promises and not let the things of the world like stress and fatigue distract me from those solemn promises I made.

Last week we were able to go see my cousin Shannon who lived with us as our foster daughter for a year graduate from high school. We are so proud of her for overcoming so many obstacles in her personal life besides just the usual stress and hardships that come with being a teenager. she will be attending college this fall and is considering studying criminal justice or software engineering. Way to go Shannon!

Kiera has grown quite a bit this last month and is now over 10lbs. She is average on all her measurements and has been smiling a cooing for weeks now. I haven't been successful at catching her smiles, but I love this picture that shows how she puts up with all the love and attention from her siblings.

I have much more blogging to do before I can catch up on the last month and hopefully I can get back to regular postings. I plan on taking it pretty easy in June and I am looking forward to just relaxing since I know July will be very busy again.