A Moving Target

I've been thinking about why I've been so non-bloggy lately. It's not really that I'm so busy doing this or that. I mean, I am busy - but not much more than usual. And it's not that nothing is happening - Sammy is practically changing every day, the kids have lots of end of year stuff happening. What I think it really comes down to is this: I'm having to work harder than usual to keep my head above water. After my recent...shall we say, emotional meltdown... I've been working very hard to be positive and happy and hopeful and faithful and loving. And I think at other times in my life those things have just come naturally to me and not taken so much work. And I'm not really even sure what exactly I'm doing that I would call "working" on those things. I just know it's taking more effort than usual. My mantra lately has been, "Faith, Hope and Love". And I've really tried to focus on each one of those.
I don't mean this to sound at all negative. Yes, I've been having to work harder at happiness, but the end result is still happiness. It really is a moving target.

Purple

This is some of the loot that Richard brought back with him today from Brazil. He also brought back some fabulous Portuguese picture books that will help us all learn some basic Portuguese. He had a great time visiting people and places from his mission, eating foods he has missed, speaking at a conference - in Portuguese, and teaching a class.
But my question for you is, do you think my husband knows my favorite color?

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Smile!

Guess who has one tiny tooth poking through today? Coincidentally, the same fellow has been rather grumpy all day.

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An Anniversary To Forget

I am terribly behind on my blogging - I still need to do Mother's Day and Isaiah's birthday - but I have to jump in to post this today.

This weekend marks the one year anniversary of me going on bed rest. A year ago I did Mother's Day and then Isaiah's birthday and the next weekend on Friday night Richard and I went to a gym and joined. It was in the gym's bathroom that I first noticed a little blood. Late that night is when Ruth came over and we went to the hospital. And they sent us home. And Saturday morning I woke up, started blogging and then passed out. So back to the hospital I went. And there I stayed for five days. Up-side-down. Today, Sunday, is when my whole family was fasting for me and "baby" - and Richard and I decided on the name Samuel. We didn't know then if we would ever gaze into our baby's face and call him that, or if it would just be the name we engraved on his tiny headstone.

And thus began the hardest four months of my life.

Of course, these awful memories that come flooding back every time I let them also have a happy side. Because right now, beside me, sits the most fabulously perfect little blessing ever - my Sammy. I will never be able to put into words how thankful I am that Heavenly Father listened to my oft-repeated pleas (and the pleas of my family and friends) and let me "keep" Samuel to raise here on Earth.

I am very much looking forward to spending this Summer outside and running around with my kids. I want to do all the things that we had planned for last Summer but couldn't do - and more! But, given the choice again, I'd lay down on that couch again and stay there for four months again if that's what I had to do to keep my baby. That's what a mother's love is.

Isaiah Turns 4

Isaiah had a "Bouncy Birthday". New bouncy balls made appearances throughout the day but the big event was "the bounce house place" (also known, to the rest of the world, as Loudoun Bounce).
Even Sammy got in on the action!




We went to "the bounce house place" in the afternoon, so we came straight home for presents, dinner, and cake. The big "hit" present was Grandma Ashurst's floor puzzles.
The cake was, of course, a bouncy ball.
But the most important part of the day was that Isaiah had a great time and felt very special and loved.

Dresses

Today I'm getting ready for a fun activity for our Young Women. We're having the activity at my house so I'm cleaning, baking, putting away and fetching. I'm also answering the door to receive delivery after delivery of fancy ball gowns.

It's Prom season around here and a few weeks back one our Young Women asked me if I knew of anyone she could borrow a dress from for Prom. It just so happens that I did have several ideas for her and she did find a dress to borrow from a member of the ward. But that got me thinking that there should be a better way to borrow modest dresses. Modest Prom dresses are hard to find in stores, but most of us have one or two in our closet. I thought of creating some kind of swap website, but I don't actually know how to create a website. But you know what I do know how to do? Blog! So I set up a blog for our Young Women. Each blog post will be of one dress with details and pictures and size and who they can borrow that dress from. That way, when our girls need a dress they can just go to the blog, decide which one they'd like to borrow, then call the member who it belongs to and arrange from there. Isn't that genius? I mean, I hate to toot my own horn (kinda) but I really wish there had been something like this when I was growing up! (If you're interested, you can see the blog for yourself here.)

So anyway, tonight is our kick-off for this website. We've borrowed several of the dresses that will be on the blog and we're going to basically play dress-up with the girls while we talk about how to make modest choices. It should be really fun.

...Sometimes I wonder if I get more excited about these activities than the girls do...