One is Fun--Really!

One-year-olds are hard for me.
It is the age I dread--much more than two.
It is the time that they change so quickly from sweet little baby into willful toddler.

He's one now, and he screams a lot.
He hits and pushes.
He refuses to use his signs.
He's too busy to nurse much during the day so he does it more and more at night.
He throws tantrums where he bangs his head on the floor, throws things, and hits.
He makes messes and is always asking for things he can't have.
He is absolutely grumpy miserable with his molars coming in.

BUT

He leads the music whenever the clock chimes.
He dances joyfully to any kind of music.
He sings songs about "mama" and "dada".
He loves to play with any kind of a ball he can get his hands on.
He can even kick a ball or make a basket.
He coos with glee when he sees his daddy or big brothers.
He cheerfully says "Hi!" to everyone he sees.
He always nurses right to sleep so I'm never up for long.
He drives cars and plays with toy animals and makes the sounds.
He makes goofy faces at the table so we'll laugh at him.
He loves to be chased around the kitchen island.
He rides his little scooty car around the kitchen.
He gets up and down the stairs in no time.
He plays with Sarajoy.
He likes to unload the dishwasher.
He laps up rain puddles.
He gets into the kitchen towel drawer and dresses up in them.
He steals socks out of my sock drawer and runs for it, giggling.
He can say "tickle" and knows where his chubbies are.
He loves to read stories.
He brings me his shoes so I'll take him outside.
He colors with chalk, digs in the sand, gets excited about flowers, helps pull weeds, and loves birdies.
He sometimes lets me cuddle him and give him rockabyes, and he sings, "ba-ba-bye" while we rock.
He takes a nap at 10, a nap at 3, and goes to bed at 8:00 pretty regularly.
He goes to bed very nicely with a paci in his mouth and one to rub on his eye.
He signs "more" whenever he sees anybody eating anything or whenever he hears a wrapper.
He's pretty much the cutest little fella you've ever seen sooooo...

I think I'll survive.
I'm pretty glad I have a one-year-old.

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Good Timing

Our Van has filled the measure of its creation.
On April 20th, I shuttled 13 young men and women and one other mom to Ogden for the final Speech and Debate tournament of the year.
I had a wonderful visit with a wonderful friend all the way there.  She is a good listener, though I wish she would talk more because I sense she is a well of wisdom.
It was a privilege to get to be a judge for parts of the tournament.
I could have lived without judging impromptu as I'm not a huge fan of arguing.
But it was incredible to judge oratory. 
What amazing young people and what incredible things they chose to speak about!
It was true excellence. 
Some of these youth have only been in the class for a year and they are truly amazing!
It was a long day, however, and my head was throbbing when we left the event.
The van was slightly noisy...quieted only momentarily by ice cream cones on the way home.
We left at 6:30am and got home after 8:00pm
Quite a remarkable day!  I'm so thankful that Sullivan was happy at home with Dad and the other kids.
The timing all worked out as he mostly nurses every hour or two at night.

We had some other notable experiences that witnessed to us that God is in the details and His timing is just right:

The following Monday, I knew I needed to get groceries as it hadn't happened on Saturday like usual.  Nathan had an afternoon orthodontist appointment as well as a game.  When a neighbor stopped by with a nametag one of our cats had lost in her yard, it seemed right to stay out and visit with her for awhile.  My visiting teacher stopped by unexpectedly and we had another visit. By then the shopping trip was looking impossible.  But it was my only day to do it.  I had about an hour to drive to the store, drive home, unload groceries, and pick up Nathan.  The girls helped me go quickly at the store.  Ruby came in the house with me to make sure the perishables made it into the fridge.  The rest was dropped on the floor to be put away later.  We hurried back down to the school to pick up Nathan.  How surprised I was to see that we were headed into Spanish  Fork with just enough time to get him to his appointment!  I hadn't had time to think about what the rest of us would do for that hour and a half.  I decided to call a friend from our old ward and she just happened to have some free time for us to visit.  The kids were thrilled to spend time with old friends, and I loved the chance to catch up.  We met Dallin at the orthodontist and drove up to Highland for Nathan's game.  We dropped him off, tried to find a geocache, and headed to Grandma Millington's for dinner.  Grandma and Grandpa spoiled us with pizza and veggies, ice cream and cookies, and the usual fun in their basement and  yard.  Linda and I had a great visit while we crocheted little animals.  Kent and Dallin and Brandon went to the game.  We were so glad as we drove into town late that night that the grocery shopping was done!  We felt like the day went so well, and we were full of gratitude that a potentially hectic and stressful day was smooth and calm.

I found out a couple of days later that the pageant Daisy had been asked to participate in was a month earlier than I thought...and I only had a couple of days to come up with a dress.  I had really looked forward to making her something fancy, along the lines of Ruby's baptism dress.  Daisy's dress was purchased from the store on a great sale, and though very lovely, was not as fancy.  The mother of the neighbor who asked us to participate said she had some fabric I could look at.  I knew I only had 2 days, so I decided to give it a shot.  The fabric I found was some lavender curtains that were sheer.  Daisy has always loved purple, so I decided to go home and see what I could figure out.  The idea of putting together a whole dress was still pretty daunting.  As I looked at her baptism dress and Ruby's and some other dresses and the patterns, I got a great idea!  Instead of making a whole new dress, I made a pullover skirt for her baptism dress.  I made it in the style of Ruby's baptism dress.  The ideas flowed, and I hardly had to re-do or take out any stitches.  It was miraculous.  I had just enough white satin roses in my stash to accessorize it.  I made a purple flower to pin on the bodice to tie the dress and the new over-skirt together.  It was lovely, and finished in time to show it to the neighbors the night before the pageant.  In the middle of this project, I was asked by Brandon's Shakespeare teacher to help with some costumes.  She came over for a couple of hours and we had another similar session of inspiration and things working out just right.  We designed and finished Puck's costume and worked on several others.  Brandon's authentic peasant shirt, doublet, and fake boots were ready just in time for his dress rehearsal, and he looked awesome! 
It was tempting to be frustrated by having all of this to do with such short deadlines, but I soon realized that it is such a gift and a joy to be creative and helpful.  I do love to sew!

It was fun to get Daisy all dolled up and have a girls' night at the pageant.  We weren't super-impressed with the pageant, but it was fun to have Daisy escort Morgan on the stage.  We were impressed with Morgan and glad she gave Daisy the neat opportunity to appear in the pageant as her "Little Miss". 

Brandon's Shakespeare play was really fantastic!  He did a great job and the whole thing was just as fun and silly as A Midsummer Night's Dream should be. 

I am so grateful to have had all of these great things work out with such great timing!  So grateful for each little miracle!  We are in Good Hands, for sure.

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New Member

"You really said those words?  You really prayed for a Grandma??"

Spoken by my husband as I explained to him the miracle that seemed to be unfolding before us. 

Yes, I had prayed for a Grandma.   I've been praying for one almost daily for months.  I just figured there must be someone out there that really needs a family to be involved in, and I could really use another adult around the house.  So I was praying for some kind of win-win.  And even I had felt a little silly at times and wondered if it was okay to pray for that. 
(I couldn't help but picture Alice from the Brady Bunch...heavenly...)
But I was willing to settle for anyone who would be excited for some kids to love.

Dallin invited one of his return-missionary scouts for Sunday dinner.  As we asked him about his family, we could see that things were pretty bleak.  This was heartbreaking as Dallin had truly loved this young man and his brother through their adolescence and onto and through their missions.  They were adopted as toddlers by a single woman whose birth children were already grown.  We had loved this little family and the goodness they brought to our ward.  When he described his mom's current difficulty and depression from a recent divorce, I wondered if my prayer was answered.  I talked to Dallin about it that night and prayed some more about it and developed a bit of a plan.

You can imagine the doubts that surfaced from my plan.  I had no phone number or address, though I had been to her house once before.  I had only spoken to her briefly on a couple of occasions.  I had no idea what condition she would be in when I arrived, or how much coaxing I would need to do to get her to talk to me or let me try to help her.  I could have talked myself out of it a thousand times.  I wondered at myself as I cut flowers from our yard and put them in a vase for her.  I mustered my courage and hopped in my van, telling my kids I didn't really know when I would be back.  I drove around her neighborhood until I spotted her house and pulled into the driveway.  Deep breath.  It looked like the front door was opened, letting the cool spring air come in through the screen.  That was a good sign.

She was up and dressed and let me come right in.  She opened her heart to me and the conversation was comfortable and natural.  The story was sad--the health problems, the recent difficult marriage, the struggles of her children.  Her loneliness and expressions of feeling that her life was sort of pointless.  Then she looked at me and said, "I should be the one listening to someone's troubles.  I know service would help."  I told her I had a proposal to make:  I had been praying for a grandma.
"That's perfect!"  She said. 

When she came to visit a few days later, the kids were absolutely thrilled!  They ate up all the attention and the stories.  She shared so much with them, including her conversion story.  She bore such a sweet testimony to Daisy about feeling empty and having the Holy Spirit fill her up.  It was wonderful and the kids can't wait for her to come back. 

God answers prayers.

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