First day of school

I dropped Michael off at kindergarten this morning. And YES it was that bad!!! I was a wreck, a composed wreck, but a wreck all the same. Yesterday we went and bought him a backpack and when I asked him if he wanted a new shirt for his first day his response made me think "this is definitely my child" I thought for sure he would want something like that so I asked him when we got to the store, and he said no, that he had enough shirts. So we went back to get him a backpack and I asked him again, I got the same response. As we were checking out I told him again that it might be fun to have a new shirt for his first day. He stopped in his tracks turned to me and said "Mom, I have told you three times, I don't need a new shirt, Tanner (his cousin) just gave me some shirts, I am good" I started laughing and we checked out and left. Then last night I had him practice writing his name so he would not have any trouble today. We sat at the table and I wrote his name at the top of a page and told him to copy it four times. He did it no problem, so I folded the paper over and asked him to write it on his own, without looking. He got really upset and said he did not think he could do it. He has been writing his name for a year, I had only written it for him because we have taken a few weeks off before school started and I thought he might need a refresher,  so I told him not to be silly of course he could do it he had done it a hundred time before. I told him to stop crying and at least try it. And to call me if he thought he needed more help. So I went down and changed the laundry over. When I came back up he had written his first name and was asking me how to spell our last name. I told him to sound it out and he wrote the "sh" just fine while I was getting dinner ready. Then I said sound it out what comes next. He said "o" I turned around to watch him do it and I saw what his problem was. HE HAD COVERED HIS EYES!!!! When I told him not to look I was not thinking at all. Poor guy, I let him know he needed to look at the paper and I did not mean it the way he took it. I was sorry! I know better than that! So funny though. He is seriously the best kid ever, and that is for real how he is "obedient to a fault" I love him so so much!!

This is the first day of school pose he chose to do!! We have two trees in our front yard and this one he has claimed as his. Ora has the other one the one with the better background for pictures, no nasty street to give away just how ghetto out house is in the background. But still, I thought this was super cute!!

Outside the kindergarten playground

He walked right up to the kids and starting playing. No problem!!

Happiness

I have been thinking about this for a while now, why do people think that they deserve to be happy, like it is something you should just be. I have a hard time understanding this. I always figured being happy was something you WORKED at, not something you are entitled to. But, it seems there are allot of people out there that believe differently so I was wondering what you all think.

I will tell you why I feel the way I do. First off I believe it is a commandment to be happy, not a blessing. Yes, you can be blessed with happy things in your life. But I don't think our Father in Heaven is just going to make us happy, in fact, I will say it again, I think he has commanded us to be happy. Here's why.

Proverbs 29:18 ... but, he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

James 5:11 (he is speaking about having patience, suffering through our trials, not holding grudges.. "Behold we count them happy which endure." Then he talks about Job and the tender mercy of the Lord. 

Mosiah 2:41  "Happy is the state of them that keep the commandments."

But, none can compare to the story we learn from Ammon who after being separated from Alma and his other brethren for a time, comes to find him again, while leading the people of Anti-Nephi Lehi. And we learn that he was so full of joy that he falls to earth from the exhaustion that comes upon him (we call these book of mormon moments at my house)

Alma 27:18 "Now was not this exceeding joy? Behold, this joy which NONE receiveth SAVE IT BE the truly penitent and humble SEEKER OF HAPPINESS."

We do not learn that God granted him happiness, or that he had found happiness and joy from finding himself. NO it is only after he went and served. Gave up part of his life, became a disciple of Christ and then, while freeing other people from destruction,  comes to find his brother along the way. He not only has FOUND happiness but Joy!! Ammon is one of my favorites he teaches us so much. He goes out and becomes what the Lord wants him to be. And is happy to do it!! Then he is blessed with the joy that comes from the Lord. 

I think we can get so tied up in being our human selves that we forget our lives belong to our Heavenly Father. Our choices belong to us. We have been given things in our lives that are hard, I will not try to down play any persons suffering. But, I do believe that we will be judged based on how we react to the things that happen to us in this life. I am a girl who when I feel frustrated I let my Father in Heaven know it. Winston Churchill and I have this in common he said " I am prepared for the day I will meet my maker, whether my maker is prepared for the grand ordeal of meeting me I do not know." I am not sure why we are sent to suffer such things as, miscarriages  in healthy women and drug addicted babied in others. Or children dying in such awful ways. There are things in this life I will never understand. And even more things I Never want to. But, I do know this. My Heavenly Father expects me to find happiness in the peace that comes from the all encompassing love of my Savior Jesus Christ. It is only he who can help me find True and lasting Joy. The Joy that come only AFTER I have figured out how to happy through all the misery that being a human being in this world brings. 

I will end on this note, I believe the fathers of our Nation put it best when they wrote  "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. "

Think about it and tell me what you think. Is happiness a blessing or a commandment?

8 Months

How time flies, when your having fun. And boy oh boy have I had fun with her. I love this picture because you can see the hints of RED in her hair. And her blue, blue eyes. She really has been such a fun baby. When I had Michael I was so stressed out I don't think I fully appreciated what I had. Then Ora came and I was so taken by surprise that I was not fully prepared for her. But we made it and I think I took to motherhood relatively well. But, Michael and Ora both HATED being babies they screamed till they could walk. We then had Jordan who is so full of life and so so so so good at getting into trouble. But, still going from 2 to 3 kids was not as hard as I had heard it would be. Then came Abigail. My perfect little angel baby who is so content and happy all of the time. And I thought for a while there that I would DIE!! I was so overwhelmed all day and so frustrated when Jordan (who for all intensive purposes is still a baby himself) would climb the walls and throw baseballs at Abby's head (When she was 2 days old) that I really did feel like I was drowning all day long. And then at night I would just hold her and rock her and everything would just melt away  I don't know what would have happened if I had gotten another HARD baby, I may have self combusted months ago. But we have made it this far and I think we will keep her around a while longer. 

This is her personality in perfection. She is so happy, I have never seen a child so content to just BE. She lets people hold her and snuggle her and just coos and smiles and everyone falls automatically in love with her.

She eats a whole banana for breakfast most mornings... In about five minutes. I am not a mom who gets bad postpartum depression. However I do get bad post nursing depression. Every bite of solid food she takes breaks my heart just a little bit. I Do not want OUR time together to end quit yet. And no I am not sad she still gets up to nurse 2 or 3 times a night. 

Pulling up and standing. 

She is on the move every now and then. She has pulled herself up a little and is just now starting to sit by herself. I think I have tried too hard to keep her a baby for as long as I can. She has spent most of these past 8 months in a sling snuggled up against my front. Now that she is having more free time out of moms pouch she is starting to get more things done! But having said that I just may go sling her up for a few hours just for ME!!