Happiness

My last child will be starting preschool on Wednesday. I will have some free time to myself! No “Mom, look at this.” “Mom, what about that?” I am sitting here under the fan in 99 degree weather- make that 100 degrees- at 8:30 in the morning and I am trying to convince myself that this is a good thing. He looks so cute- dressed up in his new shirt that I got him and still clean from his Sunday bath. His Open House is at 10 today and he keeps asking “Is it 10 yet?” He is oh so excited and so am I! Excited for him to make new friends, to leave the nest and go out into the world. He already does that at Church once a week for two hours. That was good practice and this is the real thing. The real deal- preschool. And I’ve got this!

  I tried cutting out sugar and flour completely from my diet. It lasted two days. On Tuesday I ate not very much- a salad, three boiled eggs, a few glasses of milk and some meat. On Wednesday I had about the same, adding in a few protein smoothies *which I love*. I felt very tired because my body wasn't used to getting energy from just meat and dairy. On Thursday morning, I tried to eat more protein and high fats- coconut oil and butter in my Crio Bru and eggs and bacon. Also that morning, Declan- my 3 yr old- dumped a bowl of delicious looking, cold Life Cereal all over me and then asked if he could watch a show. I melted down! As I scrubbed the floor of the sweet bowl of carbs that I could not have and felt the milk seep into my favorite work out shoes, I got mad. "No, you CANNOT watch another show (he had watched something on my phone on waking up). NO." He started to cry and said "Mom, be kind." Oh, wow. Be still my heart. What did I...

pic via internet Declan is 10 months old! Crazy how time flies by!  When he was just a newborn, the time seemed to go by so slowly. There was lots and lots of feedings and lots and lots of changings. Now, Declan gets by on 4 bottles a day and that many diaper changes as well- or more if need be! Now I am chasing after a busy bee crawling boy. I often let him crawl on his own, happy to explore, but he always finds his way back to me- pulling up on my legs and hugging them tight. He's such a cutie! And so, I would say, here comes that feeling- of wanting another one. Except that I had that a while ago. Now, I know this is crazy early and my baby is still a baby.  I know. I'm just sayin'. ***Any baby names that you like? We still have some that are our favorites. I dreamt last night that we had triplets and their names were Faith, Hope and James. We were sitting on a big bed in the middle of a black forest. I asked Josh- can help me feed these guys?  It was k...

  Loading... This picture was taken when I was 7 weeks along.  And then 9 months along. Loaded! I really was bigger than that though! (I was going to take pictures every few months, but never did!)

I have two friends who are supporters of the website Ordainwomen.org. This has caused me to give a lot more thought and concern to the topic of Women and the Priesthood lately. I have tried to avoid getting too involved, but I think it is an important subject to address. On Motherhood and the Priesthood: I want you to know that as a woman I feel completely validated as an equal and noble partner in my marriage, in the world and in Heavenly Father's plan. As a wife, I hold equal standing with my husband. We counsel together, we pray together, we make decisions together. As a Mother, and together with Josh, I have been able to bring children into this world. It is an amazing, awe inspiring, completely fulfilling role that I have long inspired to and have been raised to do. As a Father, and together with me, Josh holds the Priesthood and is able to bless our infants, baptize them, give Father's blessings and administer in the ordinances of the Gospel. He has also been r...

    It was  the Best Mother's day ever!

Nestled The Baby Nestled it's Warm head Into my soft Shoulder. It's soft, downy  Hair brushed My cheek, The weight Of his bum Settled in My upturned hand. I felt Grounded, Settled & At peace.

  Dear Children,               To those of you who are here now, who have made me a Mother, who call me Mother and who give me a chance daily to learn, grow and experience the joy of Mothering, To my sweet 4 children- my 10 year old, my two 8 years olds (so soon to be 9) and my six year old. It is only for such a short time that you will be these ages. Time seems to fly on the wings of a very large bird- it's flapping seems so slow and deliberate, but it moves swiftly and surely. Within a few short months Elizabeth, you will be 11, Ethan and Jonah, you will be 9 and Asher, you will be 7. I will no longer have a sweet 1st grader to call my own. I will no longer have twins who have recently baptized or a fourth grader in the cusp of young childhood.             But, I will have a sweet 2nd grader- 2nd graders can be so fun and cute! I will have 2 fourth graders...

With Asher home sick again- this time with Pink Eye- I wanted to write about Womanhood and Motherhood. As I was searching my files for my boys' birth story, I came across a talk that I had printed out and filed away almost 8 years ago. Some of it was highlighted and underlined and as I reread it, I realized why I had saved it. It hits on the important role of Mothers and of raising a new generation. Entitled "No Greater Honor: The Woman's Role" by N. Eldon Tanner , it was given at General Conference on Oct. 7, 1973. Even though this talkwas given even before I was born, it's teaching still remain true today and I love that. I love that 30 years from now, Elizabeth can print out a talk that Elder Bednar gave this past Conference and read it to her children. N. Eldon Tanner says "From the beginning God has made it clear that woman is very special, and he has also very clearly defined her position, her duties and her destiny in the divine plan." I love...

to tell your hubby that you are expecting? I have a black onyx statue of a Mother and a Baby. I got this at Christmas time the first year I was married. We were married in August of that year and we weren't even trying for a baby. Ok. So maybe we were, but we hadn't told anyone, let alone our Parents. I opened the gift from my Mother and what was it? A Mother and Baby statue. I was touched. It was a little bold, but sweet in thought. Twelve days later we found out that we were expecting our first little one, due in September. Maybe my Mother knew what she was doing. Now we use the statue as a sign that I am expecting. The statue has appeared on the coffee table (Elizabeth), in a diaper bag (Ethan and Jonah), in an e-mail (Joseph Asher), in the front foyer (our Angel Rose) and as Josh's desktop background (another sweet angel). Where will it show up next? This is my blog. My name is Megan Abbott. ***I know that I have posted about this before, but it's been awhile, so I...

To my Mother, Thank you for raising me. I know it's a hard job. I know that you had to get up in the middle of the night to change sheets and comfort and cuddle. I know that you had to sacrifice many of your own wants and desires for us to be happy. Thank you. Now that we are taking foster classes I know that there are a lot of Parents out there who don't step up to the job, like you did for me. I have never had to leave my home, leave all my belongings and go to another. And for this I am thankful. I am thankful to belong to this family. I am thankful that we have been sealed in the Temple and all have Temple Marriages so far. We are not perfect, but I find joy in all the good things we have: being able to call you whenever I am in need, Dad always being supportive and understanding, brothers and sisters who love each other and care deeply for one another. Mom, Thank you for being the back bone of our family. Thank you for being you. Happy Mother...

My "Triplets"- I get that a lot. Do you love how Elizabeth is cropped out of this picture? First of all, to set the stage, I need to tell you that my boys get bloody noses. A lot. Once or twice a month. Ok. So maybe not a whole lot, but more than is comfortable for me since blood makes me squeamish. Quite squeamish. In College, during my Child Development class, they said they were going to show a film of a natural childbirth and then a c-section childbirth. I hightailed it outta there before they could even start the film. And I was in the second row too! There was no way I was going to lose my lunch all for the sake of some education! Along came my twin boys and they bled all the time as toddlers. They were always running around, bumping into things, into each other, the wall, etc. Once someone got hurt, the first thing I would do was rush over and check to see if there was any blood. I would say "Are you bleeding?" and check their nose carefully. Half the time th...

A certain 9 year old told me today: "Mom, I am ugly. My face is square. I am chubby and I have a mustache (she has a chapped upper lip.)" It was one of those moments. Those moments that you hear about and you wonder when it will happen to you. I was sitting in her room, on the floor. She was sitting on her bed and we were chatting. It was fine until I mentioned how much Heavenly Father loves her. That brought tears, a shake of the head and this confession. I lovingly took her to the mirror to show her who she really is. A daughter of God. I showed her how shiny and thick her beautiful hair is. I showed her how she was definitely not chubby and how her face was definitely not square. And then I covered up her chapped mustache with a little make up (was that wrong?) Later, while closing up for the night, I had an "aha" moment: the best way for me to be a good Mother is to have a close relationship with my Heavenly Father. When I close toHim, He can let me know what my...

Yesterday I went to a Meet and Mingle for the ladies at our Church. Our ward is still new, so they had set up a speed get-to-know-you session. We sat down and had two minutes to discuss various questions with the lady sitting across from us. Questions like- "What do you least like about yourself?" (the fact that I am too soft/nice sometimes and get taken advantage of sometimes. My nose?) "If you could find anything at a garage sale what would it be and for how much?" (A bigger flat screen tv for $50 thank you very much!) And my personal favorite? "If you could eat lunch with anyone who would it be and why?" Two ominutes people! I replied Joseph Smith. I know it's a little trite for a Mormon, but it's true (did you see Mitt won AZ and Michigan? Hoorah!) Joseph Smith is the man who most reminds me of our Savoir. He is kind and good, full of love and forgiveness. A wonderful man whom I have to thank for the wonderful life I lead.http://www.blogger.com...

Grandma's Room in Maryland I miss this room. (If you want to see it personally, stop on by on Sunday between 1:30 pm and 4 pm- it'll be open!) We have been here for 3 months tomorrow. Our first home has been on the market for as much so and even a little bit more. There have been a lot of lookers but no takers. I really think it shows better with furniture it in. But since there is none, it will just have to do. This 20 ft extra room of ours was my favorite. This was where Grandma and any other guests for that matter stayed when they came to visit. We called it Grandma's room. We have a guest room here and we still try to call it Grandma's room but it just can't live up to it's predecessor. I blogged in that room, napped in that room, wrestled with the kids on that bed. That was where Asher made a hole in the wall when he was jumping on the bed. That room was where Beta, our only pet fish, lived. Who now lives with good friend Matthew. Hopefully. Today, I read a...

Artwork by Elizabeth Abbott, 3rd grade I had a bad Mothering moment yesterday. Josh had been really busy for the past two days, so I had been doing most, ok- all of the child care- and when he was done, I let him take a long, long nap. I napped too, since I didn't sleep well last night, and when I woke up boy, was I grumpy. I had a snack and tried to wake myself up. The kids had been watching tv- something they have been doing a lot lately with temps over 105 degrees and me unpacking boxes- so when they saw me, they were starved for attention. "What can we do now Mom?" Ethan questioned and questioned. I tried the "Watch tv" again. No luck. They had a snack. And another snack of homemade Popsicle. I tried to have some quiet alone time while I woke up. No go. I was on the computer and Elizabeth was bouncing on a huge green ball next to me just chatting and chatting. Ethan had just knocked the ball into a lamp and the bouncing was making me tense. She mentio...

I walked the baby aisles at Target yesterday, gift registry in hand, looking for that perfect present. You see, my friend is going to have a baby. A baby girl. And I am thrilled. And sad. And depressed. Asher left me alone to look at the "boy things" in the next aisle over- the aisle full of baseballs and t-balls and bikes. I know that aisle. I've been there a lot these past two years. I've been trying to get to the baby aisle. These past 3.5 years now. Normally, I'm completely fine with it. Well, at least pretty much. But, Mother's Day came and with it the realization that my kids are growing up . There were no little toddlers to climb up on my lap and knock over my breakfast tray when the kids brought me breakfast. There were no diapers to change, no soft chubby baby rolls to wash. And my Mother heart yearned for another one. Any one. A skinny one, a chubby one, one that looks completely different from all my other ones. Any one. And when I mentioned it to J...

Normally I don't feel very strongly concerning my blog posts that I write. The post entitled "On Motherhood" and this one that I am about to write, I feel very strongly about. This subject "On Motherhood, part 2" arose from a conversation that I had with two Mothers at school, while we were waiting for the bell to ring and our children be released to us. As some of you know, I was recently voted in as Vice President of the PTA. These two Mothers do some volunteer work with the PTA, and although they are not on the board, they contribute and help out at the school often. My new position has lead me into new friendships (which I am so excited about) and these two Mothers are some of these new friends I made. The conversation started out with "I didn't know you had twins!" When they had introduced me to the Parents at Back to School Night, they also said how many kids we had and which classes they were in. The same Mom continued "I always just sa...

I just got back from an amazing Counseling session. For a little background, I feel a lot better taking lithium (It's a good mood stabilizer) but I still feel some anxiety and guilt over being a good Mom. I never knew why I felt this way and talking with Joe helped me realize why. It's because I feel that to be a good Mom, I have to totally focus on my kids 100% of the time. If I'm doing something else- say being online- I feel guilty after twenty minutes and the guilt just goes on from there. It's gotten so bad that I've neglected my hair, my clothes- I've even gained weight in the past because eating would help me forget the guilt that I felt. I would even go as far as saying these past two weeks I've felt bad for reading my scriptures in the morning because I could have been making school lunches, etc. Now I know that a good Mom takes time for herself. I need to do that more often. I also need to not focus on pleasing others so much and be centered in mys...

Have you ever been so tired that you can't even talk? I am like this this morning. I am normally a morning person, so I am usually talking a lot, or humming or moving around. Today I can barely talk. I had to give Elizabeth a thumbs up, when she wanted to be excused from breakfast. Crazy, huh? I'm trying to install my webcam that I bought so I can use Skype. I spent an hour on it yesterday and Josh even tried it. I think I dropped it, so now it doesn't work! If it doesn't work by Thursday- my errand day- I am going to return in and just get a normal speaker thing. Hopefully people at BestBuy will be there to help me. This is a picture of me for my Sype (sype.com- it's where you can make phone calls online) label thing. This is my blog. My name is Megan Abbott