Moments

Elder Ballard's talk from last conference really has been on my mind lately. When he was talking it was if he were talking directly to me as a daughter of God. I so appreciated his words. The part that has been on my mind lately is:

So today, let me ask and briefly answer four questions. While my answers may
seem extremely simple, if the simple things are being tended to, a mother’s life
can be most rewarding.
The first question: What can you do, as a young mother, to reduce the pressure and enjoy your family more?
First, recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction.

And I really am coming to see that the answer is really that simple. I have been and want to continue to look for the shinging moments of joy and satisfaction with my husband and children. I have to be honest and say that right now I am going through a hard time in life and that sometimes it is so much easier to be frustrated rather than joyful. With Neil being gone for five days in a row...WOW! I look forward to Friday afternoons when he walks through the door.

But just because life is hard doesn't mean that it can't be full of joy and satisfaction at the same time. I am so grateful for my kids! Looking for and appreciating the moments makes the hard times much lighter.

Some of these moments have been Brendan calling to me: "Watch mommy, watch" and then he proceeds to show me something that he has discovered that his body can do i.e. make noises with his mouth, curl his tongue as he sticks it out his mouth, pull down his eyelid so that the red stuff is showing, spread his legs, jump, kick out his knees from under himself...and then my favorite part: "it's pretty cool, mommy." And he is right. It is pretty cool that he is learning so many new things that his body can do...not to mention going potty in the toilet! He really is a pretty cool kid!
Now don't start to think that Eliza is even one step behind Brendan in being pretty cool...she adores her brother and would follow him to the ends of the world. She is a spitfire and I love her for this. She can hold her own. She loves to read books and I appreciate the extra moments of sleep that the books occupying her in the morning when she wakes up gives to me. But I have come to love the calling out for "mommy" in the morning. And when I go in to get her she is so excited to go in the morning. She has been a shining example to me of how we can be so excited for life to begin each day. And she is just going all day long. I enjoy the quiet moments in the afternoon when she is taking a nap and how that gives me time to rest as well. She sings all of the time and is so friendly to everyone. She is the first to say hi to any passerby when we are out and about. I love the smile that she flashes all of the time (except when a camera flashes towards her...it is so hard to get a picture of her smiling!) She is a JOY!
These are just a few of the things that I really have taken notice of lately. Oh, and I love that Neil comes home and helps on the weekend. He is a lifesaver and I love him even more for all of the little things that he does to brighten up my life. He really does make things a lot easier for me as a wife and mother. He finds such joy in being a dad! He gets a kick out of the kids and plays with them so well. I think he had good examples of this growing up!

Heavenly Father has really blessed my life and I hope to be able to recognize all of the moments that bring joy and satisfaction into being a mother. There are a lot of ways that I need to improve my life right now, but I do believe that by just recognizing the shining moments can help me be a happier mom.