All Your Eggs in One Basket
Submitted by Jen Smith on Tue, 04/14/2009 - 17:57
Friday was a good day. I have to blog about it because it was one of those day when almost everything went right. The kids were happy, they played well together and kept each other entertained (without TV), and I got a lot done. Laundry was caught up (for the night anyway), I made progress on getting the house in order (again), and I still had time to make Ian’s Easter basket. When it was finished, I placed it on the fireplace with the other kids’ baskets in preparation for the Easter Bunny. It didn’t take long for the kids to realize Ian’s basket didn’t have any plastic eggs in his. Bethany, Hyrum, and Jenna each quickly put some eggs from each of their baskets into his. His ended up with the most. I thought that was so sweet. As a mom, one of my greatest desires is to teach my kids to love and serve each other. Perhaps I’m doing something right. continue reading...
Our Hear Deavenly Daughter
Submitted by Jen Smith on Sat, 04/04/2009 - 18:33
Bethany and I celebrated her half birthday today. We went to see “Monsters vs. Aliens” and then to Pizza Hut to use her gift certificate for a free Personal Pan Pizza that she earned for reading at school. It was so fun to spend one-on-one time with her. I just love this beautiful girl so much… let me tell you just a few reasons why.
She still starts every prayer with “Our Hear Deavenly Father.” I have tried correcting her in the past, but it is so cute and endearing that I haven’t pushed it. Her prayers are very sincere. She is thoughtful about what she is thankful for and mentions different things specifically. She also has growing testimony that she is anxious to share in family home evening, Primary, and even once in Sacrament meeting. continue reading...
I Just Can’t Win
Submitted by Jen Smith on Thu, 03/19/2009 - 18:29Every Wednesday the PTO at Ben and Bethany’s school sells popcorn for a quarter as a fundraiser. More often than not, I forget to send the quarter and the kids come home disappointed. This week, the school was also raising money for the Make A Wish Foundation to help out a boy in the Boise area name Abiyu. The kids would receive a piece of candy for donating a quarter to the cause. I actually wrote a reminder in my planner to send quarters this week for both fundraisers. Sweet Bethany even decided to donate an additional dollar of her own money to Abiyu w continue reading...
Simple Solution
Hyrum made us laugh the other night at dinner. Garlic bread was part of our meal and he wanted to put jam on it. Of course my reaction is “yuck!” I reminded him this was garlic bread and jam was for plain bread. A few moments later, he turned his garlic bread over and proudly announced, “Now I have plain bread.” How could we argue with that? We spread some jam on the back of his garlic bread and he ate the whole thing.
Precious Blessing
Submitted by Jen Smith on Mon, 03/02/2009 - 18:20
Ian was blessed in church yesterday. Corey gave him a wonderful blessing that mentioned his namesake Gideon from the Book of Mormon. He also blessed him to be strong so that he could overcome the challenges in the world today.
A few months ago Corey and I attended a Stake Conference meeting where Elder Clark spoke. He is the current president of BYU-Idaho. He talked of a meeting he was in where a young married student asked Elder Richard G.Scott about having children, expressing concern that she wasn’t sure if it was right to bring children into this wicked world.
He answered with two questions: continue reading...
Cherished Moments of Motherhood
Submitted by Jen Smith on Mon, 02/16/2009 - 19:46
I love the talk Elder Ballard gave in the April 2008 General Conference session titled Daughters of God . His counsel seemed to be specifically for me. He asks, “What can you do, as a young mother, to reduce the pressure and enjoy your family more?” and then goes on to say the following:
… “ 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.”
I’m hoping that this blog will help me focus on those many small moments of joy a little more and the frustrations a little less. continue reading...
Falling in Love Again
Submitted by Jen Smith on Mon, 02/16/2009 - 19:35
Last week Audrey Lewis sent me proofs of the pictures she took of Ian when he was just 12 days old…they are so adorable!
We’ve also started to catch a few glimpses of Ian’s smile. Somehow waking up at night, getting spit up on regularly, and changing many, many diapers is a small sacrifice when I get to witness his sweet innocent smile. We love you, Ian! continue reading...
What’s in a name?
Submitted by Jen Smith on Wed, 02/11/2009 - 20:05So why
Ian Christopher…as many of you know we have struggled coming up with a name for this little guy right up until the week before he was born. We had a hard time agreeing on a name we liked that had significance. We always try to choose a name with meaning for each of our kids.
My sister, Lori, has been calling throughout my pregnancy with suggestions and ideas. Shortly after Christmas, she called with a new selection of names…among them was Gideon. It struck something with both Corey and I. continue reading...
Welcome Addition
Submitted by Jen Smith on Wed, 02/11/2009 - 19:55
Ian Christopher has arrived! He was born in St. Luke’s Hospital in downtown Boise, Idaho on Friday, January 16 at 2:02pm. He weighed 7 pounds 9 ounces and was 20 inches long. YEAH! (Don’t read on unless you want the details of labor.)
After being dilated to almost 4 cm and over 80% effaced for a week I decided to be induced before the holiday weekend so my doctor (Bryan Hodges) would be available to deliver him. My due date was just four days later.
He broke my water first to see if we could get labor started, but after a couple hours of walking, standing, hot tubbing, and sitting on the birthing ball in different positions, nothing happened so at 11:00am the nurse started a Pitocin drip. I was feeling contractions within 15 minutes and 3 hours later he was born. With Corey’s help as an amazing Labor coach I was able to do it again un-medicated.
The last part was really tough, but when Dr. Hodges let me finish pulling Ian out and rest his warm body on my stomach, it was all worth it. Being allowed to partner with God to give birth is such an amazing experience. When you consider all of the things that could go wrong, but don’t...it truly is a miracle. continue reading...
Give Me Five!
Submitted by Jen Smith on Wed, 02/11/2009 - 19:46
Are we crazy? I know many have thought that we might be when we told them we were expecting another little one. We already have four other healthy, beautiful, amazing children (okay I’m a little biased) that are still fairly young and close in age. After all, isn’t four kids the new Mormon eight? But for some reason, for us it was the right thing to do. As much as I wanted to be done having kids after Jenna, I couldn’t make myself give things away or completely close that door. I determined that we couldn’t make an unbiased decision until Jenna was at least two years old. continue reading...
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