Allie's Baptism and Baby News

We've had a very eventful weekend for several reasons.

1. We are moving! Same town but different house. No, we didn't buy yet. Our landlord is selling the house we're in so sadly we must move....ya, pregnancy and moving should NEVER be combined! (Luckily my in-laws are here helping!) Oh..email me if you want our new address.

2. We found out we're welcoming another baby...........GIRL! We were sure it was a boy but we were certainly wrong...she is adorable and we're really excited! Wow, I have SO missed the baby girl section at Target!!! We'll talk names some other post...I have to get my boy names out there, even if we have another boy Darin won't let me use them. HA

3. The most exciting news is that our Beautiful Little Allie was baptized on Saturday! What a beautiful, spiritual, and amazing day...actually, what a beautiful, spiritual, and amazing girl! We were blessed with the Lunt Grandparents to be a part of it and their talents sure brought in the Spirit during the meeting. Grandma played the violin and Grandpa gave a talk on the importance of the Holy Ghost. Darin did a perfect job of baptizing Allie and blessing her with the Holy Ghost. I thought my only role was going to be sewing her dress but she asked me to speak about baptism too...I made it through both, so that's a success. She had many wonderful friends attend which made the experience extra special!

Allie has been excited about being baptized since she was 3, and I'm so happy that the experience was all she wanted it to be. She glowed all day. She's already setting a wonderful example for her little sister(s) and brother...Kate is counting down the days!

Seeing my little girl baptized and receiving the Holy Ghost is an experience I can't put into words...I just hope I really took it all in and need to go journal about it. (Allie already did!)

A special THANK YOU to my sister Cari, who made Allie a beautiful DVD of "Allie" pictures to music. We've watched it countless times and tear up every time. At the baptism some of the moms asked if I made it, I replied, "No, my sister did." They all asked if she would like to be adopted into their families too! Love you Cari, Thanks isn't even big enough!!!

Lucky us - the church building where she was baptized is right next to our Temple!

 

I wish I had taken more pictures of her dress - it's the first pattern I've followed from beginning to end. It feels good to know that I can actually follow directions.

 

Such a beautiful daughter!

Would You Hire Yourself....interesting question

This week a friend posted an interesting question on Facebook...."If I had to hire a mother for my children, would I hire myself?" What a great question! I've definitely thought this over quite a lot. No, I'm not looking to hire another mom but somedays a clone would be nice.

I would have to answer this question by saying that yes, I would hire myself as my childrens' mother BUT I need to fire myself as a cook and housekeeper. haha Actually, those two areas give me great grief as a mother. I'm the mom who takes her kids to the park but in the back of her mind feels guilty that the dishes from the night before are still in the sink...I start to think "What am I teaching my children? Am I teaching them to have fun before they do work? Am I teaching them to be irresponsible? We probably should have done the dishes together so I could teach them how to clean BEFORE we came to the park!" Ahhhhh the guilt that can live in my head is crazy.

I think the comfort that comes to these guilt-ridden moments is knowing that our Heavenly Father has confidence in us as their mothers. I know that prayer can bring answers and comfort when we feel we are short of our goals.

In all seriousness, I think we all beat ourselves up over things that we do as a mother and the guilt that we feel on a daily basis can be paralyzing BUT the "paydays" as my friend Toni calls them make the job amazing!

I'd like to end with some of my proud mommy moments this week...

Roman has SERIOUS food phobia issues - he has problems with certain textures which cause him to gag and so he is COMPLETELY afraid of trying new foods. I've read books on this, prayed for hours about this, put him on a waiting list for therapy...it haunts me. Truly he eats maybe 6 different things. Period. Well this week the Easter Bunny answered my prayers....turns out Roman WILL try new food in exchange for a candy. Call it bribery if you will but I promise you'd be jumping up and down if he were yours! We aren't done with this problem but this week has been amazing!

Whew - that was long. Today I taught Allie and Kate how to sew a button and how to hand-sew a pillow. They were thrilled and the pillows turned out really cute.

Now that I've revealed a tiny insight into *one* of my weaknesses as a mother, I pose the question to you. Would you hire yourself to be the mother to your children? Food for thought.

PS - I think my baby countdown gadget is a tad creepy...I think my real baby looks wayyy cuter than that....and don't get me started on the weird umbilical cord!

Things You Should NEVER Say to a Pregnant Lady

This pregnancy is definitely bringing it own challenges...I'll try not to complain because I know that no one really cares BUT here are some great laughs that have come from my "troubles"!

Seriously, don't EVER say this to a pregnant lady (who happens to be your wife, mother, or friend)!

What's that on your chin? - Allie
An "ouchy" - Me
Both of them? - Allie
Yes, Allie. - Me
They look like zits. - Allie
{shrug} They are. - Me
What's a zit? - Kate
Just like a sore on your face. - Me
Oh. - Kate

Next day as I'm cutting up Roman's breakfast and apparently leaning in too close he says as he points to the "ouchies" on my chin, "One, Two, Three, Four, Five..."
Good thing he's cute, I laughed.

Next day....Kate and Allie are watching TV. A commercial comes on and Kate says, "Mom, you need that." I look up to see a commercial for Proactiv. Yep, feeling good now.

Somewhere in the mix Darin says..."So do you think you're bigger this time than you were with the others?" I reply, "Yep." He says, "Ya, I thought so." Awesomeness!

Days earlier a friend says, "Sorry I gave you a double-take, I just forgot that you were pregnant."

I will now hide out in my room until the baby is born and all nastiness has melted away.