The Joy of Motherhood

I saw this article on a friend's blog and loved it.

Not because the author kind of slams the reader who asked the question, but because I focused on how it was a perfect description of the joys of motherhood. 

I love it.

The American Housewife

Another great mom song.

Funny, but still really cute.

"God Bless the American Housewife" by SheDaisy

Look it up!

My favorite lyrics:

God bless the American housewife 

Cleanin' up the world for you and me

God bless the American housewife

How she does it all I'll never know

God bless the American housewife

Your Mother and Mine

My oldest boy has been sick the past few days and all he has been wanting to do is curl up on the couch in pain and watch Peter Pan. He's watched it 5 times so far in the past 3 days, which means i've watched it 5 times too. And i couldn't help but getting emotional during the song about their mothers. The words are beautiful and made me all the more grateful to be a mother and to be at home doing all that i can to help my son feel better.

Here are the words:

Well, a mother, a real mother

Is the most wonderful person in the world

She's the angel voice that bids you goodnight

Kisses your cheek, whispers, "Sleep tight."

Your mother and mine

Your mother and mine

The helping hand that guides you along

Whether you're right, whether you're wrong

Your mother and mine

Your mother and mine

What makes mothers all that they are?

Might as well ask, "What makes a star?"

Ask your heart to tell you her worth

Your heart will say, "Heaven on Earth."

Another word for divine

Your mother and mine

I am so Blessed

This is one of my absolute favorite songs. It sums up motherhood perfectly for me.

It's "I am so blessed" by Martina McBride. I can email it to you if you want but here are the lyrics:

I get kissed by the sun each morning

Put my feet on a hardwood floor

I get to hear my children laughing

Down the hall through the bedroom door

Sometimes I sit on my front porch swing

Just soaking up the day

I think to myself, I think to myself

This world is a beautiful place

I have been blessed

And I feel like I've found my way

I thank God for all I've been given

At the end of every day

I have been blessed

With so much more than I deserve

To be here with the ones that love me

To love them so much it hurts

I have been blessed

Across a crowded room

I know you know what I'm thinking

By the way I look at you

And when we're lying in the quiet

And no words have to be said

I think to myself, I think to myself

This love is a beautiful gift

I have been blessed

And I feel like I've found my way

I thank God for all I've been given

At the end of every day

I have been blessed

With so much more than I deserve

To be here with the ones that love me

To love them so much it hurts

I have been blessed

When I'm...

When I'm singing my kids to sleep

When I feel you holding me

I know

I am so blessed

And I feel like I've found my way

I thank God for all I've been given

At the end of every day

I have been blessed

With so much more than I deserve

To be here with the ones that love me

To love them so much it hurts

I have been blessed

Mothers Who Know

Julie B. Beck Relief Society General President

There is eternal influence and power in motherhood.

In the Book of Mormon we read about 2,000 exemplary young men who were exceedingly valiant, courageous, and strong. "Yea, they were men of truth and soberness, for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him" (Alma 53:21). These faithful young men paid tribute to their mothers. They said, "Our mothers knew it" (Alma 56:48). I would suspect that the mothers of Captain Moroni, Mosiah, Mormon, and other great leaders also knew.

The responsibility mothers have today has never required more vigilance. More than at any time in the history of the world, we need mothers who know. Children are being born into a world where they "wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12).¹ However, mothers need not fear. When mothers know who they are and who God is and have made covenants with Him, they will have great power and influence for good on their children.

Mothers Who Know Bear Children

Mothers who know desire to bear children. Whereas in many cultures in the world children are "becoming less valued,"² in the culture of the gospel we still believe in having children. Prophets, seers, and revelators who were sustained at this conference have declared that "God's commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force."³ President Ezra Taft Benson taught that young couples should not postpone having children and that "in the eternal perspective, children—not possessions, not position, not prestige—are our greatest jewels."⁴

Faithful daughters of God desire children. In the scriptures we read of Eve (see Moses 4:26), Sarah (see Genesis 17:16), Rebekah (see Genesis 24:60), and Mary (see 1 Nephi 11:13–20), who were foreordained to be mothers before children were born to them. Some women are not given the responsibility of bearing children in mortality, but just as Hannah of the Old Testament prayed fervently for her child (see 1 Samuel 1:11), the value women place on motherhood in this life and the attributes of motherhood they attain here will rise with them in the Resurrection (see D&C 130:18). Women who desire and work toward that blessing in this life are promised they will receive it for all eternity, and eternity is much, much longer than mortality. There is eternal influence and power in motherhood.

Mothers Who Know Honor Sacred Ordinances and Covenants

Mothers who know honor sacred ordinances and covenants. I have visited sacrament meetings in some of the poorest places on the earth where mothers have dressed with great care in their Sunday best despite walking for miles on dusty streets and using worn-out public transportation. They bring daughters in clean and ironed dresses with hair brushed to perfection; their sons wear white shirts and ties and have missionary haircuts. These mothers know they are going to sacrament meeting, where covenants are renewed. These mothers have made and honor temple covenants. They know that if they are not pointing their children to the temple, they are not pointing them toward desired eternal goals. These mothers have influence and power.

Mothers Who Know Are Nurturers

Mothers who know are nurturers. This is their special assignment and role under the plan of happiness.⁵ To nurture means to cultivate, care for, and make grow. Therefore, mothers who know create a climate for spiritual and temporal growth in their homes. Another word for nurturing is homemaking. Homemaking includes cooking, washing clothes and dishes, and keeping an orderly home. Home is where women have the most power and influence; therefore, Latter-day Saint women should be the best homemakers in the world. Working beside children in homemaking tasks creates opportunities to teach and model qualities children should emulate. Nurturing mothers are knowledgeable, but all the education women attain will avail them nothing if they do not have the skill to make a home that creates a climate for spiritual growth. Growth happens best in a "house of order," and women should pattern their homes after the Lord's house (see D&C 109). Nurturing requires organization, patience, love, and work. Helping growth occur through nurturing is truly a powerful and influential role bestowed on women.

Mothers Who Know Are Leaders

Mothers who know are leaders. In equal partnership with their husbands, they lead a great and eternal organization. These mothers plan for the future of their organization. They plan for missions, temple marriages, and education. They plan for prayer, scripture study, and family home evening. Mothers who know build children into future leaders and are the primary examples of what leaders look like. They do not abandon their plan by succumbing to social pressure and worldly models of parenting. These wise mothers who know are selective about their own activities and involvement to conserve their limited strength in order to maximize their influence where it matters most.

Mothers Who Know Are Teachers

Mothers who know are always teachers. Since they are not babysitters, they are never off duty. A well-taught friend told me that he did not learn anything at church that he had not already learned at home. His parents used family scripture study, prayer, family home evening, mealtimes, and other gatherings to teach. Think of the power of our future missionary force if mothers considered their homes as a pre–missionary training center. Then the doctrines of the gospel taught in the MTC would be a review and not a revelation. That is influence; that is power.

Mothers Who Know Do Less

Mothers who know do less. They permit less of what will not bear good fruit eternally. They allow less media in their homes, less distraction, less activity that draws their children away from their home. Mothers who know are willing to live on less and consume less of the world's goods in order to spend more time with their children—more time eating together, more time working together, more time reading together, more time talking, laughing, singing, and exemplifying. These mothers choose carefully and do not try to choose it all. Their goal is to prepare a rising generation of children who will take the gospel of Jesus Christ into the entire world. Their goal is to prepare future fathers and mothers who will be builders of the Lord's kingdom for the next 50 years. That is influence; that is power.

Mothers Who Know Stand Strong and Immovable

Who will prepare this righteous generation of sons and daughters? Latter-day Saint women will do this—women who know and love the Lord and bear testimony of Him, women who are strong and immovable and who do not give up during difficult and discouraging times. We are led by an inspired prophet of God who has called upon the women of the Church to "stand strong and immovable for that which is correct and proper under the plan of the Lord."⁶ He has asked us to "begin in [our] own homes"⁷ to teach children the ways of truth.

Latter-day Saint women should be the very best in the world at upholding, nurturing, and protecting families. I have every confidence that our women will do this and will come to be known as mothers who "knew" (Alma 56:48). In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

The Left Tackle

Sunday night Josh and i turned on the Oscars. This is not something we usually watch at all because most of the movies are about subjects and values we do not agree with. However, this time, Sandra Bullock was nominated for her role as a mother in "The Blindside". We saw this movie back in November and it changed my life.

The movie was based on the true story of NFL player Michael Oher and the family that took him in. Sandra played the mom, and she was incredible. Her love of humanity, not just football, was amazing to me.

Now i love football, but this was not just another "football movie". It is a movie about loving and caring for others no matter what. However, i think there is a strong connection between the football position that the young man plays and the role of mother. The left tackle's job is to protect the quarterback- at all costs. And in the movie, Sandra's character explains to Michael that his teammates are his family and that he needs to protect them. And when i think about it, i see myself- and all moms- as the left tackles for their families.

We don't get all the glory, but we do the dirty work and we love doing it. We would do anything for our families, especially our children. We "block" the defensive linemen of the world for them. We shove to the ground anyone that would hurt them. And our sole job is to help them succeed.

I am so proud to be the left tackle on our football team.

And i am so grateful for this movie, and for the remarks Sandra Bullock gave at her acceptance speech. She thanked all the necessary people, and then took the opportunity to thank and give praise to all of us moms who take care of our children. (of course i was bawling at this point) And she also thanked her own mother, acknowledging that she is all that she is because of her mom.

I hope that i can be a mother and a left tackle like that.

All Minutes!

Josh and i have this silly thing where we say that we want to be with each other "all minutes!" It's super cute and i love it.

Recently we have had the opportunity to spend time with some friends of ours that lost their twin boys. I can't even begin to imagine what they have gone through and the experiences they have had. But talking with them makes me realize how incredibly blessed i am to have 2 healthy boys here with me on this earth. And how could i not want to be with them "all minutes".

For our friends, i'm sure they would give anything just to have a screaming child waking up in the middle of the night, or a whining 2-year-old who has to have his food a certain way. And, i have come to realize just how precious even the 'hard moments' are. I wouldn't trade the good, the bad, the hard, or the easy for anything. I am just grateful for my boys. And after having our friends share their experiences with us, there is no way in my heart that i could justify not staying home with my kids everyday and cherishing "all minutes" with them.

I am so grateful for my boys. And i am so grateful for good, faithful friends who are shining examples to me. I can only hope to be as good of a mother as this friend. And i will try my hardest to honor my calling as a mother.