Spiritual Sunday: Making the Sabbath a Delight

I saw this clip about the Sabbath Day by John Bytheway this week, and it took me back to when he first gave his famous "The Best 3 Hours of the Week" talk back in 1998 when I went to EFY in Provo. A lot of focus is being placed on how we treat the Sabbath Day right now in the church, and ways we can make it more of a delight. I am striving as a Mom to teach my kids that Sunday can be a wonderful time to grow closer to our Heavenly Father, and our Savior Jesus Christ. We can also build our family relationships stronger on this special day. I love Sundays!

Saturday Sports: Practice Gymnastics Meet

My 7-year-old daughter was chosen to be on team gymnastics after only a few months at her new gym. She started gymnastics at age 5, and has come a long way in just over 2 years. Today, we spent our afternoon watching a practice competition with all of the compulsory teams from her gym. She is currently Level 2, and has done a great job learning her routines. I did not do a very good job recording on my phone, and I missed the first parts of her routines; but I thought for her first time learning to compete, she is doing great! I'm excited to see how she progresses over the course of her competitive season! Good job baby girl!

Funny Friday: Election Ad Videos

I have strong political opinions, but today I put them aside to share a little bit of humor from Bored Shorts TV. My kids love watching Kid Snippits, and my husband and I got a huge kick out of their funny election ad videos. I especially enjoyed the Bernie Sanders one, because it is so accurate and funny. Have a great weekend!

 

Throwback Thursday: Becoming a Mom

When I think back on the day I learned I would be a Mom for the first time, I can still remember so many details. It was a Sunday in December just over eight years ago; my husband and I had been taking a Sunday afternoon nap, but I woke up before him. I decided to sneak into the bathroom to take a pregnancy test and surprise him with the results when he woke up. The test immediately turned positive, and I immediately reacted by screaming "I'm pregnant!" so loud I woke him up. He nearly fell out of bed as I continued to scream and freak out a little.

It's hard to put into words the way I felt then: excited, terrified, and every other emotion I could think of all rolled into one. It's kind of the way I feel now (8 years and 4 kids later) about being a Mom. We waited longer than most of our friends to start our family, but I don't think anyone ever feels fully prepared for parenthood. Some days I feel like a complete failure, but other days my kids make me feel so proud and honored to have been chosen to be their Mom.

These are a few thoughts that sum up my feelings on Motherhood:

Web Wednesday: Don't Worry, Be Happy

I sometimes get discouraged when I read the news, or go on social media. It seems like we are bombarded with all things negative. Sometimes it's nice to have positive messages or videos to brighten our day. Here's a thought and video that made me smile this week, and I hope it puts a smile on your face too. Enjoy!

Travel Tuesday: Save on Hotels

Having four small children makes it difficult to even want to travel very far these days; however, there have been times when we have needed to get a hotel room while on a short out-of-town trip. I use Priceline to save big on hotels with their Name Your Own Price feature, or their new Express Deals. They each have their own advantages/disadvantages.

Name Your Own Price:

- Biggest advantage: Most of the time, this is the way to get the best price. You choose the area you want to stay, the star rating you want, and the price you are willing to pay. If you do not win the bid, you have to wait 24 hours to up your bid with those same parameters. If you want to immediately try another bid, you must change parameters by either adding either another area, or lower the acceptable star rating. It helps to be familiar with what deals are most likely to be accepted.

- Biggest disadvantage: you don't get to choose the hotel you want. For example: some 2.5 star hotels are very nice, and others might be run down or not exactly in the location you would prefer. You also won't necessarily get all of the amenities you might want.

*Start bidding with enough time to try for what you want, within the budget you have set for yourself. I have gotten really nice hotels for 50-75% off their normal price using this feature!

Express Deals:

- Biggest advantages: This is usually the best way to get a great deal last minute. You are also able choose a hotel with the amenities that are important to you. By doing some detective work (and some math), you can usually figure out which specific hotels are offering these deals. You can save up to 55% on some great hotel rooms!

- Biggest disadvantage: Just like the Name Your Own Price feature, the rooms are non-refundable. They do have an option to buy traveler's insurance, which claims they will reimburse your costs if you are unable to go.

**Sometimes you can look at the Express Deals, and bid slightly under those deals for an even better price. I have done this before, and won a bid for the same hotel listed in the Express Deals for less; it's worth a try! Once you are a member of Priceline, they will also send you special deals like 10% off Express Deals when you book within a few days. Here's to some great, inexpensive hotel stays!

Mommy Monday: Miscarriages

My baby #3 at 10 weeks

Today's subject is something difficult for many Moms to talk about: miscarriages. Approximately 25% of all women experience at least one miscarriage in their lives. There are many women in my life that I know have experienced multiple miscarriages, including my own Mom. I had an early miscarriage exactly a year before my third child was born. The following is something I wrote at the time it happened, and reading it again reminds me of the emotions I experienced.

It has been an interesting couple of months. I had been having some woman health issues, and I wasn't quite sure what was going on. I decided to go to the Dr. since I hadn't had a regular check-up in 2 years. I described my issues I was having, but after the check-up he didn't seem concerned that anything was wrong with me. He scheduled an ultrasound for the next day just to make sure I didn't have a cyst or something worse. Everything checked out fine, so I figured I would just go on with life and try to ignore the pain. We had been thinking about having a baby within the next year; and since nothing seemed wrong, we decided to think about it--and all it really takes for us is to think and it happens.

The past several weeks have been tough, because people around me have experienced tough times: a failed adoption, stillbirth, failed IVF, late miscarriage...I have felt terrible heartache and pain for each one of these situations and individuals; each suffered terrible losses. I started to feel guilty that I have had such an easy time conceiving, great pregnancies and births, and just a week ago I found out that after not even really trying, I was once again pregnant. I had a hard time feeling excited. My body was just not reacting the way it had with the other pregnancies, so doubt and concern ensued. I took a few tests just to make sure, and each day the tests seemed to get more definite; but still the lines were not as dark as they were in the past. Even more doubt crept in. Yesterday, I told Bryan that things just didn't feel right, and within hours of that I was spotting (which I have never done before in my other pregnancies). I took another test this morning, and the line was barely visible. Soon after that, the heavier bleeding began and I now know that I am experiencing my own loss. Yes, I was only a mere 5 weeks along. Most doctors would consider it a "chemical pregnancy" rather than a miscarriage. Most women would just think they were a few days late, and never have tested for pregnancy; but someone who has had a 28 day cycle for almost 20 years, always knows when it is off by even a day. 

As much as I felt that something was wrong, I had also let myself dream of the new life inside me. I started planning for a new arrival right around my birthday next summer, but it wasn't meant to be. I looked online for people with the same experience, and one lady wrote that "A loss is a loss no matter when it happens". For me there is a silver lining: I am grateful it happened so early, knowing that probably means there was no chance of survival. Physically I feel good. It is actually less painful than recent months have been for me. Emotionally, I am also doing better than I was. When I initially started bleeding it was a big shock. I was way sad and I didn't sleep all night just wondering what the outcome was going to be. Now that I know, and have had all day to come to terms with it, I realize that I am so blessed to have had two amazing previous pregnancies that resulted in two beautiful children. I have time to have more successful pregnancies in the future. But I do agree with the mom who talked about how every loss IS a loss. We all think about what might have been, but I know our Heavenly Father knows best, and can comfort us when we have to go through hard experiences.

It has now been over four years since that experience, and I now have two more beautiful, healthy daughters! I think the best thing this miscarriage did for me, was to help me gain more empathy for the women I know who have gone through their own losses. When you have experienced something difficult yourself, you just do have a greater understanding of what someone is going through. It's hard to put this post out there, but I hope it can help at least one person who is struggling with a loss in their life. Much love to all of you strong women out there who have loved and lost a sweet life inside of you!