In the Beginning

In the Beginning, I had no idea what I was in for.  It took us a few months to get pregnant, and some help.  I found out I was pregnant at about 6 am, on a Sunday morning.  Needless to say, my husband was less than excited that I chose that time to find out.  When I first looked at the plus sign on the pregnancy test, I thought, we're having twins!  My husband realistically assured me that my chances of having twins, had barely gone up, and I needed not worry about it.  The twin idea, was gone. 

From that first pregnancy test, we both felt we were having a girl.  We just knew.  Although in the days leading up to my first ultrasound (of many) at 16 weeks, I started feeling a bit uneasy about our baby being a girl.  I still felt like she was a girl, but I also felt like she was a boy.  I know, impossible to have a baby that is both boy and girl, but that's how I felt, confused.  I still remember driving to the doctor's that cold morning discussing how I would suddenly feel different about the gender of our baby.

We checked in with the receptionist, and soon we were on our way back with the ultra-sound tech.  We chatted amicably during the ultra-sound, and soon found out we were going to be blessed with a little boy.  I knew my feelings were right.  The tech was just about to wrap everything up, when he said, "I have something funny to tell you," then he said something that forever changed my life, and was not expected, "You're having twins!"  We soon found out that not only where we having a little boy, we were also having a little girl. 

I was in a state of shock, to put it mildly.  The shock slowly wore off, and was replaced with the overwhelming feeling of inadequacy.  We were going to be responsible for two new lives, not just one.  Thus the roller-coaster of twins begins!

A change for the blog

A number of years ago, I was at my husband's work Christmas Party.  A woman there asked my husband's co-worker's wife what she did for a living.  The co-worker's wife explained she was a stay-at-home-mom.  I don't remember the response to her chosen profession, other than it was negative, and almost demeaning.  The two did not talk again that night.

Although at the time of the party, my husband and I did not have any children. I was still deeply affected by the conversation between these two women at this party.  One woman was a career woman.  She seemed to live the "dream life." She had a successful career, seemed to do well financially, and had all the freedoms one could want.  Yet she was not who I wanted to be.  I wanted to be the stay-at-home mom.

Since this experience, I have had twins, and a single baby.  I'm now a stay-at-home mom.  Motherhood has not been exactly what I expected (especially those times I've had a baby and have seemingly been up all night), but there is nothing else I would rather do. 

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  There is a document titled "The Family: A Proclamation to the World," which states, "Husband and wife have a solemn responsiblity to love and care for each other and for their children. 'Children are an heritage of the Lord' (Psalms 127:3).  Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provde for their physical and spirital needs, to teach them to love and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to be law-abiding citizens wherever they live.  Husbands and wives--mothers and fathers--will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations....

..."Mother's are pirmarily responsible for the nurture of their children."

This is our job.  We were sent here to be mothers.  There is much more to be being a mother than having babies and cleaning house.  We are still women.  We still have our own interests, hobbies, and ideas.  I don't know a perfect mother.  I am definitely not one (just ask my children).  My hopes for posting my thoughts is that someone might be strengthened in their quest of finding their place in motherhood.

Easter Crafts

Okay for Easter, I did a few things.  first of all, I made colored deviled eggs, super easy, and super yummy!

Then we made some eggs, not eatible of course.

Then I made ties for my boys.  Look how cute!

Birthday Cakes

Okay for my twin's birthday, I made each of them a cake.  A princess cake, and a pirate cake.

Valentines

I know I'm way behind.  For Valentine's Day I asked each child what they wanted to hand out, and then we went from there.  Gregory wanted to hand out cereal boxes, and Sian wanted to hand out playdough.  So this is what we did:

Temple Blocks

Okay everybody, this is something I've wanted to do for awhile, but I just haven't until now.  I found this post a long time ago, and am just now completing them.  Especially since I had all of the supplies practically handed to me from Relief Society.  (Okay yes, I did pay for it, and did all the work, but they were so easy!)  I found these temple blocks here last year sometime when I was much more apt at looking and staying on top of my own blogs.  Anyway, I haven't even looked at this until I finished these temple blocks, and I have to say they were super easy, and fun to do.  A friend of mine came over and we worked on them together!  Look how cute they turned out.

Christmas Wreath

I know I've been MIA for awhile, but that's what having a baby does to a person.  I'm finally interested in doing crafts again just in time for Christmas.  Lucky me for me though, I didn't have to find one to begin.  I went to Relief Society and they were making these really cute Christmas Wreaths.  I really thought they were cute, and was even more impressed when mine was complete (4 days later, since I spent my time talking that evening).  It was super easy, especially since all the strips of fabric were already cut out.  All I did was tie them in knots around the wreath, and hot glue the bells and ornament on.  Easy peasy....