Thursday, November 8, 2012

I love to see...

The temple.

Oh how this beautiful building reminds me of all the good things in life. It reminds me of God, my family, and the true meaning of happiness.
A friend of mine let me browse through a book of pictures that her hubby gave her for their anniversary.  As I was looking through their life, I caught a glimpse of a picture, well a glimpse of an idea rather. A wonderfully fantastic idea. There was a picture of the couple with their small child outside of the Boise temple. I asked her when this picture was taken and she told me that their family has a tradition of making the temple their first stop as they leave the hospital after a child is born. She said with her first, they just sort of ended up there after leaving the hospital. Like their little family was drawn to this perfect place and they had to take a picture to remember that moment.
I didn't have the opportunity to make the temple our first stop as we left the hospital when Jet was born because of hurricane Sandy, but we got there as soon as possible. The temple has such a special place in our hearts. This is where families are sealed together forever. Having two children of my own now, I realize the significance of the plan of salvation and the role of the temple in this. How much the temple means to me is beyond words. How much my family means to me is beyond words.
Here are a few shots of our brand new family of four outside the Boston temple.  I'm hoping this will always remind me of where our family begins and how through keeping promises made here it never ends.






Sunday, November 4, 2012

Girl Meets Boy

One of the biggest things that stressed me out during pregnancy and also that I was most excited for after the boy was born, was for his big sister to finally meet him. I mean we had been talking about the baby in Mommy's tummy since February.  She knew that the baby made Mom throw up a lot, made Mom's tummy big, made it so that Mom couldn't hold her all the time, and that she would soon have to share her Mama. I was nervous that all of this had put a bad taste in her mouth with regards to the baby. Meanwhile, she absolutely loved babies, so I was excited for her to meet the one she would have to live with for the next sixteen years or so. 
So, there I was in the Labor and Delivery room all alone, while Dad went with Jet to give him his first bath. I was finished eating and still trying to recover from the shock of my experience with childbirth. When all of a sudden I heard my little angel's voice. I could die. She was so excited to just see her Mom. She jumped on the bed and showered me with sweet Ellie kisses. She was very concerned about her Mommy. We had a chance to cuddle a bit on the bed before we needed to get packed up and it's funny how having Ellie there made me feel a little better. After our cuddle session, we loaded up the wheel chair and headed to the post partum room.
Elle was so excited to ride on the wheel chair with Mommy and was genuinely surprised to see Daddy holding a baby in the recovery room.  She walked cautiously over to the baby, but once she laid her eyes on the boy she couldn't stop touching him. She immediately wanted to hold him. She kept saying "Oh he's so cute" and "I like him. Baby Jet a good boy".
Then we made the mistake of giving her a present from Jet. It was a stuffed Minnie Mouse with a pink dress, that is now generally referred to as Pink Minnie in our home. She lost all interest in the boy and wanted to put Pink Minnie in Jet's bed and treat her like her very own baby. Elle only lasted about an hour before she was done. It was hard to say goodbye to my oldest baby, so Dad walked her to the elevator to make it a bit easier on me. I was missing my Ellie, but I desperately needed rest.
We finally made it home the next day and Ellie has fallen more and more in love with Jet. Every chance she gets to hold the little fella, she takes. She gives him snotty kisses and can't help but cough and sneeze in his face. Its wonderful. But there is something that melts my heart about seeing my children love each other.  Jet is so lucky to have a big sister that loves him so much.