This was a phrase we heard a lot from dad during our holiday activities.
Can you find him (or her)?
Monday, October 31, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Hidden Blessings
Tiny miracles. Call it what you may but I'm thinking about them today. First off I'm still amazed that we are posting about pregnancy and a baby on this blog. Deep down I never really thought that would happen since I started this blog after my son was born. Pregnancy in and of itself truly is a miracle.
To let our kids know that we where having a girl we brought home a boxed pink ice cream cake. After going around and having each child say what they thought the baby would be, they opened the box for the answer. My son has always said this baby was a boy. The girls were an even 50/50 split. Bud Boy was pretty disappointed about it not being a boy and for the next few hours was quite angry. It broke my heart to see him so upset and I was amazed how much he actually understood.
Things are fine now and back to normal. It was nice to hear him say yesterday, "I'm so excited for my birthday and the baby" (He's knows his birthday hopefully will come right before this baby. I say right before because they both have the same due date so we are just hoping they end up with different birthdays). Anyway, so grateful children are resilient and adaptable.
There was a part of me that thought we were having a boy as well . Mostly this stems from that it would have been very convenient. We could put all the kids together in groups of two. I've done the baby girl thing in a group and could now do the boy thing in a group. I already had all the clothes for a boy. A couple of years ago I gave away all our baby girl things (except for the few precious ones that held memories to dear to part with) to our younger two nieces. Giving those things away was a decision I thought long and hard about. They were given freely with no expectation of having them back. It was something that I felt really good about. This fact alone was why I really thought we were having a boy.
Convenient is not always the Lord's way. This weekend my husband and I got away for a couple of days. It was perfect timing and just what we needed to process this new turn of events.
One major concern with adding another child was what rooms everyone would sleep in. If we had a boy we would have needed to move our five year old (who currently shares a room with her brother) upstairs into her 12 year old sister's room. While this was the easy solution it was a big concern for me because the upstairs is on a different schedule. Later nights because of homework and activities and early mornings. My five year old is one who really needs her sleep. Having a girl is a hidden blessing for it alleviated this issue. She can now stay downstairs and share a room with her new baby sister.
Of course it means we need to find a room where Bud Boy can have his own room. The means a lot of moving around. We are going to move our computer/craft room (ie the office) upstair into a sort of family/toy room. The space available to put the computer is quite small. Thanks to some shopping at IKEA (love that they cater to small spaces) I think we found a desk that will work. The hidden blessing is things will be a lot more organized. I love organization!
For a variety of reasons I won't bore you with we also needed to purchase a new car seat and stroller. This was something else we spent some time checking out this past weekend. We had decided on the model we wanted but knew we needed to save up some money. Just before leaving we turned around to see the travel system we had wanted marked to almost half. It was a design they where discontinuing and thus it was on clearance. It was pink! I would have never thought of buying pink before. Always thinking of what future kid might need to use it. We just so happen to be having a girl and not worried about a future kid (I really hope this is truly the case for I can't do another pregnancy again- so hard this time around). It was a hidden blessing.
Having a girl means a little more work as we reorganize our home and need to buy girl things. I can see that those things are actually for the better and the Lord is blessing us with the means to be able to do this. I spent yesterday going through all the baby clothes and pulling out what might work for a girl. I waffle between sadness over all that I have to buy and excitement of new things. If things go anything like the car seat we bought this might just be the most spoiled girl we ever had.
To let our kids know that we where having a girl we brought home a boxed pink ice cream cake. After going around and having each child say what they thought the baby would be, they opened the box for the answer. My son has always said this baby was a boy. The girls were an even 50/50 split. Bud Boy was pretty disappointed about it not being a boy and for the next few hours was quite angry. It broke my heart to see him so upset and I was amazed how much he actually understood.
Things are fine now and back to normal. It was nice to hear him say yesterday, "I'm so excited for my birthday and the baby" (He's knows his birthday hopefully will come right before this baby. I say right before because they both have the same due date so we are just hoping they end up with different birthdays). Anyway, so grateful children are resilient and adaptable.
There was a part of me that thought we were having a boy as well . Mostly this stems from that it would have been very convenient. We could put all the kids together in groups of two. I've done the baby girl thing in a group and could now do the boy thing in a group. I already had all the clothes for a boy. A couple of years ago I gave away all our baby girl things (except for the few precious ones that held memories to dear to part with) to our younger two nieces. Giving those things away was a decision I thought long and hard about. They were given freely with no expectation of having them back. It was something that I felt really good about. This fact alone was why I really thought we were having a boy.
Convenient is not always the Lord's way. This weekend my husband and I got away for a couple of days. It was perfect timing and just what we needed to process this new turn of events.
One major concern with adding another child was what rooms everyone would sleep in. If we had a boy we would have needed to move our five year old (who currently shares a room with her brother) upstairs into her 12 year old sister's room. While this was the easy solution it was a big concern for me because the upstairs is on a different schedule. Later nights because of homework and activities and early mornings. My five year old is one who really needs her sleep. Having a girl is a hidden blessing for it alleviated this issue. She can now stay downstairs and share a room with her new baby sister.
Of course it means we need to find a room where Bud Boy can have his own room. The means a lot of moving around. We are going to move our computer/craft room (ie the office) upstair into a sort of family/toy room. The space available to put the computer is quite small. Thanks to some shopping at IKEA (love that they cater to small spaces) I think we found a desk that will work. The hidden blessing is things will be a lot more organized. I love organization!
For a variety of reasons I won't bore you with we also needed to purchase a new car seat and stroller. This was something else we spent some time checking out this past weekend. We had decided on the model we wanted but knew we needed to save up some money. Just before leaving we turned around to see the travel system we had wanted marked to almost half. It was a design they where discontinuing and thus it was on clearance. It was pink! I would have never thought of buying pink before. Always thinking of what future kid might need to use it. We just so happen to be having a girl and not worried about a future kid (I really hope this is truly the case for I can't do another pregnancy again- so hard this time around). It was a hidden blessing.
Having a girl means a little more work as we reorganize our home and need to buy girl things. I can see that those things are actually for the better and the Lord is blessing us with the means to be able to do this. I spent yesterday going through all the baby clothes and pulling out what might work for a girl. I waffle between sadness over all that I have to buy and excitement of new things. If things go anything like the car seat we bought this might just be the most spoiled girl we ever had.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Introducing.......
Our FIFTH DAUGHTER
Yep it's a GIRL!
It will be fun to see how this one looks and what her personality is like. Currently she is one active girl. The ultrasound tech spent a lot of time chasing her around. Most importantly she is healthy and all things appear to be normal and right on schedule.
We are excited for this new little one that has already stolen a piece of our hearts.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
First Field Trip
I love Kindergarten for it is filled with so many firsts. Tator was so excited to go on her first Kindergarten field trip. I think she was even more excited for her first bus ride. Oh if I could just bottle up her joy and enthusiasm over the bus and save it for when she is older and rides it everyday.
Traditional to this time of year the field trip was to pumpkin land.
When asked what her favorite part was she replied, "EVERYTHING!"
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Inspiration
Have you ever wonder what to post about?
Felt like most of what you think of to post is pretty common, nothing new, everybody's heard it?
Sometimes I do.
I started thinking about this and then about the various blogs I read. You know I've never really thought that about what I read. In fact quite the opposite.
Sure sometimes I'll read a post about a pretty common subject or idea that isn't new. I realized, though, that often I needed a reminder at that current time in my life. A reminder of hey, I should be doing that or I could do better at that. Oftentimes a suggestion is given to help me have a little more focus and motivation to do better in that area of my life.
Sometimes I'll read a recipe someone has posted. It may not be a recipe I would try but I'll be reminded of something similar that I haven't made in awhile. It's inspiration to go and make it.
Or I'll be inspired to do something better for or with my kids. Like the other day I read about some great after school snacks. I was just inspired to actually make my kids something for snack rather than the usual fend for yourself. We sat down together and enjoyed a few minutes talking.
The inspiration I get is one of the things I love about reading blogs. It's the reason we shouldn't worry too much if what we are blogging about isn't the next greatest idea. Rather just write about something we feel a desire to tell someone else about. Hey it just might be inspiration for someone.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Saving Money: Credit Cards
Kind of a oxymoron I know. The other day I heard someone say credit cards were eating them alive and they were going to cancel them. I'm all for people finding ways to get out of debt and stay within a budget. For some this is what it takes. For us credit cards is one way we make money.
First off the key is to have a credit card that doesn't have an annual or minimum fee. Second pay the whole bill each month. Interest rates will "eat you alive". Also be able to have a budget and stick to it. If you can't then credit cards aren't for you. If you don't have the money for it in the first place then don't buy it.
We make money by having credit cards (I have two different ones) that offer cash back. Ours currently give 1%. With current bank interests rate at 0.2% we get more money from cash back. Every three months there is also certain areas that if you sign up for them you get 5%. We then pay almost everything with credit card to earn the most amount of money possible.
I love having a statement listing where our money was spent. It also helps keep us on budget for I can go online whenever I want and view the recent activity. It helps in knowing when to spend our money. Like when trying to decide if we should go out to eat. The statement is often categorized. I can view what has been spent at restaurants (plus see expenses I may have not have been aware of such as my husband going out for lunch) and see if we have already spent the budgeted amount for the month.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Everyday Life
Today is one of the those day where I just feel like complaining.
I'm tired of always butting heads with one of my children. It seems no matter what I try I just can't get it right.
I'm tired of kids coming to me complaining of something their sibling is doing to them. The next thing I know they are then doing the same exact thing to their younger sibling.
Just how much toilet paper does a family of 5 girls use?
Oh, the joy of varicose veins.
But alas, that isn't very fun to read so instead I'll fill this post with random things I want to remember but can't seem to think of a fun way to make a blog post out of them. Plus that's pretty much what this blog is for-me and my kids and the ability to remember everyday life.
Hey, it's Friday and only one more week until we find out if we are having a boy or a girl (any guesses?)
I'm tired of always butting heads with one of my children. It seems no matter what I try I just can't get it right.
I'm tired of kids coming to me complaining of something their sibling is doing to them. The next thing I know they are then doing the same exact thing to their younger sibling.
Just how much toilet paper does a family of 5 girls use?
Oh, the joy of varicose veins.
But alas, that isn't very fun to read so instead I'll fill this post with random things I want to remember but can't seem to think of a fun way to make a blog post out of them. Plus that's pretty much what this blog is for-me and my kids and the ability to remember everyday life.
- I cleared my garden out the other day. Most of the plants aren't producing or got hit by a recent cold spell. I sure am going to miss home grown tomatoes this winter. My five year old highly disagrees. She thinks "I'm disgusting" for eating tomatoes.
- I think my youngest two are going through zucchini withdrawal. Normally we plant one plant and it is more than enough. It's all we can do to keep up with that one plant's production as we eat anything possible made from zucchini-muffins, bread, casserole, pizza and even freeze grated zucchini for later. This year that one plant could hardly produce enough for my youngest two to eat. The standing joke was if you want any zucchini you had better get it before it gets passed to them.
- To help Jolly J prepare for her upcoming belt test we have been going to the indoor track. It's a good thing she likes karate for I think we have something related to karate every weekend for the next few weeks. One of which is her brown belt test. If you remember from this she has to run. This time it is 3 miles. We have made it a family affair. My youngest two thing it is the greatest. The love going to the track! Recently when discussing what to do for an upcoming school vacation their first suggestion was, "We could go to the track!"
- I am so grateful to be feeling well enough to make bread. I'm glad my kids can make memories of playing with the dough just as I did as a kid.
- My son dumped out the plastic tub toy box the other day and spent a few hours pretending he was a turtle. Boy do I have memories of playing with big cardboard washer boxes in my front driveway. They were good for so many things.
Hey, it's Friday and only one more week until we find out if we are having a boy or a girl (any guesses?)
Have a great weekend!
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Saving Money: Cable, Phone, Internet
It seems there is a lot of things people have done to save money in this area. I have heard such terms such as Netflix, Hulu, internet streaming, thrown around. I haven't paid much attention for we have been in a two year contract. It has made getting rid of salesman pretty easy.
But, like all things, time goes on and our contract has expired. To renew our contract we have to sign up for another two years and the second year of the contract the rates will be raised. I don't think so.
As you can guess we are now looking into options.
I think we have decided to stick with our current company for internet.
We are looking to stop the phone and cable. My kids aren't too happy about losing cable (not that they watch it very much-too busy!) For television we are looking into using an antenna and TiVo. As we looked at what we will loose versus what we will get with an antenna, we won't be missing too much. At least not worth paying more for. Maybe we will be able to get what we miss by using Netflix. Still need to look into this more.
For phone, we feel like we need to still have a land line and are looking into options for this such as Ooma.
We'll have to post again in a few months to let you know what we officially have done and what we think of it. All I know is with what my husband is thinking of trying out, after initial equipment costs, he thinks we will save about $ 70 a month. So worth it to me.
How about you? What have you done for these items and what do you think?
But, like all things, time goes on and our contract has expired. To renew our contract we have to sign up for another two years and the second year of the contract the rates will be raised. I don't think so.
As you can guess we are now looking into options.
I think we have decided to stick with our current company for internet.
We are looking to stop the phone and cable. My kids aren't too happy about losing cable (not that they watch it very much-too busy!) For television we are looking into using an antenna and TiVo. As we looked at what we will loose versus what we will get with an antenna, we won't be missing too much. At least not worth paying more for. Maybe we will be able to get what we miss by using Netflix. Still need to look into this more.
For phone, we feel like we need to still have a land line and are looking into options for this such as Ooma.
We'll have to post again in a few months to let you know what we officially have done and what we think of it. All I know is with what my husband is thinking of trying out, after initial equipment costs, he thinks we will save about $ 70 a month. So worth it to me.
How about you? What have you done for these items and what do you think?
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Saving Money: Price Matching
The other day I had my oldest with me when we went grocery shopping. This is a rarity for usually I shop when she is at school or she is the one staying home to babysit. After many years of always shopping with kids it is so nice when I don't have to. Any way, as we shopped I took the opportunity to share a little of what I do in terms of grocery shopping.
I shop at Walmart a lot. This wasn't always the case. In fact, I hated shopping at Walmart for I felt like I could always find things cheaper at other stores. Then I had a friend turn me on to price matching. I still wasn't sold until after many attempts and learning some things a long the way. Now it's a blessing to do one stop shopping. I know this won't help some of you for you don't have a Walmart near by but here's a little of what I shared with my daughter. She even commented on some things that the people in front of us didn't do and how things weren't quite as smooth for them.
Preparation
This is before you even go to the store. I lay out all the ads and go through them one by one. (I know there are some sites that do this for you but I never really found one that worked for me. It seems I spent more time trying to find a site I liked, figure them out and often they missed some of my favorite local stores/ads).
On each stores ad I mark items we need with a big red X. If I find that item cheaper in another ad then I will cross off the X on the more expensive ad.
Generally I am looking for two things.
After I have marked all the ads I take a piece of paper and go through each ad writing down what I have marked. I list the item, size, price (make sure to include if it's per lb) and what store.
I then go through my coupons. I'm not a major coupon user but I do keep coupons I get in the mail and will print out some coupons. I keep all of these in a binder. I go through and see if any coupons match up with sale items. If I have a coupon I make sure I mark on my list "coupon" and write the number of items I need to buy to meet the coupon.
I then take the coupons I'm going to use out of my binder and put them with my grocery list in a sheet protector. I put the ads in my coupon binder. Generally I bring my binder into the store for the off chance I find something on sale that matches another coupon. Plus the binder has my ads. Walmart's current policy is you don't have to have the ads with you. I have found, though, that just having my ads in the cart and a list of pricing I rarely get questioned. Unlike the lady in front of us last week that was just saying prices from memory. My daughter picked up on that. Plus, having a list of the prices take less time then looking through each ad saying the prices as you go. So much nicer for the customers behind.
Shopping
Brands.
Generally I am not a name brand person (except for a few items). I will buy generic or store brands because they are cheaper. One of the main reasons I didn't like price matching originally was I could never find the brand advertised. Walmart will substitute their store brand for the advertised brand. For example if it's Western Family on sale then buy Walmart's store brand (Great Value). I haven't found any difference in the quality of food.
Produce.
Walmart used to be price per item and not per lb. Ads are often per lb so I hated price matching. Walmart has changed a lot of this and checkers/scanners are a lot better at making this conversion. To know which is a better deal use the scale. Weigh the item (say cantaloupe) to figure out the lbs. Times this by the advertized per lb price and see which is cheaper- walmart's price or the ad. All you have to do when checking out is just say the price per lb.
Meat.
This is the one area I still don't price match a lot. Every store is different on what they price match. If I do price match I just make sure what I buy is labeled exactly the same as the sales ad.( ie if it says center cut pork chops I make sure that what I buy is labeled center cut).
Happy Shopping!
I shop at Walmart a lot. This wasn't always the case. In fact, I hated shopping at Walmart for I felt like I could always find things cheaper at other stores. Then I had a friend turn me on to price matching. I still wasn't sold until after many attempts and learning some things a long the way. Now it's a blessing to do one stop shopping. I know this won't help some of you for you don't have a Walmart near by but here's a little of what I shared with my daughter. She even commented on some things that the people in front of us didn't do and how things weren't quite as smooth for them.
Preparation
This is before you even go to the store. I lay out all the ads and go through them one by one. (I know there are some sites that do this for you but I never really found one that worked for me. It seems I spent more time trying to find a site I liked, figure them out and often they missed some of my favorite local stores/ads).
On each stores ad I mark items we need with a big red X. If I find that item cheaper in another ad then I will cross off the X on the more expensive ad.
Generally I am looking for two things.
- Items we need to replace in our food storage (which is mostly what I buy). You know good deal items that I stock up on.
- Things on sale that week, that I don't stock in our food storage, which I meal plan around.
After I have marked all the ads I take a piece of paper and go through each ad writing down what I have marked. I list the item, size, price (make sure to include if it's per lb) and what store.
I then go through my coupons. I'm not a major coupon user but I do keep coupons I get in the mail and will print out some coupons. I keep all of these in a binder. I go through and see if any coupons match up with sale items. If I have a coupon I make sure I mark on my list "coupon" and write the number of items I need to buy to meet the coupon.
I then take the coupons I'm going to use out of my binder and put them with my grocery list in a sheet protector. I put the ads in my coupon binder. Generally I bring my binder into the store for the off chance I find something on sale that matches another coupon. Plus the binder has my ads. Walmart's current policy is you don't have to have the ads with you. I have found, though, that just having my ads in the cart and a list of pricing I rarely get questioned. Unlike the lady in front of us last week that was just saying prices from memory. My daughter picked up on that. Plus, having a list of the prices take less time then looking through each ad saying the prices as you go. So much nicer for the customers behind.
Shopping
- Carry a pen. Occasionally I find an item cheaper at Walmart so I cross that item off my list so I know not to price match
- Cart. Put any items you are price matching in the same place in the cart. I put all of mine towards the back.
- Conveyor belt. Put all the items you aren't price matching on first. This way the checker can start to scan your items first while you are still loading. I let the checker know from a certain item on back it's all price match. Try to keep similar items together.
Brands.
Generally I am not a name brand person (except for a few items). I will buy generic or store brands because they are cheaper. One of the main reasons I didn't like price matching originally was I could never find the brand advertised. Walmart will substitute their store brand for the advertised brand. For example if it's Western Family on sale then buy Walmart's store brand (Great Value). I haven't found any difference in the quality of food.
Produce.
Walmart used to be price per item and not per lb. Ads are often per lb so I hated price matching. Walmart has changed a lot of this and checkers/scanners are a lot better at making this conversion. To know which is a better deal use the scale. Weigh the item (say cantaloupe) to figure out the lbs. Times this by the advertized per lb price and see which is cheaper- walmart's price or the ad. All you have to do when checking out is just say the price per lb.
Meat.
This is the one area I still don't price match a lot. Every store is different on what they price match. If I do price match I just make sure what I buy is labeled exactly the same as the sales ad.( ie if it says center cut pork chops I make sure that what I buy is labeled center cut).
Happy Shopping!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Prayers Are Answered
A couple of weekends ago, like so many of you, we gathered together as a family to watch General Conference. One of the things I like about Conference is that each person can get something different from the talks. Something that relates to what one is currently going through and thinking about. A personal insight and sometimes an answer.
This year I was particularly touched by two different talks. The first was by Neil L. Anderson entitled Children. In this he states, In our day prophets and apostles have declared, “The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force.”
This commandment has not been forgotten or set aside in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We express deep gratitude for the enormous faith shown by husbands and wives (especially our wives) in their willingness to have children. When to have a child and how many children to have are private decisions to be made between a husband and wife and the Lord. These are sacred decisions—decisions that should be made with sincere prayer and acted on with great faith.
This is how my husband and I have always approached the decision to have more children. In fact it is the only way we have been able to have the children we have. I have needed a strong feeling of peace and a lot of faith to make it through each pregnancy.
As many of you know this current pregnancy was a little bit of a surprise for us but definitely not an answer to prayer. The decision of how many children we were to have has been on our minds a lot over the last couple of years. With each of our previous children before we had them we felt very strongly that we were to have another. In thinking about and praying if we were to have any more children we never really felt like were to have another so we kind of felt like we were done. For me, though, I would often come back to, Are we really done? And wonder if we had been given an answer to prayer. We never felt very strongly that we were to have another child but also never felt a strong confirmation that we were done. And I knew that I had a strong desire to never go through another pregnancy.
It is now obvious we weren't done and I wondered a lot lately, Were we just ignoring inspiration? Not in a position to receive it? Not really wanting the Lord's will?
As I listened during conference to this talk by Robert D. Hales I had some of these concerns addressed. I realized that we had been honestly seeking an answer to prayer but were waiting on the Lord for our prayer to be answered. As Elder Hales stated, What, then, does it mean to wait upon the Lord? In the scriptures, the word wait means to hope, to anticipate, and to trust. To hope and trust in the Lord requires faith, patience, humility, meekness, long-suffering, keeping the commandments, and enduring to the end. That was exactly what we were doing.
Elder Hales then stated, In my life I have learned that sometimes I do not receive an answer to a prayer because the Lord knows I am not ready. When He does answer, it is often “here a little and there a little” because that is all that I can bear or all I am willing to do. As I look back I also know that was exactly what was happening with us. That was why I was often still questioning and seeking a confirmation of if we were done having children. I also know he was gradually softening my heart until I was ready.
When we first found out we were pregnant there was a lot of peace that came. As I have thought about things I have realized this was the Lord's way of answering our prayer.
I know the Lord answers prayers. Sometimes he answers right away and then the trial is trusting in that answer. As I listened to a story, shared in the first talk mentioned, of a couple who knew another child was to come but that child didn't come for eight years I was reminded of a time with one of children where this was the case. While we didn't wait years it was a trail to trust in the answer that immediately came while waiting to get pregnant. Other times the trial comes in waiting upon the Lord for the answer and most often having our hearts changed in that waiting process.
One of my concerns or reasons I was thinking we were done having kids was a worry for my other children. I worried I wouldn't be capable of meeting their needs if I was physically suffering either from morning sickness or exhaustion from late nights with a newborn. During a time of prayer when I expressed these concerns I felt on overwhelming assurance that my kids would be fine. I have seen answer to that prayer through these last few months. Now I have to just trust in that answer when we have a newborn and dealing with late night feedings plus late night homework help and chat sessions. Thank goodness we have a few months to prepare for that.
This year I was particularly touched by two different talks. The first was by Neil L. Anderson entitled Children. In this he states, In our day prophets and apostles have declared, “The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force.”
This commandment has not been forgotten or set aside in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We express deep gratitude for the enormous faith shown by husbands and wives (especially our wives) in their willingness to have children. When to have a child and how many children to have are private decisions to be made between a husband and wife and the Lord. These are sacred decisions—decisions that should be made with sincere prayer and acted on with great faith.
This is how my husband and I have always approached the decision to have more children. In fact it is the only way we have been able to have the children we have. I have needed a strong feeling of peace and a lot of faith to make it through each pregnancy.
As many of you know this current pregnancy was a little bit of a surprise for us but definitely not an answer to prayer. The decision of how many children we were to have has been on our minds a lot over the last couple of years. With each of our previous children before we had them we felt very strongly that we were to have another. In thinking about and praying if we were to have any more children we never really felt like were to have another so we kind of felt like we were done. For me, though, I would often come back to, Are we really done? And wonder if we had been given an answer to prayer. We never felt very strongly that we were to have another child but also never felt a strong confirmation that we were done. And I knew that I had a strong desire to never go through another pregnancy.
It is now obvious we weren't done and I wondered a lot lately, Were we just ignoring inspiration? Not in a position to receive it? Not really wanting the Lord's will?
As I listened during conference to this talk by Robert D. Hales I had some of these concerns addressed. I realized that we had been honestly seeking an answer to prayer but were waiting on the Lord for our prayer to be answered. As Elder Hales stated, What, then, does it mean to wait upon the Lord? In the scriptures, the word wait means to hope, to anticipate, and to trust. To hope and trust in the Lord requires faith, patience, humility, meekness, long-suffering, keeping the commandments, and enduring to the end. That was exactly what we were doing.
Elder Hales then stated, In my life I have learned that sometimes I do not receive an answer to a prayer because the Lord knows I am not ready. When He does answer, it is often “here a little and there a little” because that is all that I can bear or all I am willing to do. As I look back I also know that was exactly what was happening with us. That was why I was often still questioning and seeking a confirmation of if we were done having children. I also know he was gradually softening my heart until I was ready.
When we first found out we were pregnant there was a lot of peace that came. As I have thought about things I have realized this was the Lord's way of answering our prayer.
I know the Lord answers prayers. Sometimes he answers right away and then the trial is trusting in that answer. As I listened to a story, shared in the first talk mentioned, of a couple who knew another child was to come but that child didn't come for eight years I was reminded of a time with one of children where this was the case. While we didn't wait years it was a trail to trust in the answer that immediately came while waiting to get pregnant. Other times the trial comes in waiting upon the Lord for the answer and most often having our hearts changed in that waiting process.
One of my concerns or reasons I was thinking we were done having kids was a worry for my other children. I worried I wouldn't be capable of meeting their needs if I was physically suffering either from morning sickness or exhaustion from late nights with a newborn. During a time of prayer when I expressed these concerns I felt on overwhelming assurance that my kids would be fine. I have seen answer to that prayer through these last few months. Now I have to just trust in that answer when we have a newborn and dealing with late night feedings plus late night homework help and chat sessions. Thank goodness we have a few months to prepare for that.
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