The Three 'Ps' of Parenting

Lilly was placed on my chest after she was born for some skin to skin bonding time.  She stayed there for thirty minutes.  When they took her off so we could both get cleaned up the nurse said, “Oh no, she pooped on you!”

And that was the beginning of a wonderful relationship!

Since then she hasn’t stopped popping on me.  One time her poop not only sprayed all over me, but also on my dry clean only jacket that was lying behind be.  She’s got good aim.  One time she had such a bad blowout it soaked her clothes clear up to her armpit.  I soon realized pooping wasn’t the only thing Lilly was good at.  She also had a knack for peeing all over herself in that couple seconds when the old diaper is removed from underneath her and the new one is not yet in place.  A favorite pass time of hers is puking all over me, even when I have a burp rag in place.  She still manages to get it on my clothes and down my back occasionally.  (It hasn’t ended up in my mouth yet, thank goodness!)

She even pukes on herself

Pooping, Peeing, and Puking.  Three things Lilly excels in.

Though parenting is messy it has its moments of laughter too.  Every day around 6 a.m. Lilly will wake us up to be fed.  Chris loves the morning smile Lilly gives him.  

When she’s done eating, Lilly will have a dribble of milk coming from her mouth, and sometimes milk is smeared all over her cheek and chin.  I can’t help but laugh.  When she cries she’ll make a sound that sounds like she’s saying “Mah.”  I know I shouldn’t find her crying humorous, but sometimes I do. 

One of her pooping faces

With these fun and exciting times also come those difficult times.   I know I can’t be the only mom who thinks she is incompetent to be a mom.  Wondering why God would call her to be one when she feels she is failing at least several times a week.  Yet God called me, and thousands of others to be mothers.  Some of us don’t have our own children here in this life, for whatever reason, but each woman is a mother to someone in some way.  And God didn’t leave us alone. 

He gave us Prayer, Patience, and Perseverance. 

I think the only time I have ever prayed more in my life is when I was on my mission.  I offer constant daily prayers up to the Lord to help me know how to care for my daughter.  I pray for strength to get through those nights when Chris is gone and Lilly is crying.  I’ve prayed in the middle of the night, in the middle of the day, when all I want is sleep and Lilly is wide awake.  I’ve prayed for the strength to get through each hour.  Though I’ve never had an angel visit me and calm Lilly, I have gotten through those difficult times as a mom.  I believe the Lord is with me even if I can’t feel Him with me all the time.

Even Lilly prays

I have had to work on patience my entire life.  For some reason when it comes to Lilly I am patient…for the most part.  I do have my moments of impatience, but overall I can handle her crying, I can walk around with her on my shoulder much longer than I thought I could, and playing with her isn’t a problem for me.  I know that each stage of her life only happens once.  I try to be patient during the difficult times because I know I’ll be blessed with the fun and good times.

I remember there were a few weeks when Lilly loved waking up at 3 a.m. and staying up until 7 a.m.  If my sleep schedule wasn’t off at that time, it certainly got off!  Then there are the several times when Lilly will go through several diapers in one changing because off all the peeing and pooping she does.  And I can’t forget those long evenings when Chris is gone to school and/or work when I’ve already had a long day and am exhausted.  During these times I know I need to persevere.  It’s more than just enduring.  Enduring is what I did as a kid when my brother would constantly pick on me.  Persevering is what I do when times are really tough as a mom.  I know that Lilly’s crying session will be over, that one day she’ll be potty trained, and Chris will have a set time he’ll come home from work to help me with the kids.  But for now I persevere. 

I have hope in my heart that the Lord will help me through the challenges of motherhood.  I have joy knowing I get to watch my daughter grow up.  I have peace knowing how infinitely she trusts me (for now). 

Though there will continue to be a lot of Pooping, Peeing, and Puking, I thank my Heavenly Father He gave me Prayer, Patience, and Perseverance

We love our little girl

Afraid of Failing

A few projects I’ve wanted to start recently
1.  A homemade calendar
2. A quilt for my baby
3. A pillowcase
4. A family scrapbook
5. A blog about books

I’ve hesitated in starting most of these projects because I’m afraid of failure.  I haven’t sewn something together since I was about fourteen years old.  A pillowcase can’t be that hard, right?  I’m sure in my hands I’ll probably end up ripping out the seams at least twice before it even resembles a pillowcase.  I’m afraid my calendar is going to turn out looking like a mess.  My children and grandchildren are going to be looking through the family scrapbook.  What will they think of my first attempts at scrapbooking since I was fifteen?  I’ve been Googling examples of scrapbooking and calendar making, hoping to get some ideas.  And my book blog?  Well I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not the best writer.  What if no one reads my blog, and further what if I have as many typos in that blog as I do in this blog?  That’s embarrassing. 

Several weeks ago I started to realize I couldn’t be afraid of failure.  I am going to fail at some things in life.  Some projects will turn out better than others.  I recently heard this example of failure on Music and the Spoken Word.  A professor at a very famous university known for it’s medical research (I can’t remember the name of it) explained to his students, when doctors first started to perform kidney transplants many people died because of complications.  But it was because of those early mistakes doctors were able to learn from and eventually improve the procedure so that today there are hundreds of successful kidney transplants.

A great modern example of failure after failure is Lindsey Sterling.  She was on America’s Got Talent when the judges told her that there was no audience for what she did (dance and play the violin at the same time).  Again and again she met failure.   Everyone said she wasn’t going to succeed.  Over 3 million subscribers on her YouTube channel later . . . not to mention touring Europe, performing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and releasing an album.  I wouldn’t call that failure.  But, she had to fail first before she could succeed.

Thomas Edison, inventor of the light bulb, said,

“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up.  The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”

Even with the fear of failure looming in front of me what do I do?  I start on one of these projects!  I realize that these projects aren’t going to affect my social status, how much my family loves me, or my divine worth.  Failure is just scary.

My husband accompanied me to the craft store (what I good husband!) where I bought some fabric for my pillowcase, and some crafty scrapbooking things for my calendar.  (I figured if I messed up on the calendar it wouldn’t be as bad as messing up on the scrapbook.  I can throw the calendar away in 12 months).  

As for the book blog I’ve already started it!  The first and second posts are up!  I figured if it fails then it fails.  At least I tried.  And in a year or two I can look back and laugh at my failures, realizing they have made me into a better person.

Information about my book blog.

I have wanted to start this blog for a long time, but never really knew how, and of course afraid that I would mess something up.  So one day I just decided to start it.  “Off the Shelves” is all about books (and some movies).  I’m not exactly sure what all I’m going to include in it, but I know there will be reviews on books and movies (the second post us about Disney’s Frozen). I’m also planning on blogging about the different elements in a good story, and anything to do with books; what we can learn from them, what makes a good book, and what doesn’t.  Pretty much whatever I feel like. 

To view my first post on “Off the Shelves” click here.