Thank Yous

In the spirit of Jimmy Fallon, I'm going to start doing some weekly thank yous.

Thank you, Smith's Double Vanilla Ice Cream, for getting me to like plain vanilla ice cream again after a 24 year absence.

Thank you, Spring, for exploding in my face.

Thank you, Winter, for the joke.

Thank you, Rodger, for being full of hilarious faces.

Thank you, Jillian, for challenging Smith's Double Vanilla Ice Cream to a stiff competition of who will kill me first.

Thank you, Chef Brad of Fusion Grain Cooking, for teaching me this "fabulous" breakfast recipe.

And thank you, Easter, for reminding me there can be beauty in hashtags. #BecauseHeLives (Is it weird that the part with the girl eating ice cream is the part that made me cry?)

Long Days

A month after having my baby, a good friend emailed me an update of her four kids. She ended the email by saying "The days are long, but the years fly by!" I haven't experienced the years yet, but amen to those long days.

Some times I will lay Rodger on the floor and we'll change his diaper, sing songs, name all the parts on his body, count to 100 with our fingers, then recount in Spanish, practice the BYU fight song, read some poetry, talk about the downfall and destruction of the Nephites, have tickle time, have tummy time, have cuddle time to make up for traumatic tummy time - and then think "Surely it's time for our nap, we've been playing for hours!" Nope. Only 20 minutes have gone by. Hmm. Long days? Talk about long minutes.

I always expected motherhood to be hard. I knew I would lose my body, my brain, my identity, my time, my sleep. And you know what? It is hard and I did lose all those things. But in exchange, I got the gift of long days. Because apparently, in the blink of an eye all his years with me will be gone - and he'll be off having his own babies and beginning his own long days.

I LOVE my long days. Even when the days involve lots of tears and wishes for sleep and long moments of boredom.

 

(Typical Rodger to go from this to this. He is highly suspicious of any and all cameras.)

 I look at this baby and say prayers of gratitude for the long days and wish in my heart they could be just a little longer.