Bianca, Bottles, Bedtime, Bucket, Beets and Battlestar Galactica

I've been thinking a lot about doing hard things. How being a parent forces you to watch and push your children to do hard things and it's not fun! I can't imagine how hard it must be for Heavenly Father to watch his children struggle, even knowing the trials that are ahead of them and gently nudges them to keep going, so that they can overcome. In one of my favorite scriptures Jesus tells his apostles, "In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33) It gives me hope. He has overcome it all, and he can help us do that too. Although we may not be able to overcome all things in this lifetime.

My first instinct when my children are going through a hard time is to remove them from the situation, to take the stressor away. But that isn't always the answer. When I think back on trials I've had I've been frustrated that the Lord doesn't just take them away! Now I see that although some trials do remain with me, I am able to handle them better. In the Book of Mormon there was a group of people suffering from some hard trials and God said to them:

“I will … ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that … you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.

“And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord."

I know as I trust in the Lord, he shows his confidence in me and strengthens me. I think that's something that I'm bad at as a parent. Eric tells me that I need to exhibit more confidence in Bianca. (She's going through a tough time right now, explained below.) I need to work on that. I just want to rescue her instead I need to strengthen and support her. Let her know she can do something even if it's hard and she will be better for it. With the right foundation she's not going to break, she's going to be built up. We decided to say a prayer every morning before she leaves for school so we can both feel better about the day.

The challenge below may seem small but it's just been one of many challenges lately that have made me think about these things.

So the story with B. She was so excited to start school and see her friends again. The first day she was up and ready at 6:30 and couldn't wait to get to the bus stop.
This is her first week and it's totally different. She tells me she cries everyday at school. She misses the crafts she used to do in Kindergarten and she hasn't been eating her lunch because lunchtime makes her miss home. ): Today I picked her up from school and took her to McDonalds as a reward for eating even a little at school. It's hard for her but hopefully she will overcome this with time. I don't like the idea of her going all day without eating so I give her a big breakfast and have food ready for her when she comes home.

She wanted her hair curled for her first day:

Her and Wy being silly while waiting for the bus.

Bucket ,Bottle: Clark has thrush again, and so do I. I think we've had it most of his life unfortunately. I got so upset about it that I decided I was going to switch him to a bottle. He wouldn't take it so I basically didn't feed him until he would. It was a terrible day and I was much more emotional about it than I have ever been really about anything. Which led me to believe that I wasn't ready to stop nursing and he definitely was upset about it as well. Yeah, he finally took a bottle that night because he was so hungry but it wasn't satisfying to anyone. So I decided to take it slower and keep trying different bottle nipples, and sippie cups, which he takes better than any bottle. I might just go straight to the sippie cup at this point.

Bedtime: Bedtime is usually hectic I think in any household so I'm not saying ours is perfect but I do love when everyone gets in the bed together for stories. Clark loves this time as well. I can just tell by his face and he gets so relaxed and cuddles with Eric and Bianca. It's really fun.


And I just had to say beets and battlestar bc I'm cool like that. Shyeaaah, (:.