"Mo-om! I'm ready to come rescue you!"

"Did you get bit by a squirrel or a tiger or a lion...or a squirrel?"I opted for the squirrel bite. It sounded the least violent and the easiest for my superhero to fix. Plus he seemed to be nudging me in that direction.

Seasons

I recently had an aha! moment. I was sitting at the adult session of stake conference, listening to a talk by an older gentleman on he and his wife's preparation for a mission. I felt really envious. I remembered having that kind of time to focus on spiritual things, to study the scriptures in-depth. I remembered well the incredible spirit associated with preparing for, and serving, a mission. Then came the thought, accompanied by a lot of peace and love, "You did that once, you'll be able to do it again with Tyler in the future...but now is a different season."

My big AHA! was that I realized that I measure my spirituality now based on what I was able to do then. Because I don't have the time or energy now to focus the way that I could when I was single and had only myself to worry about, I have almost always felt inadequate spiritually since I've become a mother. And that is so wrong. I am performing a greater act of service, with so much more sacrifice, as a mother...why would I feel like I am less now than I was then?!

I think there are a few reasons. 1) Satan does everything he can to make us feel like we are inadequate. Of course he is going to work hard on mothers who are doing their darnedest to raise children in love and righteousness. 2) Motherhood does not lend itself to high praise. Although I know that I am appreciated, I don't hear about it as often. In my calling as Relief Society Pres. in a single's ward and then on my mission I received a lot of praise and outward expressions of love for the service I was giving. I think I came to associate that with my feelings about myself. Does that make sense? If I'm doing a good job, then others will be telling me so. How shallow. It's kind of embarrassing for me to admit that, but it's true.

I am in a different season of life. I have always really, really, really loved being a mother. I feel like this is what I was born to do. And I want to be clear that I am not saying that there are no rewards for being a mother. There are HUGE rewards. What I am talking about in this post is how I view myself in the midst of it and how I feel about my relationship with God.

I have thought a lot about this since I heard that talk about a month ago. I've realized that I need to adjust my thinking on spirituality. I also need to adjust my relationship with Heavenly Father. It's me and Him. No one else is going to let me know how I am doing spiritually or where I stand. I will seek His approval and only His approval. That has lead me to look a little bit deeper at my life and think of things I have done in the past that I still need to repent of. They were there all the time, but I needed to draw closer to The Light - not the limelight - so that I could see them better. A beautiful thing that has happened in this past month is that Heavenly Father has been showering me with love. I feel like every time I turn around He is showing me in yet another way how much He loves me. My prayers have been heard and answered. Some of that has, indeed, come through other people - a friend reminded me that time spent with my pure little children are spiritual times and so it's okay if I don't get to my scriptures every single day. Sometimes it's hard to remember that when they are throwing tantrums or being extra whiny :) But much of it has come directly to my heart through the Spirit. Heavenly Father knows that my prayers that sometimes get cut off by a child in need are enough. Or even the times that I have to rush off in the morning and then remember to pray on our way to run errands or go to story time are still acceptable prayers to Him. The chapter or two of scriptures that I get to skim each day (or sometimes the few verses) still give me strength. I know that He is aware of me. I am such a work in (slow) progress, but I am working. And isn't that what He asks? I haven't made all of the changes in my thinking about all of this yet, but I am so grateful for the little aha's! that I've been blessed with so far.

I am grateful for this season. And my best is enough.

I've got nothin' for a title...

I just went in to check on Max. He'd been playing for about 1/2 hour since I put him down for a nap and it was finally quiet in there. I always check on him to see if he made it into his bed. He usually does. Not today. I thought, 'What in the world?!' when I opened the door and couldn't see him anywhere. But then I saw his little foot between the closet doors. It looks like Mr. Mouse is doing the honors of cushioning the cute man's head.

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Isn't this an adorable dress? And the little lady sporting it isn't bad either. :) My mom brought it last weekend - a gift for Kelly from a friend in her ward. I love it and was excited to put it on her. I really didn't think I would get as big of a kick out of dressing a little girl as I do. It's so fun! And, by the way, these pictures make it look like she was being cooperative in the picture-taking process. Not so. She was all over the place. I was lucky to get a few good ones!

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Back to bangs! I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with them until I saw pictures of me from last weekend with my mom and sister. That forehead needs some coverage. So I got out my scissors yesterday. I like 'em.

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Oh, my favorite oldest child...I like you so much!

Time Out!

So last Friday I was kidless, hanging out in Seattle with my mom and sister, Adrianne.  They flew in Thursday night and we headed to a hotel in downtown Seattle.  We chatted it up until 1:30 a.m. when we just couldn't hold on any longer.  We're so old.  Funny Story #1: It's noteworthy to mention that Adri peed her pants from laughter when my mom was telling a hilarious story about our dad riding in one of those people-powered carriages (ask if you want to know the whole story...but you'd have to know my dad to really get a kick out of it!).  In Adri's defense, she is 6 months pregnant. 

Funny story #2: When we were checking in to the hotel the lady asked if we wanted a wake-up call in the morning and we practically shouted in unison, "No!"  I told her that we were away from kids and responsibilities, thus our emphatic response.  

Friday morning we slept in, had a super late breakfast at CJ's (totally recommend if you're ever in Seattle). Then we walked for the next 5 hours.  For real.  It was wonderful.  We walked to the Space Needle, then headed over to Pike's Market where we scoured many little shops, ate yummy treats, watched some amazing street performers, and almost got my mom to riverdance in front of a piano being played on the street corner.  Then it was down to the waterfront for Ivar's clam chowder eaten on the pier.  So nice.  Next we scoured several more shops along the waterfront on our way back to the hotel.  Adri almost went into labor from all of the walking. :) Perfect weather for the day...we even ditched our jackets halfway through.  I prayed for that. Heavenly Father loves me, this I know.

Funny story #3: We were taking a picture of ourselves on the water to get us all in.  There wasn't anyone around to take it for us. I kept accidentally cutting my mom out of it so we kept taking more pictures.  It turned into a joke that I made them take more and more pictures, so I just kept going and we were laughing really hard.  Total had-to-be-there moment.  But the pictures are funny because of the utter agony on my mom's face toward the end. "Why are we still doing this?!"  It only made me want to take more pictures and made Adri & I laugh harder.

We rested a bit and freshened up at the hotel, then called for a taxi to take our weary legs to Benaroya Music Hall for the first session of Time Out For Women. I was crying within the first 5 minutes.  I SO needed that boost from the Spirit!  I'd been feeling a little mom-weary, spirit-lacking-weary, caretaker-of-home weary.  Nope, not wife-weary because my husband rocks.  

Funny story #4: We went to the restaurant in the hotel for a late dinner where the prices were WAY more than what we thought and the menu looked WAY different from what we'd seen in our room.  Nothing looked good enough to drop that kind of dough on.  So Adri & I giggled as we ducked out of the ridiculously expensive restaurant and left my mom to tell the waiter that we were leaving.  Then we ordered a pizza and watched Marley & Me.  Much better.

Saturday was all about Time Out For Women (which was good since the weather turned sour - rainy and cold). It was iNcReDiBlE!  If you have a chance to attend in your city, I absolutely recommend that you look into going.  It's a very fun environment and just the uplift that every woman needs.  Three dear friends from my ward came to TOFW as well so it was fun to have them hang with my mom and sister. 

 *Me, Tristalene, Marcela & Sylvia*

Then we caught the ferry back to Bainbridge Island where Tyler and kids picked us up.  What a man I have!  He had a lot of fun with the kids while I was away and had dinner waiting for us at home.  The house was also nice and clean, with a lovely candle burning.  I have to say that one of my favorite parts of the weekend was having my mom and Adri come to my house and hang out with my kids.  Isn't it nice to have people who love your kids almost as much as you do around to dote on them and remind you what cute little people you have?!   

Sunday we woke up to SNOW falling like crazy!  We got about 3 inches, church was cancelled, and Adri was afraid she wouldn't be able to go home that night and see her kids that she was so missing.  But the snow was all gone and roads clear by early afternoon.  My momma worked with me on my sewing machine and taught me some good tricks.  I'd been waiting for that for three months.  Thanks, lady!  We had a nice drive to the airport...lots more talking.  *Sigh* It was just what I needed.  Many more of these to come, I hope, and hopefully next time Beth will be able to join us.  We really missed you, Beha!  We kept saying, "I wish Bethany was here." 

Thanks for the greatest weekend, ladies!  Loved it.  Love you.

Dreamin'

I have a really fun weekend to post about...but for tonight I want to pose this question:

Does anyone else ask their spouse to apologize after they've had a really vivid dream in which the spouse has treated you badly or hurt you in some way? I do. And my husband doesn't like that I feel he needs to apologize for something he hasn't done and never would do. But the dreams are so real that I wake up with all of the hurt and anger that I would have had it actually happened. So I always call Ty at work and tell him about his regrettable actions and then just sit there, waiting for the apology I feel should come. He always incredulously says, "I'm not going to apologize for something I didn't do." It's kind of a joke and we both chuckle. "Okay, but tell me you love me and would never do that to me." He does and I am happy.

Cindy Lou Who

For real. This is how her hair went today all on its own. It's not the first time, but it's the first time I've got pictures to prove it. Funny thing about it *like a curly strand of hair sticking straight up from your head that your mom cannot get to lay down isn't funny on its own* is that several people have called her Cindy Lou Who in her one year on this earth. Something about those huge blue eyes and long lashes...when she gives just the right expression that's exactly who she looks like. So I am quite entertained by the fact that her hair does this every now and again. No Grinch would stand a chance against this babe.

The Haps

Dana, why haven't you blogged in a while? Why did I have to look at that picture of you ready to pop for so long? Well, since you asked...

I've been doing a whole lotta normal, daily duties and just haven't made blogging time. Things like chasing after two very cute little people and posing for my personal photographer, Maxwell, whilst performing said duties.


I threw a fun baby shower for my friend, Jennifer, who is due at the end of the month with her first babe, a boy. I love throwing parties! I love my friends.

Also, I started school! Hooray! Like I said before it's online through BYU-Idaho. It's not a hard course, but it has taken up a lot of nap time which is usually blogging time.Plus we're in the middle of laying new flooring in the downstairs bathroom/laundry room and kitchen AND refinishing our kitchen cabinets.

So that's why, okay?!But here's a little bit of catching up:

I came downstairs last week and found Max and his best friend, Reyes, like this:"Mom, we're astronauts and this is our rocket ship. We're going to blast off! 3-2-1..." They were laying super still, buckets firmly in place on their heads. Reyes is so patient with Max and laid there just like he told her to and for as long as he told her to. We love, love, love Reyes. She is our beautiful little next-door-neighbor and Max's favorite person, aside from his Momma, Dad, and sister, of course. :) They get along beautifully and squeal everytime they see each other. Oh, I need to document that about a month ago Marcela, Reyes' mom, went to pick Reyes up from nursery and found Max and Reyes slow dancing - his hands on her hips, her hands around his neck. Then he tenderly fixed her headband. The nursery leaders said that they had been doing that for the past half-hour. What?! I wish I could have seen it. Another thing I want to document. Max played with my debit card recently and can't remember where he put it. I was getting frustrated, trying to get him to remember and then I thought, "This can be a good teaching moment." So I had him kneel down and pray with me to ask Heavenly Father to help us find the debit card. We finished the prayer and I said, "Okay, Max, now we need to look for it again." He said, "No, Mom, Heavenly Father will find it. He's going to find it for us." He turned around and went to play with some toys, fully confident in Heavenly Father's ability to find our missing card. Next lesson on the agenda - 'faith without works is dead'.

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Our little love, Kelly Anne, had a fun birthday shindig. We had a few friends over to celebrate our babe. We were trying to think of a theme and asked ourselves, "What does Kelly love to do?" The answer? "Dance!" So our friends were invited to party like a rock star at Club Kelly where we had a little dance party, some pizza and, of course, cake. I don't know what it is about my kids, but they are so not into the eating cake business. Max finally ate some cake when I gave him a fork at his first birthday party. Kelly was even less enthusiastic. The pictures totally look like she dug in, but the frosting on her face is because I tried putting her hand in the cake and then she patted the frosting on her mouth - not IN, but ON.She was super cute while we opened presents - everything she opened got a big, exaggerated "Ohhhh!" noise and expression. I think that everyone felt the love as she opened their gift.
One of my favorite things about the first birthday is the babe being able to turn around in their car seat. Kelly's new seat came in the mail 6 days after her birthday and I was super anxious to get her in it. I LOVE being able to look in the rear view mirror and see her face. It makes my heart happy. Even now, thinking about it, makes me smile and feel the joy. It makes her seem so big! She kept pointing at the fabric between her legs, saying "Ohhhhh!" I think she's a fan as well.The girl is not a walker yet, but not super far off. She has a little "in-toeing", as the doc calls it, and I think that it's hard for her to get her balance.

1-year-stats:
20 lb 8 oz - 38.26%
30" long - 76.27%
47 cm head circ - 92.38% (true Foster fashion)

Kelly Anne Foster:
loves giving kisses
hugs & kisses her brother as soon as she sees him in the morning
has three signature dance moves *side-to-side, one arm waving, weaving back-and-forth*
is a great eater - favorites are goldfish crackers, pears...well, anything, really
has started standing on her own from a sitting position
gets the cutest twinkle in her eye when she's about to do something she knows we'll clap for
is a pretty chill babe who is happy and consoled easily
has the coolest hair, which can also be rather unruly
gets comments ALL the time about her beautiful eyes and amazing eyelashes
gets silent when she's faced with a new situation - just stares and takes it all in
has been a pro on going down the stairs solo for about 2 months now, Miss Independent
signs: eat, milk, please, all done, bird, dog
has the best chubba thighs that I love to squish
just accidentally shut the door to Max's room where she's playing and wants me to rescue her...