General Conference - April 201

General Conference was this last weekend and it was fabulous. We were able to watch all of the sessions together and we really felt an increase of the spirit in our home and in our lives. Lydia was wonderful. She played happily through both morning sessions while we sat on the couch and took notes (she colored some, played with her cars, read books, etc... but almost everything she did was independent) then she slept through both afternoon sessions. 

While she was napping, we took the opportunity to pull out one of our favorite conference traditions: 

Conference Bingo! 

 It may sound silly, but we would both say that we listen more carefully and stay more focused on the speaker ever since we started our conference bingo tradition. There is no napping on the couch if you think you'll miss out on your chance to get a snack. (We fill our cards with treats, then whenever the word is said - you are allowed to take a treat off the space. You get a tally mark for every bingo that you get - but mostly your prize is the treats you get to eat while you watch. It also helps us pace our treats - it's really a miracle for a bag of popcorn to last through two days let alone two hours.) I also have started printing out conference packets for myself and I love taking notes on them. There is a separate section for the prophet, each apostle, and other speakers. I think that conference is so important and beautiful and I'm grateful that we have the opportunity to listen to the words of the living prophets.

On Saturday, Melissa and Blake joined us for the afternoon session. It was nice to chat with them, and enjoy watching conference together. We love these guys.

Saturday evening, we headed to West Jordan so that David could attend the priesthood session with his brothers. (Another wonderful conference tradition.) Sue, Amy and I decided to go out and get some dinner and some yummy dessert. Lydia and I ended up with a Oven Roasted Chicken sandwich from Subway and the most delicious Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. While picking out our dessert, Lydia was in heaven staring at all of the different cheesecakes there were to choose from. As soon as we got back in the car she started saying "I want cake." When I told her that we had to wait until after dinner to eat the cheesecake, she'd say "I want to hooold it." And when I'd set it in her lap she'd try to open the container while saying "I want cake!" She said it in the sweetest voice, but you could tell she was serious. I was afraid that she wouldn't eat any dinner, but she ate almost the entire second six-inch sandwich that I got at Subway. I took off the top piece of bread, but she ate all the bottom bread and chicken and lots of veggies. After she was quite done with dinner she started saying again "I want cake....", so I pulled out the cheesecake and she started jumping around like she had won the lottery. Seriously, the funniest thing ever. She doesn't usually fuss when we don't give her treats and cake, even when everyone else is eating them - so it was so hilarious to see how excited she was that she was actually going to get to eat some of the cheesecake. I sat on the couch and fed her a couple of bites of cheesecake over the course of several minutes and she was in absolute heaven. Always coming back for more: "I want more cake. Pleaaaasse." (*signing more, then please*) Too cute not to resist. She didn't eat a ton of cake, but enough to be satisfied. She was so content and pleased with herself for managing to convince her mother to share her cake. 

We went back home to sleep and we watched both Sunday sessions at our house the next day. This was the first year of our married life that we watched all four sessions in our own home and it was wonderful. It was just nice to be able to concentrate and focus on the messages of conference. Sunday night we headed back to West Jordan for a family dinner and it was nice that we were able to spend that time with family, while still being able to watch conference in our own home. 

Of course, there were lots of talks that we loved. It's just so amazing to be so spiritually uplifted by so many speakers in such a short amount of time. Each speaker seems to build on the one before until the spirit seems to be filling the room. Lately, I've been feeling a bit spiritually battered by the "shafts and the whirlwinds" of the devil that are so abundant in the world. There are so many conflicts and so much contention in the world that I've almost completely stopped clicking on outside links that people post to facebook because there is just so much contention. Politics, opinions, people who say that they believe in the Gospel but then go about saying all manner of un-Christlike things. It's overwhelming and it scares me when I think of raising Lydia and our new baby in such a backwards world. But as I listened to conference I felt such peace and comfort. Assurance that the Lord is aware of me and my little family and that He will stand by us and help guide us through the storms. Comfort that these leaders truly speak as the mouthpieces of Jesus Christ. I heard nothing but love and compassion from each person who stood to bear testimony of Jesus Christ, and it encouraged me in a way that touched the most troubled part of my heart.

One of the messages that was shared has touched my my heart and has pushed me into action. I enjoyed the talk when it was given, but the more that I have pondered on the message, the more that I believe that it was an answer to my un-voiced question. It is from Sister Linda S. Reeves, the Second Counselor of the Relief Society General Presidency (April 2014, Saturday Morning Session)

Brothers and sisters, how do we protect our children and youth? Filters are useful tools, but the greatest filter in the world, the only one that will ultimately work, is the personal internal filter that comes from a deep and abiding testimony of our Heavenly Father’s love and our Savior’s atoning sacrifice for each one of us. How do we lead our children to deep conversion and to access our Savior’s Atonement? I love the prophet Nephi’s declaration of what his people did to fortify the youth of his day: “We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, [and] we prophesy of Christ … that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.”

Some of you have heard me tell how overwhelmed my husband, Mel, and I felt as the parents of four young children. As we faced the challenges of parenting and keeping up with the demands of life, we were desperate for help. We prayed and pleaded to know what to do. The answer that came was clear: “It is OK if the house is a mess and the children are still in their pajamas and some responsibilities are left undone. The only things that really need to be accomplished in the home are daily scripture study and prayer and weekly family home evening. 

We were trying to do these things, but they were not always the priority and, amidst the chaos, were sometimes neglected. We changed our focus and tried not to worry about the less-important things. Our focus became to talk, rejoice, preach, and testify of Christ by striving to daily pray and study the scriptures and have weekly family home evening.

Brothers and sisters, because I know from my own experiences, and those of my husband, I must testify of the blessings of daily scripture study and prayer and weekly family home evening. These are the very practices that help take away stress, give direction to our lives, and add protection to our homes. Then, if pornography or other challenges do strike our families, we can petition the Lord for help and expect great guidance from the Spirit, knowing that we have done what our Father has asked us to do.

This seems to be a direct answer to the fear that I have been experiencing. How can I fortify my family? How can I protect my children? The answer- teach them of Christ. And how can I teach them of Christ if I do not have a deep, personal, daily relationship with him myself? No more can I stand by and let these important things fall by the way-side. I must make the continual effort to bring Jesus Christ into our home, and together with my family, make a sanctuary where the spirit can abide and defend.

I found some other quotes from conference that I love and I again feel the spirit as I look over these words. I'm grateful for a living prophet with living words that speak to us for our day and say the things that we need to hear and do in order to more fully follow Jesus Christ and return to live with him.

Lydia Elise: 22-23 Months

Lydia Elise. This beautiful little girl brings more joy, more laughter, (and sometimes more frustration) to our lives than we ever could have thought possible. Sometimes I think that my heart is going to burst into a million pieces and float away because of how cute and tender she is. This is the last month that she will be my little one year old. Next month, she will be two years old. I'm holding tight to this 23 month old baby for all I'm worth. 

I don't have many stats to give, and I'm really looking forward to her 2 year appointment just so I know how much she weighs. (I've considered getting a scale just to weigh her for her monthly posts - but I only ever really think about it when I'm sitting down to write her stats.) She is growing out of her 18 month clothes, and most 24 months clothes fit her well, even if there are a tiny bit big. She has lots of darling little curls on the back of her head and is still working on breaking in the two front molars on the left side of her mouth. (As soon as they are completely in, that will bump her teeth count up to 10.) She can't wear size 3 diapers anymore, they are much too small- so it's size 4s all the time now. Size 5 shoes are a tiny bit small and size 6 shoes are a tiny bit big. 

Some other things about this month: 

--She loves being outside. She loves to run around and explore. The days are warming up, and every day that we get to go to the park, or play in the backyard, is the best. day. ever. She cries every time we have to go inside. She loves to find new things and she is very tactile - touching everything she can. 

 

-She has started to ask me to put a bow on her head every day. Usually when I am combing her hair, she'll say "Bow?" and run and give me a bow for her to wear. Sometimes one isn't enough, and she keeps bringing me bows to put on. She has some of her favorites that she loves to wear - and I love when she asks me to stick one in.

--This month was Melissa and Blakes wedding, and Lydia was the sweetest little girl running around. I die when I see these pictures of her in her little dress. I am always amazed at how happy she is, all the time. She was a champ the whole day, and just loved all the of the excitement that was going on.

  

--She likes to "watch a show" in the morning, or in the evening right before David gets home from work. She has several shows that she will ask for by name: "Tiger" which is Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, "A Frog" which is a series of LeapFrog shows, "Bah-be" which is Barney, and "Suh-puh Wye" which is Super Why. If she knows that I am going to turn one on for her, she gets really excited and jumps around and will often climb up on the couch and pull a blanket over herself. It doesn't usually last long - she usually "watches" her show while climbing all over the couches/tables, standing on the floor, or jumping on the trampoline... but I love how cute she looks when she's cuddled up on the couch. She was especially cuddly after getting stitches this month and would want me to sit with her and hold her while she watched a show.  

-She's really good at putting her puzzles together. She got several puzzles like these for her first birthday but for a long time she wasn't super interested in them. Now she will sit down and put all the pieces back in (naming them, if she can remember their names), then dump them out and start over. She she will line all of her puzzles up and dump their pieces out together while she works on them.

--David and I have always tried really hard to keep Lydia away from candy and really sugary treats. We are really happy that she loves strawberries and oranges and is a really good eater - and we attribute a lot of that to the fact that she doesn't eat cookies or cake or candy. (We know that it's easier for us to say "not at all" than "no more", so that's something that we've done as parents.) But sometimes we have to laugh at how little she knows about candy. If she ever finds a piece of candy on the floor, she is much more likely to come and bring it to us than she is to put it in her mouth. (To the shock and laughter of those hanging out with us.) One day, she found an M&M on the floor and carried it around in her hand like a little toy because she honestly didn't know that it was food.  

--She loves to climb the rock wall in our backyard. It's a problem, mostly because she's so good at it that we can't really tell her that she can't do it. We've already determined that we will allow kids to climb on the wall, because it's awesome when we can send them outside and they climb up the rocks and run down the grass. There is no way that she would be okay with other kids climbing the wall (i.e. Carson, cousins, friends...) She loves it and I'm always impressed at her coordination and balance. She's tried to climb closer to the middle of the wall, but so far this is the easiest place for her to climb, and I'm happy because it's not quite as high and there are a few good footholds. I can't believe how big she is.

 --People ask me if she's reached "The Terrible Twos", and honestly she hasn't. She's sweet and happy, and a little grumpy sometimes but nothing that I would ever describe as being terrible. However, she has started quite the independent streak. She has started picking out things that she wants to wear and being bound and determined to wear them. She knows what she wants, and now that she can communicate it, her most common words are "I want". I want to hold it, I want to try it, I want to slide, I want a coat.... Whatever she wants, she is sure to let you know. Oh, I would be remiss if I didn't include the thing that she "wants" more often than anything else. She always says "I want to watch a horse!" Which means that she wants to watch the video clip of her at the farm with the chicken, and then watch the random You Tube videos of horses that pop up after it's done. It's ridiculous, but she loves it and she always asks to watch a horse. I've tried to evolve that into watching farm animal clips that teach sounds, letters, and numbers to make myself feel better about letting her watch You Tube.

 --At the very beginning of her 22 month-ness it was like something magical happened. She's always been sweet and happy, but she was SO sweet and SO happy all the time. She was so cute that I couldn't help but kiss her all the time. Her face, her head, her tummy, her toes, her arms. I kissed her all day every day. You know when you hold a tiny baby and you can't help but smother them in kisses because they are so sweet there isn't anything else you can do? It was like she was a tiny baby again just waiting to be covered in kisses. I wrote this in my planner where I jot notes throughout the month "My very favorite stage. She is so cute that I can't help but kiss her head all of the time. I love her curly locks, I'm always running my fingers through her hair, brushing her bands to the side or kissing her." I told many people, in complete honesty, that if I could freeze her - that very day - and have her stay that way forever I would do it. Unfortunately, I think all of my smothering attention triggered the above mentioned "independentness". It doesn't matter though, she is still so cute and sweet and I still just want to kiss her all day long.  

--She still climbs on everything. She also jumps off everything within reason (many times her reason and my reason are two very different things.  

 --You can see the cut on her forehead really well in the picture above (of her reading the book) that she got from pulling her highchair over on top of her while she was trying to climb in. Then just over a week later, when those pictures of her wearing that darling dress were taken, she tripped and hit her head on the piano bench and we spent the evening in the ER getting stitches. Many people expressed just as much concern for David and I as they did for Lydia, but I'd say we handled it really well (all three of us). I think it is in part that we knew that it was bound to happen at some point, because as safe as we try to keep her she just never stops climbing, and jumping, and running. 

 --Her eye has healed really well though! Other than talking about the doctor pretty much every day since the incident - her eye hasn't bothered her much at all (something that we have been very grateful for. It's been interesting to watch the cut on her forehead and the cut on her eye heal at the same time. The stitches very obviously have made a huge difference, and while they are both much, much better now - you can tell that the stitches made a huge impact on how well the eye has healed and how quickly. You can barely tell that it's there unless you are looking for it, where her forehead will probably have a small scar.  

-She has the grumpiest little face when she doesn't get something that she wants (or if someone is talking to her that she doesn't know/hasn't warmed up to yet). It makes me laugh. 

-She has discovered a love for coloring. She hasn't really gotten into it very much - and it's still not her very favorite thing to do, but she does enjoy it on occasion. Unfortunately, she likes markers better than crayons and usually ends up covered in marker. (Also, you can see the bruising above her eye - that isn't marker, it's just her body's healing process.)  

--We've loved seeing her explore and learn more words. Some of the cutest things that she says started out as as simple sentances: "I did it!", "I found it!", "I climbed it". And they have evolved quickly into "Fox wants to slide", and "The chicken was out." She also has started to name numbers as she stacks her blocks, "Five, Six, Eight... Six". It's darling. Oh, and she says sorry, please, and thank you on a regular basis and it makes me so proud of my polite little girl. 

Here are some other fun pictures of our adventures this month: 

I just can't say enough how much we love this sweet sweet little girl. She makes us so happy and we love having her in our lives. Happy 23 months my darling girl. In just a few short weeks you will be two and life will be full of even more adventures together.