There's something about a baby

As I sit here, I can hear my baby upstairs waking up. He is making cute little happy noises. Because he is, after all, happy. He just woke up from a good night's sleep and is not even starving thanks to a little early morning snack (around 5:30 am to be exact).

When I hear his cute little noises, I can't help but smile. And it's not just me. Have you ever noticed the way people (even total strangers) smile when they look at a baby? You just can't help yourself!

See what I mean? There's just something about a baby.

I think people look at me and my seven kids and think I was probably one of those kids that adored babies. You know the type....they love dolls, babies, babysitting, etc. They love to hold babies, play with babies, gaze at babies. If a baby is in the room, they want to be holding it.

But that was not me. I was content to just look at the baby, and then be on my way. Don't get me wrong. I didn't dislike babies. I liked them and thought they were cute. And I definitely did my fair share of babysitting, being the oldest child in my family. But given the choice, I would be playing....and not with dolls. I wanted to really play. Baseball, basketball, trampoline jumping, tetherball, tag, hide-and-go-seek......

I guess you could say I was a bit of a tomboy. (I did, however, have a cabbage patch doll complete with a versatile wardrobe. But who didn't?!)

But then came marriage and I knew I wanted to be a mom. But what I didn't know was how much I would absolutely fall in love with my babies. I love the way their little faces light up with huge smiles whenever they see me. I love the way they kick their legs and shake their arms when they get excited. I love the way their little mouths open like a bird when they want a bite of food. I love the way they snuggle their little heads right beneath my chin.

Like I said, there is just something about a baby. And boy do I love my baby!

Where does the time go?

Ahhh, general conference weekend.

It's amazing how quickly time flies by. I am still trying to finish reading all of the talks from last general conference! (I confess I am not much of a reader post-baby....for a while anyway. I always seem to fall asleep when I start reading!)

I love general conference. I haven't always "loved" general conference. As a kid, I watched general conference because my parents told me to, and because I knew I should. But now I really do love watching it.....or at least, I WOULD love watching it if it weren't for all the not-so-quiet children I live with!

One moment I am loving it, and the next I am completely frustrated because I can't hear a thing they're saying amidst the chaos. At one point today, we had to pause the TV to get things under control. You see, someone had knocked over someone else's domino creation, and they didn't mean to, but some kids thought maybe they did mean to, and on and on and on the debate went, getting more heated by the moment. That is, until we paused the TV (technology is amazing!) and sorted things out.

Josh, who felt he had been very wronged, was not about to admit that he had any part in the chaos. I suggested that maybe he needed a haircut so he could "see" things more clearly, and you should have seen Brek! He jumped off the couch, whooping and hollering, and ran to grab the clippers! He was ready to shave Josh's "beautiful golden locks" completely off and was loving every minute of it. I wasn't really serious, but Josh panicked. Brek had fun harassing Josh for a few minutes until Josh finally decided he could see things perfectly well and admitted he may have had something to do with the quarreling.

Conference reconvened.

A favorite talk of mine was directed specifically to parents of teenagers. It was really good. He spoke of several things, including the dangers of sleepovers. (We don't let our kids have sleepovers and they have never been too thrilled about that.) When Scott heard the word sleepover, his ears perked up.

He listened for a moment, then turned to Brek and I and said, "Is THAT why you won't let us have sleepovers?"

A moment later...."Who is this guy?"

Then, standing up and walking towards the kitchen to get a drink, he turned, pointed at the TV and said, "Stop talking!"

It was hilarious!

Now that conference is over, I look forward to reading all the talks. I know there is much that I missed and I loved the things I heard. (I would love to sit down right now and listen to Elder Holland's talk again.) As I listened, I felt inspired to be a better mom and a better wife. There is always so much room for improvement.

Goodbye conference weekend. Hello "real life". (I think I am tired just thinking about you!)