LDS Mamas and Papa(s): JANUARY 2008 - Page 3

[marlygf]

Hey all, Marly, sahm to two boys and one girl.

There's been so much you've already talked about but I wanted to tell Tiffani I thought her pictures (posted on the last thread) were very cute. I especially liked the first one

A week before Christmas I was trying to download something on my dial-up. After 4 hours and it finally kicking me off with an hour and a half left I was fed up. The next day I went to my local cable company and got cable internet. oh, how I love faster internet I guess that was my Christmas present

[seeing_stars]

thank you klg and NCD for the clarification. Both have been helpful. I *knew* that it wasn't reasonable to expect him to be at every meeting when that isn't possible. klg, I know that he can feel the spirit, but there is a difference between having the constant companionship of the holy ghost and feeling the spirit occasionally. He admittedly needs to improve in many areas before the spirit will be able to reside with us, it is just so hard. I try my hardest and I feel like I'm being punished because of his lack of...guidance. It is so hard to explain. I am preparing to go to the temple and I feel like it is time for him to step up and progress with me or let go and stop holding me back. I feel terrible for even feeling that way, but how could he deny his family the preisthood and the blessings of eternal marriage?

[guestmama9911]

Originally Posted by frogleymom

I'll be writing up the full story soon, but basically... 2 1/2 hours of labor including 10 minutes of pushing, ending in a beautiful waterbirth.

Emily

I hate you so much! I had 36 hours of searing pain and then another c-section!

Really, though, that is awesome! Congratulations on your new delicious little one. DD is starting to smile at us a lot more so we waste a lot of time just staring at her. New babies are a breath of fresh air.

[guestmama9911]

Originally Posted by seeing_stars

thank you klg and NCD for the clarification. Both have been helpful. I *knew* that it wasn't reasonable to expect him to be at every meeting when that isn't possible. klg, I know that he can feel the spirit, but there is a difference between having the constant companionship of the holy ghost and feeling the spirit occasionally. He admittedly needs to improve in many areas before the spirit will be able to reside with us, it is just so hard. I try my hardest and I feel like I'm being punished because of his lack of...guidance. It is so hard to explain. I am preparing to go to the temple and I feel like it is time for him to step up and progress with me or let go and stop holding me back. I feel terrible for even feeling that way, but how could he deny his family the preisthood and the blessings of eternal marriage?

It is harder to have the Spirit in your home when a family member isn't contributing. I know where you are coming from. What you can do is commit to doing things on your own, and your DH will see your example and begin to want those experiences. You can do scripture study yourself, go to church every Sunday, initiate prayer before each meal, have FHE with your kids, and place a picture of the Savior in the center of your home. On Sundays you can play peaceful music and maybe designate it special meal night. The feeling in your home will begin to change and it will inspire the people who live there.

It is harder when you have to do it by yourself, but it is worth it. God will be your strength.

ETA - NCD was worried I was talking about him. Actually, my parents were LDS but very abusive. It was almost impossible to feel the Spirit in our home, no matter what I did. So I had to create my own bubble of peace.

NCD and I have had family prayer almost every single night of our marriage. We suck at FHE, though, and he might have thought I was referring to that...

[BeckiCNM]

Originally Posted by NewCrunchyDaddy

The General Authorities say that people in these sorts of professions can't help working on Sundays and are "exempt" - so to speak - from the no working on the Sabbath. My dad is an RN and works at least 2-3 Sundays a month because of the hospital schedule, and the bishopric is fully supportive and understanding.

My bishop is a physician. I know he works on Sunday. I was at the hospital once during Sacrament meeting and heard him being paged overhead.

I obviously work on Sundays. Like my son says, babies don't know they aren't supposed to be born on Sunday. I've been known to walk into Sacrament meeting in scrubs and then leave half way through to go to another birth. I know what I am doing is right and what I am supposed to be doing. And I don't think that we lack the spirit in our home because I serve others on Sunday instead of sitting in church.

[linguistmama]

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!! Yesterday I started thinking about you and wondered if you had had the baby and if everything worked out with the other family events. I love your new siggy! Your girls nicknames are so cute! DD's is Cucu which is cute, but sometimes needs some explaining

Originally Posted by frogleymom

So, I'll hopefully get around to a real intro soon... but for now...



Introducing: Christine Frogley
Born 3:35am on December 31, 2007
7lbs 4oz; 21in

I'll be writing up the full story soon, but basically... 2 1/2 hours of labor including 10 minutes of pushing, ending in a beautiful waterbirth.

We got home last night about 9:30 pm. I'm still tired and afterpains suck... but other than that I'm feeling pretty good and enjoying my excuse to sleep all day.

Emily

Here is a short version of DH' conversion story:

When he and his brother lived in California they saw some pretty American girls on the street. The 2 girls actually came up and started talking to them. They were sister missionaries and Dh and his brother were more than happy to set up an appointment to meet with them! They both joined the church and served missions

Here's my conversion story, it got really long!

My best friend and her family were members except for the dad. They were an awesome family and I loved to spend time with them. They did such novel things as treat each other with respect, which was sorely lacking in my family. I met my friend in kindegarden and we were best friends from then on. I was about 11 when I first went to church with her. I remember when I would walk into church I could almost see a golden light all around. I think that the darkness in my family really made something like the gospel stand out because of the contrast. I feel very lucky even to have heard of the Church since there aren't alot of members in Minnesota. I quickly gained a testimony.
Once it was clear that I wanted to keep going to the LDS church my mom put a stop to it. She was very upset that I spent so much time with my friend's family in the first place and it was too much for me to want to convert to their religion as well. So I quit going for years and then when I was 17 I started to go to Church without her permission. Once she realized that I was going to do what I wanted she accepted it. She gave her permission for me to be baptized and completely changed her tune. Instead of saying rude things about my friend and giving me newspaper articles about how the Church tries to squelch free speech she then started to extoll the virtues of the Church.
I was baptized on Easter sunday in '95. I remember how excited the missionaries were, they almost never had baptisms. Sometimes it surprised me how excited they were since I was thinking "Yes I'm glad this day is finally here, but eventually I would have turned 18 and having a testimony I could either go with what I knew to be true or not!" I am always somewhat surprised to think back at how sustained I felt when my mom wouldn't let me go to Church.
Years after joining the Church I read a quote in a church manual. The quote said that sometimes when a person is the only member in their family it is partly because their ancestors want to have their work done. (Sorry I don't have a reference for the quote, I usually like to be able to confirm things like this. But I can't find it on lds.org) It hit me so hard when I heard it. I didn't have any trouble gaining a testimony, it was like I always knew. And the only other member in my family is a half-cousin of my mother's that I have never met. I have since gone to the temple for some ancestors and have felt the Spirit so strongly. How amazing it is to feel them next to me and that they are accepting the work done for them! Having grown up in a disfunctional family it is nice to feel my ancestors close to me and that they care about me. They have helped me so much and I need to get back to doing more genealogy for them. Its also nice to feel that even though my grandparents weren't the greatest parents that they have received the truth and old wounds can be healed.
Ok I'm going to go cry remembering everything! Thanks for asking this Alisa, its good to remember it all and how much the Lord has always watched over me. I need to start writing in my journal again!

[brightonwoman]

Originally Posted by seeing_stars

Yes he is He would have to completely change careers in order to have every Sunday off

Don't law enforcement schedules vary a bit? As in, perhaps something could be arranged with your bishop where he could attend different wards sometimes in order to be able to attend church more regularly? Maybe not quite every week, but more than every 6 weeks, you know? I don't know where you live or how many wards might be in your area...but that's the first thing that occured to me. I know there was a guy in our ward who was a nurse and he used to go to the other ward sometimes if his shift interfered with our meeting time.
I agree with you that he should be able to work in his field and still be an active member. I know quite a few members in good standing who are firemen, EMTs, policemen, doctors, etc and have to work sundays at least sometimes. I believe that it's best to seek employment that will give you sundays off, UNLESS it is one of those essential things...I figure if it's worth calling 911 for, it's ok to do it on sunday. I think your bishop should be willing to discuss options. Yes, your dh needs to be an active participant in church meetings for a while before he can be re-baptized, but I think there has to be a way to work it out without sacrificing his job.

[brightonwoman]

Originally Posted by frogleymom

Introducing: Christine Frogley
Born 3:35am on December 31, 2007
7lbs 4oz; 21in

OK, I'm going to hate you, just a little bit, just for a minute, for getting a short labor. :

OK, done with that now.
YAY on the little one! And so much for coming before Christmas, eh? At least she's a tax deduction! (Sammy was just the opposite, being a Jan baby...we decided we want the next one to be later in the year...hoping to get pg again soon, but Sam's an avid night nurser, so who knows when that will even be possible )

[klg47]

Originally Posted by seeing_stars

He admittedly needs to improve in many areas before the spirit will be able to reside with us, it is just so hard.

You may not want to get into it here, but is he doing horrible things, or just generally not doing the best things? I hope it's just the latter - that will be more easy to overcome. And I hope you're able to get spiritual things going even if it is on your own I also have to initiate things or do them on my own if I want them done. My husband and I have virtually no opportunity to read scriptures together during the week. He gets home from work at 7:45 am, and I am supposed to be to work by 8:00. When I get home in the evenings, he is already asleep. Also, he informed me that he refuses to even try family scripture study until we are both successful at personal scripture study I realized that there was no benefit in trying to convince him that he was wrong, so I just read scriptures to the kids every night before we go to bed.

Originally Posted by alisaterry

I hate you so much! I had 36 hours of searing pain and then another c-section!

I understand this sentiment I was at least able to avoid the c-sections, but why, why do I have to push for HOURS and be in severe pain (even with Hypnobabies) while I'm at it?!?!

Originally Posted by brightonwoman

hoping to get pg again soon

I meant to ask you about this earlier. What will you do when you have a baby? Is there a doctor or midwife in town that will help? Or do you have to fly to Washington several weeks early and wait to have the baby there?

[klg47]

One more question for Jenni - in your opinion, is it better living in a rural area or a more populated area (such as Orem)? DH's job is in Orem, but one of our neighbors is developing some land in Genola (south of Utah Lake). I had wondered if we could get a deal on the land - we want to buy a lot and build our own house. But anyway, Genola's quite rural. They don't even have a gas station in town. They're near Payson and Santaquin, but it's about 40 minutes from north Provo/Orem. Maybe it would be ideal, because it's rural, yet less than an hour from "civilization".

[LionTigerBear]

Okay, I feel dumb but I JUST realized we're on a new thread now.

This is going to take me a minute to catch up . . .

Seren: Sorry about the pregnancy cravings. those can be powerful!

Originally Posted by Brisen

LTB, I'm sorry your thread was removed. I hope today is a better day for you.

Thanks! I am doing somewhat better now. I have been struggling with depression the last few days, and I think I just discovered the culprit. I thought I was dairy-free but I just found out the "goat cheese" I've been eating the last several days has cow milk in it! Arggh! would explain my trouble sleeping and DS2's trouble sleeping. (And sleep deprivation wrecks me.)

Originally Posted by brightonwoman

LTB--what thread?

My fisherman pants co-op thread. *sigh* Anyway, if anyone wants to host a fisherman pants co-up, be my guest. I don't want to deal with it anymore.

Originally Posted by KermitMissesJim

Seren, I am there with you. For me, it's when dh convinces me to go to bed, saying he'll clean the kitchen before he leaves for work in the morning. I get up "knowing" my kitchen will be clean and ready for the day...and nothing was done, because he was running late or just plain forgot. And if I'm pregnant, I will actually sit down and cry about it.

Been there . . . although usually, it's him thinking he's done everyhting-- and he's done very little, almost nothing . . . . Oh well! I just know not to count on that anymore.

Originally Posted by KermitMissesJim

LTB, a for you. Hope you found some IRL, too. Kids are good for that sometimes!

Thank you! Yes, the boys are angels. My only resolution for 2008 is that I will not get angry at them. Not this will actually happen, but that will be my goal.

Seeing Stars, s to you too. That sounds tough. The situation is not impossible or hopeless though! I will pray for you.

Originally Posted by magstphil

live in So Cal but might be moving soon to who knows where.

and i love Caitlin (LTB)! she is the sweetest spirit!

Awww, thank you.

I hope your potential move goes really well. I wish we could be there with you physically to help out.

Welcome to the new-to-the-thread mamas!

Originally Posted by lacysmommy

Lacy starts Sunbeams on Sunday! I can't believe she's already a Sunbeam! She's sooo looking forward to it, though.

My DS1, too!!! : I'm excited and proud of him, though. How fast they grow . . . and we didn't do anthting for New Year's Eve. We slept.

Originally Posted by frogleymom

Introducing: Christine Frogley
Born 3:35am on December 31, 2007
7lbs 4oz; 21in

I'll be writing up the full story soon, but basically... 2 1/2 hours of labor including 10 minutes of pushing, ending in a beautiful waterbirth.

Awww, lucky! I had a two hour labor, too, with DS2, but it went so fast that we didn't have the pool ready! We were going to have a waterbirth-- oh well! Congratulations on your sweet bundle of baby!!! How exciting!

Originally Posted by alisaterry

It is harder to have the Spirit in your home when a family member isn't contributing. I know where you are coming from. <snip> It is harder when you have to do it by yourself, but it is worth it. God will be your strength.

Yes, this is so true. It's not easy, but it's what you have ot do for yourself and for your children, and it will help your DH too!

ETA - NCD was worried I was talking about him.

:

Okay, so I am Caitlin, 24, married to Brian, 24, and we have two boys, 3 and 1. We joined the church when we were 19, got married at 20, sealed in the temple a few months later and had our first son when we were 21. The boys and I are on a temporary grain-free, dair-free, starch-free, sweet-free diet, to heal symptoms of celiac and other intolerances and allergies. It has been helping a lot so far. I was feeling great before I started eating that cow cheese in goat's clothing-- .

We're not into that modern medical model stuff. Very much into holistic health and medicine, health through food, health through clearing emotional and spiritual issues, etc. We are into attached parenting, more like the continuum concept model, and homeschooling/unschooling (I like a lot of the TJE stuff) and we are also politically active independent conservatives in the first non-caucus primary state. Meaning we vote for conservatives from either party. [Bush = not a conservative JFK = was a conservative, or would be in today's political climate.] We were out working the phone banks yesterday. Brian carried DS2 in the Ergo and DS1 was kicking balls around while we worked. Voting in our state is in less than a week . . . :

Oh, we are also into simple living (doing our best, don't look ot me for a guiding example, though, ) and I'm trying to be a writer again, around being a homemaker first. Still figuring that one out.

So, hi everybody!

[EFPookie]

Originally Posted by LionTigerBear

My DS1, too!!! : I'm excited and proud of him, though. How fast they grow . . . and we didn't do anthting for New Year's Eve. We slept.

My DS1 also starts this coming Sunday. He was sick this week, so he missed his last day of nursery . He has NO IDEA what is in store for next week as they haven't done any kind of transitioning AT ALL (we were lucky to even have a nursery/leader for much of 2007 - he's one of 2 nursery age kids who are active and was the only one for most of the year). Anyway, it will be fun, fun, fun I'm sure . He will be the only Sunbeam.

[holyhelianthus]

i just don't know what to do.
Dh didn't get paid- AGAIN! usually when this happens they over night the check to the shop. but instead they sent it to our homes. we didn't get it. i have this sickening feeling that DH didn't change our address. :

[Moonprysm]

I have to say, being married to a pagan, I think it's kind of offensive to blame a husband for the lack of spirit in the home. The Spirit is very strong in our home, and I'm incredibly blessed by it every single day and know that my son is as well. Of course, a lot of that could be due to the fact that my husband is an incredibly positive, virtuous person who exemplifies many of our values despite having a different faith system. While he's at work, I prepare the house by praying with my son, reading scripture, listening to GC talks, so that when my husband gets home, it is always a wonderful, peaceful place to come home to. I see filling the home with the Spirit as part of my homemaking task, and my family is blessed by its constant presence. I don't feel my husband takes away from that at all.

[Moonprysm]

Originally Posted by magstphil

i just don't know what to do.
Dh didn't get paid- AGAIN! usually when this happens they over night the check to the shop. but instead they sent it to our homes. we didn't get it. i have this sickening feeling that DH didn't change our address. :

Oh you poor thing! I hope they get it fixed soon! I can't imagine what we'd do if DH didn't get paid on time.

[holyhelianthus]

Tiffani, i really didn't get that vibe from the conversation at all! a person can bring down the atmosphere of a home but not simply because they aren't a member or are no longer a member. i don't really think anyone was saying that was the case.

[EFPookie]

Originally Posted by magstphil

i just don't know what to do.
Dh didn't get paid- AGAIN! usually when this happens they over night the check to the shop. but instead they sent it to our homes. we didn't get it. i have this sickening feeling that DH didn't change our address. :

Ugh, I'm so sorry that is happening! - I'm currently in trouble with DH for not setting up the direct deposit on my check (since August . It wasn't a big deal until my check got lost in the mail this month. Thank goodness it was my (part-time) check and not DH's - I don't know what we'd do either. They stopped payment on it today and I might have a new check by early next week.

[LionTigerBear]

Originally Posted by magstphil

i just don't know what to do.
Dh didn't get paid- AGAIN! usually when this happens they over night the check to the shop. but instead they sent it to our homes. we didn't get it. i have this sickening feeling that DH didn't change our address. :

Oh NO!!! Praying for you in full force!!!! :

Originally Posted by Moonprysm

I have to say, being married to a pagan, I think it's kind of offensive to blame a husband for the lack of spirit in the home. The Spirit is very strong in our home, and I'm incredibly blessed by it every single day and know that my son is as well. Of course, a lot of that could be due to the fact that my husband is an incredibly positive, virtuous person who exemplifies many of our values despite having a different faith system. While he's at work, I prepare the house by praying with my son, reading scripture, listening to GC talks, so that when my husband gets home, it is always a wonderful, peaceful place to come home to. I see filling the home with the Spirit as part of my homemaking task, and my family is blessed by its constant presence. I don't feel my husband takes away from that at all.

I don't think anyone was saying that because the husband was a non-member he was ruining the Spirit in the home. At least that's not how I took it. But I have lived in a house with people who smoked, yelled, were negative all the time, and I was surrounded by junk food, and it was really hard (for me) to maintain a positive Spirit in the home. In fact, I couldn't do it, all I could do was do what Alisa mentioned, try to maintain a "bubble of peace" around myself and my poor baby son.

I am so grateful to be out of that situation now. It has made a huge difference in our lives for us to have our own house.

I think Seeing stars' odds are better though, than mine were.

[seren]

Hi! My name is Serenity and I'm a crack addict.

























I totally did not believe you guys about how addicting twilight is! Holy cow! I can't put it down. I keep asking my sister questions and she won't answer. She tells me I'll be mad at her and I tell her she is right and she still won't answer. What is up with that? I started at 9 last night and just finished the meadow part. I think this is going to be one of those series I am so sad when I'm done reading because I want it to go on forever.

[quarteralien]

Hi all, I'm recovering from travels. (taking a deep breath, rant ahead...)

I AM NEVER TRAVELING AGAIN!! HOLIDAY TRAVEL SHOULD BE FORBIDDEN BY LAW!!!

Here are the highlights of our trip yesterday/today from San Francisco to Albany.

1. Our flight from San Francisco to Chicago was diverted to Salt Lake for a medical emergency. DH and I were kind of disappointed not to be stuck there because we could have called up our friends and extended our trip a little bit. But we wanted to get home.

2. On our way to Chicago, I discovered our DVD player had gotten switched on in my bag, and was out of batteries. This would be a long trip, I thought. I had no idea how right I was.

3. We were 2 hours late getting into Chicago, but by miracle, our flight to Albany hadn't left yet. Delayed due to weather.

4. Our next flight spent nearly and hour getting de-iced before we could take off.

5. We circled Albany about 3 times before being diverted to Providence because the fog was too thick.

6. In Providence, we were told multiple times we were just there for a few minutes until the fog lifted. 4 hours later, we finally took off again. During that time, we were told that our flight had been cancelled. I thought, great, a flight that didn't really exist was just cancelled, because we weren't supposed to be in Providence at all. We were also told we might get put on buses to get us to Albany. What would have been a 30 minute flight would be a 3.5 hour bus ride.

7. We cleared off about a foot of snow before we could drive the car out of the long term parking lot.

8. We pulled into our garage this morning at 4:02 a.m. We would have been home a full 8 hours earlier had everything been on time.

I have to admit that through all of this, our kids were absolutely angelic. They handled it better than a lot of the passengers, who were cursing up a storm over our bad luck. I was very proud of them, that they either just slept, or played quietly through our whole stint in Providence. But I still say

I REPEAT, I'M NEVER TRAVELING AGAIN!! SO DON'T ASK!!