One Day Later

Here we are, one day after I posted that last one on Quinn walking, and today....
He can go from sitting to standing and then to walking right after he stands all by himself!! He walked clear across the front yard today, turned around and took a few more steps before falling to the ground. We are all really excited! And he gets such a big grin when we cheer him on. Just love it.
I will have to get a pic of him standing on here. It will come soon!

Almost there!!!

So, we have been working with Quinn on his walking, and we were down to the fine art of him walking with only one hand for assistance. The other day he started to walk a little on his own in between my sister and me, and then today, he went from sitting down, to standing, ALL ON HIS OWN! And he can turn around and walk between two people for the most part, unassisted.....such a big boy!! It is great. He thinks its a game, and will laugh and laugh the more we do it with him. I think it is a great game!! Way to go big guy!

Too Cool!!

Lily told me today that she pledgered the flag in school. It took me a minute to realize what she was saying....but when I did, it opened a good discussion. She has been full of good discussions lately!
We talked about what it meant to pledge allegiance to the flag, and what it means to be a good person in our country! Lily learned that to pledge means to promise, and allegiance means we will respect our homes and care for the country and take care of what we have, and the flag represents our country. When ever we pass a United States flag I can hear her yell 'look!! another one of our flags!!' It's really neat to see how much she is learning and growing. Too smart for her own britches she is! Love it! Her little brother isn't too far behind either! Quinn is still working on walking, but he is getting better at walking with one handed assistance. He is also good at saying bye and little things like that. I also discovered that if it makes noise, he will be entertained! While I try not to be too partial, I have to say that I have some pretty terrific kids!

Realizations

So I realized something today...

Well, I already knew it, but it came to me in a new way. Since Lily has started Kindergarten, I feel like I have lost her in a way. I take her to school and leave her there, and it is up to her and her teacher to make it work. It's up to her to learn and grow and progress. And then, at the end of her short day, I go and get her and talk to her about her day. It's great!

Getting a bit religious here for a moment now;

Our Heavenly Father gave us the opportunity to come to Earth much like Lily and school. Like Lily and school, we leave the comforts of our Heavenly home to embark on a journey of learning, loving, hoping, losing, gaining....many of us just waiting for the day we get to go home. Unlike me, who gets Lily back every single day, Heavenly Father let us come to Earth knowing that many of us would never make it back.

I cannot even begin to imagine, or want to imagine how that must have felt. Realizing this loss to our Father brings new meaning to me in regard to how special and important each of us really is. We are all siblings in eternity, and we are all struggling for the same reasons. We chose to come to Earth and now we have to choose to go back home! It is not always easy to choose what is right, and it is certainly not always easy to stand up for what is right when we are faced with opposition so intense we can only force ourselves to stand and not shrink. And how much more important it is now to stand strong! Realizing that I am a mother, and caretaker to two wonderful children, I know that my responsibilities to Heavenly Father are great. Not only do I need to focus on my own personal and spiritual welfare, but I must focus on those respective welfares for my own children as well. I can only pray that I am doing a good job, and that my children will grow and come to understand that it is not about how many friends we make, or how popular we are in the eyes of the world. What matters most is how much we learn and grow and progress toward returning to our Heavenly Home with humility, love, charity.....

I am greatful to my Heavenly Father for helping me realize just how important family is, and for His allowing me to be a part of the wonderful tapestry of love that we weave every day we choose to live worthy of His love and guidance!

She did it!! Lily has successfully completed her first day of school! Mom did pretty good too, all things considering. I dropped her off, and took some pics and didn't even get teary eyed! That is, until Lily was out of sight....once she disappeared in to the school, my throat constricted, my eyes misted, and I called my own mom!! It was a very mixed emotion; happy for Lily, anxious for her to do well, and make new friends, and sad for me, because I feel my daughter growing up and changing, and I miss her already. AND SHE IS ONLY IN KINDERGARTEN!!! :{
All is well though. When I picked her up, I asked her how her day went, and she said that they can't sit on their knees, they have to sit like an indian, it's a special rule. She also said that she got her nametag, put it on, colored a picture of her very own puppy, and practiced recess! I wish we all could practice recess a little more!! Oh yes, she had fruit snacks too! Tomorrow we get to do it again, and then next day etc. I guess it feels like I am tied in to her schooling now, more so than when she was at day care. I don't mind it a bit though. The only hard part will be the scheduling. It is hard to have a commitment every day when you are used to having free time every day. Not really free time, motherhood is very busy....but still...thinking about getting her up and ready every single day, and taking her there, and picking her up...exhausting!! And wonderful!! and sad, and strange. Who knows! When I sort out all these mixed feelings, I will drop another line out there and let you all know how it is going!
pics of her first day are forthcoming as well! I used a disposable camera because I could not find our digital. Now I just need to get them developed on to a disc. hehehehe never a dull moment!