diary of a late night blogger....

Well it's about three in the morning. I was just up to feed our 3 month old (I know she's growing like a weed) and now I am in a negotiations war with my two year old that has lasted for about 45 minutes. It all started with the juice. She is up wanting some juice, which to my husband (who just was up changing her jammies because of a diaper that just couldn't hold anymore ) isn't the smartest thing. But the mom who will do just about anything to get her to sleep gave in. Lo and behold minutes later I heard the chant for fruit snacks. And no this is no quiet chant...like everything in our lives this is a booming (I"m going to wake the baby) scream/chant. Seriously I feel like I am negotiating with a terrorist. Not literally- just to make sure I will clarify that I don't think sadie is one but the way this situation is all playing out I feel like I pretty much am. But it starts with the juice, now onto fruit snacks. Since I wasn't home over dinner time (I know this is a rare occurrence) I am not totally sure about how much she ate. Or lets be serious...if she did. Just kidding, I know they had left over pizza so I'm assuming she had a slice without too much of a fit. So due to this...I am concerned she's a little hungry so I give into the fruit snacks and give her a couple....why oh why?? Don't worry she's wide awake so my paranoid side is not kicking in thinking she's going to choke. She is up jumping in her crib, pounding on her shared wall that our bedroom is on the other side of. But to the point of my post.. Last night while chase's baseball team was winning their last "regular season" game of baseball from nine to ten I was blog watching and I came across this feed from a friend's facebook. I read the article which made me feel like a million bucks!! So to all you moms out there...in case you ever share in the feelings with me of overwhelming daily grind of life....here it is. I think this article was just what I needed. I am just waiting for the "tangled" chant to start...because deep down there really is nothing else I'd love to be doing at three in the morning right? http://bretzke.blogspot.com/2011/06/untiring-organ-of-strength.html?spref=fb

An untiring organ of strength

I was reading Pres Monson's talk from Priesthood . As part of his talk he tells a story of a couple he was counseling. Basically he and this couple crash a temple wedding (oh Pres. Monson!)

As part of the advice the sealer gave...

He mentioned how a husband should love his wife, how he should treat her with respect and courtesy, honoring her as the heart of the home. Then he talked to the bride about how she should honor her husband as the head of the home and be of support to him in every way.

This metaphor is a fairly common one. the iconic heart as the place of all warmth, tenderness and general goo. But this time as I read I thought more literally. I thought about what the heart actually does.

In under a minute, your heart can pump blood to every cell in your body. And over the course of a day, about 100,000 heart beats shuttle 2,000 gallons of oxygen-rich blood many times through about 60,000 miles of branching blood vessels that link together the cells of our organs and body parts. That's a hefty job for a fist-sized muscle. more heart facts And then I thought about what a mother actual does. She, like the heart,never rests, or stops. She is ever going steady, strong, relentless. Responsible for nourishment to reach all, constantly. The nourishment of small bodies, little hungry minds, and precious, often fragile souls. The "blood" of her efforts and energies reaches out to the very same spirits once entwined within her; for to her the blood filled umbilical chord remains, invisible but real, pulling still. She responds to the pull (and constant little voices of needs, always with the same request "Maaaahhh-meeeee") taking up the exhausted, tired "cells" in her family, and replenishing them with the oxygen of kisses and snuggles, and whispers of encouragement. They breath it in, and sigh. She eliminates waste, not just endless diapers and discarded cheerios, but the wasting of time and potential as she strains to teach the priorities and potentials that are so clear to her as she seeks vision and direction. She pumps and pumps, traveling the endless and repetitive paths of her home, winding through the capillaries of her day, endlessly picking up--toys, egos, dreams--putting them in their place. She is strong. Yet, like the heart her life-giving processes happen so constantly that they can be forgotten. When was the last item you placed your hand to your chest and thought, "Hey there heart, glad your still a tickin' ? WE are the HEART. We are the driving force, the movement, the thrust, that quietly beats the cadence of our family. WE are STRONG. An amazing and vital muscle in the body of our home. So next time you hear you are the heart of the home, feel your throbbing pulse and feel proud.