Dog Tired

The tiredness seems to set in most when I hold still long enough to realize how tired I am. Or on those other days where I feel like I'm still dreaming when I'm really awake because we were up so much at night. Though at three months, I think we're getting longer stretches of sleep now than before. As tired as I may be, this is still WAY better than pregnancy.
You see those green plants poking up there? Those are our tiger lilies. And we have raspberries growing after all of our planting efforts last year. I'm so excited for our garden! Katie and I have been having a lot of fun outside. I'll admit it though, I was really struggling with burn-out before General Conference two weekends ago. I couldn't have been more grateful for those messages that seemed to hit right on the nail everything I was struggling with. I really loved Sister Beck's and Elder Ballard's talk that both seemed to reaffirm the importance of being a mom, the value of women in the world, and the necessity of seeking the guidance of the Lord for every day things. So I prayed for help with our family. I needed so much more patience and strength to enjoy these kids and not just survive them because I was so tired.

Well, the answers and strength came. I'm not claiming to have amazing patience, but I feel a difference. I play more with Katie now and am better about letting things go that I can't do and loving and laughing more. I really needed to hear all of the messages about families; that being a mother is the only calling in this life you are never released from - it's an eternal calling, that the greatest good you can ever do in the world is the work you do with your own family, how precious every individual soul is to our Heavenly Father, and just that peaceful feeling of hearing the prophet and apostles of the Lord speak. And I'm so grateful that modern technology lets me see Conference at home, even in New Hampshire, so I don't have to worry about what to do with the three munchkins during the sessions.
These dresses were gifts from a very dear friend. Anyone able to tell the difference in the two girls? Cora's on the left and Sydney's on the right. They smile so much now (though I never seem to get a picture of both at once) and coo a lot. Katie imitates everything I do with them with her dolls. She wants me to swaddle her dolls for her the way I do them. We call it "tie them up," which she asks me to do if they start crying. She rocks her dolls and says shh to them. She puts them in the car seat, the swings, and her double stroller to "go to the park." She will even lift up her shirt to "feed them." She puts them up on the changing table to "change their bums" when I change the girls. She will "burp them" and give them "tummy time" and also help me show them different toys. She says all of the things I put in quotations. It's a little intimidating to see her act out everything I do. And even more bizarre for me because I didn't play with dolls a whole lot growing up (I liked my stuffed animals and toy horses). So she and I are learning things together.

And yes, they still puke.