Sunday, July 20

hands full

i love my girls.  lately though- velzy bugs me.  she is in the typical two year old power struggle/figuring out how to talk back/does not want to take naps/i want my mommy and no one else stage.  you know how it goes, nothing new to anyone, but for some reason it is driving me nuts.  don't get me wrong, i love the girl and we have soooo much fun together, and she really is such a sweetheart 95% of the time.  there are just times when i don't know what to do and i have this huge fear of committing some huge parenting mistake and ending up with bratty kids.  anyways, i just linked (from chanel, thanks!) this girls blog and spent the last half hour reading it, crying, thinking how blessed i am, and realizing that what i get annoyed with is really not important.  her baby daughter drown in her hot tub, and reading her blog it really hit me how lucky i am to have these two.  you can't help but think what would i do in this situation, what if this happened to our family?  and i can only hope that i would be half as strong as the woman who's blog it is and it makes me feel so blessed to know that i have the gospel and it is possible to have the strength that she does.  ah, just thinking about it makes me get teary. i am sure that velzy will grow out of whatever phase she is in- she turns 3 in a few months and i am pretty sure that "the terrible two's" magically vanish on third birthdays and everything will be just fine.  but even if it doesn't i am still so glad that i do have my hands full of velzy and ivy love.
oh, and another cool thing on her blog, she talks about Luke 2:52:
"And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man."
talking about how daily we should do some thing to increase our wisdom, stature (do something physical), spirituality (favour with God), and social (favour with man).  i am pretty sure i could be better in each one of those areas and will be getting to work.

17 comments:

Katie said...

So that little girl that drowned is my cousin's niece. Her blog is amazing to read and you're right, it makes you feel so grateful! I am with you though with those darn terrible two's...Mia has been quite the handful!

Missy said...

I love that scripture and I'm SO with you on the 2 year old thing, but even more so on realizing how lucky we are to have these little girls...

Love the new header and the photos Ashley - tell me you'll frame one of those!

stef j. said...

hey there buddy! so i pretty much read that entire blog ... coincidentally enough i did a post almost identical to this one this past week, irritated - saw something online - grateful. yada yada yada

are you going to the hau'ula na'kamalei? we're going to start going tomorrow (for reals this time - hold me to it. i've been getting intimidated about getting out with the girls lately.)

Mariko said...

I've been admitting to people lately that I'm a blog-stalker, so I guess I can tell you too (since I've been reading yours for a while now--you can blame Jill I guess). I totally relate to this post. Amaya's been doing that two year old thing. Glad I'm not alone. And glad to have a little perspective on it.

chanel said...

YOU'RE BACK!!! YAY! Look at that jawsome skateboarding mama, have i told you lately how cool you are?!?! V&I look like they're having FUN!

Stephaine's blog is incredible, she's incredible. I know I couldn't handle her situation with so much grace. It seriously changes your entire perspective. Loving the annoying 2yr old things suddenly becomes possible, its crazy.

glad you're back, im sure your trip was amazing, its always so fun to go home. and love your header.

Lucky Mommy said...

That is so sad. I know there's nothing like a good dose of perspective to change the way we feel. I still know what it's like to have 2 kids hanging on you all day, or stepping all over your bladder during Sacrament meeting. You know the drill. Cute pictures!

aaron and meg facer said...

That was a sweet post. I'm sorry Velzy is going through the terrible twos. You're such a great mom, though. I mean, look at you riding on your skateboard with your kids. Aaron and I were talking about how we want to be cool parents. We should take lessons from you! Like the one time when Velzy totally threw up oranges all over you and your carpet. And you just laughed and asked us to take a picture. Velzy's terrible twos are in good hands. I'm glad you're back and can't wait for more pictures!

heidi said...

amen to all of that, drowning is my biggest fear, hence the ISR swimming lessons at 6months for my kids...i guess we have unfun times(is that a nice way to say it?) to appreciate the good times with the kiddos just like everything else in life. my mom once told me in a frustrated moment of mine, that if our kids always did what we wanted them to do, they would make boring adults. so when oshyn is a crazy nutjob, i try to think of that to feel better.

Stephanie said...

this was all so lovely to read, but more impressive perhaps is you with two children on a skateboard! i can barely keep my clumsy self on a skateboard...by myself...let alone with a child...let alone with two!

Leilani said...

WoW...Thanks for the scripture at the end. I am so going to make that my goal everyday.

We leave in 3 1/2 weeks for Texas, so hopefully I'll see you before then.

liko said...

let's go to the beach. we are at my parents' house (house-sitting,kinda) so maybe we can go to the north shore, if you are feeling ambitious enough and, weather-permitting. maybe wednesday? morning? i'll text ya. by the way, that last post is so true. we get overwhelmed at times and need things to be put back into perspective. in big and little ways. very insightful/inspirational post for me! love the scripture.

Da Denninghoff's said...

Thank you for sharing Ash. Just yesterday during the lesson in Relief Society I thought about this very thing. My eyes filled up with tears of just the thought. As soon as Relief Society was over I grabbed Eve from Mark and I just kept kissing her. We are so blessed to be stewards over these little ones in this life. I love you!
P.s. by the way love the plumerias and the pix of you 3 on the skate board.

Stephanie Waite said...

Ashley,
I am the mom from that blog. I just wanted to let you know I had a 2 year old also until she turned three last week and it did seem like those terrible 2s just disappeared. I am not sure whether it was actually turning three or suddenly being the littlest kid in the house again but I know those terrible twos. They can be brutal.

But when I came home from the hospital after Camille died, it was my two year old that I saw so vividly through Camille's eyes. I will never look at her the same again.

May we all have the strength to endure well the terrible twos.

The Trotter Family said...

I am such a tard. I just commented on the post below about this post. Sorry, I haven't gotten much sleep lately!

maryam said...

Stephanie has given me a new perspective on death and living. Such a sad story.

mahina said...

wow! i just went to her blog and i cannot believe the tragedy! they seem so strong and positive about the whole thing! it just breaks my heart to see someone go through this. i love reading how her perspective changed with her other girls. i need to "behold my little ones" and realize that they are the only things that matter. things are just things, but my girls are most precious above all!

thanks for sharing this with us and those terrible two's do end! hang in there! we all survive them!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this post Ash. It's so real in so many ways. I started reading it thinking... "Amen! Taj is driving me nuts at 2 too!" And then I kept reading & ended again with "Amen."