Coming Into Focus

All photos courtesy the AMAZINGLY talented, Allyson Bowcutt. Thanks, Ally! We LOVE them!

So this is my life now. Tomorrow my baby girl will be three {3!!!} weeks old and I am pretty sure I still have no idea what I am doing. Okay, I think I have the basics down. I mean I am feeding, changing, and bathing my child, but lets be honest...after that it is just a guessing game. But looking at these beautiful pictures reminds me that although I may be low on the beauty sleep, my garbage is full of dirty diapers {the girl can POOP!}, and the 5 inch scar on my abdomen will never go away I am doing what I was called to do. My good friend, Tenille, posted this quote on her blog just this weekend which helped give me a little shot of spiritual and mental energy.

"Mothers go longer on less sleep and give more to others with less personal renewal for themselves than any other group I know at any other time in life. It is not surprising when the shadows under their eyes sometimes vaguely resemble the state of Rhode Island...You are doing God's work. You are doing it wonderfully well. He is blessing you, and He will bless you, even-no, especially- when your days and your nights may be the most challenging. Like the woman who anonymously, meekly, perhaps even with hesitation and some embarrassment, fought her way through the crowd just to touch the hem of the Master's garment, so Christ will say to the women who worry and wonder and weep over the responsibility as mothers, 'Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole.' and it will make your children whole as well."

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland "Because She Is a Mother"

Ah, the promises of the Gospel. So grateful. Becoming a mother {and doing so approximately 1800 miles away from my own} has brought my focus more clearly on family. And in particular the blessing of Forever families. I love my family so much. The beautiful family found in the pictures below; the family I grew up fighting with and traveling with and learning from; the families that play at Bear Lake and in Island Park; the family I was lucky enough to marry into; and the family that may not be mine through blood but has become such through unbreakable friendships. Having Stella has made me the most homesick I have been while living in Ohio, yet I know that this transition into motherhood is happening right now, right here because it is supposed to.

So although I am sure day 21 is going to bring something totally different than day 20 did, I know with the Lord's help and my husband's help and the examples of successful parenting all around me it will be a good day. And for no other reason then I get to spend day 21 with the beauty below. I am sure she will melt your heart as much as she repeatedly melts ours.