My appreciation for my three children recently grew. A few Sundays ago in Relief Society we had a lesson in which several women mentioned their unrealized desire to be a mother. We do not live in what I would call a typical family ward. Probably only half of the women are mothers. Listening to these women of all ages and from all walks of life talk about their dream to be a mother, I was so greatful for my own situation and kids. My dream of being a mother has come true. And not just once, but three times! I think too often of my kids as a burden, or at least the taking care of them as a burden. But they are a blessing! I think (as all mothers think of their kids) that my children are beautiful and amazing!
My Daniel.
He is just such a boy. He throws things down the stairs. He runs. He sucks food coloring. He cooks! He just loves to get different utensils from the kitchen, plus bowls, pots and pans and play with them. If something is cooking on the stove, he has to see it and he wants to stir it up. If something is in the oven, he has to come over and watch it. When the timer goes off, he reaches for an oven mitt. Daniel is so enthusiastic, as many 1 year olds are. He goes crazy if he sees a dog outside. Or a bird. He loves to chase birds. He doesn’t say too many words yet. So often we are guessing at what he wants. When we guess right, he grins as wide as can be. It is so cute! He is also very sweet. He knows that Amelia uses the silky bop. He may not realize that we have three of them. So after his nap, he picks up the silky bop he used and puts it on Amelia’s bed. (A silky bop is just a piece of silk pajamas or silk scarf.)
My Amelia.
Amelia jumps into your arms without telling you first. While you’re standing on the stairs and she is at the top of the stairs. She loves to pretend and most days she goes around telling us which family member we are in her pretend family that day. Or she’ll pretend we are all characters from a show she watched, such as Dora, Winnie the Pooh, or Wonder Pets. She loves to make any little toys into families, or set them up a certain way. She loves to rhyme and make up nicknames. Right after we saw a slug one day, she asked Darryl if she could call him “slugger boy”. Amelia also loves to tease Kathryn, and one way she does it is by calling her Kathy (Kaffy). Amelia loves to cuddle, and she loves bears. I don’t know how to describe it but she has so much personality. She sure didn’t get it from me. Like the way she struts into nursery. Its just so cute.
My Kathryn.
The girl is so creative! She asks for pipe cleaners and makes herself a tiara. Draw, draw, draw! She spends hours each week drawing. Sometimes hours in one day. Its a good thing we have two boxes of paper from Costco. She will draw something and then cut it out and play with it. She made herself a friend. I traced Kathryn’s body, then Kathryn colored it and cut it out. She made several outfits for the girl and named her Cindy. Kathryn gets so excited about things. I love to hear her squeal when she sees a pretty dress, when Darryl brings me flowers, or when she saw the chandelier in the Vancouver, BC temple. I love that Kathryn can’t help but move her body when she hears music. She has an amazing memory and often brings up things from Ukraine that I’d forgotten about. She has even told me how frustrated she is that she can’t remember the pre-mortal existence.
