Some thoughts on death

I know it sounds grim, but I've been thinking about death a lot lately. Many of our friends have recently lost loved ones...a mother, a husband, an infant, a grandmother...just to name a few. I was thinking about this last night as I wrote in my journal. Here's a little bit of what I jotted down:

...there have been quite a few tragic, unexpected deaths in the past few months. [Our old ward in Delaware] is going to have a special Enrichment night entitled "I wasn't ready to say goodbye." I'm not sure there's anything you can do to be absolutely ready for the death of a loved one- and there's no way you can really know if you are in fact ready for it, unless it actually happens. There just aren't any "practice runs" to help you prepare. The only thing you can do is remind yourself that we're all here for a short time and that we're all going to die at some point along the way. It's part of Heavenly Father's plan; it has to be part of his plan- it wouldn't work without it. I know I would be stricken with unbelievable grief if anything were to happen to Bobby or Lillian. The only thing that would ultimately and completely help me through it would be my testimony and the gospel- nothing else would be strong enough to make me hold on. I hope I don't have to experience it any time soon, but I hope even more that I could bear it well if it were to happen.

Baby Coos & Poos

So here's the very first posting of my very first blog. This is inspired by my friends the Astons and the Knickerbockers (who are both much technologically cooler because they already have their own blogs), as well as by my dad. My dad always reads us entries from his journals during Christmas time. The stories about us are quite entertaining (much more humorous in retrospect than at the time, I'm sure). I asked my dad how and why he kept such a good record of our childhood, and he said he always wrote for an audience, whether for his own parents or for us kids to read some day. I hand write in my journal every night, which I enjoy, but it takes time- I don't have nearly enough time to sit down and write every great story that happens in my life. So this is my compromise. I will blog all of our interesting stories to share with you- my family and friends. And I will continue to write the boring, every day things in my journal at night. So here goes.... (and by the way, if you have any witty ideas for a blog name, by all means, please let me know.)

This is my story about baby coos and baby poos. Lillian (who will be 6 months old next week!) is developing her vocal strings and has come up with a new, high-pitched squealish type of noise. I'm not sure if it's a noise to express delight or frustrations- she seems to use it for both. But it's darn cute every time she belts it out. If I can figure out a way to post sound recordings on this thing I might give it a try so you can hear it too.

Now as for the poos....with the way things have been going the past couple of days, I'm not sure why we're spending money on diapers. A couple days ago Lillian piddled on the bathroom rug when Bobby was undressing her to get ready for a bath. This morning she piddled all over the changing table after Bobby took off her wet diaper and before he put the new one on. Poor Bobby, he was getting all the bad luck. But Lillian would not let it go unfair for long, as she evened the playing field later in the morning. She was sitting in her johnny jump-up (well actually she was dangling because she hasn't figured out how to jump yet) while I was taking my shower. When I got out she began to fuss a little. Upon picking her up and out of the johnny jump-up I felt something wet on my arm. At first I thought it must be my wet towel. But upon closer examination I noticed that Lillian's pj's were also wet...and smelly...and a little brownish. Oh joy! It was a yucky diaper with runny residue all over the place (probably the result of all the sweet potatoes she's been eating lately). Needless to say, I rushed her off to get wiped up and to take a bath. I had to hurry and wash off her toes before she stuck the defiled things in her mouth to vigorously suck on. Miraculously nothing got on the johnny jump-up. I guess babies have a way of making the poo stick to them, just like diapers have a way of not catching it all!