Praying as a parent

Now that I have a little one in the home I find myself praying more and more everyday. Usually it's please Heavenly Father let him sleep for 5 more minutes...please let me shower without him getting fussy. Can I please have more of these little moments?! I pray and give thanks for him so much that Heavenly Father I'm sure puts the phone down and walks away while I am still talking and thanking him!(totally just kidding and showing off my sense of humor) I have never been so in love with someone. He is literally created from myself and my husband...how amazing! I can see him grow everyday and I am so thankful for this. 

I pray my son knows unconditional love always.

I pray he is happy in life.

I pray he finds someone to love and gets the chance to get sealed in our churches temple like my husband and I have done.

I pray he strives to do his best in his education.

I pray for him to treat others the way he wants to be treated. 

I pray for him to grow spiritually and love church.

As a parent what do you pray for? Do you remember to give thanks? It's important to be thankful just as much if not more each time we ask for something too. 

10 days

So before I tell you what is happening in 10 days lets rewind to about three years ago. I had just lost a pregnancy as many of you know and at 5 months of pregnancy I was not looking forward to having an empty nest after my due date. After a long discussion with Andrew we decided to become foreign exchange host parents. We initially thought about fostering but at the time the process was much longer and I simply did not want to spend much more time with just Andrew and myself. Granted I love the man but we married to have a family and have our home filled with many people and many memories. (Today we host exchange students and are foster parents!)

Our first student hailed from Belgium and I often talk about him because his name was Mathieu, and we named our angel Matthew. Now if that isn't a huge sign from Heavenly Father I don't know what is!! After he left we took a year off and we moved back to NY.  We were approached by the exchange program to host again and we jumped at the chance. This time I wanted to host a girl. We found the most perfect person to make our house a home! Her name was Giulia and she was from Italy. She knew Andrew and I wanted to have a baby and so her year may be interesting if it ended up becoming a reality. She was forwarned we were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and we didn't drink coffee or alcohol. And still she braved the long flights and came to our family. Right before her arrival my dreams came true and we were certified foster parents and just found out we were expecting again. 

She dealt with my crazy pregnancy emotions which usually consisted of me crying at every show and just eating ice cream and any other food craving I had. (Egg rolls and McDonald's chicken nuggets mostly..and never together!eww)

She was there for our sons birth and has helped us out so much with him.

I know she was put in our family for a reason. She helped us the weekend we needed to be with my great gran. She died in May just before my son hit one month of age and I needed to almost be in two places at once. Well there Giulia was, helping us with Seth so I could be with my gram in her final days. Being able to do that not only made me happy but a lot of the out of state family who could not be there were happy that she was not alone. 

Giulia will be leaving us in ten days(ergo the title of this post) I know you may read this and not believe it when I say it but you were placed in our family for a reason. I love you so very much and I consider you one of my closest friends. I appreciate you always being open to my faith and coming to church with us when asked. This was important to us as well when looking for a good fit for our family. We didn't need them to be a member of our church but we wanted them to at least come once or twice when we asked. Giulia has been opening to meeting all of our crazy missionary friends and answered all of their questions. She every attended a blessing for our son. 

Our son loves her so much. Even now at just ten weeks she can make him smile and calm down. She even took him to her senior ball. We dressed him up and bought her flowers from him to give to her. I think it's something she will remember forever. Today I had the two of them taking pictures. I told her they were for my husband since Father's Day is tomorrow. Once I got some great photos of them I had them come to the back of the fireball where I had her friends and family hidden for a surprise party. It was so great having her friends all come out and spend more time together. Even my close friend Maureen doesn't know how she will survivor without Giulia. I guess more then one family needed Giulia in their lives this year. 

I urge everyone to take the time to appreciate every minute of every day and just know that it's a gift. I've been so lucky to have Giulia in my life. And now she is stuck with me. 

Evolving relationships

So there's is this news article circulating through my news feed on Facebook. A title basically saying I'm a mom and yes I'm a bad friend.(or something almost word for word) I read it intrigued to what really made this new mom a terrible friend. I gave the writer a fair unbiased chance but by the end I was more upset I think. In the article it said those who don't have kids don't want to have your children shoved in your face and when you call that friend they don't want to hear you talking to little Joey in the background telling him to get down off the counter etc. My best friend has two little ones and when I call her o know she does the best she can listening to me and managing watching her children. I give her so much credit for still making any time at all for others. I have a newborn and it's tough managing everything and getting into a routine. I need my friends to know I am not a terrible or bad friend..I'm simply busy. It's different now and this is something I've wanted my whole life. Many of my close friends and even those friends on Facebook know that having kids does typically change you. I love being busy with all things baby related but having a phone makes it easier to connect. My good friend and wonderful hairdresser is one friend I have had to work had at keeping up the communication. I want her to know just because she doesn't have kids just yet doesn't mean I don't want to see her or include her in all things in my life. I love her dearly and can count on her to help me. Same with my friend with two young girls. She made it possible to be there the whole day I was in the hospital giving birth. 

Having a friend who has a child makes you a better friend in my eyes. For one those friends with kids are typically more patient. Hopefully they even know some CPR so they can help you out in a bind. Have you ever needed a bandaod? Ask a mom...it's sure to be in her purse. Also moms tend to carry snacks. (And if you are a Mormon like me and attend church for three hours every Sunday those snacks are great) Moms carry wipes and hand sanitizer usually and those things are the best inventions since sliced bread. ( especially in church where all of the kids want to touch your kid!) I challenge you to be friends with moms. Don't desert them! They will need adults to talk to. Especially if they have had a tough day because little Johnny was on the counter jumping off and causing a commotion.