Moments

I have loved the talk Daughters of God, by Elder M. Russel Ballard, ever since I heard it. The word "moments" has been on my mind lately, and something that Elder Ballard said in that talk just fits my thoughts perfectly. ". . .Recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there will be shining moments of joy and satisfaction."
That just becomes more and more true for me. I love being a mom, but there are certainly times when I feel like I am pushed to my limit, or sometimes, in my mind, I'm thinking over my limit! Some days are hard, tricky, frustrating, or sometimes I get to the end of the day and realize I did not accomplish some of those things that I really thought needed to be done that day. But even in the hardest day there is a "moment" that brings me back to what this is all about.
Moments like when Hannah asks me to "sleep" with her before bed every night. Sometimes I'm anxious for a rest from a busy day of mothering, but those "moments" with Hannah are so much fun and bring me joy. I tell the story of the 3 little pigs most every night, or sing songs with her, or tell her a story about "Hannah" and how she doesn't like her thumb. ;) She thinks that is funny. I love those times.
Moments that randomly bring a smile to my face, like when I gave Madelyn a bowl of peas. I said, "Do you love them?" She responds in all seriousness, "I'll put it in a way you'll understand, I don't like them very much!" Totally took me off guard and made me just laugh! I love those times.
Moments like when we sing the "Wheels on the Bus" song and Hannah asks to sing the verse that says the "diapers" on the bus go swish, swish, swish. That is what she thinks it says, what a funny visual....I love those times.
Moments like when Drew gives me hugs out of the blue and tells me he loves me. I love those times. Or one day I took all 3 girls, and Drew accompanied us, to get their immunizations. Drew was really worried about his sisters. He took care of them out in the hall after it was their turn to get the shots, so I could be in the room with whomever need the next shot. He was an awesome big brother. I love those times.
Moments like when Lily just doesn't want to go to bed, even though I'm beat, I still love to see her happy smiles and her total excitement of being out of bed and sharing some fun time with Jed and I. She loves to play with us at night and it is just sooo cute. I love those times.
I'm just grateful that those moments can outshine the moments of difficulty! I really do want to remember all of these "moments" with my children. Time flies by too fast to caught up in the minutia of life. I hope I can enjoy this time with my children as much as I can, because I sure do love them.