February 18, 2002

Note: I don't do well with blogs that are merely meant to be read. And here I've done just that. Probably only Natalie will read this entire post, since she is my biggest fan.
(Tonight I stumbled upon this journal entry from 8 years ago. I found it sweet. I like that many things I did on that day I did today. Nursing a sweet angel baby, shopping with Aust and the five kids, praying for a miracle, and watching the Olympics in Vancouver. Today my miracle was that I was able bathe, wash, clip, polish, comb and sing and love my babies this evening. I was nice and had the energy I needed to be a good momma. Or at least the energy I needed to send Austin off to 10 hours of stake meetings and me to fill in the holes. I am still grateful to Heavenly Father for all that I have.)
What a pleasant President's Day holiday!! Of course I'm not at school and I'm off for the week due to the Olympics in SLC. (Many returned missionaries are volunteering at the venues.) This morning Meg (9 month birthday) awakened Aust and I with whimpers and scratches on the face. We laid in bed for a while, trying to get Meg to do her tricks -- patty-cake, yeah (hands clapping), bye-bye, lip smacking, lip blowing, and giving kisses. She completed her tricks then showered with Aust. We all three got dressed and ate breakfast in the cold kitchen with the "vornado" space heater blowing to keep us warm.

After placing the dishes in the sink we went to K-Mart. There, we shopped the sales. We bought four new pillows for the blue shams on our bed, black gloves and scarf to match my birthday leather/fur jacket, new white ped socks for me, and $1.00 cheese crackers. It was nice to shop without rushing -- Meg played happily in the front of the cart, she tried to eat the tags on the gloves and socks. We then walked to All-A-Dollar and bought a new chicken for our "Babcock" kitchen and a 4x7 picture frame to send to Babcocks.

Once we got home, Aust immediately began to wash the car. I nursed Meg. How I loved to snuggle with her warm body against mine. I have been thinking lately about weening her. Mom weened all of us at 9 months - 1year. I am going to wait until after I graduate this April. Because she still sleeps with us -- a crib would hardly fit in our small room -- it's too easy to roll over and feed her during the night. We both go right back to sleep with no trouble at all. After Meg was fed, I made the bed using the new pillows to fill the shams. I must admit, the bed does look inviting. Since I was a little girl, I have always wanted tons of pillows for my bed. One of my small dreams came true today.

Aust finished washing the car, then came inside to help me pick-up from shopping and the lazy Sabbath. He works quickly by my side, we are a good team. I started making lunch and he went outside to move the car off the grass, but it wouldn't start. I heard popping and knew something was wrong. I said a prayer in my heart right at that moment. Aust came inside, told me the car wouldn't start, and he said he, too, had already prayed. We ate lunch quietly, both thinking about the money involved to fix the car. We are already tight due to dental application/interview stuff. Aust called a mechanic. Then, he went outside and the car started fine. He came inside and said a prayer to thank Heavenly Father for our little miracle. We have been so blessed by Heavenly Father. Health, finance, Case Western acceptance, and family. I need to trust in Him more. I need to become more familiar with my Savior. I will start today reading from the conference and current "Ensigns." I then nursed Meg to sleep and Aust left to make sure the car was OK at the mechanic's. I exercised while he was gone. He came home and went straight to work. Nothing too extraordinary happened today, but a miracle is a miracle, and today we experienced one.

Another side note, Feb. 7, two weeks ago, I turned on the devotional at 11:00 am on KBYU-TV. I recognized the message. It was Elder Jeffery R. Holland's message he gave on Feb. 15, 2000. I remembered it because Aust and I attended it together that day two years ago -- when we were merely dating. I remember he picked me up outside my calculus class and we walked hand in hand to the Marriott. Together we met Ron, Nat, Mary, Aly and Leigh to listen and attend the devotional. Both this day and two years earlier his message touched my heart. Elder Holland spoke about love. He alluded to Shakespeare's "Othello." This was key, because that was the play I had been studying in English at the time. Anyway, the talk spoke of choosing companions and who uplift and help along the way. Christ is key in every relationship.