Keep trying for this....

Since having our second child, I have really worked on being better at not rushing the days along for the next big weekend, or milestone, or vacation, etc. I have really been trying to enjoy and appreciate the journey, something I was REALLY awful at before I had Hunter. Before, if I had a million things to do around the house and errands to run, even just simple things like laundry, and if a friend called to go to the park, I wouldn't go. How sad is that?! Laundry is ALWAYS there, my time with my kids isn't. I just re-read this talk by President Monson from the October 2008 conference. I'll copy some of it here, but here's the link for the entire article. It's really great!!!! Ok, it won't copy, so I'll do it as a seperate post above.

"If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled will disappear all too soon and that you will-to your surprise-miss them profoundly. Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important-and what is most important almost always involves the people around us. Often we assume that they must know how much we love them. But we should never assume; we should let them know. We will never regret the kind words spoken or the affection shown. Rather, our regrets will come if such things are omitted from our relationships with those who mean the most to us. Send that note to a friend you've been neglecting; give your child a hug; give your parents a hug; say I love you more; always express your thanks. Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved. Friends move away, children grow up, loved ones pass on. It's so easy to take others for granted, until that day when they're gone from our lives and we are left with feelings of what if and if only. The bittersweet tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone."