Monday, November 29, 2010

Gratitude and 4 kids

The past few weeks have been a little crazy with everyone adjusting to a new baby. Lately my attitude has been something like - "please, just let me make it through the day and still be sane".
Unfortunately, my family has probably received the brunt of my emotions. I keep focusing on what my kids aren't doing rather than what they are.

Fortunately, the lesson in Relief Society on Sunday was on the Divine Gift of Gratitude by President Monson. The following quote struck a cord with me. He said "We have all experienced times when our focus is on what we lack rather than on our blessings...We can lift ourselves and others as well when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude." After hearing that quote I decided I needed to change.

Today wasn't easy, but I tried to think of something to be thankful for when things got hard. Sometimes I did better than others. I guess you could say I am a work in progress. The one thing I can say, is that I did notice that my family did better when I focused on the things to be grateful for, rather than on the negative. That alone makes it worth while!

On a side note, here are some updated pictures of Allison.

Ali's first bath

Abbie being the best big sister ever

Dad and Ali - both fast asleep

2 comments:

Ducksoup said...

congratulations! i somehow missed your post announcing your new addition - - so sorry i'm a little slow in congratulating you. you look great jill! and your baby looks adorable.

Jen said...

What sweet pictures Jill. It's fun to see an update. Darling little family. Thanks for the "grateful" reminder. I agree 100%!! I loved that talk from conference.

How is it that you looked darling in your "after baby" picture with Pete? I swore I was going to get a cute one this time. Ya, didn't happen. Oh well, Lewis was cute! :-)