Through the eyes of a child

        Do you want to know what is so wonderful and magical about being a mother?  To me, it is getting a chance to discover the world all over again through the eyes of a child.  This thought came to me awhile ago when I noticed how excited my boys were getting for Christmas.  It made me as excited,  if not more so, as when I was a child!  This happened again yesterday, when we had such a beautiful day outside so I took my kids out to play.  I put Brooklyn on the grass for the first time.  I took her shoes off and let her feet touch the grass.....and then she pulled at the grass!  She got a blade of grass in her hand (as you can tell by the picture), and she seemed to say, "what is this?"    We always have our babies in the fall so they usually get to experience this at about six months old.  It just was profound to me yesterday that she had this blade of grass in her hand, was seeing it for the first time, and it was like I was seeing grass for the first time.
         I thank Heavnely Father for this wonderful world that he has given us.  I know sometimes I take things for granted, but with children I'm starting not to.  I also thank my husband who works so hard so  that I am the one having these moments with our children.  I am the one who gets to see all their firsts;  their first word, their first step, their first smile, their first wave, and yes, their first time exploring this big, wide, wonderful world!!  I would't trade this for all the money, positions, and status IN the world.  Don't get me wrong, life gets hectic sometimes, but I'm glad we took time yesterday to, "feel the grass."

The Greatest Gift I Could Give My Child

The Greatest Gift I Could Give My Child




Today is Sunday, and the kids woke up a little under the weather. I went into the living room and found Bridger standing by the tree with a disconcerted look on his face. “Where’s dad’s presents?,” he asked. (Even though Bridger is only four he knows the alphabet really well and is starting to put letters and words together). Oh no, I thought to myself, how do you explain to a just barely turned four year old that the little money you had for Christmas you spent on them and not on each other?

Then he asked another question, “and where are your presents mom?”

So, I wrapped him in his blankey and snuggled him on the couch and told him that I had three presents, Bridger, Landon, and Brooklyn. He started crying and told me that he wanted me to have real presents. Wow, I thought to myself, here is a little boy that probably should just be worrying about what he’s getting for Christmas, and here he is worrying about others. Well, THAT is the greatest gift I could give my child. I’ve always wondered how I could teach that as well as my own mother did. Maybe my own mom is right, it’s by what they see in their every day lives. Maybe it’s not giving them everything they want. Maybe it is doing callings, especially when it’s hard, maybe it’s speaking kindly about people, maybe it’s taking someone a meal, maybe it’s all of things that I need to work on SO much in my own life. I know I don’t have all of the answers, but I do know that bigger, better, and more is not usually the answer.

Don’t worry, Kolby and I will have gifts that we are making each other! That is what is going to make this Christmas so special. It’s about the thought, friends, family, spending time with loved ones, and carrying out cherished family traditions. But, most of all, it’s about a perfect baby Jesus, the Son of God, born into the most humble of circumstances, come to redeem us from the fall. The only One perfect and pure enough to accomplish such a magnificent feat.

One of my biggest goals and greatest hopes as a mother, would be that I would raise the kind of children that would care about, take care of, and serve others. This Sunday morning I was reminded by a small child what Christmas is really about. I’m thankful for my Savior, for His birth, and for his life. I’m thankful for His PERFECT example and for his ultimate sacrifice. What a beautiful holiday to celebrate such a noble and great One.

"The Sweet Sound of Snoring"

So.....last night was one of those funny nights.  I couldn't really sleep.....partially because I was thinking of all my many blessings.....and partially because my husband AND daughter were both snoring.  YES, my little 6lb. 7oz. baby girl SNORES.  My husband sleeps on the right side of me, and Brooklyn sleeps in a pack and play next to our bed.  I was caught in the middle, in between a snoring symphony of sorts.  Most nights this would have annoyed the heck out of me, and my husband will be the first one to tell you that he has received a few pokes, pushes, and jabs to the side in order to get him to roll over so he'll stop snoring.  Well, not this night.  This sounds cheesy, but these sounds literally were music to my ears.  I felt warm, safe, and blessed.  I had two of the most important people in my life sleeping soundly, alive and well, right beside me. 

You see, this summer was kind of a scary one for our family.  Without going into too much detail, one night at the beginning of the summer, Kolby had one of his regular stomach episodes that he has, only this time it was a lot more serious than it had been.  This time he got a rash all over his whole body, his chest hurt, and his throat felt swollen.  He called for my name and when I went into the bathroom he was fairly unresponsive.  We made it through that night (later learning I really should have called 911), and anyway, his regular Doctor sent us to an allergy specialist.  From there, we went on what seemed to be a never ending journey to a variety of doctors, hospitals, radiologists, specialists, etc. to try and find out what was wrong.  Most of them thought we were dealing with some form of cancer. 

Thank heavens Kolby does not have cancer, what we have been able to gather so far is that he has moderately severe eosinophilic esophagitis which is basically a chronic inflammation with numerous allergic cells.  It is treatable with an inhaler that he takes. However, for the majority of the summer I thought I was going to potentially lose the most amazing, special, and wonderful person in my life.  So.....getting back on track.  I thought about all of this tonight, and was extremely grateful to my Heavenly Father that my husband was sleeping soundly next to me. 

Also, when we first found out that we were expecting Brooklyn we went in for an ultrasound.  Well, Dr. Sanders couldn't find a heartbeat.  So, for several days we didn't know if this pregnancy would be viable.  Now, 8 months later we have our beautiful, sweet, baby girl......and she is sleeping soundly next to me.
Now you can see why this snoring was "music to my ears."

Blessing Day

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Today was a very special and beautiful day. Our first daughter, Brooklyn Alicia Blackner was blessed. Kolby blessed her, and we had many members of our family and friends that stood in the circle.  Seeing my husband bless our baby girl is a moment that will be forever etched in my memory. One of the things that was very special about this day is, that the dress Brooklyn got blessed in, I was blessed in when I was a baby. My great-great-grandmother Cleo gave it to me, and it was the last thing she gave me before she passed.  Another thing that is special is that Brooklyn Alicia is named after my sister Alicia. We always told each other that we were going to name our first born little girls after each other.  Then, just a few days before the blessing, my mom was looking in her scrapbook/journal and found that the day I was blessed was September 6, 1981, and that was when Brooklyn was born!  They also celebrated my sister Alicia's 2nd birthday that day because family was in town.

I don't know why I'm like this, but before a family get together like this I usually get really nervous wondering how the day is going to go, if there's going to be enough food, if everything will go smoothly, etc., but I think with this third child in our family I have learned to relax a lot! Don't get me wrong, I still like things the way I like them, I am just learning to ENJOY the journey and not worry so much. I know that this stage of life won't last long so I do NOT want to wish any of it away!

Having a daughter is the most amazing thing in the world!!  Lately at night when I have been feeding Brooklyn and it's just me and her awake, I smile thinking of all the things we are going to do together when she grows up.  I also think about the hope of having the same relationship with her that I have with my mom....someone who I consider to be my best friend.

Overall, today was just very special because we were surrounded by so many wonderful grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends. Everyone helped make today one of the best I've ever had.  This definitely is one of my favorite seasons in life so far.................

My mom gave Brooklyn for her blessing gift a beautiful bracelet and it came with this poem:

"Precious daughter of God, most beautiful girl,
We welcome you in to this wonderful world.
Today you'll be held in a circle of love,
Given blessings from loved ones-here and above.
Remember those blessings, hold tight to them, dear,
For with them, the Lord will remain ever near."

The day I was blessed:  September 6, 1981

"Family resemblance?"

"My blessing day" September 6, 1981

"Our Precious Little Addition."

November 16, 2009