The Lamoreaux Family: Falling In Love

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Falling In Love

We are all falling in love with this tiny little person

Taycie Grace Lamoreaux

I love:

the smell of her breath, having her cuddle up next to me, the little sounds she makes, looking at her tiny feet, feeding her, spending time just looking at her. I love how newborns stretch, with their little legs curled up, and their back arched. I love the quiet time that I have had to rest and ponder how to be a good mother to all these sweet children. I love the feeling that a new baby brings into our home - everyone wants to be kinder, more gentle, & loving.

The joys of family life just in this week have been worth the backaches and uncomfortableness of pregnancy, the strain on my body, the pain of labor, the noise and daily stresses of raising a large family.

Wow, I don't have a picture of Bob holding Taycie. I'll have to get one soon! Bob is the most amazing husband and father in the world. He's just so understanding, kind, and loving. He handles the stress of school and running his IBC business along with having a new baby, helping out at home, doing his church calling, etc. He just takes it all in stride, and (unlike myself) doesn't seem stressed or have any nervous breakdowns. He handles my emotions, and gives me words of wisdom. He loves me. I mean really, truly loves me and accepts me no matter how undeserving I might be at the moment. He is everything a real man should be.

Abby is now a big sister! I love hearing her say to Taycie: "You are so beautiful, you are so beautiful!"

Andrew is fascinated by this little baby. He's had the hardest time adjusting because he's so attached to me, but luckily it is summer, and he's also in love with the outdoors.

Zach loves to hold Taycie, and rub her soft little fuzzy head. He did not like her dried umbillical cord, and he was SO relieved when it fell off. Yesterday, he asked me while holding Taycie: "Mom, can big brothers kiss their baby sisters on the lips sometimes?" So cute.

Of course, Mallory is in heaven with yet another sibling to help out with. She is now the middle child in our family.

Spencer has a calming influence on Taycie and can usually get her to fall asleep for me. He'll sit quietly for as long as I will let him hold her. What a lucky girl Taycie is to have four older brothers to watch over her, who love her so much!

Courtney is a very loving big sister. She helped wash all the girl clothes when Bob called from the hospital (I had only washed the little boy clothes!) Courtney has been an amazing help by keeping the little ones in the family entertained, cared for, loved, and happy this week. She is such a gentle, loving, and sweet influence in our family.

Jace has always loved babies so much. He'll hold Taycie for a long time, and he always comments about how precious she is. He adores her. I know he'll be a wonderful father someday.

Here is the star that has kept our home and family together this week. Really, there aren't words to express how proud and happy I am with how willing she is to help, and how talented and able she is. Every day she leads the children in a "clean-up crew", she makes meals, and just happily helps out. Bob has made me stay in bed, take lots of naps, and focus on recovering. But then he has to go to school, and Aliysa gets to take up the slack. She's amazing.

It's crazy to me to look at her holding Taycie. It really hasn't been that long since she was Taycie's size. I always used to think it was funny how often adults would say that "time flies by so fast", but it really is true.

"They are idols of hearts and of household!

They are angels of God in disguise;

The sunlight still sleeps in their tresses,

His glory still gleams in their eyes;

These truants from home and from Heaven,

They have made me more gentle and mild;

And I know now how Jesus could liken

The kingdom of God to a child."

-Charles M. Dickinson

4 comments:

shannon said...: congratulations! your new baby girl is so beautiful! i loved reading about each of your children. your love for them really shows in your writing and it's infectious - it make me love them though i barely know them, and makes me love my own children more. thank you! you're awesome!; June 29, 2010 at 8:05 PM
Kate said...: Congratulations on an amazing family. :); June 30, 2010 at 2:22 PM
Elder & Sister Lamoreaux said...: Thanks for sharing all that wonderful info about eachof your beautiful and handsome children. They are all terrific we can tell by the pictures. Thanks.
Mom & Dad; July 2, 2010 at 10:42 AM
tracy said...: Oh Tasha! She is so beautiful! It was a treat to hold her and feel her spirit. I adore your family and am in awe of your children's goodness and helpfulness.

Love you!; July 8, 2010 at 8:31 AM

Fill the spiritual needs

“some parents become so expert at filling every physical desire for their children that they begin to suppose that all is well in this life and that their eternal stewardship is progressing right on schedule. … I believe that we must pause and take a careful inventory to determine how well our families are doing spiritually. We could ask how well are we feeding, nurturing, training, and exercising the spirits of our children; or how well have we taught, trained, loved, and inspired our children to build their spiritual muscles and strength? … Remember, eternity is now, not a vague, distant future. We prepare each day, right now, for eternal life. If we are not preparing for eternal life, we are preparing for something else, perhaps something far less.”

–M. Russell Ballard

Pray with your little ones

"Behold your little ones. Pray with them. Pray for them and bless them. The world into which they are moving is a complex and difficult world. They will run into heavy seas of adversity. They will need all the strength and all the faith you can give them while they are yet near you. And they also will need a greater strength which comes of a higher power. They must do more than go along with what they find.

They must lift the world, and the only levers they will have are the example of their own lives and the powers of persuasion that will come of their testimonies and their knowledge of the things of God. They will need the help of the Lord. While they are young, pray with them that they may come to know that source of strength which shall then always be available in every hour of need."

-Gordon B. Hinckley

Be Wise In Our Diet

“…let us consider our relationship with ourselves. We must each take proper care to see that the little things regarding our personal life are in order. We must learn to care for our health and our mental well-being. Do we maintain proper exercise to give us the energy and alertness of mind necessary to keep our spirit strong & our attitude positive? Are we wise in our diet? Do we avoid the unnourishing snack that might keep our stomach full but our health quite empty?

–Joseph B. Wirthlin, Finding Peace in Our Lives, p. 59

Turn it off, walk out...

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland:

“Tragically, the same computer and Internet service that allows me to do my family history and prepare those names for temple work could, without filters and controls, allow my children or grandchildren access to a global cesspool of perceptions that could blast a crater in their brains forever. . .

“Along with filters on computers and a lock on affections, remember that the only real control in life is self-control. Exercise more control over even the marginal moments that confront you. If a TV show is indecent, turn it off. If a movie is crude, walk out. If an improper relationship is developing, sever it. Many of these influences, at least initially, may not technically be evil, but they can blunt our judgment, dull our spirituality, and lead to something that could be evil. An old proverb says that a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, so watch your step.” (Place No More For the Enemy of My Soul, April 2010)

Only a teacher

"If any parent needs added inspiration to commence his God-given teaching task, let him remember that the most powerful combination of emotions in the world is not called out by any grand cosmic events nor found in novels or history books—but merely by a parent gazing down upon a sleeping child. That glorious biblical passage, 'created in the image of God,' will acquire new and vibrant meaning as a parent repeats this experience. Home will become a haven called heaven, and loving parents will teach their children 'to pray, and to walk uprightly before the Lord.' (D&C 68:28.)"
--Thomas S. Monson

Quote

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. …”
--C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Raise up patriots

The importance of teaching & training

"In 1904, President Joseph F. Smith said to parents: “Do not let your children out to specialists … , but teach them by your own precept and example, by your own fireside. Be a specialist yourself in the truth.

… Not one child in a hundred would go astray, if the home environment, example and training, were in harmony with the truth in the gospel of Christ, as revealed and taught to the Latter-day Saints.”

The ideal way to transform your home into a house of learning is to hold family home evening faithfully. The Church has reserved Monday evening for that purpose. In 1915, the First Presidency instructed local leaders and parents to inaugurate a home evening, a time when parents should teach their families the principles of the gospel.

The Presidency wrote: “If the Saints obey this counsel, we promise that great blessings will result. Love at home and obedience to parents will increase. Faith will be developed in the hearts of the youth of Israel, and they will gain power to combat the evil influence and temptations which beset them.”

President David O. McKay gave the same promise in 1965 and added that the youth will gain power “to choose righteousness and peace, and be assured an eternal place in the family circle of our Father.”

In 1976, the Presidency reaffirmed that “regular participation in family home evening will develop increased personal worth, family unity, love for our fellowmen, and trust in our Father in heaven.

Considering these glorious promises, we would expect every faithful member to be exceedingly diligent in following this prophetic counsel. But, of course, we are all human, and our best plans don’t always materialize. Why not? Let it not be for lack of commitment."

--Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, Spiritually Strong Homes and Families

Our Health Duty

“I am grateful to understand that my physical body is an eternal component of my eternal soul, and that I have a duty to honor and respect and care for it, and to refrain from knowingly imposing upon it any treatment or substances deleterious to it. While I could not choose nor govern the condition of the body into which I came, I have the responsibility to give it the best care I can, and if I do not I am acting in derogation of a great gift of God.”
--Marion D. Hanks, “For Man is Spirit”

Come to the Temple

"The season of the world before us will be like no other in the history of mankind. Just as this is the dispensation of the fullness of times, so it is also the dispensation of the fullness of evil. There is no safety in the world: wealth cannot provide it, enforcement agencies cannot assure it, membership in this church alone cannot bring it. We must come to the temple for light and safety. There are hosts of unseen sentinels watching over and guarding our temples. There will come a period of time when even the elect will lose hope if they do not come to the temples. They will long to bring their children here for safety's sake. The covenants and ordinances will fill us with faith as a living fire. In a day of desolating sickness, scorched earth, barren wastes, sickening plagues, disease, destruction, and death: we as a people will rest in the shade of trees, we will drink from the cooling fountain. We will abide in places of refuge from the storm, we will mount up as on eagle's wings."
--Vaughn J. Featherstone