LIVINGSTONS’ SEASONAL SAMPLER

January 2002

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR! We finally have our family website up—always a personal family victory. Since it’s our family history, it’s long and drawn out, and probably way too cheesy, but we hope you enjoy it. Read away.

Can we believe that Sarah is 7 1/2 already? Not even! We’re starting to sound like every other parent who is amazed at how swiftly time passes and how quickly children grow up. What we notice about Sarah is that she is very nurturing and caring about how people feel. If someone gets sick, she attends to them and brings them what they need, like another blanket or a wet washcloth for their forehead. She’s reading so well, and I appreciate how much she reads to her younger siblings. Her helpfulness to me had lightened my load with the growth of our family: she has made breakfast for everyone, gotten the “Sunday bag” ready, done her Saturday jobs without being reminded fourteen times, and even recently made muffins for our dinner without any help! I’m afraid that sometimes we may expect too much from her.

            She reminds us that she’s still a child when she runs around the house like a “hon-yock,” (a “Lane word”), laughing and screaming with the other children chasing after her. She’s definitely the fun leader of our tribe, and she inherited my love for starting projects (and as my mother reminded me, of the messes that accompany them). She loves school but begs me to homeschool her because she really loves being home with everyone else. We love having mother-daughter alone time together when the pressure of me being commandant to 5 noisy children is gone, because then we just talk about stuff and are more like friends.

She really teaches me and Lane with her spiritual insights and strong faith. The other day Lane had forgotten to plug in his diesel truck, which meant that when he went to start it, since it had gotten down to 8 degrees the night before, it wouldn’t start. He tried again and again to start the car, but realized it was probably futile. Sarah asked him why he didn’t just say a prayer. He was caught. He realized it wouldn’t hurt, especially with her faith. So he did, and the truck started up immediately.

Nathan turns 6 in one week. Wow! He has changed so much in the last year in many academic and responsibility-related ways, but his best, most endearing qualities have only seemed to deepen. He is learning to read really well. I look forward to our after-lunch time, when he’s back home from kindergarten and it’s our special reading time together. He reads some to me, and then I read for a bit to him. He loves me to read from The Swiss Family Robinson, The Jungle Book, The Dragons of Blueland, and Gulliver’s Travels, as well as the Book of Mormon. The latter has surprised me! He has been asking me to read it to him lately, which of course I am willing to do, and has taught me how children can enjoy spiritual things that we sometimes may say they won’t enjoy until they are older.

Nathan and Legos are nearly a synonym this year. His present from Santa was a Lego robot that he and Lane assembled together, which is truly cool. It is a bit of a difficult toy, however, when younger siblings can dash hours of work with a moment’s accident. (Oops.) But the creativity is not hindered and he is onto another building project. How many moms like me are so glad someone invented Legos?

Nathan has a great friend, Sean, who moved in this year next door, and together they love to explore and play and go to school together. Because of Sean, Nathan decided he was going to learn how to ride a two-wheeler (without training wheels). One day he just came in and told me he had learned how to ride his bike. I went outside, and “lo and behold” he had! He had taught himself to ride it!  He has also overcome his fear of dogs, which has been a miracle, because we had a puppy this year. Unfortunately, she was killed just before Christmas. But now he is not afraid to go outside to play because of the dogs in the neighborhood. We are sooo grateful for how Rachel (our dog) helped Nathan.

Although Nathan wanted our baby to be a boy, he got over his disappointment very quickly and has been such a dear brother to Eliza. He and Sarah are best friends, and Julia and Rebecca are always so happy to play with him when he gets home from school. Lane and I are thankful for such a good boy who watches out for his sisters. His frequent, contagious laughter and gentle, forgiving heart are precious contributions to our family.

            Julia just turned 4 and continues to amaze us. She is like a happy whirlwind. She has more zeal for life and finds so much enjoyment in her activities that we just stand back and watch, dumbfounded. She has a huge heart: she just adores her brother and sisters, and especially her baby sister Eliza. She would hold Eliza almost ALL day long if she were allowed. (Whew.) She has energy from morning until night, and she spends it giving birth to baby dolls; nursing them; bathing them; dressing them up and changing them; dressing herself up several times—in her own clothes, in Sarah’s Sunday clothes, in her pajamas, in the dress ups; she dances and “gymnasticizes” and sings at the top of her lungs; she laughs and sobs in the same breath; she makes a meal out of play dough and “discovers” the make-up in my closet if I forgot to lock my door; she could watch PBS for hours on end or play Reader Rabbit games on the computer all day. She has the energy of Eloise, the curiosity of Curious George, and the bubbliness of Shirley Temple. If makes me want to lay down and take a nap.

            She has at once such a tender heart and a strong will, which is such a challenge for me since I am constantly getting after her for getting in trouble. One day I was praying out loud over lunch AND for the patience to know how to deal with her. She was sitting on the couch on a time-out and took the opportunity (while my eyes were closed saying the prayer) to run out the front door to the neighbors to play. She was bare-footed and there was snow on the ground. My neighbor picked her up and carried her back. In my mind I wondered if she wouldn’t have wanted to borrow Julia for just a brief while longer.

            And yet, as much as Julia tries our patience, she brings HUGE delight to us. She make us laugh so much! She helps me appreciate life! She is SO cheerful and SO willing to forgive me and constantly keeps me on my toes (“Mom, Heavenly Father doesn’t want us to yell.” “You’re right, Julia. Will you forgive me…again?”). I NEED Julia to help me stretch the borders of my motherhood learning even further, to try to learn tolerance and to learn to criticize less and praise more. She just withers under criticism, but blossoms with praise. I love her for her tolerance of me. Most of all, I hope she remembers all of the times we read books or danced in the kitchen together, and not all of the time-outs on the couch.   

Rebecca, now 2, suddenly became much more of a toddler and not the baby of the family when a new baby entered the picture. She has adjusted so well! She really loves Eliza and has been very “soft hands” around her, most of the time. Of course, she loves sitting in Mom’s lap or being carried up the stairs or being sung, too, even though she is growing up and wants to do everything that her older siblings do.

            We love how she is learning to talk. At this age, the way children pronounce everything is SO wonderful, and the few words they say represent their most important communication. Rebecca’s “high frequency words” include: READ! BREAKFAST! SCOOT! AGAIN! MOVIE! SONG! TREAT! MOM! DAD! We all love to hear her pray. In her prayers she loves to name off every person by name, sometimes several times.

            I think one of my favorite things about Rebecca is that she literally falls into my (or Lane’s) arms with complete trust. If she is at the top of the stairs or on a table or windowsill or wherever, we really have to been paying attention because she will just put out her arms and lean forward. (She would fall if we didn’t know what she was doing.) What trust! Then, when we have caught her, she gives us the best bear hug, and we know we are loved!

Eliza Jane Livingston, our “latest model,” (as Frank Gilbreth, father in the book Cheaper by the Dozen, used to say) has just been a delightful baby. We were afraid she was going to “rock the boat” of our family routine more than we expected, being a little fussier than our other babies. But honestly, if I hold her she is happy, and I have loved holding her. Is there nothing as wonderful as smelling the sweet fragrance of an infant? Or being face-to-face, feeling the softness of their cheeks? Or putting your finger in their palm and having them squeeze their fingers tightly around it? To me, babies are like a perfectly ripe peach in summertime: just delicious!

Eliza arrived October 24, 2001, at 1:24 am. The labor could not have gone better. She arrived quickly, safely, and normally—answering all of our prayers. My sister, Rebecca, my mom, and my doula (natural childbirth labor assistant) got to be at the birth with me and Lane. (I had been able to be my sister Rebecca’s doula exactly 7 months previous, when her first child, Megan, was born, so we got to come full circle and switch roles). Because I had trained to become a doula and attended four other births before Eliza’s, I felt much more prepared for the labor and delivery. I especially felt Heaven’s closeness at this birth, and knowing that we were in God’s hands helped me to have courage and strength.

Eliza has been smiling so much and starting to use her voice. The whole family hangs on each coo. She already has three additional mothers (Sarah, Julia, and Rebecca) who all want to hold her A LOT. I have to keep my eye on her (them) all the time! Nathan has been very lovng to her and is just as happy as his sisters to be able to hold her.

            Lane has begun a great adventure this year (aside from the one of becoming father-of-five and wife to one sometimes crazy woman): FLYING. It has been a dream of his since childhood, and somehow he worked in the time for lessons. I am really proud of him (even though I wasn’t ALWAYS totally supportive). Now that he has his private license, he is yearning for a chance to get back out and fly. But he has shown tremendous kindness lately in helping out at home. I would most certainly be insane at this stage of the game had it not been for the many times he has helped out with the children or dinner or listening to a stressed-out wife talk out her multitudinous concerns. (And I promise you, my list is always long when it comes to worries. Go figure.) He continues to work hard at Fibernet and develop some other business opportunities on the side. He’s trying to juggle it all. I really admire him. I hugely count my blessings that I married him. He is my best and most loyal friend.

            I’ve pretty much told you about my life this last year. Got pregnant. Had another baby. Tried to work through all the mental complexes that go along with it all. Rejoiced over the happy times and worried over a million unnecessary things that all worked themselves out OK. I felt swept off my feet over the September 11^th experience and, at the same token, felt grounded in my knowledge of the Savior and our Heavenly Father’s plan. I knew that God would be there for me and anyone else who needs Him. I have loved reading a few (a FEW) good books and working on a few creative projects. I mostly love my chances to visit family and friends, learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ, share it with others (go to www.mormon.org to find out more), sing, dance in the kitchen, eat food that other people have prepared, assist someone in childbirth, count my blessings, get out in the sunshine and work in the yard (CAN”T WAIT FOR SPRING!), go on dates with my husband, be with my children (especially when they are happy).

Julia just came up crying about a cut in her finger and asking for a popsicle or an ice cream sandwich. Well, that’s my cue. I guess I’ve spent enough time writing (and taken enough of your time reading this epistle). (I’m letting her eat the ice cream sandwich if she eats it in the kitchen and doesn’t tell any of her siblings or her dad, since it’s 5:06 pm.).  The children have watched enough TV while I did this, and I need to figure out some dinner now. We love you! We are so thankful for you! Happy New Year!!!

 

Love, Liz (and Lane, Sarah, Nathan, Julia, Rebecca, and Eliza)

 

P.S. I just asked Julia if I could have a bite of her ice cream sandwich, and she said I could if I only had a “teeny weeny bite.”