{m stands for}: May 2012

Squares and Prayers for Max

Our little friend Max Kelly had open heart surgery last week. He's not even 3 1/2 years old, and this is his third surgery! We think he's pretty awesome, and his family are some of our dearest friends we met while living in Oregon. They mean a lot to our family, so Max's surgery has been a big concern for us. Eliot has been asking a lot of questions about Max and his surgery, and we've done our best to answer in a way that a 4-year-old can understand. Eliot's pretty sharp and has picked up on things and has been very concerned for Max. As a result, he has been praying for Max daily, that he would be brave for his operation and that the doctors will "fix his broken heart and put him back together again."

We were honored to be asked to do some special things for Max. We got to make a quilt square for a special quick Max's mommy Mary made for him for his hospital stay. If you know me, you know that sewing is a daunting undertaking for me, and I am definitely not a quilter, so I fretted over this project! But one night I thought of this idea -- to make a "Corduroy" quilt square. Max's favorite color is green, and Corduroy is one of our favorite children's books at our house. The phrase from the book when the little girl tells Corduroy that she likes him just he way he is, but that she would be more comfortable (when she fixed his strap) seemed like the perfect idea for our quilt square for Max. It was a pretty rough job, since I sewed it by hand, but it was so much fun putting it together. We love Max and are so happy to be able to support him and his family in little ways during this major event in their lives.

Just like when Max had his open-heart surgery as a newborn, Max's parents called upon friends and family to send paper hearts to decorate Max's hospital room. Here are the Dickinson family contributions:

A Spiderman heart from Eliot telling Max that he's Eliot's "super hero," a Cars heart wishing Max a "speedy" recovery from our family/me & Grant, and a heart with Zachy's hands telling Max his loves him "this much!" We're excited to see pictures of Max's decked out hospital room to see if we can spot our hearts in the hundreds that will no doubt be there.

In Training

I'm just three weeks away from my half marathon. This one is the Utah Valley Half, which starts around the turnoff to Sundance up Provo Canyon and ends near Center Street and University Avenue in downtown Provo. I'm feeling pretty good about my training so far. No injuries, keeping up fairly well with my schedule thanks to Eliot's preschool and Zach's nap schedules. I'm not as quick as I was training for my last half, but considering I had a baby less than a year ago, that's probably to be expected! I chose a training schedule that would have me runner longer distance runs than I did last time (last time the longest run I had before my race was a 9-miler, and I did not feel prepared enough). I've already run my 10-miler, and 11 miles is on the docket for this weekend. I have had to do a lot of my training for this race on my treadmill, which is convenient, but not my favorite. I prefer running outdoors, especially for long runs. But I'm mostly just grateful to be running again. It feels good to be pushing myself. I never would have believed running would end up being one of my passions (I used to HATE the required runs in junior high!), but I think there is nothing better than how I feel when I'm cooling down from a good, hard run.

My only comments on the photos: Loving my Brooks running shoes -- they're so light! And yes, I seriously use a paper schedule (I do love putting a checkmark next to a completed task!), mostly just because I have yet to find an app I really like. I tried the half marathon one on Run Coach Pro and didn't really care for it. I've liked Strava, which tracks distance/time, but what I'm really hoping for is an app that streamlines customized schedules, tracking distance and time, music playing/streaming Pandora, and a running log all into one. Please send me suggestions if you know of a good one!

The biggest difficulty so far with training for this race has been fatigue. With our move coming up and lots of stuff weighing on my mind, I have been suffering from pretty bad insomnia. It's not unusual for me to toss and turn until 2 or 3 a.m. and then have to drag myself out of bed a few hours later. Not the best conditions for pushing your body to its limit with intense training! Somehow, my running is actually invigorating me, but the closer I get to my race, the more I'm noticing how worn out my body feels. Here's hoping I can hang in there over this next month and get this race and our move out of the way so I can finally rest!

Mother's Day 2012

I loved celebrating Mother's Day this year with my two little boys together. They are rascally, crazy kids, but I love being their mom!

Oh, they melt my heart!

Eliot is in the funniest, goofy stage right now.

This is the essence of Zach. Getting that child dressed/diapered makes me completely insane. I love these little outfits, but it is torture for us as parents (it seriously takes both Grant and me) and for Zach to get it on and off. I love this child, but I greatly fear what the future holds for us two hard heads!

Eliot insisted on getting a head shot of me, and I gladly accepted. He always makes me look good ... maybe because he can always draw out my best smile!

And of course we needed one of him in a silly pose. Love this kiddo.

...

Eliot's preschool teacher did an awesome Mother's Day program for all the moms. Grant's mom kindly took time off work to attend with me. It was such a cute program!

My cheeser before the program started.

"I love you a bushel and a peck. A bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck."

Eliot's first time dancing with a girl! His partner Ashley has been the topic of many of our lunchtime talks ... and now I understand why! It was so darling to see him spinning her and dancing with her!

It was a wonderful few days of celebrating being a mom. This is what I've always wanted to do with my life. It's harder than I ever imagined and better than I could have dreamed. My boys took great care of me, and I appreciated the Belgian waffle breakfast, the flowers, cards, handmade gifts, bike tuneup and new running watch ... thanks to all my sweethearts. I couldn't love you more!

For All You Moms ...

This commercial made me cry the other night while I was watching TV. It just sums it up so well, especially for the phase of life I'm in right now with Mr. Zachary. Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there (present and future). You're doin' okay.

Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival, 2012

In summary: beautiful sunny day . not quite like Oregon's (not bad, just different) . wrestling boys in the grass . 4-year-old happiest playing in the stream and sandbox @ the children's garden . blueberry Italian ice was awesome . yep, Zach still hates strollers and being strapped in (ended up pushing our stuff in the stroller and carrying Zach ... isn't that how it always seems to go?) . got us excited to live in Lehi . will definitely come back next year . perfect photo for Mother's Day cards (first ones turned out best, went downhill from there ...) . wonderful spring day with my boys!

Poor Little Zachers ...

Our little Ree had to be hospitalized last week for Bronchiolitis (an illness from a nasty virus like RSV, though Zach didn't have the RSV virus). What started out as a mild cold caught from big brother turned nasty in a matter of hours, and his wheezing and whistling took us to the pediatrician's office Tuesday afternoon. When we couldn't bring up his oxygen levels through treatments in her office, it was determined he would have to go to the hospital, and since he had to be on oxygen, we had to be transported by ambulence. Zach was in pretty bad shape through the early morning hours, fighting for each breath and struggling to get comfortable enough for some much-needed rest. But somehow he made a miraculous turn-around and improved enough that the doctors sent us home around noon the next day. I fully attribute Zach's quick recovery to the priesthood blessing he received from Grant and his grandpa Dickinson just before being whisked away in the ambulence. I'm so grateful to have immediate access to that healing power in moments of need like this!

The EMT getting Zach all hooked up in the ambulence. The two firefighters who assisted us were so wonderful and sweet with Zach. I didn't know this, and you can't necessarily tell from the picture, but when a baby rides in the ambulence, he rides in his car seat strapped to a gurney.

Z with his oxygen tube "stickers," which, I have to say, did not hold that tube on well enough! This determined babe ripped it off with ease. The oxygen tube was the most uncomfortable and frustrating part of our stay.

Sweet baby, looking and feeling so much better the next morning.

Our little miniature hospital patient behind bars. I think hospital cribs ("cages" is more like it!) are the saddest invention ever! But the little jammy bottoms they put him in were so sweet!

I finally let him out of his pen to crawl around. And when I did, he went straight to the door and banged on the glass, as if to say "get me outta here!" Because he had a serious virus, we were in confinement, which meant Zach couldn't leave, and all the doctors and nurses who came to check on him wore masks and paper coverings.

What a difference a day makes! This is Zach about 15 hours after he was admitted. A little rest, suctioning, oxygen, bottles, and a bath made such a difference!

Our sweet Ree handled his hospital stay like a champ. We love him and are so glad he's recovering!

{Mantras}

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.

-- Aristotle

What would you attempt to do if you knew you would not fail?

-- Robert H. Schuller

Real life isn't always going to be perfect or go our way, but the recurring acknowledgement of what is working in our lives can help us not only to survive but surmount our difficulties.

-- Sarah Ban Breathnach

One of the most important gifts we can give our children is the simple knowledge and security that their parents love each other.

-- Merrill C. Oaks

Though no one can go back in time and make a new beginning, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.

-- Carl Bard

That which we persist in doing becomes easier, not that the task itself has become easier, but that our ability to perform it has improved.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happiness does not depend on what happens outside of you but on what happens inside of you; it is measured by the spirit with which you meet the problems of life.

-- Harold B. Lee

Of this you may be certain: The Lord especially loves righteous women -- women who are not only faithful but filled with faith, women who are optimistic and cheerful because they know who they are and where they are going, women who are striving to live and serve as women of God.

-- M. Russell Ballard

You are doing God's work. You are doing it wonderfully well. He is blessing you, and He will bless you, even -- no, especially -- when your days and nights may be most challenging. Like the woman who anonymously, meekly, perhaps even with hesitation and some embarrassment, fought her way through the crowd just to touch the hem of the Master's garment, so Christ will say to the women who worry and wonder and weep over their responsibility as mothers, "Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole." And it will make your children whole as well.

-- Jeffrey R. Holland

The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest.

-- Thomas Moore

There are seasons in life. Don't ever let anyone deny you the blessings and joy of one season because they believe you should be in -- or stay in -- another season.

--Jane Clayson Johnson

We can do no great things, only small things with great love.

--Mother Teresa

A mother relating to her child in the private intimacy of her home, with no audience but unseen angels, is the predominant influence for all that is good and decent in the world.

-- George D. Durrant

Faith in God means faith in His timing.

-- Neal A. Maxwell

We know about our Savior, but it is often in our adversities that we truly find Him and know Him and love Him. ... Some of our heaviest burdens, disappointments, and heartaches can in time be replaced with "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding" (Philippians 4:7) while we "wait upon the Lord" (Isaiah 40:31).

-- Ardeth G. Kapp

I have come to realize that not every unhappy experience in life need remain unhappy, but is, in all likelihood, the training ground for a better and happier day.

-- D. Arthur Haycock ("Papa")

If our lives and our faith are centered on Jesus Christ and his restored gospel, nothing can ever go permanently wrong. On the other hand, if our lives are not centered on the Savior and his teachings, no other success can ever be permanently right.

-- Howard W. Hunter

The doctrine of the Atonement is a doctrine of healing. The Savior heals us from the effects of sin, when we repent. He heals our weaknesses and mistakes. He heals broken promises, broken lives, broken hearts. When we demonstrate the faith to seek after Him, and try our best to follow Him, He will heal us.

-- Sheri Dew

Healing takes courage, and we all have courage, even if we have to dig a little to find it.
-- Tori Amos

I love being a mother. Aside from the love I have for my husband, I love mothering more than anything else in the world. ... I treasure every moment. ... Being an always present, always loving mother is the most demanding, fatiguing, and draining obligation that was ever placed upon my shoulders. Mothering, I believe, requires engaging every muscle, every nerve, every fiber of our being, and through it all we pray.
--Patricia T. Holland

The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity.
-- Margaret D. Nadauld

I have wept in the night
For the shortness of sight
That to somebody's need made me blind;But I never have yet
Felt a tinge of regret
For being a little too kind.
-- Author Unknown

It is a good and safe rule to sojourn in every place as if you meant to spend your life there, never omitting an opportunity of doing a kindness or speaking a true word or making a friend.
-- Author Unknown

The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. . . . I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less.
--Anna Quindlen

When God makes a promise,
It remains forever true,
For everything God promises
He unalterably will do.
When you’re disillusioned
And every hope is blighted
Recall the promises of God
And your faith will be relighted.
-- Helen Steiner Rice

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.
-- John Lennon

It isn’t as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. Don’t worry. I say that to myself every morning.
It will all work out. Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future. The Lord will not forsake us. He will not forsake us. If we will put our trust in Him, if we will pray to Him, if we will live worthy of His blessings, He will hear our prayers.
-- Gordon B. Hinckley

Life is fuller and richer and better for those who are not afraid to make a new beginning.
-- James E. Faust

The evidence of God's presence far outweighs the proof of His absence.
--Author unknown

Once there has been illumination, beware the temptation to retreat from a good thing. If it was right when you prayed about it and trusted it and lived for it, it is right now. Don’t give up when the pressure mounts. Certainly don’t give in to that being who is bent on the destruction of your happiness. Face your doubts. Master your fears. 'Cast not away therefore your confidence.' Stay the course and see the beauty of life unfold for you.
-- Jeffrey R. Holland

Jesus is my friend. None other has given me so much. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. He gave His life for me. I hope that I am deemed worthy of being a friend to Him.

He is my exemplar. His way of life, His absolutely selfless conduct, His outreach to those in need, His final sacrifice all stand as an example to me. I cannot measure up entirely, but I can try.
-- Gordon B. Hinckley

The Lord’s love is often delivered through others as they respond to the promptings of the Spirit. Are we hearing and following those promptings? I fear sometimes we see the Lord’s love only in the big events of our lives; we must also see His love in the smallest of things. Don’t underestimate your ability to share His love through a simple, genuine gesture.
-- Bonnie D. Parkin

I'm Currently Reading ...

My Simple Joys

Hugging Grant and having him rest his chin on my head
Eliot's slobbery kisses (which he now gives me voluntarily, and which he gives to the picture of Jesus on one of his books -- melts my heart!)
The smell of newborn babies
Sitting at the kitchen counter at my parents' house and talking with my mom
The McEuen girls' "sister hug"
Playing "Steal the Bacon" with my nieces and nephews
The smell of the pine trees in Flagstaff, Arizona, and hearing them sway and creak in the wind
How good it feels to stretch after a solid run
Remembering Grandpa's laugh
Climbing into a bed with fresh, clean sheets
The smell of home-baked bread
Watching "It's a Wonderful Life" at Christmas time with Grant
Eating a just-out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookie
Taking Eliot to get his picture taken
Wave running and barbecues at my in-laws' during the summer
The look on Grant's face at Disneyland
Listening to Don Williams while floating down Lake Powell on the houseboat . . . miss those days!
Buying Christmas presents for Eliot
The sound of laughing with my mom and sisters
Any homemade dinner by my mom -- even if I use the exact same recipe, it never tastes as good as Mom's
Decorating for Christmas while listening to Christmas music
My mother-in-law's pie crust (and the pie that goes in it, obviously!)
Watching Eliot sleep
A freshly cleaned bathroom
Sunlight trickling through Oregon pine trees (it doesn't happen too often, but when it does, it's beautiful!)
My nephew Nate's power hugs
Seeing Eliot with his Nanny and Ampy and Grandma and Grandpa
Grant's huge, contagious smile
Fresh-squeezed orange juice and/or Hna. Dupont's fresh-squeezed guava juice
Getting a hand-written card or letter in the mail, especially from my mom (who has the most perfect handwriting I've ever seen!)
The smell of rain (and I'm in the perfect place for that, now aren't I?!)
Hearing Eliot laugh
The memory of holding Eliot for the first time -- one of the sweetest and most sacred moments of my life

Why This Blog

The title and concept of this blog came from an idea that grew and then seemed to gel when I found the quote from President Gordon B. Hinckley's book, "Standing for Something." Since a blog is a way of representing through words and visuals who someone is, and thereby what they stand for, I thought I'd let this blog be about what "M" stands for (Monica, Mom, Marriage, McEuen, Mormon, and many, many other things).

For so long I've hesitated to get this blog going, wondering if the whole premise was too "preachy" and wondering if that might turn people off. It was at the passing of President Gordon B. Hinckley, the prophet of the church I belong to (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) when I realized how much more I truly DO want to stand for something, just as he always did. I want to be associated with and stand for good things -- marriage, motherhood, family, love, honesty, creativity, joy, etc. -- and I'd love it all the more if I could stand for those things in the way that President Hinckley did: without apology, but humbly, sincerely, and always with a gentle sense of humor. So in honor of his life and in an effort to follow along that same path of goodness, here I go, attempting to stand for something in whatever small ways I can.

{m stands for}

Squares and Prayers for Max

In Training

Mother's Day 2012

For All You Moms ...

Poor Little Zachers ...

{monica}

{mine}

{married}

{mother}

{mceuen}

{member}

{missionary}

{Mantras}

I'm Currently Reading ...

Monica's bookshelf: currently-reading

My To-Read List

Monica's bookshelf: to-read

Just Finished ...

Monica's books

My Simple Joys

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