A Fresh Start

As many of you know, I previously ran a blog a few years ago, mostly about Rachel. About the time I started getting sick during my pregnancy with Alden things just petered out and I never felt like I could get back into it. I've been wanting to blog again, but it just feels like so long since I've posted. I don't want to feel the need to catch up, because I definitely never could. So I decided to just start fresh.

I titled the blog "Not One Empty Chair" because that's how I feel about my children and my family. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I believe that our time here in this life, while vitally important, is not the end of existence. I believe that we'll exist as a family with generations before and after. I want to sit down at our family table after this life, and I want all of my children there with me. I don't want any empty chairs because I didn't teach them to choose the right. I also believe that if my children and family members want to be there, they will be. We all have that choice.

So welcome to our new blog. I'm now sleeping regularly, so I feel a lot more energized and have as of late been feeling a real need to write things about the children down. If there is one thing I've learned about motherhood, it's that in the moment I think that I'll remember things forever...and then just a short while later I don't. No matter how hard I try, I can't replay that moment in my mind again. Some of that is probably attributable to constant sleep deprivation for 3 or so years, but I think I could remember more if I wrote things down immediately. And it's not too late. My babies are young...Miss Rach is only 2, and Alden boy is barely 1. As guilty as I feel for not recording every funny thing they've said or every tender moment, it's not all lost to me. I've still got time to record them! So that's why I'm starting over, and starting now.

I'm stealing this from my cousin's blog, but I think it's exactly the reason I want to record all of these memories:

"What could you do better for your children and your children’s children than to record the story of your life, your triumphs over adversity, your recovery after a fall, your progress when all seemed black, your rejoicing when you had finally achieved? Begin today and write your deepest thoughts, your achievements and your failures, your associations and your triumphs, your impressions and your testimonies and the angels may quote from it for eternity."
Spencer W. Kimball