"Everything Has Changed" Snack Break!

Right now we're in the process of moving to my parents' basement. Before we had our newborn baby, we calculated that we saved enough to keep us in school housing for a year until Mister would go to graduate school. Six months later we realized that money was quickly depleting. We tried to find ways to not go into debt for an apartment. Should we cut down on visits to the family, not eat more that $100 of groceries every month, live in a cardboard box on the streets? Nope! (Obviously, all those are not very plausible.) Our answer was to move to my parents' house and find Mister a better job. (We're still working on the latter.)

Moving anywhere while having a newborn is tricky, although I'm sure not quite as tricky as having a newborn AND more kiddos. Our goal was to move in this Saturday, but with Mister having three tests this week and almost none of the parentals or siblings being able to help, it's been pushed into a much longer moving process. (Can you imagine what we've collected over the years?)

Anyway, so it's practically just me moving everything... with a newborn who likes to play and cry and eat about 80% of the day.

Yesterday I was at the end of my fuse. Squirmy had been restless all day and has even been sporting a toe infection to boot. As I was trying to feed Squirmy last night, she just kept reeling herself away from me. I was finished with trying in about 2 minutes. I plopped her on her bouncer in front of my mom and sister, and then curled on the armchair with my hands over my face.

My mom took Squirmy and rocked her to sleep in about five minutes. Then she told me to go pick up my husband from school.

During that trip I prayed and cried and prayed again. I wanted to feel more love for my daughter. I wanted to know how to be less stressed out about the moving situation. I wanted to know if Heavenly Father thought I was a bad mom. I also wondered if he could put my favorite song on the radio.

Three things happened quickly.

The first was that I began to understand more about Heavenly Father's own children. How easy is it for us to be frustrated with someone or something we don't understand? Super easy! And then once we finally understand it, we are less prone to anger or frustration. This is like what happened with Squirmy and me. Squirmy didn't want food. She wanted to sleep. If understood that, would I have given up taking care of her, even for a few minutes? Instead, I would have easily swaddled her up and rocked her to sleep.

So how often do you or I get frustrated with a person driving in front of us because we don't understand what they're going through? Sometimes I like to think of a list of possibilities of why the driver in front of me is acting like he/she is.

• Having a baby (BIG ONE, though not very likely)
• Just got in an accident
• Driving home a newborn baby from the hospital
• Has a migraine
• Is trying to put a pacifier in their crying/screaming baby's mouth
• Just got engaged
• Is learning to drive

The list is mainly only things that I can relate to because that's what I understand.

Next time you're frustrated or angry with someone, just try to realize that maybe if you think you understand the situation, you don't. You're not in their head and you haven't experienced everything they've gone through.

The second thing that happened was that Taylor Swift's "Everything Has Changed" came on the radio.

Number three. Mister saw me crying in the front seat, gave me a big, long hug, and stayed up all night with Squirmy.

Oh, how I love God, the Atonement, my husband, Squirmy, and my family.

Mrs. Unbe