A house of order

I've recently started watching a little neighbour boy for about an hour and half every Thursday morning while both his parents are in class. Every time I go to their house, I'm struck by the feeling in their house. Just how easy it is to feel the spirit. And it's made me wonder why isn't it that easy at my house? What's the difference? And while I'm sure there are several things, the one thing that has recently struck me is just how orderly their house is. And how orderly their house always seems to be. J likes to sometimes stop by unannounced to play, and no matter when it is, their house is always very orderly. It's gotten me started thinking, and wondering if that is the difference between our houses.

Heavenly Father has told us that He dwells in a house of order (see Doctrine and Covenants 132:8). This tells me that If we want a place where the spirit of God can dwell, then we should probably have a house of order too. That's something that I have always struggled with. Especially now that I have a kid who likes to explore and pull everything out of drawers all the time. So, is there a way to fix this? Probably.  Do I currently know what that way is? No, I really don't.

We have been given hints about how to make our house more orderly. One talk in particular has come to mind as I've been pondering this idea of a house of order=house easy to feel spirit in.
It has several ideas of how to make the house more like a temple. One of my favorite things in this talk is taking a virtual tour of the home. It is something I need to do, and I think do frequently.

I feel like something else needs to be said on this, but I'm honestly not sure what else there is to say. So, I suppose I'll just awkwardly end this, and hope to do better, and to learn to be more organized. 

my life, now with a toddler

I know it has been WAY too long since I've updated anything about my life (what, only... 10 months?) and the last one wasn't really anything about life, it was a really cool Christmas card that I made myself using Java (I was so proud of that card!) J is no longer a little baby, Drew is in school, I've finally come to terms with my now somewhat hectic life that involves a lot of running after a very willful toddler. And as we've been struggling with J not picking up words and a general lack of communication (though J is finally better understanding and (sometimes) listening to what I say), I've been thinking a lot about this article.  I'm pretty sure that toddlers still learning words (or not learning words as it may be) is a really hard time for me.

Life right now looks a lot like this...

How the living room looks fairly frequently

 And this....

What? I wasn't doing anything, honest!

 And this...

But I wanted to eat ALL the food while you were making cookies mom!

 And this....

This was the face made while excitedly wiggling looking at pumpkins

It's a learning experience for both of us, I know. And, at times, yes. I love being able to stay home all day with my little guy, and experience the world through his eyes. Other times, I just want to run away and never have to deal with it ever again.

I'm sure this isn't a new thing. I'm sure that all parents feel this way.

But, life will go on, and I'm so thankful that someone else voiced my idea of "why am I not loving every single moment? Isn't that what's supposed to happen?"  I'm so glad I can feel....justified perhaps? in my lack of over enthusiasm. Do I still love this little guy? Yes. Do I still enjoy the overall time with him, even if the moment to moment can be a trial? Yes. And I think that's what matters most.