Checking the mail

While I was super sick, my cousin Katie sent me a cute little mailbox.  I don't remember entering, let alone winning, a giveaway on her blog, but apparently I did, and this was my prize.

This darling mailbox contains one quote for each day until Baby 5 is due.  Katie thought the notes would bring a little sunshine into my life as we count down the days.  Katie is expecting her first child in August, also a girl, and her idea was terrific!

I don't always remember to pull a quote from the box, but when I do, the words always make me smile.  I have been amassing a little collection of my favorites over the weeks.  Today I thought they deserved a post.

"The roses, the lovely notes, the dining and dancing are all welcome and splendid.  But when the Godiva is gone, the gift of real love is having someone who'll go the distance with you.  Someone who, when the wedding day limo breaks down, is willing to share a seat on the bus."  {Oprah Winfrey}

"Always remember that if this were not the Lord's work, the adversary would not pay any attention to us."  {Spencer W. Kimball}

"A house does not have to be perfect to be a home of joy, a child does not have to behave perfectly to love and be loved, and every moment of life does not have to be perfect to be of value.  Too often, I realize, we fail to see the glorious reality of the simple joy that abounds in the seemingly mundane routine of day-to-day living.  Instead, we tend to idolize the past, idealize the future, and devalue the present....What better way to show our appreciation to Heavenly Father for what we have than to embrace our lives?"  {Winnie Dalley}

"The last days are not for the faint of heart or the spiritually out of shape."  {Sheri Dew}

"Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt."  {William Shakespeare}

"When in a situation of stress we wonder if there is any more in us to give.  We can be comforted to know that God, who knows our capacity perfectly, placed us here to succeed.  No one was foreordained to fail.  Let us remember that we were measured before and were found equal to our tasks; therefore, let us continue, but with a more determined discipleship.  When we feel overwhelmed, let us recall the assurance that God will not over-program us; he will not press upon us more than we can bear."  {Neal A. Maxwell}

"Any idiot can face a crisis.  It is day-to-day living that wears you out!"  {Anton Chekov}

"No one ever died from sleeping in an unmade bed.  I have known mothers who remake the bed after their children do it because there's a wrinkle in the spread or the blanket is on crooked.  This is sick."  {Unknown...but brilliant}

"We are all in this together.  We need each other.  Oh, how we need each other.  Those of us who are old need you who are young, and hopefully, you who are young need some of us who are old...We need deep and satisfying and loyal friendships with each other.  These friendships are a necessary source of sustenance."  {Marjorie Pay Hinckley}

"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 all works out in the end.  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}

"Work will win when wishy washy wishing won't." {Thomas S. Monson}

"Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands."  {D&C 121:9}

"It's never too late to be who you might have been."  {George Eliot}

"The trick is to enjoy life.  Don't wish away your days, waiting for better ones ahead."  {Marjorie Pay Hinckley}

These quotes have been a real pick-me-up lately.  Increased nausea has returned, along with a few other unwelcome aches and pains that usually don't show up until the final weeks of pregnancy.  I have struggled to stay positive, especially as I look at the 20 weeks ahead.  But with happy notes in my desktop mailbox, I just might make it!