Thankfully, my mother and father-in-law were here to help keep things comfortable & constant for us while I parked myself on the couch and spent approximately 95% of my life feeding, changing, and holding babies. I even ate my meals on the couch while feeding the girls. I hated that my mother-in-law had so much work to do preparing our meals, doing the laundry, cleaning up after everyone, and keeping us all happy but I am so extremely grateful that she was here to do it. She did so much and was a lifesaver for me during those first few days home.
On Saturday & Sunday, we got to have Jeff's sister and her family come hang out and see the girls. It is always fun to show off new babies and this was just doubly fun! It was a trick for everyone to try to figure out which baby was who and my older kids liked to tell them all the secret: Kimber has more hair and is bigger than Callie! We love having Lyssa, Sean, & kiddos close and were so happy to have them with us and for their love & support.
All of the kids LOVE their baby sisters and Cade is no exception! He was really cute and kept telling me how glad he was that I was home with the babies.
Lane was pretty happy to have his mom home as well! You may notice that I'm not looking extremely lovely here but I can't tell you how many times in the first few weeks that people (my doctor, the pediatrician, friends, family) would say, "You look so much better than the last time I saw you. You look like you're getting more color." I guess I looked pretty rough for a while:)
Kimber, Callie (getting cozy)
My in-laws left on Monday & Tuesday and Jeff was back to work so I was left to my own devices for a couple of days before more company came. But I was not alone. Members of my ward's Relief Society volunteered to come help me for a couple of hours every day, so I had someone to fold some laundry, load the dishwasher, or hold one of the babies. I definitely would not have thought of having someone do this for me, but was so appreciative of the thoughtfulness of my sisters in the Gospel. I really loved the support and the company. Also, our dear friend Sylvia made some yummy food for us and took the 4 older children to Chuck E. Cheese's for a couple of hours so that Jeff & I could have some 'down' time with each other and the babies. So lovely.
Thursday night brought more company, our friends from AZ Michael & Christina Fox. We first met Michael & Christina in Flagstaff about 6 years ago and our lives have been tied together since then. Michael & Jeff worked together, they lived 4 houses down from us in Queen Creek, and they helped us drive the moving truck out here when we moved 2 years ago. It was so fun to have them here and they were so helpful in holding babies and playing with the older kids. We were sad to see them leave on Monday but anxious to welcome our next visitor - my mom!
My mom had never been here to visit us so it was extra exciting to have her here. I just wished I could have felt better and that she didn't have to work so hard while she was here but again, I was so grateful to have her. My mother got to experience with me some of the hardest days of my life, as nursing became so extremely painful that I couldn't hardly bring myself to do it. There were multiple times that Jeff and my mom would each be holding a screaming, hungry baby while I cried and tried to work up the courage to take them and let them eat. We're all a little closer after those experiences:)
We loved having my mom here for a little over a week and spent lots of time cuddling babies, doing laundry, visiting, and watching Christmas movies on Hallmark. It was bittersweet for me when she left because I was of course, sad to see her go, but excited to try to get myself and my little brood into our own schedule and routine.
I can't complete a post about those first few weeks without expressing gratitude for the many many people who served our family. My mother-in-law and her days of babysitting, for cleaning & doing laundry, for preparing Thanksgiving dinner (and many other meals) for my family, and for being patient with a stubborn, independent, hormonal daughter-in-law. My father-in-law for coming and supporting us, for playing with the kids, for being a buddy to Jeff, and for running errands. For Sean & Lyssa, for being here and helping, for loving us and being so supportive. For Sylvia, for her hours of food prep and taking the kids to Chuck E. Cheese (brave woman!). For Michael & Christina, for coming and being with us, for holding babies, helping us take time to do fun things, for putting together our bouncy seat. For my mom, for coming, for cooking, cleaning, laundry, for playing with the kids, for being my sounding board(remember I was stubborn, independent and hormonal)! For my ward family & other friends, for the many many meals, for the hours of service watching kids and helping me around the house, for the calls & emails, for the thoughts and prayers. For all of our family and friends - your calls, emails, comments on Facebook, prayers, well wishes, gifts, etc. It was such a humbling experience to be on the receiving end of so much service and Jeff & I are so extremely grateful for all those who helped. We were very overwhelmed with the outpouring of love and service that we received.
Thursday night brought more company, our friends from AZ Michael & Christina Fox. We first met Michael & Christina in Flagstaff about 6 years ago and our lives have been tied together since then. Michael & Jeff worked together, they lived 4 houses down from us in Queen Creek, and they helped us drive the moving truck out here when we moved 2 years ago. It was so fun to have them here and they were so helpful in holding babies and playing with the older kids. We were sad to see them leave on Monday but anxious to welcome our next visitor - my mom!
My mom had never been here to visit us so it was extra exciting to have her here. I just wished I could have felt better and that she didn't have to work so hard while she was here but again, I was so grateful to have her. My mother got to experience with me some of the hardest days of my life, as nursing became so extremely painful that I couldn't hardly bring myself to do it. There were multiple times that Jeff and my mom would each be holding a screaming, hungry baby while I cried and tried to work up the courage to take them and let them eat. We're all a little closer after those experiences:)
We loved having my mom here for a little over a week and spent lots of time cuddling babies, doing laundry, visiting, and watching Christmas movies on Hallmark. It was bittersweet for me when she left because I was of course, sad to see her go, but excited to try to get myself and my little brood into our own schedule and routine.
I can't complete a post about those first few weeks without expressing gratitude for the many many people who served our family. My mother-in-law and her days of babysitting, for cleaning & doing laundry, for preparing Thanksgiving dinner (and many other meals) for my family, and for being patient with a stubborn, independent, hormonal daughter-in-law. My father-in-law for coming and supporting us, for playing with the kids, for being a buddy to Jeff, and for running errands. For Sean & Lyssa, for being here and helping, for loving us and being so supportive. For Sylvia, for her hours of food prep and taking the kids to Chuck E. Cheese (brave woman!). For Michael & Christina, for coming and being with us, for holding babies, helping us take time to do fun things, for putting together our bouncy seat. For my mom, for coming, for cooking, cleaning, laundry, for playing with the kids, for being my sounding board(remember I was stubborn, independent and hormonal)! For my ward family & other friends, for the many many meals, for the hours of service watching kids and helping me around the house, for the calls & emails, for the thoughts and prayers. For all of our family and friends - your calls, emails, comments on Facebook, prayers, well wishes, gifts, etc. It was such a humbling experience to be on the receiving end of so much service and Jeff & I are so extremely grateful for all those who helped. We were very overwhelmed with the outpouring of love and service that we received.
No comments:
Post a Comment