I am truly humbled.
My list of thank you's to write since Pete's birth is a gazillion pages long. We have been helped by so many friends and family members that my heart is about to explode with gratitude.
It's been one month since Pete made his appearance, and not a day has gone by where someone hasn't called, made a meal, cleaned my bathrooms, brought the kids home form school, watched the kids, or sent a gift to us. Seriously. In this one month we've experienced bringing home a newborn, the family flu, and my birthday. With all of that, our family and friends have outdone themselves in generosity.
Kim made this fleece tie blanket for Pete. Each of my children except for Thomas, have their own tie blankets that they sleep with every night! I love that she made this beautiful one for him. She has also been so gracious in watching my children for me. Countless times she has brought Thomas and Annie home from school so that I wouldn' t have to get out and pick them up, thus giving me more of a chance for a long nap!
For my birthday my friend Kimberly crochet this purse for me! The girls that I work out with met at Scooters for coffee to celebrate my birthday, along with Lisa and Mary who also have January birthdays! We also got cupcakes and mini cheesecakes to start off our day!
The food that we have been given since Pete's birth is ridiculous!! Dinner delivered to my door three days a week!! I have such a wonderful group of friends who all have signed up to make our family dinner on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays for weeks. The best gift EVER I tell you. My friends have been so generous with making these wonderfully filling meals for our family. As a small way of thanks, we always pray for the family who made us the meal as we say grace.
Our community of friends that we have surrounded ourselves with is so supportive of having children. All of our friends know the demands and stresses of having children and are so good at doing what they can to help, not because TJ and I can't handle our children, but because they all know very well what it is like to bring home new babies and understand what is helpful.
My friend Janel even brought me over my own boxed lunch one morning. I can't tell you how special I felt that day. It was all packaged up so beautifully. There was chicken salad sandwich, soup, crackers, muffins, cuties, and yogurt with fruit. It was darling, and delicious!! She even had two Lunchables for George and Evie to eat. They thought she was the best, and rightly so...I mean getting a Lunchables for lunch...way cool!
What I have been craving the most is breads and desserts. My friend Staci brought us a blueberry bread and I devoured the entire thing! It was so yummy and satisfying. I hid it from the kids so I could eat it all.
When Pete was one week old, Laura and Jarod came for the weekend. Laura and the boys stayed a few extra days to help out. She was such a big help and it was nice to have her company. She did my laundry, picked the kids up from school, had made meals at home and froze them for us.
She also bought us the BEST cinnamon rolls in the world from a local bakery. For some reason, these rolls are the most scrumptious right after having a baby! I look forward to eating these hen I get to the end of my pregnancy. Thank you Laura for being here and for all your help!
The week we had the flu, TJ's mom came over at night to take him to the ER. She brought us soup, Gatorade and made us dinners. She has such a giving heart, her gift is taking care of people. She does this so well. No matter what, she will be here and help us out, especially when we are sick. I have learned so much about caring for others from her. Thank you Tonja.
It truly is a blessing to live in the same town as your parents. I can call my mom any time and ask for her help. She always picks the kids up from school one day a week, and even came and cleaned my bathrooms for me! She and my dad even came to watch the kids one evening so TJ and I could go out with friends since we hadn't done much together since having the baby. We stayed out until 1 am and my mom was happy to stay at our house so we could have a fun night. We are so grateful for the help that we get from our parents.
Thank you again to each of you who have prepared meals, watched our children, sent cards and gifts and prayed for us. You all are very dear to our hearts.
