Thursday, May 8, 2014

A Beautiful Window

These past nearly three weeks, I have been able to glance through a beautiful window.  Hubby and I live 1800 miles away from my parents (and nearly that far away from Chris' parents), and so our time with my parents is focused, intense family time 3-5 times/year.



We cannot see our families for weekly dinners, family fun nights, or Sunday worship services.  We keep in touch through (many) phone calls and Face Time.

The past three weeks, however, we have been blessed to have my parents not only nearby, but living in our home as they have helped us take care of Tracey Ann with my being back to work.


My parents have kept our home fires (and ovens, and washing machines, and dishwashers, and vacuum cleaners) burning these past three weeks, and we could not be more grateful.  Not only have they helped us in a way that enabled us to keep our 12 week old Tracey Ann out of daycare, but we have had such a special time with them these three weeks.


These three weeks have included such fun times as:
  • All hands-on-deck in the morning to help Mama and Daddy get out the door on time, and Grammy and Papa ready for action any moment knowing that Tracey Ann could awaken any minute
  • Grammy keeping minute-by-minute records of exactly what their day entailed while Mama and Daddy were gone ("She took 6.5 oz of her bottle from 7:00-7:35am.  Next was exercise time with Papa from 7:35-8:07am, and she was very talkative this morning.")
  • Grammy and Papa learning Tracey Ann's favorite song, and observing the magic of how well it works to calm her down
  • Daily bath time with Grammy
  • Daily exercise time and baseball games with Papa (Go Tigers!)
  • Tracey Ann learning every day who her Grammy and Papa are and becoming more and more comfortable with them as time has progressed
  • Having a live-in pediatrician
  • Grammy's silly voices and songs and babbly words... she's like a cartoon character
  • Family dinner every night with all four adults, and Tracey Ann in her table seat all sitting around our dining room table catching up on events of the day
  • Hearing my husband seek my dad's wisdom on things like investments, mortgages, and insurance (this fills my heart with joy that my husband has come to value my dad's advice as much as I do)
  • Hearing my parents laugh at my husband's jokes... he has such a different sense of humor than we do that what he says always my parents off guard and makes them roar with laughter
  • Watching my parents dance together in the kitchen while holding my daughter until she falls asleep in their arms

I cannot express the peace that has come with going to work every day knowing that my parents are taking such amazing care of my baby girl.  I won't say she has been spoiled rotten, because I don't really know that a three-month old baby can be spoiled, but I will say, the three of them have had a blast.


The amazing part... and absolute icing on an already delectable cake is that in addition to taking such awesome daily care of our baby, my parents also did our laundry, cooked our meals, cleaned our home, took care of our animals, washed our dishes, and more.  Not only did they help us get by these past three weeks, we have thrived with their presence and care for us.


The five of us have lived happily and joyfully in our little Rifle home, with two bedrooms and one bathroom for the past three weeks, and it couldn't have gone better.  I do not love working outside the home while my daughter is cared for by someone else, but these past three weeks will truly be remembered as an incredibly special time in our life as new parents.

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