Those eyes...

This amazes me! Look at my baby three years ago and now. I love her so much.

Grandma and Casey's Visit

Grandma and Casey came for lunch and an afternoon of baby snuggling, coloring and Wii playing. I love afternoons like this.

Grandma always brings new coloring books and colors with the girls.

This is what happens when I try to take a picture with my three girls and they are not in the mood. Maybe next time. :)

Juliet meets Casey for the first time.

We tried to get a few good ones of Juliet and her mommy.

I love this little girl so much. 

My little dollface.

Last Week

We are so thankful for this guy. The way he loved and cared for our family through the first weeks of transition have been so sweet. We loved having him home with us full time the first week and half days the second week. He covered all of the bases and kept our home running while I worked on recovering. It takes a special man to love this house full of ladies and we LOVE him!! We soaked up every minute of having all of him to ourselves for two weeks.

 Monday began our new normal. Daddy went back to work full time and I actually got dressed. We started real life with three.  It might not seem like much, but school pick up with all three kids felt like such a success. Three kids fed and accounted for. Check. Check. That afternoon, Abby and Ella were even happy and playing nicely together while Juliet slept. I'm all about celebrating small victories and I did. I was so aware of God's grace that day as I took each step into new territory.

 

Within 24 hours, the girls started dropping like flies to our first sickness of the season. Ella was hit hard enough with a fever and a scary cough that we took her to the ER because she was having a hard time breathing. (Not the thing you want to come into your house with a two week old newborn.) Two days later, it was Abby's turn with the fever, but a less severe cough. Joe and I washed our hands like crazy people and kept the kids away from Juliet as much as we could. We thought we were in the clear, but then Juliet caught some form of the virus too. Thankfully, Juliet didn't come down with it until everyone else was better. When she did, the symptoms were less severe and she didn't have a fever (lots of answered prayer). As I wrestled through sleeplessness and my mom anxiety, I referred back to those peaceful Monday moments many times throughout the week as tangible reminders to me of God's grace and presence with me. He knew. He saw. He cared. He healed. He was in control.  In my weakness, He was strong! 

Ella was feeling awful the night we decided Joe would take her to the ER. You could see both girls' personalities come out as we finished dinner and got Ella ready to go. Abby was doing what she could to help Ella and distract her. Ella was doing everything she could to care for everyone else's feelings as she was being carried out the door to the hospital. 

"Don't be scared, Abby. I will be back soon. Don't worry!" 

"You don't have to miss me Mommy. The doctors are going to take care of me and I'll be right back!"

Sweet girl even sent us a thumbs up from the ER waiting room. 

Lots of time snuggling my sick little loves = lots of time reading this gem. I've been recommending it to all of my friends. I was sad when I read the last page. :)

 

October has been the month of sickness and broken things. Lightbulbs, our stove, our car...then we walked outside one morning to find our front steps like this. It's been a comedy of errors.

 

In case I had too much confidence on Monday morning, I was set straight by Friday when I was reminded of my need for Jesus more than ever. It felt like everything I touched either broke or got sick. I needed sleep. I was one person and three little people needed me. I was tired and weary, but every where I looked there were more reminders that God is in control. More reminders of His mercy and grace in the sweet moments and lifelines. And definitely a lesson in perspective. When my focus is on God and his truth, when I am thankful in the hard moments, my heart shifts. God replaces my despair with thanksgiving and joy. 

Like this moment...

Ella's fever lasted for nine days. Every morning, she would wake up fever free and by dinner her temperature would start climbing again. By day seven, it felt like an endless cycle. It was mid afternoon, the fever had returned. Ella was so sick and fell asleep on the couch while we were mid sentence. Enter my despair and weariness. But in His grace, I saw my sweet little girl that I have the privilege of loving and caring for. I saw her sweet little face and noticed her bubbly baby toes. And just like that God replaced my despair with thanksgiving and joy. 

Heart lessons abound.

 

All of our girls have these sweet lips. They all have the same newborn sleeping face and look a lot like me when I was a baby. I could stare at this sight all day. 

Juliet doing some tummy time.

While Abby was at school (before she got sick), Ella, Juliet and I went on a morning walk with our neighbor! The fresh air felt so good.

Baby yawns...

"I always wanted to be a hero--to sacrifice my life in a big way one time--and yet, God has required my sacrifice to be thousands of days, over many years, with one more kiss, one more story, one more meal." -Sally Clarkson

Being a mom is one of the greatest joys of my life and it's worth every sacrifice I could ever make.