Family Ties

My parents left yesterday morning, after 18 days of being here and giving more help than ever imaginable, and I made it through the whole day without breaking down and crying. (NO ONE told me how much I would cry after having Olivia....a Hallmark commercial can send me over the edge!) I wondered how that day would go...would I be able to shower? Would I eat? Who would calm Olivia when she cried now that Nana was gone? Well, let me tell you folks, I managed to shower, take Olivia for a walk (in her new Ergo Baby Carrier that she LOVES), do TWO loads of laundry and fold them, change the sheets on our bed, take a nap, brush Magnum's teeth, eat breakast, lunch and prepare dinner, AND I calmed her when she cried! Oh yeah, and I fed her 9 times too!

I cannot begin to thank my parents enough for all of the help, guidance and support that they gave me, David and Olivia while they were here. I know that part of their helping was selfish on their part...they love Olivia SO much and wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. But, they were helpful in other ways. I don't know how easily we would have gotten through the first couple of weeks without them. My mom was such a trooper, waking up in the middle of the night to take over when Olivia was crying to let me get some sleep, fixing meals for us, changing dirty diapers, running errands, basically just doing anything and everything that was needed. My dad was awesome too. He suffered through several days of pain with a kidney stone and ended up having outpatient surgery at French Hospital one week after I delivered Olivia there. The next day, he was back to his normal self and was out fixing our sprinkler system and was hanging shelves and picture frames in the nursery for me. And, his arms were always available to hold Olivia. (Funny that he never changed a diaper though!)

I think the only thing that got me through them going back home was knowing that we will be meeting up with them in San Diego for Memorial Day weekend.

Thanks again, Mom and Dad (aka Nana and Poppy) for all of your help. We LOVE you!