The Mr. started grad school in the Summer of 2012...we knew that there would be parts of his program that would require us to find childcare for Tucker. We had no idea that God had even bigger plans for our family and before his program was over we would have two more little ladies join our family! :) When we found out the exact dates for his student teaching and graduation date we knew we would have to find childcare for our 3 children!
We have been very fortunate that Tucker never went to day care(NOTHING against daycare)because the Mr. was able to stay at home with him and do grad school in the evenings. So, when we found out that the Mr. would be student teaching for 14 weeks we knew we would have to figure something out. Of course we prayed about it...and the Mr. is way more patient about that then I am. I've learned quickly that he's not being lazy or doesn't care but most of the time he's put it in God's hands and is waiting for Him to answer.
So, we asked our family for help. I sent an email before the girls were even born to all of our family asking if they could help us in the Spring of 2014. The response was AMAZING! They said YES, of course!
After the girls were born we knew quickly that we would need more than just our family to help. The Mr. and I could handle our 3 children alone, but we knew it would be tough for someone else. I became VERY stressed about this. Please remember this was during the time that EK screamed 9-11 hours a day so my stress level was elevated already. My very dear friend K mentioned, my sister is available this semester so if you ever need an extra hand just call her. Well, that just about saved our lives! E, graduated in December and was awaiting grad school acceptance, so she had this whole semester open. I called her quickly and she responded within a week and we were set! Her main focus would be TJH and she would come everyday from 7-12. :)
For the last 15 weeks we have had a family member in our home taking care of our children. And for the past 15 weeks E has come everyday to play, care for and make our son so happy! Most of them would arrive on Sunday evening and would stay the whole week and then would leave on Friday afternoons. Without these 6 people we COULDN'T have done any of this semesters work. The Mr. was able to student teach for 14 weeks and complete a course to complete his masters, he was able to take his certification test and complete all his school work. I was able to work everyday and stay for any after school meetings. I came home to a clean house but more importantly 3 VERY happy babies!
These 6 people have fed, played, cooked, laundry, vacuumed, changed sheets, baked, ironed, walked dogs, household repairs, grocery shopped, played in the snow with us, organized things, and LOVED us! I feel as though these people have made no judgments about us and have loved and supported us so much this semester. We COULD NOT have survived this semester without these people.
We are so grateful for their time, energy and LOVE. Our children have been SPOILED (in a good way!) by these people. And it bring tears to my eyes to think about how stressed I was about how this would all work just a few short months ago and how BEAUTIFULLY it all happened. I came home everyday to happy babies and the adult had survived each day! :)
My children won't remember this semester because they are so young, but the Mr. and I will ALWAYS tell them how much their family (yes, M and E...you ARE family!) loves them and how they dropped everything (even SPRING BREAK and trips!) to love on them so their Daddy could finish grad school and their Mommy could work.
So thank you, Aunt J(she wins the for the OLDEST care taker!), Aunt B( Gold star for taking time away from her 9 GRANDCHILDREN to be with us!), Aunt Cee( BEST auntie ever!), M(BEST neighbor ever!), GMama(BEST grandmother EVER!) and E(BEST nanny ever!)!!! We cannot thank you enough for all that you have done for our family this last semester.
We love you so very much and our children (and of course us too) are SO blessed to have such a wonderful support system!
Goodness, I'm crying now.
And I'm sure my babies are too because it's just me and their Daddy now! :)
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