Overwhelmed

   Tonight I carted a sobbing Grace, a car seat encapsulated Luke, and one extra, sweet four-year-old girlie to a Minute Clinic seconds before it closed.  We had just fled a Christmas performance at Grace's downtown Columbus ballet studio to take care of a self-diagnosed ear infection that started as a minor annoyance in the afternoon and became a full on four-year-old trauma in the evening.

   The scene unfolded like this: Ten minutes before the end of ballet class, I took a peek through the parent window and saw a red-faced, tear-stained Grace trying to make it to the end-of-class-performance without falling apart.  We made eye contact and the pain in her face killed me.  I motioned for her to come out to me and held her while I tried to figure out my next move.

   The people around me responded like this: Almost instantly, the men and women in the room (most of whom I barely knew) began to help me problem solve.  My speech was peppered with a string of incomprehensible phrases like "husband gone six days" and "don't know area well" and "have friend of  Grace's staying weekend" and "phone dead" and "baby needs bed."

   Their speech was peppered with completely comprehensibly phrases like "there's a minute clinic about a mile down the street" and "they're super nice there" and "go south on High until you hit a Burger King" and "let me help calm your baby" as they searched directions and hours on their iphones and gave me encouraging words.  As I walked out, one lady slipped a piece of paper into my diaper bag with an address and simple directions to reinforce all that had been said.

    Once I got to the clinic and found out they didn't take my insurance, the attending physician walked a frazzled, almost crying me through everything I could do to ease Grace's pain tonight before taking her to the doctor in the morning, helped me figure out dosages and spacing, assured me she would be fine, and told me I was a wonderful mother.

    Now I recognize that on the scale of parenting trauma, the happenings of tonight rank very low.  Everyone is okay, all three kiddos are sleeping peacefully, and I have since had the chance to eat two bowls of peppermint stick ice cream and watch Modern Family.  All is right in my world.  But as I contemplated the events that transpired, I can't help but feel completely overwhelmed by the kindness that was shown to me by a group of familiar and unfamiliar faces.  And it's not the first time.

   This past month I have been the recipient of an overwhelming amount of kindness.  And not because my life has been uncommonly hard or stressful.  But because I have been surrounded by friends, family members, and complete strangers that have seen a need, and filled it.  Seen a service they could perform, and acted on it.  Let me count the ways...

               :a man on an airplane saw a young mother traveling alone with a baby and took it upon himself to entertain and hold that baby for a good portion of the flight and then proceeded to carry her ridiculously heavy diaper bag off the airplane

               :a friend felt a need to write a kind, thoughtful email to a girl who'd been struggling that very day to feel good about herself (unbeknownst to the friend) and did it

               :a family member (or two...) discovered a car battery dead and unresurrectable, bought a new one and installed it, all while said car owners slept in after a long night

               :a family member heard about a stressful weekend and a sick child and showed up with dinner

               :a man in a hurry to get on his way helped a young mother carry her stroller down the stairs because the elevator was broken

               : a family of four helped that same young mother carry all of her bags to the curb, going in the opposite direction of their own destination

               : a cheerful lady in a mall restroom picked up a spilled diaper bag and tipped over stroller, while the owner of said items nursed her baby in a chair

        And then, as already stated, there was tonight.  A group made up mostly of strangers rallied around a sick girl and her mom and got them to the Minute Clinic in time to get good advice and kind, calming words from a doctor at the end of her shift.  Does life get any better?  There are so many good people out there.  I think I ran into all of them this past month.  And where did I find them? Ohio, Minnesota, Utah, mid-air.  They're everywhere.  I wish they could all know what their service meant to me.  What it has inspired in my heart.  I am completely overwhelmed.







   
 

   

   

The Sound of "Catch Up"

Girls in white dresses

in new ballet classes,

Babies with big cheeks

and State Fair sunglasses,

            Pumpkins for carving,

And fourth birthday flings,

THESE ARE A FEW OF OUR FAVORITE THINGS.

Pictures of Spencer with hands in his pockets,

Playschool,

meets turbans

and two girls that rock it,

Short trips to Cleveland,

and siblings on swings,
THESE ARE A FEW OF OUR FAVORITE THINGS.

Babies in bumbos with binkies for chewing,

first days of preschool without much boo-hooing,

Memories of past schools and tassels of strings,
THESE ARE A FEW OF OUR FAVORITE THINGS!

At the doctor,

on a long day,

when we might feel sad,




we simply remember our favorite times, and then we don't feel so bad!

Bear suits on brothers

and infant swim lessons

New homes with washers---not hour long dish sessions (woo hoo!),

Soccer

and standing

and Sunday mornings,

THESE ARE A FEW OF OUR FAVORITE THINGS.

Swimming with cousins

and afternoon puzzles,

Sweet tricks and nodding

and Luke baby nuzzles,

Holiday parties---the break that they bring,

THESE ARE A FEW OF OUR FAVORITE THINGS.

When the tests bite,

when the schedules sting,

when we're feeling sad,

we simply remember our favorite things

and then we don't feel so bad! 

Scavenging



I really love activities that don't involve us driving ANYWHERE.  My main goal in life (okay, ONE of my main goals in life...), is to end up living somewhere very walkable.  We lived in such a place a little over a year ago and I mourn its loss every. single. nice. day.  Really.  We could walk to the library, the grocery store, a nice park, the school, a pet store, an ice cream shop, restaurants galore, a Barnes and Noble, a bakery...I need to stop before I start sobbing uncontrollably.

Now we can walk to an...okay park, a Seven Eleven, and a UDF.  Oh, and an Ace Hardware.  You better believe we have family home evening Slurpee runs (walks...).  Oh yeah, keepin' it classy. 

Anyway, from this obsession, this activity was born.  Today, Grace, Luke and I went on a picture scavenger hunt.  I made a list of things for Grace to find, and Grace and I took turns taking pictures once she found them.

#1: Something hard.  What's harder than concrete?  Nothing, I tell you.

#2 Something blue.  No cars were hurt in the act of this scavenger hunt.  Smudged?  Perhaps...

#3 Something with a letter from Grace's name.  She was thrilled about this one.

#4: Something that makes Grace smile.  I think that if I hadn't intervened at least a little bit, Grace would have found some way to make a car fit into every category.  I think it is the color in particular that she found pleasing in this photo.

#5: Something that someone built.  She struggled a little with this one, but finally settled on this curb.  And what a lovely invention the curb is...

#6: Something square.  Yep, as square as they come.











#7: Something red.  These were by far the simplest search and discover topics, but definitely Grace's favorite.

#8:  Something beautiful.  Felt a little awkward taking a picture of a random neighbor's doorstep, but...the scavenger hunt must go on.  And who's going to object to having their wreath immortalized as a thing of beauty?  :)

#9: Something that Heavenly Father made for us.  Grace loves this long branch and never fails to express joy while walking under it.  She refers to it as her "tunnel."  Definitely a gift from God to a four year old.

#10:  Something stinky.  Easy peasy.  This guy's stench is legendary.

#11: Something that belongs to us.  Grace added this category herself.  For some odd reason, she loves our minivan.  The jury's still out on my end...

#12: Something funny.  This motorcycle has become Grace's and my private joke.  Every time we see it, we giggle to ourselves about how it's wearing a dress.  :)

And thus ended the scavenger hunt.  Grace has been wanting to do it again ever since.  

Four

        We loaded up the minivan this past week and bravely took our first trip as a family of four to the Great Smoky Mountains (or as Grace likes to call them, the Great Foggy Mountains).  As I've looked back on it, it's interesting to me how this little four day trip very accurately mirrors in miniature the four month trip we've had thus far as parents to both Luke and Grace.  Let's begin with the beginning...

        We got a later start than we'd hoped, rolling out of Columbus around noon.  Does that sound a little bit familiar Luke?  A late start?  Not wanting to come out until the last minute and than having to be forced out by time and space restraints? Yeah, I thought so.  

        So, there we were, slowly making our way south.  The first leg of the trip was lovely.  Grace was happily and dutifully entertained by the five million Disney movies we got ready for her the night before.  She was one happy soon-to-be-camper.  Not unlike the way she was during those first couple weeks when Luke slept a lot, people were constantly coming to get her and whisk her off for play dates, dinner always ended with dessert, and Grandma and Grandpa were there to give her all the extra attention she needed.  

       Things continued that way on the trip---peaceful, with the occasional nursing break---until the last couple of hours.  That's when the road trip honeymoon ended.  Grace was sick of her movies and Luke discovered he didn't have to just sleep and coo docilely, he could scream instead.  Cue the second two weeks of Luke's life.  He stopped sleeping well, and fussed frequently.  

        Once we got to the campsite, things calmed down and everybody was much happier.  We set up the tent, got settled, put the baby to bed and had a late dinner.  Everybody slept amazingly well that night and we had every reason to believe things were going to be great.  Except for the bugs.  There were lots of bugs.  I hate bugs.

        The second day started off slowly.  We slept in and finally rolled out of the campsite around 11.  This might have been partially due to the fact that I forgot to pack some key components involved in campfire pancake making...  But we were hopeful. 

       For our first activity, we decided to hike to Laural Falls.  Ha.  A mistake if ever there was one.  Just like Luke's second month of life, it was a disaster.  All kinds of non-stop whining, dramatic vows from both parents that we were never going on a trip with kids again, hungry baby cries, and far too many incidents of tripping.  Parallel that to lots of night waking, daytime fussiness, lots of new adjustment tears on Grace's part, lots of new adjustment tears on my part, a whole lot of parental tripping as we realized the methods that worked with Grace were completely ineffectual with this baby, and you've got Luke's second month.  Add that to a terribly hot day in Tennessee, a far too late lunch, and a heavy thunder storm around dinner time, and you get my drift that the second day (and month!) weren't my favorite.

        But, like any rough time, there were bright spots along the way:

Some rare smiles on the way to Laural Falls.

                                                                             

Playing in the water at the falls...the highlight for Grace of any outing.

The Falls themselves were pretty.

Watching Grace comfort Luke as they sat in the pouring rain and waited for dinner was
a sweet sight for even the grumpiest of parents.

Walking around Gatlinburg, getting some ice cream, and going mini-golfing to
cheer ourselves up before our soggy dinner.

Genuine wild life (a Copperhead Rattlesnake) can lighten even the
darkest hiking mood.

      See? The second day wasn't an entire bust.  And, now that I can look back with a little perspective enhancing distance (ha, ha), neither was the second month.  It was brightened by new baby smiles, a lot of support from friends and family, and a little daughter who loved, loved, loved her baby brother no matter what he did.  

       The third day (likewise the third month), started off awesome and just got better.  We realized we needed to take control of the day if we wanted it to go how we desired so we woke up early and left the campsite at the crack of dawn (7:15 am in our book... :).  We were rewarded with...wait for for it... 

A BEAR SIGHTING!

All my camping/wilderness life all I've ever wanted to do was see a bear.  Heck, I lived in West Yellowstone for an entire summer and saw nothing but a bunch of fat, old bison.  But, here?  A bear!  A cute, little black bear foraging for grub maybe 15 feet off the side of the road.  Oh, we were in heaven.  

       After the bear sighting, a nice, scenic drive around Cades Cove, and a quick nursing/play in a river break (absolutely essential to Grace's happiness and thereof ours...), we headed to Newfound Gap (the line between the North Carolina and Tennessee sections of the park and home to a section of the Appalachian Trail).  Here, we had lunch:

Where we sat as we ate.

What we saw as we ate.

Grace and I hiking on the Appalachian Trail. 

After lunch, we hiked on the Appalachian Trail for a while, just to say we did.  We did so with much trepidation in our hearts...knowing full well how our last family hike had gone.  But Grace LOVED it.  Not a whine escaped her lips.  Oh the magic of the third day...

Luke hiking the Appalachian Trail.  :)

So gorgeous.  I wish this showed even a bit of what we actually saw.

 

Luke woke up after awhile.  He liked the hike just as much awake.  :)

      After the trail, we headed to Clingman's Dome, a lookout point at the highest peak in the park.  It looks kind of lame from here but it was actually pretty awesome.  The hike up there just about killed us though.  Steep as the day is long.  I won't even post the pictures we took of the views because they're ridiculous and insulting to reality.

     The day ended with our best dinner of the trip---tinfoil dinners with a side of roasted corn---some bubble blowing, a firefly watching expedition for Grace and Spencer, an early bedtime for Luke, and a little hike near our campground where we found a hanging vine straight out of Tarzan.  Spencer was in heaven.  I tell you, does it get any better than this?

Just like the third day, this little guy had the sweetest third month.  Once we figured him out a little better (which began with a brief crying it out episode and ended with endless nights and days of better sleeping...), he became the baby to rule all babies.  I've always said that I'm not much of a baby person but Luke is well on his way to making me one.  He is a smiling, sometimes laughing, cuddling, sleeping machine.

        Day number four was mostly business oriented---breaking camp, cleaning up, eating up the last of our food.  Whilst engaged in this, Luke took a nice, long morning nap in his little travel bed.  I LOVE this bed.  So superior to the wretched pack n play we lugged around during Grace's early years.

On our way out, we stopped at a little pull-off area to fit in one last, short hike.  We were rewarded tenfold. Again, I cannot say enough how disappointed I am with our camera.  This area was breathtaking.  And Spencer rigged up a tripod out of branches to make the family picture possible.  Oh Spencer...master of everything.  :)

Grace and I

The whole family

We had to snap a photo of this area near Knoxville, TN.  A good portion of the landscape along the side of the road was COVERED in...ivy?  It made the whole of Knoxville look as if it were one big, oddly-shaped sculpture garden.  I could not get enough of it!  The rest of the trip home was long, but uneventful.  We rolled in around 8:30 pm, forgot to have dinner, and put the kids to bed as soon as possible.  :)

Which brings us to the wrap-up of Luke's fourth month.  As with the last day of our trip, there's been a lot of "getting back to business as usual."  He's settling into two long naps a day and a lovely, early bedtime.  Things feel more normal, though Grace and I are struggling a little getting used to having to be home for  Luke's nap times.  It makes the days seem a little long...much like that eight and a half hour drive back to Ohio.  But, little by little, we're making it.  The Anna volcano erupts a little less often.  And it seems like maybe, just maybe, someday in the far future, we might be able to make it to...

five.