God bless family

This post is a shout-out to Mom & Dad, Scott and Crystal, Rick & Caroline. Of course, they will now forever be known as Nana & Pop, Aunt & Uncle, Grammy & Granddad.

It's funny how nine months and a day of pain can change so much.

Not to mention how the once proudly independent and extremely capable Karen can turn into a sleep-deprived, insecure mess of hormones, second-guessing herself at every turn... Thank God for people who love me despite myself.

Nana & Pop

My mom came early intending to help out before and after Eli arrived. Only he was taking forever so she had to extend her stay or else she would have almost missed him. (She even got to witness the whole Muppets episode.) We had a great time anticipating his arrival to include shopping, a pedicure, swimming, catching a movie, and all around being girls. Unfortunately this meant that she was only able to overlap with Eli a few days instead of the hoped-for few weeks. Dad flew in for the weekend and barely let anyone else hold Eli the entire time. When we met him at the airport, he was smitten from the start and waited way too many minutes to kiss my mom because he was, um, distracted by a cute little bundle of joy. I think he's still living that down.

My mom was a huge help around the house. It was because of her I discovered my hidden love language: if you clean my kitchen then I am the happiest, most grateful girl in the world, no matter how few hours of sleep I've gotten. She kept things spic-and-span which made my view from the couch delightfully stress-free. Thanks, mom!

Aunt Crystal & Uncle Scott

I love that Scott and Crystal (of Circus fame) flew 2000 miles just to meet the newest member of the family. Since they came kid-less, it was a rare treat to hang as just adults. And what do adults do when the children are gone? They play. More specifically, they play Wii. Rock Band was a weekend favorite. Who knew my brother had such a gifting at the drums? And as it turns out, I still have the middle-school touch and clobbered Scott time after time at Dr. Mario. (You can't deny it, Scott. You know it's true.) Lest you think Eli was forgotten in the shuffle... he was more than content to watch us compete. Mostly because it meant we'd finally put the camera down and his eyes had a rest from all the props and flashing.

Caroline & Rick

By the time Rick and Caroline arrived, I was feeling better physically, and a little more confident in my mothering. Unfortunately Eli was entering his fussy stage, and Jim had returned back to work. Both left me feeling overwhelmed at times. But that made having extra hands around that much more appreciated. Caroline was a great help, especially into the late hours. She did her fair share of cleaning my kitchen, too. (Seriously, I love these people!) During the day, we dared venture out into the world again and enjoyed some shopping and eating out. When we weren't doing that, we watched many of Rick's favorites: football, The Cosby Show and Walker Texas Ranger. The latter only seemed appropriate since we now share residency with Chuck Norris in his favorite state, and all.

Gratefully, they we here after Jim left for a month so I wasn't by myself. But after their two week visit, they had to go back to east coast along with the rest of them. It was a wonderful month with family. And I'm not just typing that because I know all of the above read my blog. Many here warned against having too much family come and the added stresses that could bring when so much change was about. In hindsight, though, I can't say there's really too much I would have done differently. The help was great, and so was the company.

I am truly blessed with a wonderful family, both my own and the one I got to marry into. Besides, I haven't done the dishes for six weeks. Or made dinner for that matter.

Anyone who can put off reality for a month or two is blessed indeed.