Fat Souls and Dirty Floors: Dropping the Ball

Wow, I totally dropped the ball on this blog. I was looking back at some older post and saw the one from Addis's four month home marker. It was about hunkering down. I think after that point, I really took that to heart. Don't get me wrong, we have been on about 17 road trips since then and two of those required leaving the kids with family, but my overall attitude has been to try to slow down and help Addis fully adjust to his new life. My biggest mistake in all of this was thinking we would have no problems since Addis came home at 10 months. He was just a baby. The adjustment would be simple. Realistically, our journey has been very blessed and semi smooth, but still rougher than I had anticipated.

The bottom line here is that, despite these seriously cute faces, I felt like I was failing. Addis was screaming more than not and I felt constantly on edge and overwhelmed. Then a miracle happened. Some friends decided to come visit us on a whim. Our friends Zach and Rockie and their two babies had the weekend off and decided to come spend that time with us. Our other friends Ben and Carrie and their baby jumped in the car at about 9pm and made the drive from Louisville. (My absolute favorite thing about Ben and Carrie is their spontaneity...need I remind you of our trip to Niagra Falls?) I digress.

For these dear friends, they were coming just to hang out with some buddies. For me it was a lifesaver. I think I just needed to be able to talk about the struggles I was having and my dear friends were so great to remind me that I'm not failing...I'm surviving...and there is nothing wrong with that.

This is pretty much how we spent the entire weekend.

As if the weekend wasn't great enough already, we decided to all hop in the car and drive to Louisville to surprise another friend for his birthday. It was an added blessing to be with Ben and Julie.

Doc's surprise birthday party

Getting to spend time with these friends really did change my perspective on mothering. They encouraged me to get a book called "Loving the Little Years" by Rachel Jankovic, which I ran out and bought that day. I have to say, it is amazing. I love how she talked about how "fat souls are better than clean floors" and that even if the chores aren't done or if the laundry is piling up because you spent some extra time with your little ones, it's okay. So, my goal is to not simply survive but to thrive. We can all dream can't we.

And since my kids are exceptionally cute, I'll leave you with a few more pictures...you're welcome.