Last week (pre- complaining phase) I sent my mom an email with an update on how we're all doing and this is what I told her:
As a family we have learned so much these past few months. Lucy is still being a champ with all this bed rest craziness and is learning to be much more independent. She wants to dress herself and has strong feelings about what she wears every day. She can put on her pants, socks and shoes by herself and gets the right shoe on the right foot about 50% of the time. She LOVES getting her hair done and last Saturday demanded to have curlers in her hair like Marian and she stood perfectly still while I put them in. If there is anything she wants but can't reach she gets our big IKEA stool and carries it to wherever she needs to go...the fridge, utensil drawer, bathroom sink etc... She will even push a kitchen chair up to her high chair so she can climb in.
Chad is being super dad/husband and taking this all in stride NEVER complaining. He has brilliantly gone to all paper goods for dishes and that helps a ton. I have learned a lot about humility and gratitude through all of this. I think I have done a pretty good job at expressing my gratitude to all my "Angels" but not as good to Chad. Why is it that we are hardest on the people we love the most? I have been guilty of getting frustrated with Chad for not doing things the way I think they should be done on the weekends and have not always been very grateful for all he is doing. I think that because he never complains, I sometimes forget how hard this is for him. But thankfully I am learning and we are learning together how to deal with hard things. This experience really has been a blessing in our marriage because in different ways, we have both had to make big sacrifices for each other and for our family. In so so SO many ways I think this long bed rest is such good preparation for having twins come into our family. Chad has learned to take on more kid/house responsibility, I have learned to let go of the almost total control of house/kid management that I have had for the past 7 years, and we are all, kids included, so much more appreciative and aware of what has to be done to keep our house running. Most importantly I think we have all felt united in our desire to have these babies arrive safe and healthy. Although family life is far from perfect, the love we feel in our home seems a little sweeter. The kids are a little kinder, and little moments during Family Home Evening, or family prayer, or even when we are having chocolate shakes together...those moments seem to mean more than they did before. It has been a special time that's for sure.
Although I am glad that I don't have much more than three weeks to go, I am grateful for this experience and grateful for all the things we have learned. That said...I don't know that I'm getting much out of all the heartburn. Really, it is the worst!
