Last night was a horrible night…between the move and the children, I was simply exhausted. I woke at 7:00 this morning because Maya was awake (my formerly “good” sleeper has become a terrible sleeper…either she has my genes, or it is just a phase). At 8:00, our mover showed up to find out that our phone lines were not working properly…and my babysitter, Christin, canceled on us. My father showed up at 10:00, and he and Elliot left to go pick up Mom at 10:30. I stayed behind to try and deal with some unpacking…but got worried when I realized that I was all by myself with two children for the day.
Luckily, “fate” intervened…my friend Laurie called and asked if she could come by to help for an hour or so (and bring bagels). I was excited for the extra help, so I gave her our address. I then checked email…and realized that our organizer, Leslie, was able to come by as well to help with unpacking. I could have started to dance a jig I was so excited! Both of them arrived around 11:30, bearing flowers for my Mom. Leslie did an amazing job combining them all into a vase for display. With their help, we made a lot of progress. We emptied all of the boxes in the kitchen, and then Laurie had to leave.
Leslie stayed behind and started to impose order on our kitchen…she put the pantry together, she started putting things into the cabinet, and she took charge of our linen closet. I took some time to vacuum in between chasing Micah around the house and cuddling Maya. I worked with Leslie on unpacking, and tried to keep Maya occupied so I could be useful.
I kept calling to check in at the hospital…Krystal arrived, they gave Mom a shower, they fed her lunch…and around 2:30 or so, they finally left the hospital. Micah had gone down for a nap (and slept for nearly 3 hours!!), but Maya would not sleep all day. I was in an utter panic…especially since our mover called a few minutes later to tell us that they were coming by with the last load of things.
Naturally, they were unloading the truck when my mother arrived. Huge boxes were scattered all over the kitchen (where they remain) and the downstairs became a dumping ground. We had to quickly shove things out of the way so my mother could come in the kitchen. We had to experiment a bit with the ramps, but we got her inside. I finally got a look at my mom’s snazzy new wheelchair – it looks great! It is far more comfortable for her, fits her well, and is a bright green color (toxic green, to be exact). It arrived today, and it is far easier for my mother to use.
Mom seemed thrilled to be home. She was smiling, said the house was great, and she moved onto the couch to sit and relax a bit. It was already late, and Micah was definitely grumpy when he woke up from his nap. We put on some Elmo, and all was right in his world again.
My father ran to the store to get some “necessities” like Breyer’s Chocolate Ice Cream and prune juice. While my father was out, we decided on Chinese food for dinner. Dad ran to pick it up, and we had a lovely feast! We all sat down together, talked, laughed, and it was such a great way to spend the night…at home, all together. After dinner, my mom sat with the kids for a little while before bed time. We got on track with her medicines, and I gave her the shots. I have to say, fertility treatments were GREAT training for this…my injections used the exact same pen I had to use, so it was quite familiar for me.
At 8:30, my mom decided to head back to her room and get into her pajamas. Krystal helped her out, the kids said goodnight (Micah even signed “I love you”) and we started to put the kids to bed. Mom napped for almost 2 hours. Micah went to sleep easily, but Maya has not wanted to lay down at all.
Mom woke at 10:15, so we gave her medication for the evening. Krystal left at 10:45, and will be back again in the morning. We are slowly making a list of things we need to purchase, but I think our first day went quite well. It is wonderful to finally have Mom home again. While so many things will be trying about our living arrangement, I think the best thing will be all the time my children will get to spend with their grandparents.
I sure hope that we can get everything unloaded over the next few days. For now, the living room, the dining room, the kids’ bedrooms, and my parents’ bedrooms are functional.
It is now 1:00 am…and Maya is sleeping on Elliot (but she cries every time he tries to put her down). I think I am going to try taking her into bed with me and calling it a night. I have some video of them leaving Hopkins, but I just don’t have the energy to post that tonight.
Thanks for checking on us! We are open for visitors, as long as you can forgive the disorder. Just focus on the living room…it looks great. You can definitely reach us by cell, and the home phone *might* be cooperating. My cell phone is not working properly – I can text, but I cannot use it for talking right now. We would love to have visitors this weekend, so feel free to call and come by!