Now that the crazy first months of the girls' lives are long past, I wish I would have photographically recorded more of how we actually got through it! There were over 700 bottles per month in the beginning. We used about 1000 diapers the first month. I don't even want to think about all the spit-ups. At times it wasn't pretty. But it was beautiful--four precious little children, all taken care of somehow.
In many ways, things have gotten a lot easier. Mostly, it's just different. I thought I'd take some time to document some things were doing now. Today it will be "the church bag". Each Sunday, we attend three hours of church meetings. The first hour we are all together as a congregation. This means that we have to find ways to keep the children quiet in our row of seats for an hour. (Eventually they will actually be paying attention, but we're not even close to that right now.) So we try to bring activities that won't be disruptive. They need to be interesting, but not so interesting that our kids break out into fights over who gets to play with what! Here's what we had in our bag this week:
Books
These are my preferred activity, especially when they are religious. Books with flaps, activities, or magnets keep them quietly occupied for a while--at least a few minutes.
Puppets
Audio Adapters
Yes, this is definitely not normal, but it keeps them busy!
Small plastic farm animals
Little purse filled with old cards
Magna-doodles
We also have to give Lana one feeding at church, so that calls for a laptop with a movie and her feeding supplies. After the first hour, we go to separate classes. I wish I had more pictures of the children all dressed for church, but Sundays tend to be a bit crazy! One of my current goals is to be more prepared on Saturday so that Sundays will be a little more relaxed.
3 comments:
700 bottles and 1000 diapers (I kept a tally!) is about accurate. but it should be noted that almost 100% of these were generously donated by friends, family, church members, and outright strangers whose hearts went out to a couple in need. And beyond just the material support, each one of those bottles had to be filled and administered, and each one of those diapers had to be changed. We had 8 hours per day in the first months of completely donated TIME and work also. I'm sure I'll never be able to remember all of the details of the help that was provided for us, but I know that the Lord was coordinating to touch the hearts of many people for our benefit. I'm sure His Spirit also filled their hearts as they demonstrated their generosity, as I know He filled our hearts with gratitude and humility for the blessings you all were to us as we accepted the blessing of new children into our lives. Thank you to all of you who contributed even in the smallest way!
those bottle parts are definitely a sight to behold. i always think all of that was so long ago because we didn't know you then. but then i remember that the girls are only two, it wasn't that long ago was it? by the way, thank you, thank you, thank you for all the clothes. i will certainly sleep better tonight!
With all due respect, Chelsea: buloney! In fact I'm going to boldly predict your sleep will only be getting worse for a good little bit. You have our full moral support, though! (That, and Mandy's been working on a giant pancake flipper-style invention to help pregnant women turn over in bed in the third trimester if you think such a thing might help...Have you tried a couch cushion between the knees?...)
:)
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