This has been an interesting week for our family. We had all been looking so forward to Kamdens arrival, so things could get back to normal at our house - famous last words!
As it turns out, "normal" is a word that shouldn't really exist in the dictionary. Who's to say what "normal" is or isn't anyways??? (deep thought for the day).
(All hooked up to heart monitors - fun fun!)
Anyways, within a week after having Kamden, I realized I was still feeling things that I had previously chalked up to just having all my organs squished by a 9 pound baby. Some of those things hadn't gone away (shortness of breath, pressure in my head and chest, my heart beating strange). So off we went to the Doctor who sent me right to the ER to have a million tests run (just in case we had nothing better to do with any extra money we may have been saving). It turns out my heart rate is beating at half the pace it should be, which means more doctors and more tests! In the meantime, we had both a freezer and a fridge go out on us this week (small pennies compared to the Dr. bills!). All of this is the "rain", but what I want to remember, is the "pouring" - the pouring out of blessings that we have had during this last week has far outweighed the rain. There are too many to name them all, but I will list just a few...
The first of those blessings obviously would be our way cute (so I'm a little prejudiced), healthy baby boy. He is doing well, with the exception that he could sleep a bit better at night - but that will come in time (yawn). One of the positive things to me not feeling great is that I get to sit around a lot and just hold my baby. I haven't had the energy to be too busy with everything else. And of course, I can't forget our other three troopers. They are great kids, and have been so helpful to me.
Another great blesssing has been my mom (and my dad for supporting my mom being gone all the time). She has been to our house every day for more than a week. First she came to take care of our kids while we were at the hospital, then she kept coming to take care of me when I have been down. She has cleaned house, taken care of kids, made meals, and been a huge support to us - she is amazing!
Our ward has also been such a blessing to our family - almost embarrassingly so (for someone who doesn't like to accept help). They have brought in meals, treats, helped with kids, and have offered prayers on our behalf. I know there are people in our ward and neighborhood who are in need of these blessings as much and more than us - and they just keep giving! It is very hard for us to accept the kindness of so many. It is so humbling - something we all need to be reminded of once in awhile, but not something that is easy to accept. I guess I was really prideful a year ago, because I have been on the receiving end far too much this past year!
Ira is such a wonderful husband to me and father to our kids. I have had him by my side, especially this week. Honestly, I would rather be the one going through all these things, then to watch someone I love go through it, like he's had to do. He has been a huge support in so many ways. He has so many responsibilities that rest on his shoulders, yet he puts our family first, and the rest seems to fall into place.
Finally...just in case this is getting too serious - a great blessing that I hadn't anticipated is that JARIN LIKES HIS BABY BROTHER!! As you know from my previous posts, that is an unexpected turn of events...and a great blessing! He still acts out for our attention, but he hasn't lashed out on Kam (yet). He loves to hold him, and sing him songs. I think he likes the idea of being the big brother.
Our sandwich is bigger than our baby!
Brayden & Emilie
Kamden - 2 weeks old
Great Grandma Elizabeth Smith, Grandma Margaret, Dad Ira, and Kamden
