chateau papa & nana

my parents are wonderful.  they are the most generous and selfless people I know.  if someone has a need, they will step up to help out.  they are the real deal.  so it comes as no surprise that they were there with arms wide open when our little family needed some extra hands.

after reece was released from the hospital, they knew it would be a struggle for me to be able to give all three boys enough time and energy to keep them all happy and healthy.  kyle had to go back to work and nursing/bottle feeding/pumping every two hours around the clock makes for a tired and exhausted momma.  not fair to reece.  not fair to miles.  not fair to henry.  so we loaded up our things and moved in to my parents' house. my angel-on-earth mom slept on the opposite side of the sectional couch those first few nights.  I would feed reece, hand him to her to give him a bottle, and I would pump.  she even helped me keep up with the dishes and brought me snacks and water. all. night. long.  it was exhasting.

both papa and nana helped entertain the big brothers so I could grab a quick nap or feed the baby (are you catching a theme here?).
driveway art:

weed pulling gardening 101:

movie nights/cartoon mornings:

pool parties:

bike riding:

reading books:

baking:

cousin eli dropped over from time to time too.

here, let me hold that for you.

don't get me wrong, kyle was very much around. he simply had a little extra on his plate.  as if a sick little baby isn't enough? you see, we are quickly outgrowing our little house and are toying with the idea of moving (not right at this particular moment, however). so kyle's been working like a horse to get a bunch of big and not so big projects done around the house so we can list it...someday. there's been a new roof for the house and garage, siding on the garage, new shelving and cement paint in the basement storage area, and repairing some water damage in the small storage room. that last project grew exponentially when he discovered the massive mold growing behind the wall. [insert basement demo here] the entire wall had to be torn down and part of the floor ripped out. not safe conditions for anyone, especially little tiny lungs. another reason we are not sleeping at home. luckily, daddy came over each night to see us. that made us happy...

most of the time.

it's fair to say that I might have lost my mind during those two weeks had I had to go it alone.  I tried.  on thursday, may 24th, I packed it all up and headed home.  kyle was begging us to come home.  I missed him, our doggies, and our house.  I gave it all I had.  kyle left for work the next morning and I quickly discovered that one cannot parent from the couch. we made it less than 24 hours.  I repacked everything and moved the four of us back to nana and papa's house.  having their support is nothing short of a miracle.  our very own blessing.