THE NEW NORMAL

This week has been a bit wild.  John has needed to work quite a bit, so it has felt even wilder than it would already feel.  I am trying to adjust to the new normal, and I feel like I am not planning well or getting it figured out quick enough.  But, we are trying.

I have figured out that the big girls need some sense of normalcy and routine.  Especially since we moved them into the same room, and they have been partying late into the night, you know, like 9:30.  They seriously love it, and I love that they love it, but I will be glad when some of the shiny fun of it wears off and they sleep longer.  They need it.  You know what I mean.

So today, we headed to the hospital to say Good Morning to our babies.  After about 45 minutes there, we headed to Build a Bear at the mall to make stuffed animals for William and Violet.  I was right when I thought this would be a fun thing for the girls that was also about welcoming our siblings.

With a little guidance from me so we didn't end up with a tie-dyed Hello Kitty or neon My Little Pony, Lily made "Sophie" the cat (Helmicks, I think I know where she got this :)) for Violet, and Bella made "Ruff" the dog for William.  A big hit all around.

This afternoon I took advantage of a kind friend offering to keep the girls and spent a little time at the hospital by myself cuddling the babies.  It has hit me that I am really ready for them to come home.  I know it will be hard in many ways to be caring for them on our own, but I'm ready for them to feel like they need me.  I cherish the little snuggle time I do get with them.

John came home for a quick dinner, and we headed back to the hospital.  The girls were so excited to deliver the stuffed animals.

So excited, in fact, that as soon as we got into the room, they were both rushing their animal to the appropriate sibling and trying to stuff it into a bed with a baby.

Sophie the cat did not make it through that little hole.  She landed on top of the incubator, and Ruff landed on the crib railing.

John had William out, and the girls were fascinated to see him.  Lily was trying to measure him.

When the nurse changed his bed blanket, she let the girls have a NICU picnic on it.  They were in heaven.



Then it was time for Violet to get weighed, and Bella was quite interested.



And while we had Violet out and unhooked, our sweet nurse kindly agreed to take our "first family of six all together in one picture" picture.  It totally cracks me up, mainly Lily and Bella's faces, but also Sophie the cat photo-bombing.

This new life is a wild adventure.  When I start to think or talk about all that is happening right now, it sounds very overwhelming.  But, by God's enormous grace, we are making it one day at a time.  We really can only ever look to him for strength, because we certainly don't have enough of it.