I'm a Survivor

In the last two weeks I have:

1. had a baby
2. got released from the hospital
3. packed up my apartment
4. cleaned my my apartment
5. moved out
6. traveled to Utah
7. unpacked our belongings
8. nursed a newborn
9. changed a bunch of diapers
10. tried to keep up with a busy toddler

I just want to say thank you to everyone who helped me and my family through these last few weeks. I don't think I've ever been in a position before where I absolutely couldn't do things on my own and had to depend on others. It's been a very humbling experience, and I've never been filled with so much gratitude. Words just cannot express how very, very grateful I am for all of you who have supported and helped us through this period of transition.

Justin started classes yesterday, and other than feeling a little bit overwhelmed, he's excited about school and likes it.

Katie is adjusting better than I thought she would. The first few days with Grace around were rough because she loved Grace too much and couldn't resist squeezing here. We had to do some barricading to keep grace from being loved to death literally. She's starting to get used to Grace being fragile and is doing much better about giving her space. She has had no problem accepting Grace as part of the family. We weren't even home from the hospital an hour when we were sitting down to dinner, and getting ready to say the blessing on the food. Before Justin could start the prayer, Katie yelled out "Hey, you, Grace. Fold your arms!"

She's still a little confused about the move (she thinks Utah is a burg cloth), but for the most part she seems to like it here. It helps that chickens live next door, and our new church is really old and has a ton of staircases. And luckily for us, our new apartment has a few stairs in the entry way and Katie practically lives on them. It's like she's claimed that for her own personal play area. It's helped her transition so I'm not complaining even though at first I worried about her always falling down them. (She fell down them the first half hour we were here).

Me....I'm doing well despite the lack of sleep. Fortunately, I have been blessed in having smooth deliveries so this moving thing right after having a baby was possible. It was still very hard and I definitely do not recommend to anyone to have a baby and move one week later, but I am grateful it wasn't worse. Like I said, I couldn't have done it without the help of family and friends.

I was so exhausted when we arrived in Salt Lake, all I could think about was laying down and sleeping or taking a billion pain killers. I found a corner of our apartment and sat on the floor and nursed Grace, while Justin and people from our new ward unpacked the moving truck and watched Katie. It was the first time in my life that I can remember just wanting to stay put and let everyone else do the work. It was so comforting to me, when I heard a voice from outside talking to Justin and saying "I'm from the Relief Society." In comes the Relief Society president from our new ward with food to fill our fridge. After she unloaded the food, she jumped to work unpacking my boxes holding all the kitchen stuff. We had never met her or any of the people helping to us to unpack the truck. They were just here ready to receive us with open arms and hearts. Thank you all so very much.

I wish I could thank everyone from our old ward and new ward and family by name, but there are just too many of you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.