Working in social work I came to believe in this saying whole heartedly. It truly does take a village to raise a child. Unfortunately our society is becoming increasingly and increasingly self-centered making this an un-fulfilled need in so many cases! It definitely wasn't until I became a mom myself that I realized just how important my village really is!
I'll never forget the day I came home from the hospital with Logan and our sweet boy in tow. We walked in to our little house and it was like pure heaven. REALLY I swear that is what heaven will be like. My mother had deep cleaned the entire house, like seriously, she even cleaned the inside of my oven (it was gross), stocked me up on recovery supplies, gotten some hygiene products for baby Gray, taken all of our flowers/balloons home from the hospital and displayed them around the house, and my kitchen was full steam ahead with freshly baked bread, rolls, cinnamon rolls, and soup. I remember walking upstairs to my clean house and just crying a little and being so so grateful for my sweet mother.
From that moment forward my village would only grow. My dad, brother, and sister in law all came in to town to meet their new family member. And after my mom went home, my mother in law came to town. She made sure to give Logan and I lots of opportunity to rest and have extra naps, she was on top of the food game making sure I never had to even think about what to make for dinner, and spoiled baby rotten buying him lots of baby clothes! (we thought we had what we needed but turns out he never even fit in to newborn clothes so we were kind of lacking on the 0-3 month stuff).
Women/friends from my church provided the most delicious meals and treats in the coming weeks that Logan and I lived off of for weeks to come. I will never forget this time because we felt so very loved by all of our friends.
When you don't have family who live nearby your friends truly become family and this is definitely how we have felt living in Las Vegas.
As the newborn stage wore off and the holidays were over it was back to "real life". But amazingly enough the help didn't stop coming. Looking back it is SO important to accept help where it is offered or even just to plain ask for help! I have never been in a position in my life where I needed help in this magnitude before, but when people offer I really try my hardest to take them up on it, because people truly want to help!
Logan and I have been able to our long runs on Saturdays while friends watch Gray for an hour or two. We've had friends come to the house to watch Gray while we go out for date nights. We've had friends help with our doggy Sundance (who is my other child for sure). And I even had to call a friend to drop Gray off at her house last minute to have a root canal.
Could I do it all? Probably. Granted that would probably mean no running, no date nights, and just being with my baby 24/7 which don't get me wrong I love being with him. But I also love my me time still!
My village is truly something I am beyond grateful for. Gray has so many people who love and care for him and that is the greatest feeling in the world. So I guess the moral of the story is whatever stage of life you are in cultivate your village, be a part of someone else's, because no one was meant to go through this life alone, we are a gift to each other when we serve and allow to be served.
xoxo
Love this!! Love you guys!
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