Ask and you shall receive- Abundance

I am continuously amazed by the outpouring of love and assistance we have received in the last several months from our community. In a time where so many people are out of work, struggling to make ends meet and needing help themselves, we keep getting met with folks who are willing to share of their time, their material goods, and themselves with us.


I was very concerned when June came and I no longer had a job that we were not going to be able to make things work well once Alchemy arrived. We had some tough months of July and August trying to cut back to keep things going without my salary coming in and Grant working less for the summer. Babies being as expensive as they are concerned me- how would we be able to afford all the dang clothes a small person needs as they grow out of them so quickly? Could we afford the other baby items we needed or would potentially want- especially the big items that tend to be more expensive like a car seat or stroller?

Then I worried about time and healing- how would I be able to be well nourished if I was recovering from her birth? How would I keep the house clean, or take care of her while caring for myself alone while Grant worked?

I am not afraid to ask for help, so often I reached out to see if anyone could assist me, but even more often folks came out of the woodwork to offer us assistance.

Months before she even arrived, several friends started bestowing outgrown baby clothes that their kiddoes no longer needed upon us. Some from our awesome neighbors that their son Patrick had outgrown. Some from Musick that Annie was outgrowing at a super fast pace. Lots of clothing we received either new or gently used at our baby showers. Some came from my friend JaNee from Houston since her daughter Lila is quickly outgrowing clothing and some toys they sent. Some came down from Portland from Clay and Fawn from Lu. Some traveled with Lisa from the UK to here for me that Anaya has outgrown. Already I have several bags of clothing sitting in stand-by sorted by size awaiting the day when Alchemy finally chubs out and grows to fit them. Just today I received another message from Kira who has clothes she would be happy to bring by that Rhiannon has outgrown. The clothing angels just keep coming. I keep trying to share what I receive by bestowing clothing on other friends of mine with babies the same age as Alchemy, or those still expecting. Already I have passed on several bags of clothing to my friend Sontee for her adorable daughter Asmi, and I have three more bags waiting. I sent some of the bigger stuff to Anaya in hopes it will fit her while Lisa is still here visiting before she heads back to the UK.

Lisa gave me lots of baby gear she no longer needed. Ja'Nee sent us one of those play mats with the dangling toys for Alchemy to use. Our neighbors gave us Patrick's swing that plays music. Clay and Fawn sent us their infant car seat that Lu no longer fit in to use. ( I am hoping we can just send it back and forth with them for many years to come as we trade off making adorable babies.) My mom bought us the bassinet we had been hoping for.

While we considered a stroller, it was an expense we couldn't float at the moment, and she is still small enough that we carry her most places, so we weren't too worried and just expected to save up for one. When Grant's parents were here, they bought us an awesome stroller that will grow with her for many years and be here for the next kid we have.

Just today I was mentioning how I wanted to buy Kung Fu Panda at Half Price today but thought it was too expensive and passed it up. My friend Valerie said she thought she had it at home, and if she did she would mail it to me. Awesome.

Beyond the material items, there is the love and support of people through their time- so many of our friends took time to make delicious dinners that they delivered to us so that we could eat well when we were bogged down with baby care in the early weeks and could barely remember our names much less cook. I still have food in the freezer that I pull out to defrost on the hectic extra fussy Alchemy days. (Big heartfelt happy-tummied thanks to Musick, Rebro, Annalisa, Trisha, Vanessa, Elana, & Elle for keeping us nourished)

And although I have said it before, it is definitely worth mentioning again that I wouldn't have made it through the first very hard month without my mom. Her being here for a month with us was priceless. I can't imagine how much sleep she actually lost as she gave so much of herself to taking care of both me and Alchemy at the same time in attempt to help provide relief to Grant who was exhausted from caring for us while working far too much. Mom helped cook for us, cleaned up some when she could, took on many night shifts with the baby and I, stayed awake with her in attempts to let me sleep small bits, ran a bazillion errands for us, drove me to appointments when I still couldn't drive.... the list could go on and on. I am so blessed to have her still only a few hours away. I love that Alchemy got a chance to bond with her so early for so long, and I loved having my mom here to bear witness to my new life of motherhood in its early days. She held such a good balance between being helpful and knowing when to hold back to let me do things my way as a mother.  I miss having her here with us and am glad that she will be coming back for another short visit soon and that she is close enough for me to drive to.



To my lovely community of friends and family- thank you for the continuous out pouring of love and support. May the abundance and sharing continue amongst us all and may I forever be able to give back as much in return as you all have given to me.