Family Visit #2

Friday came around and I was really getting pretty homesick so I decided I needed to do something normal.  I had planned from the beginning to volunteer here at the Ronald McDonald House during my stay so I figured it was time to get to it!  In an effort to volunteer and feel more like myself I decided to cook dinner for the house guests.  I had originally planned to make Swedish meatballs and rice but then someone else came and made dinner Thursday night and made something similar so I went for the old "brinner" as my friend Ellen likes to call it; breakfast for dinner.  I figured that most of the residents here don't really get a good breakfast because they get up and go to the hospital right away or to their therapy centers or whatever.  I was pleasantly surprised at how excited so many were.

One thing that I forget about how lucky I am to have Jack is that normally when I cook he cleans.  We made a deal before we were married that he would do the dishes and I would do all the other chores around the house.  My how I was missing him as I was cleaning up from cooking all of that.  Then, to my surprise I heard a little voice giggling behind me and it was EMMA!!  Jack surprised me by working long hours and left work early to be able to get here earlier Friday evening since last week he didn't get here until almost 10:00 and the kids had to go right to bed.  How I love this man :)

Saturday morning we hung out a little and then decided to take advantage of the membership that the house has to the John Ball Zoo.  I had taken the kids there when we used to live in Kalamazoo but that was a really long time ago and they were very excited to go!  The weekends with them here has sort of been little vacations because we've been able to do so much for free because of the RMH.  Please don't ever regret putting your change in the containers or buying your kids happy meals.  It has helped us a lot!  Anyway, the zoo was really fun as you can see.

Petting sting rays and sharks

Overprotective momma didn't let her put her hands in but she had fun looking :) and standing :)

Fun in the petting zoo

Laila pet the goat!  I forgot to add to the blog from Wednesday that it went way better with the service dogs this week.  She voluntarily pet them after she got used to them!

My brave husband and older kiddos had tons of fun on this ropes course!

 We went out to eat at On the Border (thanks again for the gift cards mom!) and then went back to the house for awhile.  I'm kind of sick of being at the house and trying to have a super fun time with the kids so we got a gym membership pass (thanks again to RMH) and we all went swimming and in the hot tub at East Hills athletic club. 

We had a late lunch after the zoo and none of us were that hungry so we had Cold Stone creamery for dinner Saturday night.  Fun mom :)  After that crazy long day we brought the kids back and got them ready for bed.  Since we're all in one room, bedtime can be tricky.  Laila sleeps in the bathroom.  I know it sounds weird but she sleeps in a nap nanny so she can pretty much go anywhere with her own little bed and since she vomits every morning and it's not the greatest sound to wake up to it's nice to have her behind the door.  She doesn't mind it either because then she can get to sleep instead of being kept up by us.  Emma & Jackson definitely would not go to sleep with Jack and I sitting there so we decided to go out to the living room while they fell asleep.  We took out a puzzle and three hours later we finished it!  Not what I had figured would be on our agenda for the night but it was addicting and showing the kids the picture of it today motivated them to work on the geography puzzle I got them the other day.  Hoping the puzzle of the USA will help them learn and we actually had some of the other kids in the house working on it with us too :)

Mine and Jack's masterpiece :)

  We decided not to drive down to Kalamazoo for church again this week.  Although it would've been nice to see everyone again, we decided to stay local so we could get more time together as a family today.  We found a nice little church here in GR and it was great!  We had originally planned to try the Children's Museum with the kids but they decided they would rather stay here and watch a movie and hang out so that's what we did.  Then we took a walk over to McDonald's (where we get 50% off for being guests at RMH) for dinner and then they had to head out.  My friend Julie was away from home for a very long time with her little guy Canaan and we've talked about how hard it is to be away from home.  She was definitely right that the weekend visits are great but hard.  I wouldn't trade having them here but it is not getting easier to say goodbye, it's harder.  When Jackson hops out of the car for another one last teary eyed hug I just want to grab my stuff and hop in the car with them.  It's great having them here but then my room seems so quiet and empty now.  Next weekend I'm going to go home for a few days.  We were originally supposed to be done this Friday but since we opted for the extra week we won't be.  However, the extra week is actually the start of a whole new class session and every session starts on a Tuesday so we'll have a three day weekend.  I am scheduled to work in the cafeteria at the kid's school next Monday and I really want to be able to.  I had to miss my shift last year because Laila was in the hospital and since she has the day off I don't want to miss it again this year.  I know it seems like a silly thing but I really like to be involved at the school and see all the kids and Emma & Jackson love when it's my turn too.  The thing I wonder is how hard it's going to be to come back after being home.  I'm hoping it won't be too bad since I'll know it'll only be for four days and then we'll be done!!

Good-bye hugs

So, after they left tonight Laila and I did some nails.  We've turned into quite the fancy nail girls since spending a weekend with my sister Brooke a few months ago.  Since we left all our fancy stickers at home we just got glow-in-the-dark hot pink and a black nail pen from Meijer for some fun.  I did Emma's to match ours before she left :)



Don't laugh at the Yabba Dabbas ;)

So I laid Laila on the floor for awhile because between the daddy snuggles and all the outings she hadn't had much time to stretch out.  I put her on her belly (not her favorite) and got sucked into facebook for a few minutes.  Next thing I here "MOMMA, MOMMA!" and this in what I find.

I laughed and it really made me smile because this is something normal.  I have countless pictures of Emma & Jackson when they were still immobile but somehow would get stuck under the coffee table or something.  It's so fun to have some of that with Laila too.  She had a good weekend and did a little walking with a ladder back chair we signed out from CLC for the weekend and it was really nice to let her stand for some things at the zoo.  I also got a good workout with her in the pool at the health club.  I had her working out that right leg that seems so stubborn and did a lot of stretching her arms which she normally whines about but since we were stretching out to splash the water she was fine with it.  Jack says maybe we can get insurance to cover and indoor pool :)  Laila was also amazing u

s with her eating again this weekend.  My pity party day must've just been a bad day for her because the past few days she has been eating great again.  She really likes being in control of the spoon and I like being "out of control."  If she doesn't want to eat, the tube it is and I have to be OK with this.  Seems like as soon as I get OK and stop pressuring, she wants to eat.  Ah..... balance.

So I think we're ready for week three, whatever it may bring :)