I guess the first thing I need to tell you is that we lost Bundle of Joy's and the babies' mama on November 19th.
It was time. She'd been unresponsive for about a week - 10 days. Her mom and aunt were with her - and had been for about 5 days, 24/7. She was never alone. They placed a call to her dad and brothers back home, many states away, and held the phone to her ear. About 30 minutes later, she passed away.
The time since then has fluctuated between horrible, okay, and, occasionally, actually good! So, we (the family and myself caring for the kids) are making progress . . . finding the path to our New Normal.
The week of Thanksgiving was extra full with the addition of the visitation, funeral and burial, but I was able to enjoy a much-needed relaxed, quiet day with my folks on Thanksgiving, itself. The week leading up to Christmas was a bad one, but - again - I was able to enjoy Christmas Day with my folks and then many other friends in the following couple of days.
Then, though, The Bug struck (us all). The twins (whose #2 birthday was November 7th) woke up with cribs full of . . . yep . . . vomit. :( Since then, it's been running through all (10) of us (surrounding & including the kids) for nearly two weeks now, but we're all FINALLY coming out of it. Only two people have escaped: Bundle of Joy (who turned 6 on December 15th) and her uncle. Let's hope they continue to elude it!
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| My most favorite 2-year old little girl in the world (& yours truly*) during their birthday celebration. |
* I chopped my dreads off two days later in a fit of . . . needing a change? Actually, the real reason I've cut them off - both times I've had them - is that they get to a point when I feel like I'm sleeping on rollers at night. And since I've been struggling with insomnia, it was time for them to GO!
True to their personalities, Baby Girl ate about half of her piece of birthday cake and then pushed it away saying, "ah dun."
Baby Boy, on the other hand, gobbled down two pieces and then asked, "moh?!" ;)
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| Little Boy Blue! |
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| I try to bring the twins (Bundle of Joy is in Kindergarten now) to Mama & Papa Pea's every week or two. Here, someone is helping Mama Pea make trail mix. |
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| Hey! Did you just pick out and fill your mouth with all the dried pineapple pieces?! |
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| Little Boy Blue LOVES his Papa Pea! "Papa? Papa? Papa!" Here, they're building a fire together in the wood stove. Often, they'll "work" out in the garage together. I am SO glad that this little man has a solid male role-model in his life like my dad! Both (well, three, actually) his grandfathers live miles away. |
Okay, I'll stop there for today. I'm really going to try to blog more this year. Really!
Yay, yay, yay! A blog post from the long-lost Chicken Mama! Keep it up, Chickadeedle. Everyone has missed you!
ReplyDeleteSo glad to see you back. I had been wondering if you were OK.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about the children's mother but glad you are all doing your best to cope. Keep up the posting.
Really nice to hear from you.
ReplyDeleteLove the haircut :)
Nice to hear from you! So sorry to hear about your dear friend. Brings a lump to my throat and tears to my eyes. Give yourself and those you love time and patience to find that new normal.
ReplyDeleteBlogging more is a wonderful thing to aspire to. I have been thinking the same myself! Hope to see more of you. Oh, and love the new "do". Chicken Mama, you are beautiful, both with and without dreads!
~~Lori
Hurray!!! We HAVE missed you so much! I am glad you're back my dear. I just love the pics - that one of Little Boy Blue and Papa Pea is the dearest ever!
ReplyDeleteGlad to see a post. Looks like those little one's are getting spoiled rotten too.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad for you to be back! I expected that you had lost the mama, only because we hadn't heard from you. The family is very fortunate to have you. Ugh at the stomach bug going through the whole family! Looking forward to hearing more about your life.
ReplyDeleteGood to see you back! I do like the short haircut ~ by the way. It looks good on you. Easy to keep up too, I'm sure. I wish I could get myself to go there! :)
ReplyDeleteWow, it is so good to hear from you. I was getting ready to track down your email address to send you a message and then voila, while looking at Mama Pea's blog I see you posted recently. Yay!!
ReplyDeleteClosure. It was really wonderful to know that Mama was never alone. Never. A beautiful thing.
And Baby Boy and Baby Girl are ADORABLE! Hope Bundle of Joy is coping as well as a child that age can. Surrounded by love. All good.
LOVE your haircut! I too wish I could take the plunge and chop off my hair. I have such weird cowlicks though so I'm not sure--don't want to have to spend a lot of time primping in the morning. Maybe I should just shave it all off. One of these days I will, just for the experience. Maybe when I retire, which I hope is this year.
Chicken Mama, I hope you're finding time to do what you need for yourself. Grief is such a bumpy road. I've lost both my parents (and my 3-year old sister when I was 7) and for myself I believe grief weaves itself into my life--sometimes showing up as a strong color and other times intertwined with other threads of my life. It doesn't go away--it softens except those days of out-of-the blue pangs--even about my dog who died in the summer of 2014.
Happy New Year!!
Love,
Mollie
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