We had two special events this month. The first was James's Thanksgiving performance at preschool. I was so proud of my little Native American.
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| Kate didn't get to go to the performance, she had to stay with our babysitter but she was glad to get to see Granny Baker after. |
The other special event was a complete surprise to me. After the doctors told us Andrew would not be home for Thanksgiving and the day after he had a really bad event I went to the hospital to see him and was talking to one of his nurses about how sad I was that he would be in the hospital for the holiday. I explained to her how I had been dreaming of our family all sitting around the table together and how disappointing it was to me that it wouldn't be a reality for some time. I also shared that though the babies were over two months old we had never all six been together. Well, two days before Thanksgiving (we still didn't know that Andrew would be coming home) I was back at the hospital and the nurse asked me to come with her. She led me to a private room where my parents, Ryan's mom, James, and Harrison were all waiting for me. Several of the nurses had cooked us an entire Thanksgiving meal. Turkey, sides, desserts, drinks- all of it! The nurses hooked Andrew up to the portable heart monitor and shut the door to give us some privacy so we could have family time and eat together. Hands down one of the most wonderful things anyone has ever done for me. The compassion and kindness that these nurses showed our family moves me to tears every time I think about it. The nurse that cooked the turkey had worked the day before (so over a 12 hour shift) and had gotten up at 4 a.m. that morning on her day off to put the turkey in. They had the table set with fun plates and special cups for the boys and one of them had even gotten chick fil a nuggets for James and Harrison because they knew that they loved them! It was an incredibly special time for me to finally be together with Ryan and all four kids for the first time and to get to have that wonderful meal together.
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| Daddy and Kate |
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| So much yummy food! |
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| Finally all together! |
I have such a love and respect for all the nurses that took care of our babies both at the hospital here and in Greenville. They didn't just tend to their physical needs, they also loved them and cared for our family as well. They showed such kindness to James and Harrison whenever they came to visit. Multiple times they gave me hugs when I was having a particularly hard day and they provided endless amounts of encouragement to me as a mother. Many nights I would call the hospital to check on the babies before going to sleep and they never minded, no matter how late it was. When I would bring Kate with me to the hospital and she would get fussy they would come take her and hold her while they continued to work so that I could have time with Andrew. They work so hard and are so busy yet they were never to busy to take time to help us in whatever way they could. It was interesting how after spending day after day at the hospital you begin to get to know each other and form friendships. I am so thankful for each of them!
