meems.

My mom came for almost 3 weeks.

It was long enough to feel like her presence should be permanent, that she should be my full-time nanny who dwells in the basement and gets paid in onion bagels and chocolate ice cream.

Most of the days she was here passed so quickly. Like it was bizarre how quickly they passed. We spent the days in our pjs feeding, changing, and bouncing babies, and taking turns entertaining Carly. Mimi and Carly spent about 90% of the first few days in the basement, which we turned into a sort of playroom just before the babies came. Carly sure loves her Mimi, and didn't have any qualms about waking her up every morning, yelling down to the basement, "Meeeems! Are you wakin' up?" She also started calling my mom and I "girls", as in "come on, girls" or "look at this, girls." We got a spell of summer weather, and went outside to "color chalk" and "play hopscotch". Thank goodness we still got some meals from the ward and a Cottage Inn Pizza was nearby, because often dinnertime rolled around before we had time to catch our breath.

And it just so happens that one of my mom's personal mottos is to leave every place she goes more beautiful than how she found it. So we made a few trips out and got pots, soil, and flowers to spruce up the front of our townhome. We'll see if I'm a better flower mom than a fish mom. And we made a trip to Goodwill, buying other people's junk that I've been spray painting in-between feedings in order to liven up our desperate-looking kitchen.

My dad joined the party the final few days of my mom's stay. He was eager to get his hands on the babies, and that was good, because we put him to work. He cooked us dinner. We went to church for the first time, and it took all 4 adults to get us there on time. Carly, mom, and I did a little shopping, leaving dad alone with both babies. Chris and I also headed out to the Hunger Games (ummm, counting down until I can see it again. love.) leaving all three kids in the hands of my parents. It was a little bizarre to be out at the movies with friends. Like traveling back in time to before we had kids, or something. My parents also took a night all by themselves, when Chris had a big day at school the next day and I developed a migraine. What a blessing.

We spent a lovely Sunday evening at the park, swinging on swings, chatting, and kicking around a neighborhood girl's ball. The days passed too quickly.

And then, it was time for them to go home. Mom had been here long enough, and they were both exhausted enough, that they were probably ready to go. But I wasn't. And neither was Carly. She rode with Chris to drop them off at the airport, and for a few days afterwards kept informing me that "tomorrow I'm going on an airplane to go to Mimi's house."

Between the time Chris's mom took off to be with Carly when we had the babies and were in hospital, and the almost entire month my mom put in to make our transition to a family of 5 so much easier, we sure are blessed with wonderful and selfless mothers (and fathers, of course). My heart hurt when my parents left, not because I was losing two baby-helpers (though, that wasn't easy, either) but because I had to say good-bye again. I'm not sure it will ever be easy to be so far away from them.

The good news is that this time, I already know when I get to see them again. We have tickets to go to Idaho in June. My little brother is getting home from his mission (can you believe it?) and every member of the T family will be under one roof again. He is coming home to 2 new nieces and a new nephew. We will be blessing the babies on the same Sunday he gives his "homecoming" talk.

 It will be a sweet reunion, indeed.