Baby Snuggles and New Beginnings

I told you about a special family in December. I've kept in touch with Mom since then and, even though I am incredibly lame and haven't yet finished Princess's armoir that I started three months ago, she invited me to come visit and see Baby Boy.

You guys, he is the sweetest little boy in the world! He just snuggled and sighed and melted my heart. And he is so healthy! He's a big boy at the 90th percentile. Mom is doing such a good job with him and, by the way, looks incredible. It's funny meeting someone at the height of pregnancy and puffiness and then discovering what they look like under all of that. She's beautiful.

Princess is doing so well. Her room was organized and filled with Barbies and movies and cleaned up so nicely. However, she assured me that it would soon be messy again because "that's what kids do." She is an absolute delight and I was so secretly thrilled to see that she was wearing the shoes that I had bought for her.

They had another reason for me to come over. They'd made up a thank you card for my office, for everyone who had helped them get their new start in life. Princess had colored and decorated it (she showed me specifically what she did) and Mom added pictures she had taken Christmas morning. There is so much happiness and love in that card. And it's huge! It's now hanging on our bulletin board in the hall.

I think a lot of times when we help someone it's in the short-term or it's anonymous or part of a huge effort such as hurricane relief. We don't get to see if our efforts truly matter. We don't know if we've made a difference. Which isn't the point, really. Giving comes from the heart and shouldn't expect anything in return.

Still, it's nice to see the difference for a change. It's heartwarming to see this family settled into their home with all of the things we take for granted. Furniture. A toaster. A bathmat. It's nice to know that a little girl has warm clothes to wear to school and a baby boy who likes to snuggle has soft blankets to cozy into at night. And that a mom can breathe a little easier with some of the burden off of her shoulders. She can take a break and think about her options. Because she has them now. She can think about returning to school because she doesn't have to worry about whether or not her daughter is going to have a bed to sleep in. She's strong and smart and just needed a little bit of help.

I'm grateful to have been a small part of that. If she's inspired to pay it forward, wonderful. If it stops with her and her children, I'm okay with that too. Because she's not out of the clear yet, she needs to figure out how to take care of her children in the long-term. It's not easy to start over and it's especially not easy as a single mom with an infant. I know she can do it. She's come so far already.