When you have a baby, it can be hard at times to get out of the house, and I think this is especially true when you have your first (not that I have any knowledge otherwise) because you really feel like you have no clue about what you're doing. I think for the first two months, the only time I left the house with Emma was when someone else could go with me. I think I was really just scared to leave the house with her on my own. What if she cried and wouldn't stop? What if I forgot something we needed at home? What if other people thought I was a bad mother? What if I was a bad mother? These fears were debilitating and confidence shaking - even for a person who used to teach teenagers for a living! And after a while, this routine got old and staying at home with Emma felt very isolating.
Step in the Neil family - Matt, Cayte, Beckett, and Dinah Grace! Cayte texted me this summer saying that they were going to do a swim day at their house one day a week after the big kids finished swim lessons, and she invited Emma and I to come and join them. Now part of me was like, "Yay! Human contact! With adults!!" But the other part of me was more like, "Swimming? With a BABY?!?! Being in a swimsuit after being pregnant!? What if she cries? What if she POOPS?!?" You get the gist...it was that fear creeping up again. But I felt like I needed to bite the bullet and take a chance because honestly, I really didn't have any mommy friends, and I needed to get out.
Our weekly swim day turned out to be such a blessing in disguise! Not only did we get some much needed outdoor time, but it gave me a chance to ask a lot of my mommy questions and hear stories from other moms who had been there and done that. God definitely placed Cayte's invitation in our life at the exact right moment. It was also fun for both of us to watch the other kids play in the pool, even if all we could do was pretty much float around.
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| Baby doll Emma, Dinah Grace, and Emma |
Now there's something about kids and babies that mesh so well. They're equally fascinated by each other. And that was totally true for Matt and Cayte's little girl, Dinah Grace, who's two years old. From the moment they got Emma's birth announcement, Dinah Grace has been fascinated with Emma. In fact, she took that birth announcement everywhere she went until it fell apart. Every time we went over to the Neils' house, Emma and Dinah Grace hung out together, and we were serenaded in the pool with choruses of "Baby Emma." It was beyond precious! So when Dinah Grace got a baby doll for her birthday this year and went about choosing names for it, can you guess what she chose? That's right, Emma! So now, we have real Emma and baby Emma, the doll.
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| Dinah Grace is whispering to Emma, "I love you!" |
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| Kisses from Dinah Grace |
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| Smiles all around! |
So while my Emma probably has no clue what's going on, she is clearly loved by her friend Dinah Grace, and we are equally blessed by having the Neil family as our friends!
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up,
just as in fact you are doing.
1 Thessalonians 5:14
Where there is no counsel, the people fall;
But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.
Proverbs 11:14
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