mom-by-love

the other day, i was having a terrible time with tristan. he's still an early riser and i'm beginning to just accept that our day will always start at 5:30am. however, his naps have begun to get wonky again. that particular day, he napped for only half an hour and woke up crying very hard. his cries escalated until i went into his room to try to soothe him back to sleep by rubbing his back and singing softly. after 30 minutes of singing, i ran out of songs and decided that it was going to be a short nap day whether i liked it or not, so i got him out of bed. he did not stop crying. i took him outside, which ALWAYS cheers him up. he did not stop crying. i offered him some milk. his cries escalated into screams. i tried distracting him with toys, his favourite teddy bear, tickling his toes....his cries continued and he was beginning to sound hoarse. finally, after another 30 minutes of straight crying, i put in a baby praise dvd and it was as if a switch flipped. he calmed down immediately and just sat in my lap, eyes glued to the screen.


it was then that my mom in law, chris called, just to say hi. i told her how my day had been so far and she said "why don't you bring tristan over here?" it was the perfect suggestion. tristan and i spent the afternoon with his gran and gramps, toddling around the backyard in the sunshine in between games of peekaboo. though it always takes tristan time to warm up to anyone besides josh and i, by the end of the afternoon, he was running to gran and giving her kisses. we had a blast and i was reminded again how blessed i am to have such amazing in-laws.

i can remember the first time i spoke to chris. josh and i were at school in england and i talked to his mom and dad on the phone briefly. i felt relieved after speaking to them because they sounded so down-home-friendly and not snooty at all! i met them that summer when i flew out to san diego to surprise josh as he arrived from europe. the only people who knew about the surprise were his sister and brother in law, so his parents were just as surprised as he was to see a strange girl come flying at him with her arms wide open! i was so nervous to be staying at their house, especially since they had no clue that they were expecting a guest, but they made me feel so at home and welcomed. right away it felt just like family.

my mom and i have always been very close and i don't think i really realized how difficult it would be to move so far away from her. i honestly can't imagine how much more difficult it would have been if my mom in law hadn't have been the sweet and caring individual that she is! every wednesday she would meet up with her daughter, jessica and they'd have some mother-daughter time with jessica's kids. right away i was invited to spend those days with them, which was always something i looked forward to before i was able to begin working. they never made me feel as if i was intruding on their special time at all.



chris has also taught me a lot in the way of penny-pinching. proudly frugal, she's always let me know if there is a great sale going on at a certain store, and saves coupons for the brands i like. every time she sees a penny, she picks it up and rolls the extra coins to give to her grandkids for their savings accounts. her christmas stockings are legendary! she finds deals all year long and every christmas we each get a huge shopping bag full of goodies with our stocking draped over the top! her easter baskets are something to behold as well; i'm looking forward to getting ours this weekend.

since having tristan, i think my appreciation for my in-laws has only increased. grandparents are the only other people in the world that can come close to loving our children as much as we do. friends and other relatives love them dearly, but grandparents don't have their own kids to tend to anymore, so every little giggle and smile and milestone is noticed and cherished by them. i love watching my little boy being so loved by his gran and grandpa, it warms my heart like nothing else. thank you, chris for being such an awesome "mom-by-love" to me. i love you.