PRIDE ASIDE

I made the mistake the last time I was on bed rest of not letting the people who wanted to help, really help. I stayed in awe of how generous people were but I could not get over the pride factor to actually let people help us. I possess the terrible shortcoming of feeling like I have to do the things that need to be done and since it is my responsibility no one else should have to do it. I even take it a step further and feel like I am failing if I ask for help. Our family and our small group were here a lot the last time I was on bed rest. That meant that most of the work fell on Justin and those who insisted because I didn't know how to respond to the offers of , "let me know what I can do". The end result was that I had a lot of catching up to do when I could finally get back to my normal routines. Believe it or not, there are still things around here that fell behind during bed rest of '09 that I have not caught up on yet.

I have decided that it is time to let that pride issue go and accept that we need help. Yes, I am only one person but I have a lot of responsibilities at home/work and Justin doing all of my at home jobs along with his own is impossible. Please know that it is incredibly hard for me to even type this post and list out these requests, but it is much easier for me to list what we need and let people decide if and how they want to help. The alternative is to respond to all the "let me know what I can do to help" statements with asking people to do specific things and I just can't do that. I would rather give people the opportunity to chose how they help us.

Again, already I am in awe of how many people have come forward in the last 24 hours to offer help. I have put everyone off by saying that I will get back to them and let them know what we need. So here is my list of the areas we need help in. If you feel led to help in any area please contact me and know in advance that we are VERY appreciative. No gift of time and/or talents is too small. We appreciate it all!

Childcare:
We need 8-5:30 childcare (preferably in our home)on the following dates:
Wednesday May 19th
Wednesday May 26th

We also need someone to hang out with me and Grayson on Sunday, May 2nd, all afternoon into the evening. That will be from around 11 until Grayson goes to bed at 8:30. Some individuals from our small group have offered to take Grayson for an outing that afternoon so it is possible this can be broken into two shifts since I can be here alone when he is gone. Justin will be out of town this entire day for a family function.

Meals:
With Justin assuming most of my household responsibilities, preparing breakfast and lunch for me and Grayson daily, and continuing to work full-time; assistance with dinner would be greatly appreciated. We would be thankful for meals on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday evenings. I have set up a sign up system at www.takethemameal.com. The schedule for our family is under Caldwell and the password is: 6208 (our street address). I hope to get a link to this site posted on my blog sometime today.

Other (these are those areas where I would almost rather crawl under a rock than ask for someone to do any of these things):
If you feel that your gift and talents can not be utilized in the above areas then feel free to offer help in other ways. Company is always nice and I will be here every week day alone with the exception of Wednesdays and Tuesday/Thursday afternoons. Justin is assuming all household chores so if you like to vacuum, dust, clean bathrooms, or fold laundry (we will leave out undergarments ;-) , let us know that you would like to come and help in that way.

My mom, sister, and friend Melody have had a long standing offer to help set up the nursery. That is a big job and any help is welcomed as is help with washing baby clothes and organizing all of the clothes Grayson has grown out of into tubs that are labeled. Right now they are all just kind of thrown together and we need to get the closets better organized in preparation for the new baby. Justin could use some help moving furniture one evening in the coming weeks as we prepare to get the nursery set up and Grayson's big boy room set up.

I have hesitated a million times while typing this post about actually posting it. I have realized that I need to put my pride aside and my family's needs first. We need help and appreciate anything anyone is willing to do. Big hugs to our helpers in advance.