My Support Staff

Did you ever play those kumbaya "trust games" when you were in jr. high school? The kind where you close your eyes and fall into the arms of your peers (see end of Mean Girls). Lately I've been feeling like mothering this family of 4 <3 would have turned me into a slobbering, deliriously overwhelmed wreck long ago if it wasn't for the arms that have magically appeared to keep me from crashing to the gym floor.
Ian is an amazing dad. Period. This guy gets the big boys out of the bed at 7am in the morning and entertains them until 9am (mmm... give or take, mostly take) works like crazy, and then shuts off his computer to start back at 5:25 for a 5:50pm ETA. I have no idea how he does it. He is rarely late, always jumps right into diapering/feeding/disciplining/rocking or all of the above simultaneously. He is incredible, my rock solid partner that makes it all worthwhile.
After a number of referral nannies that just weren't the right fit, I put up an ad on craigslist describing my dream helper. Impossibly, she's even better than my dream. Isabel is more of a housekeeper than a nanny so I'm freed up to mother 24/7- she comes 4 days/week to do all the laundry, ironing, cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping, white-collar-shirt bleaching requirements. My kids love her, especially Christian (she calls him 'mi Gordito') and she loves us back. Although she's a legal resident who's lived here for 20 years she doesn't speak any English, and since I don't speak a lick of Spanish we have to play charades to get through the day. Small price to pay for the paradise she transforms our world into.
Gail literally came out of nowhere to fill a huge gap in our lives. The grandmother of my dear friend Alissa, she basically adopted us (or did we adopt her?). She plunges into the mayhem, helping me get the kids ready for church in Ian's meeting-absence (now that's a saint, getting someone else's kids ready each week) sits with us and holds a baby during the whole 3hr. block, takes the kids to school 2 days a week, comes over Tuesday nights during Ian's meeting, the list goes on... She is encouraging, patient, and never asks for anything in return but fills our lives with love. This kind of thing only happens in the movies- we were strangers but somehow she has chosen me to bestow her time and energy on. She has taught me so much about charity and helping others in need, some of the most valuable lessons of this whole experience.
Caleb and Julian go to an Early Intervention program funded through the state of California because they were born extremely prematurely. The program is at UCLA (yeah, my kids go to UCLA already) and keeps them busy most mornings. It gives me some time to focus on the babies and them some time to bake cookies with their favorite teacher Carmen. The program teaches through play and has been great for their language and social development (bonus: pool class each Friday. They absolutely love it and I don't know what I'd do without it.
With the mothers of these three other darling children, I do a home-based co op school with a focus on playing, letters and numbers. This keeps Caleb and Julian happy, learning and occupied on the 2 mornings they aren't at UCLA and it lets me be involved in their education in a way that I love and works for all of us.
Dee Dee comes over Wed afternoons- the day that Isabel isn't here. She plays with both boys and works way longer than her specified time allotment as an OT working for the state of California. She helps them with their fine motor skills and overall development and is a total doll and helps a ton.
My sister Lindsay is such a sweetheart! As a busy master's student her schedule is packed but she still finds time to come over and hold a baby in the evening or come with us to a special event to help hold babies. It is wonderful having a sister so close, especially one as special as Lindsay.
I feel like our family is a little tree that would tip precariously under the strain of all the diapering/sleepless nights/so far from family/potty training/feeding/drool and spit up drenching/playing and loving of all our kids, but we're doing OK thanks to our support staff. I am in awe of them. My friend Alissa told me that she really believes God helps families that are committed to helping each other. It's amazing how right she is.