Twin Baby Blessings, and a Priesthood Ordination... Big day, right?! I had NO idea!
I have found with twins, that as long as I can think ahead and be prepared, I can handle SO much more than typical. Knowing this about myself, and knowing the kind of day that was coming up, I spent my entire Saturday prepping for our family to get to church at 9 am the following day. I got the church bag ready, the clothes laid out, the snacks, the bottles, the spare outfits, the diapers... you name it. I even ironed!!!! With help from family, we had the house cleaned, and lunch prepared for AFTER church, even. I was happy, I was prepared. We were GOLDEN. Heck, I even had time to go out for dinner with my Sister-in-law, and decorate my house for my Brother-in-law's birthday! I mean, there's no such thing as a "Super Mom," but I sure felt like one.
I'm so glad I was prepared for the day I EXPECTED January 5, 2020 to be.
Because I truly had NO idea what that day was about to bring.
The next morning, we were running like a well-oiled machine. I even said to myself... "Dang... I can't believe we haven't had a casualty, and we are going to be like 10/15 min early!"
Bad Idea, Jillian.
The last two things I needed to do before we left were... Leyna's hair, and dress the babies. I put Leyna up on the bathroom counter like I have a million times before, and realized I didn't have her hair stuff out yet. (PREPAREDNESS, PEOPLE!) I bent over for two seconds when I saw her feet fly in the air, and watched as she fell from the bathroom counter, down onto her back, slamming her head on the tile floor. I was too late to catch her, and I screamed, "NOOOOOOOO!!!"
She didn't pass out, thankfully, but of course started screaming. I immediately swept her up, and brought her to Bryan to check for signs of a concussion. I felt awful, of course, but we needed to get to church, so we kept moving forward. We tried to calm her down so we could finish getting ready and get to church since the baby blessings are at the very beginning. Well... Just in case you didn't already figure it out... we were no longer "killing our schedule." LOL. Somehow, though, I was able to still remain calm through all of this. I called family, told them what happened, and asked if they could help get us out the door. Family members came IMMEDIATELY, and I am so overwhelmed with gratitude for all of their help. Some took kids to the church building, some dressed babies and got them in carseats, and some made my bed (because, let's be honest, I'm a little OCD, and I knew after a morning like this one, coming home to an unmade bed would send me over the edge)...
All of their help allowed Bryan and I to tend to Leyna. I did her hair again... (I already admitted to my OCD issues, ok?)... on the bathroom counter... :) but this time, her eyes were rolling back into her head, and she was COMPLETELY white. I knew she had a concussion, and she was going to vomit at any time. We grabbed some ziploc baggies, loaded the babies up in the van, didn't even DARE buckle Leyna in her carseat, and drove the 4/5 blocks to church with her sucking her thumb on Daddy's lap.
Somehow, we still managed to get to church on time!!!! Early, even. We had seats saved for us front and center. I handed babies and bottles off to family members, and walked over to Bryan and Leyna. He was going to have to get up to perform the baby blessings, so I figured if I needed to pull her away from her dad, it was better to do it now. She usually isn't partial to which parent she gets, but I didn't know what to expect after a fall like that. Right as I was reaching for her, and MINUTES before the meeting began... it happened. Leyna threw up all over herself AND Bryan!
Once again... here came the helping hands. Bryan was covered in vomit, I had tried to catch it, it's all over Leyna and on the floor, church was about to start, and we were front and center. We had family members and friends cleaning up the floor, washing clothes in the sinks, and packs of baby wipes came from all directions.
Our bishop is the director of ICU, and after talking to him, he suggested taking her to the emergency room, and asked us if we still wanted to do the baby blessings. Well... with all of this family in town, and being seconds away from it now??? Yes. "Yes, let's still do it."
The meeting began, Bryan was as calm as a cucumber, and somehow.... I was too. Heaven must have been with us. The babies were being fed and cuddled, my big kids were... well, let's be honest, I have no idea. I just knew they were okay. And I just cuddled Leyna. I held her in my arms, and tried to keep her awake, but happy. 10 minutes. All we needed her to do was make it 10 minutes, and then Bryan could take her to the hospital.
Then it was Peter's turn for his blessing. Amidst all the chaos, and in a vomit-stained suit, Bryan was able to feel the spirit of the Holy Ghost, and gave Peter a beautiful blessing. Seconds into it, though, Leyna threw up on my lap, and my mom took her out immediately. And there were those baby wipes that came out of nowhere again! #helpinghands #heavenlyhelp Worried about Leyna, I had a hard time concentrating on Peter's blessing, but I recognized one specific word-- "TESTIMONY." Peter was being blessed with a testimony of his Savior. <3
Peter was handed off to me, and now it was sweet Claire's turn. Can I just tell you how amazing it is to have twins?! I feel so lucky! It is beyond crazy, but to have the opportunity to see two of your children grow at the VERY same time... it's amazing! Bryan took her in his arms, and gave a second blessing, as individually personal as the first one was. He spoke a great deal about her family, love, and expressing who she is-- a daughter of God.
How blessed I am to have this man in my life who can have one child throwing up on him, but minutes later, can be in tune with the Spirit-- enough to give his twins a personal blessing from their Father in Heaven. (Don't worry... he still drives me crazy plenty of times... but as I'm writing this, I'm realizing how deeply fortunate I am).
I digress... "Baby B," as my dad still likes to call her, :) was then handed off to a family member, and Bryan left church to take Leyna to the Emergency Room. I stayed back with the babies and the rest of our family, and had the opportunity to bear my testimony to our congregation... It would also prove to be the last time I would ever get to speak to them because that afternoon we ended up being moved to another Ward. Talk about an emotional day! All these people who had quickly become our friends... and I was going to have to go to church with another congregation starting the following week. It wasn't the end of the world, but it made me sad.
The major points of my testimony; however, were 1) I was so overwhelmed with gratitude for the blessings that I had, and the help we have received since moving to St. George. And 2) In years past, I would have recognized a day like that as a punishment from God, but this time, I recognized it as an opportunity to see every blessing along my way that helped me to get through it. "Here I am standing as a witness of God's goodness. Life might not be perfect, but Heavenly Father has blessed me with so many good people-- to help me take care of the very blessings I don't even have enough hands to take care of myself."
Bryan and Leyna stayed at the hospital for observation, accompanied by more family, of course, because that's the theme of our day! While the rest of us came home to celebrate my awesome Brother-in-law's birthday, and we played one KILLER game of charades!
I have no idea how I was able to be so happy at that time, but I was! Of course, I was worried, and I was trying hard not to blame myself for Leyna falling, but ultimately, I was just at peace. I felt bad for James, though. He was being so patient... but he had been looking forward to receiving the priesthood for over a year, and it was supposed to happen at home right after church. Instead, his dad was at the hospital with his little sister, and we didn't even know what events were going to follow.
Back at the hospital, Leyna had to be observed for 3 hours from the time she hit her head, and we were basically hoping to see her bounce back. She didn't really... :( and she even threw up again in the ER, so things weren't looking good. We thought she was going to have to get a CT scan to check for hemorrhaging, and possibly be admitted.
I won't lie, though... at this point, one of my major concerns was embarrassingly... "How am I going to get a picture of EVERYONE together?" Yes.... photographs are kind of everything to me right now-- there's a deeper reason as to why-- but for now, let's just say it's embarrassing. More on that another time.
I was about to give up on my little dream to have all of my incredible family members who made this day so memorable all in one picture at one time, when I received a call from Bryan that they were coming home! I could not believe my ears, and I was ecstatic!
When they walked through the door, I immediately reached for my sweet baby girl. Her jammies smelled like vomit, and she was sad, clingy, cuddly, and hurting. But she was okay. And she was HOME. I never wanted to let her go. I looked around me, and we had boys hitting balls off a tee into a net, moms holding babies, Dads cracking jokes, sun shining, my sister was taking pictures, and I swear angels were singing. It was seriously like a dream to me.
And then we took our family pictures. All combinations that you could possibly think of. And thanks to my sister, Jana... it didn't even take that long! (She's kinda bossy and impatient) ;) Totally kidding! That's me.
We all came inside, and Bryan gave his FOURTH blessing of the day (because he blessed Leyna at the hospital too)... and it was perfect-- focusing on service and the priesthood.
At the conclusion of the blessing, James looked at me with tears in his eyes, and I had tears in mine. We had an unspoken understanding of what the other was thinking, and I was supremely proud of him, yet incredibly humbled to be his mom. He is a good young man.
Then, the party could really start! Leyna stayed close to Bryan or I at first, but slowly started warming up to others again-- giggling, walking, and eating! Family ate, visited, sang happy birthday, and ate and visited some more. *Oh... and then I left to pick up my wallet that I left at the restaurant the night before.... DOH! And my sister had to get her tire fixed that was literally about to burst... LOL.
I came home, took my heels off for the first time that day, breathed a big sigh of relief, took off my dress that smelled like vomit, put on a sweater that felt like a warm hug, and sat down on the couch...
Life isn't perfect, is it? And it's taken me years to understand that it's not supposed to be. The perfect part of life is that if we let our loved ones take care of us when we need it, we can get through any storm that comes our way.***
*** I'm gonna need that reminder one day when I'm having a really hard time in the future.
She didn't pass out, thankfully, but of course started screaming. I immediately swept her up, and brought her to Bryan to check for signs of a concussion. I felt awful, of course, but we needed to get to church, so we kept moving forward. We tried to calm her down so we could finish getting ready and get to church since the baby blessings are at the very beginning. Well... Just in case you didn't already figure it out... we were no longer "killing our schedule." LOL. Somehow, though, I was able to still remain calm through all of this. I called family, told them what happened, and asked if they could help get us out the door. Family members came IMMEDIATELY, and I am so overwhelmed with gratitude for all of their help. Some took kids to the church building, some dressed babies and got them in carseats, and some made my bed (because, let's be honest, I'm a little OCD, and I knew after a morning like this one, coming home to an unmade bed would send me over the edge)...
All of their help allowed Bryan and I to tend to Leyna. I did her hair again... (I already admitted to my OCD issues, ok?)... on the bathroom counter... :) but this time, her eyes were rolling back into her head, and she was COMPLETELY white. I knew she had a concussion, and she was going to vomit at any time. We grabbed some ziploc baggies, loaded the babies up in the van, didn't even DARE buckle Leyna in her carseat, and drove the 4/5 blocks to church with her sucking her thumb on Daddy's lap.
Somehow, we still managed to get to church on time!!!! Early, even. We had seats saved for us front and center. I handed babies and bottles off to family members, and walked over to Bryan and Leyna. He was going to have to get up to perform the baby blessings, so I figured if I needed to pull her away from her dad, it was better to do it now. She usually isn't partial to which parent she gets, but I didn't know what to expect after a fall like that. Right as I was reaching for her, and MINUTES before the meeting began... it happened. Leyna threw up all over herself AND Bryan!
Once again... here came the helping hands. Bryan was covered in vomit, I had tried to catch it, it's all over Leyna and on the floor, church was about to start, and we were front and center. We had family members and friends cleaning up the floor, washing clothes in the sinks, and packs of baby wipes came from all directions.
It was this one moment when I looked all around me in disbelief. One moment.
This was my day.
It was not the day I had planned... but it was happening.
Tears welled up in my eyes for just a moment when someone asked what they could do, and I said,
"I don't know."
Our bishop is the director of ICU, and after talking to him, he suggested taking her to the emergency room, and asked us if we still wanted to do the baby blessings. Well... with all of this family in town, and being seconds away from it now??? Yes. "Yes, let's still do it."
The meeting began, Bryan was as calm as a cucumber, and somehow.... I was too. Heaven must have been with us. The babies were being fed and cuddled, my big kids were... well, let's be honest, I have no idea. I just knew they were okay. And I just cuddled Leyna. I held her in my arms, and tried to keep her awake, but happy. 10 minutes. All we needed her to do was make it 10 minutes, and then Bryan could take her to the hospital.
Then it was Peter's turn for his blessing. Amidst all the chaos, and in a vomit-stained suit, Bryan was able to feel the spirit of the Holy Ghost, and gave Peter a beautiful blessing. Seconds into it, though, Leyna threw up on my lap, and my mom took her out immediately. And there were those baby wipes that came out of nowhere again! #helpinghands #heavenlyhelp Worried about Leyna, I had a hard time concentrating on Peter's blessing, but I recognized one specific word-- "TESTIMONY." Peter was being blessed with a testimony of his Savior. <3
The major points of my testimony; however, were 1) I was so overwhelmed with gratitude for the blessings that I had, and the help we have received since moving to St. George. And 2) In years past, I would have recognized a day like that as a punishment from God, but this time, I recognized it as an opportunity to see every blessing along my way that helped me to get through it. "Here I am standing as a witness of God's goodness. Life might not be perfect, but Heavenly Father has blessed me with so many good people-- to help me take care of the very blessings I don't even have enough hands to take care of myself."
Bryan and Leyna stayed at the hospital for observation, accompanied by more family, of course, because that's the theme of our day! While the rest of us came home to celebrate my awesome Brother-in-law's birthday, and we played one KILLER game of charades!
I have no idea how I was able to be so happy at that time, but I was! Of course, I was worried, and I was trying hard not to blame myself for Leyna falling, but ultimately, I was just at peace. I felt bad for James, though. He was being so patient... but he had been looking forward to receiving the priesthood for over a year, and it was supposed to happen at home right after church. Instead, his dad was at the hospital with his little sister, and we didn't even know what events were going to follow.
I won't lie, though... at this point, one of my major concerns was embarrassingly... "How am I going to get a picture of EVERYONE together?" Yes.... photographs are kind of everything to me right now-- there's a deeper reason as to why-- but for now, let's just say it's embarrassing. More on that another time.
I was about to give up on my little dream to have all of my incredible family members who made this day so memorable all in one picture at one time, when I received a call from Bryan that they were coming home! I could not believe my ears, and I was ecstatic!
And then we took our family pictures. All combinations that you could possibly think of. And thanks to my sister, Jana... it didn't even take that long! (She's kinda bossy and impatient) ;) Totally kidding! That's me.
We all came inside, and Bryan gave his FOURTH blessing of the day (because he blessed Leyna at the hospital too)... and it was perfect-- focusing on service and the priesthood.
Have I mentioned this guy is amazing?!
Then, the party could really start! Leyna stayed close to Bryan or I at first, but slowly started warming up to others again-- giggling, walking, and eating! Family ate, visited, sang happy birthday, and ate and visited some more. *Oh... and then I left to pick up my wallet that I left at the restaurant the night before.... DOH! And my sister had to get her tire fixed that was literally about to burst... LOL.
And I'm pretty sure I didn't leave that spot the rest of the day.
IT WAS A CRAZY BEAUTIFUL DAY!
*** I'm gonna need that reminder one day when I'm having a really hard time in the future.
<3 Signing off...
