From Stressed to Blessed

Who ever had the cruel idea to encourage a new, exhausted mom of 4 boys to host a gathering in her home where she had to feed everyone and clean her house spotless mere weeks after giving birth? Much of the reasons I hate parties (especially at my house) is because I have this insane drive to make everything so absolutely perfect (think clean down to dusting the blinds) that I lose my mind in the process. And as you can guess, 4 little boys are not too compatible with a spotless house so the week leading up to the blessing was a constant stream of me pointing out all the ways everyone had just messed up the house I had just attempted to clean for the umpteenth time. 

And although Jeff tried to convince me people cared very little about the state of the house, I ignored his logic and instead had irrational visions of my grandma showing up to inspect every dusty corner with a white glove and magnifying glass.

I got probs. 

Anyway, thanks to my sister who was in tune enough to sense my stress from across the city and offered to take my kids so I could finish up the complete sterilization of our house, I managed to get the house in order, the food prepped, and the sanity levels back to a somewhat normal range. 

And then when the blessing day rolled around, I realized how little everything really mattered and giggled a little bit at all the anxiety-ridden cleaning my poor family had to endure (sorry, boys)!

Not only did the house HAVE to be in perfect condition, we HAD to get the perfect blessing day family pictures with matching ties, smiles, and the traditional back drop of the front porch. Check, check (mostly), and check!

Jonah refused to smile for his close up, but he was a happy-go-lucky boy all day long even though he wasn't willing to prove it to the camera.

The only decorating I did. I was too busy cleaning, okay?!? Look at those cabinets shine!

Though you can't see my grandma's hands, she had neither a white glove nor a magnifying glass. Again reminding me my hurried scrubbing might have been a bit of an overreaction.

My parents refused to prioritize the baby blessing over their however many hundred missionaries (huff), so we had them there in spirit with a white blanket they brought back for us from their trip to Bethlehem a couple years ago.

I guess he did smile for me after all.

In all my cleaning, the one thing I totally forgot to think about was Jonah's outfit! I knew I had one for him and I knew where it was, so that was as much thought as I had given it. It wasn't until an hour before church as I was about to get it out that the thought occurred to me it might have yellow spit up stains all over it from blessings past.

With my breath held, I unmasked the outfit and found it was white and crisp without any evidence that Jonah wasn't the first to wear it. Whew!

We can thank Becky for the cute outfit that sure beats the little white tux thing Eli and Carson had to endure on their blessing days. 

And we can thank David and Mary for the 2-hour nap Jonah had through the whole party, giving me time to relax, visit, and enjoy all the yummy food people brought. 

After our last guest left we all had a much needed post blessing crash.

Which gave us just enough energy for one more photo shoot with mommy and baby in the backyard.

We sure love our newest little dude. Though at times I feel like the love might be one-sided?

We survived another baby stressing...er blessing. The blessing was beautiful. The friends and family surrounded us in love. The food was divine. The house was clean enough. The day was a dream. Thanks to everyone who came to support us and had the courtesy to show up without a home inspection kit. :)