Five Poppens & a PhD: Full House & Full Hearts

It has been a little over a month since we brought Isabelle home from the hospital. Since then, there have only been 5 nights that we have not had a grandparent staying with us to celebrate the holidays and help with kids and household upkeep while I recovered and we navigated through the first few weeks of newborn life together. Many other family members and friends have visited bringing gifts and meals, coming to snuggle with Isabelle and play with the big kids - or even take them out for an adventure. We are so blessed and grateful to be well loved by our family and friends! A full house and full hearts.

There were many wonderful times, special moments, more gifts than we can recount, and lots of laughter and fun with family. There were also many difficult moments, days, and nights. In addition to the "normal" postpartum recovery and exhaustion, I struggled with extremely painful uterine cramps, 3 weeks of daily tension headaches and migraines, another gallstone and a full week without being able to hear out of my left ear. Zoë's bike was stolen (but also found!), and Isaiah fell on his bike and bit through his lip. At 4 weeks old, Isabelle scared us with a choking spell after gagging on spit-up and strained breathing long enough that we rushed her to the ER. Zac returned to intense study soon after Isabelle's birth to prepare for his qualifying exams in January (after getting an extension in October) but was recommended to delay his exams again until April so that he would be more thoroughly prepared. This was a hard blow to both Zac and to me as it has already been a long and exhausting 9 months, and this past fall was decidedly the most trying and tense season of this PhD program for us as a family.

And yet (as I mentioned in an earlier post) God gave us grace in the wilderness, and through Isabelle's birth and the celebration of our Savior's birth, God led us to a much needed oasis. Isabelle's birth was a surprising catalyst for healing, reconciliation, and renewed intimacy for Zac and I as well as for our relationships with Zoë and Isaiah after several months of being battered by stress and unhealthy ways of handling heavy burdens. Isabelle's sweet presence and adorable qualities brought fresh tenderness and affection for all of us, and she herself is continually smothered in kisses from head to toe. Joy and laughter filled our home as we celebrated Christmas (multiple times) surrounded by loved ones and showing love to one another through gifts upon gifts - remembering the Greatest Gift given in Jesus - and spending time together singing and playing and baking and eating. A full house and full hearts.

We are grateful for this time of oasis for our family. We know the next few months will be challenging, but we are resting in God's sustaining strength and His grace that will carry us through. We are grateful for the family members who support us with love and great generosity. We are grateful for friends who care deeply and take good care of us. And we are grateful for the littlest addition to our family who has reminded us of the beauty of life and brought us such joy.