Yesterday, I was overwhelmed with gratitude for all the love in my world. When I was pregnant someone said, “Enjoy the love, attention, and gifts NOW because once the baby is here… POOF… everyone disappears… so you’ll be on your own!!” Ummmmm, this couldn’t be farther from the truth for me and my girl.

Very generous friends have given us hand-me-down clothes, pjs, sleep sacks, coats, hats, tights, socks, and shoes to take care of my girl until she is nearly three years old. And friends have already mentioned they have more items to give us for when she is older. YES!! Other friends leave bags and boxes of clothes, toys, books, and more goodies on our front porch for us to find. Multitudes of thank you cards have been sent!! #BestHandMeDownsEver

Vivia is blessed to have two God Mothers. One cooks the most amazingly delicious homemade meals for us, so I have breakfast and dinner covered (I buy the groceries). This so saves me time… and let’s faces it my idea of cooking at this point is opening a box or bag and throwing it in the oven or microwave. Her other God Mother brings over her very expensive, high tech vacuum because she knows vacuuming is my least favorite chore and vacuuming happens to be, thank God, her favorite. Who knew… people actually love it? LOL! This is so helpful because my Vivikins LOVES to put every little thing (crumbs/hair/lint/etc.) she finds on the floor in her mouth. Ugh. #BestGodMothersEver

A dear friend watches Vivia through the week for a very reasonable price. She loves Vivi like crazy and Vivi-girl loves her right back just the same. She is teaching Vivia so many things while I’m at work. My girl has reached development milestones by leaps and bounds. And she loves being surrounded by all the other little kids at her Nanny’s house.They do adorable art projects using her hands and/or feet. Vivia comes home with the cutest hairstyles too. Awe!!

Next up? Potty training. Soon. EEEK!! I know for a fact I won’t be able to do this alone… and I’m so glad Vivia’s Nanny is on board to help me with this task!! And truthfully, my friend will take the brunt of the training because Vivia spends more time with her through the week than I do because I’m working!! #BestNannyEver

 

Another friend set me up with a digital TV antennae and converter (when I had my very ancient TV), so I didn’t have to pay for expensive cable service and also help me set up my Blu-ray player (I’m so not techy). While another friend gave me a gift card that I used to purchase my new, fancy 44″ TV. My girl loves the TV remote. It has long been her favorite toy. My dad bought Vivia her own non-working, but real RCA remote control (LOL!), so she would leave the working remote alone. Now, at 14 months she points her play remote at the TV… then grunts out of frustration when nothing happens. Ha! Ha! She is so smart!!  #BestTechSavingsEver

 

Amazing friends from all over the world still send us gifts and surprises. What a treat to arrive home after a long day to find a package or envelope waiting for us!! Thoughtful friends have given us SUCH GENEROUS gift cards for necessities. I mean gift cards for groceries, diapers and espresso to combat the endless sleepless nights with a teething and/or sick infant? OMG, thank you!! Thank you!! ((seriously, we have SOOOO many examples of generosity… too many to actually list them all here in this blog post!! We are so grateful to everyone!!))

 

 

A very talented friend even made Vivia’s first Halloween costume; FOR FREE (to me). She was the cutest Gum Ball Machine EVER. Not to mention all the times friends have watched Vivi, so I could run errands, go to appointments, or simply have time alone to feel like RENAE again and not Mommy for a brief moment. #BestFriendsEver

 

The weekend we moved in to our new home. We were greeted by a hand written note from a neighbor that listed all of our neighbors by name, included children’s names, street address, phone numbers, and careers as well as important local numbers in the area. This same neighbor leaves little treats and gifts for us on our front porch. Our next door neighbor mowed my lawn this summer more times than I can count because he “knows how expensive moving into a new home can be… especially the first year” (to which I gladly gave bottles of wine in appreciation).

 

And his lovely wife shares her mommy stories with me and gives sound advice through text – which is really, in my opinion, the best form of communication for busy moms. My next door neighbor on the other side of us returns my trash cans after trash pickup is complete twice a week. This same neighbor also gave me the most beautiful flowers cut from her yard. #BestNeighborsEver

 

And of course, my dad has gone above and beyond for me and my little Nugget girl. When I was devastated that my breast milk dried up after two weeks, Papaw paid for every drop of formula my girl drank for a year!! He has purchased gifts, a big-girl stroller, baby jail gates (which he also assembled and installed), paid for all of the painting, repairs, upgrades, and winterizing he has done to my little happy bungalow. Then throw in the yard work and snow shoveling he has done!! OMG!! This. Man. Is. Amazing. And of course we LOVE his weekend visits which certainly give me a much needed break. In my girl’s eyes, the sun rises and sets in Papaw. We are so fortunate he drives 2.5 hours each way… just to spend the day with us or if we are lucky, he spends a day or two or more!! #BestPapawEver

This may all sound materialistic in nature, but it truly is not… everyone comes together out of love; Love for me; Love for my girl; Love for the story of how my miracle girl came into this world.

Love is indeed the common denominator. Love. Love. Love.

The financial aspect is not; however, lost on me. As a single mom to a fertility donor baby (no support or aid of any “official” kind), who works full-time, is a first-time home owner, who still has thousands of fertility bills from two years ago and sadly, I hate to admit it, lives pretty darn close to ‘paycheck to paycheck’… seriously, I couldn’t do it without all of you!! It does indeed take a village and I’m so thankful no one disappeared as predicted. LOVE for the Win!!! #BestLifeEver

© Renae Rossman and Candy Coated Reality™