One of the tricky things this year has been the fact that up until six weeks ago, I was pregnant! It was much easier to travel 2+ hours to the temple with a baby in my belly. Now that she's out, it's been more difficult. Last month and this month, I decided to not go through the temple, but to have Charles go through alone. Adeline is just not ready to be away from me for more than 2 hours at a time since she's breastfeeding. And I don't like the thought of leaving all four of our girls with one person just yet!
All that being said, last month when Charles went, he got to go with some friends from our church. I stayed home with our girls. This month, Charles and I decided that we wanted to take all of our girls! Which sounded like a good idea at the time! Charles would go through the temple with his Dad and I would take our girls over to the visitor's center.
The morning started off fine, but we were running a little late. About half an hour into the drive, both Caitlin and Rosalie had to go to the bathroom. We stopped at a gas station and I took the girls inside. When we got back out to the van, I got into the diaper bag and realized that I only packed one diaper for Adeline. ONE diaper for the whole day! I had forgotten to pack more... That's when things kinda went downhill for me.
The drive there was fine. I rode in the back between Caity and Rosie. I was asked almost every three minutes, "Are we there yet?! How much longer?!". By the time we got to the temple, I was so ready to be out of that back seat! Charles and Dad went into the temple and I had to take the girls to the store down the street to get diapers for Addy. Going to the store with four kids is quite a feat for me. It's very stressful. But we made it quick! In and out within five minutes! Then I took the girls to the visitor's center!
I had to feed Adeline. I ended up feeding her in the bathroom, which made me feel even worse. The other girls ran around, flushed toilets, and played with the water faucets. I kept telling them to stop, but they didn't really listen. I was getting frustrated, so I prayed that Heavenly Father would help me!
I brought along our pink Evenflo Snugli for Adeline to ride in while we went through the visitor's center. She HATED it. She wouldn't ride in it. Our other girls loved the thing! So I'm not sure if she was just too full from nursing and she couldn't get comfortable?! So that was frustrating for me because I had to hold her the entire time. (I am going to be bringing a stroller with us from now on!) We left the bathroom and started our tour of the center.
The girls did good! They only got out of hand a few times. The Sister Missionary who gave us our tour was excellent with my girls! She totally understood how hard of a time I was having chasing three kids with an infant in my arms and a diaper bag on my back. I was flustered more than once, but I prayed for peace.
Here are some photos from the Visitor's Center!
Afterwards, I loaded the girls back up and went to the Temple's parking lot. I brought the girls into the waiting room and they met a group of kids in there! My girls got to play some letter and color games on someone's cell phone! It kept them preoccupied while I fed Adeline again!
Charles and Dad ended up walking over to the Visitor's Center to find us, then had to come back to the temple because they didn't think to check the waiting room! By that time, I was getting flustered again. My girls weren't listening very well and there was a huge wedding party that had just come in. I was trying to finish nursing Adeline and my other girls were running around. I was trying to whisper yell at them... but it clearly wasn't working. Then Charles FINALLY walked into the room. I was SO ready to leave... I tried my hardest not to cry, but some tears came anyway. And I let them fall.
We went over to my grandparent's house afterwards so that they could meet Adeline for the first time! We fed the girls their lunch and changed them into comfy clothes for the ride home!
Then we loaded the girls back up and started on our way home! We went the old route home so that we could go through Red Oak and see my cousin Chelsey and her family! She was going to have her baby shower that Sunday and we couldn't go, so I asked her if we could meet up and visit on the way home! We met at the park and let the kiddos run around! I gave her our gift and she got some baby snuggles from Adeline! I was hoping that by holding Adeline, Chelsey's baby girl would want to come out and see her cousin, but no luck! Our kiddos had a blast and they did NOT want to get back in the van to go home!
We drove by my brother Bob's work. He wasn't there, which was a first, so I had his friend/coworker call him and tell him that I was stopping by to show him the new baby. Adeline is the first baby that I've had that Bob hadn't seen in the hospital! But I had her on a very busy holiday weekend, so it's understandable! I didn't get any photos since we kept all the girls buckled up in the van. But it was so cute to hear my girls' squeals of excitement to see "Uncle Bob-o"!
After that, we headed home! All of the girls fell asleep about 10 minutes into the drive! And all in all, while the day was very frustrating for me, I had a wonderful experience! I realized just how different my girls are and just how strong their spirits are! They are all one of a kind! I don't like the fact that I didn't have a very good time, especially when temple trips are usually very spiritually uplifting for me, but it's okay! I'm still trying to figure things out with four kids and I haven't quite gotten the grasp yet, but I'm figuring it out! One day at a time, with a LOT of help from the Lord!
And I figure that by the time I've figured it out, I'll be adding another little one into the mix!
Then it all starts over!
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