My mother-in-law moved into her new house today. I dropped the boys off at school and then met Josh at the old house where the movers were going to be coming in the morning. It took them over four hours to load everything. During that time I left to go to a routine doctor’s visit at the Springfield Clinic. These annual visits can seem like such a waste of time sometimes. So much money for not much that happens.

When I came back everyone was out at the farm. My husband’s aunts were there along with an uncle. Everyone was sitting in the living room having some rest time while the movers unloaded things. After a while we all got up and started unpacking boxes. Josh and I worked on the guest room and the aunts worked on the kitchen. The boys put together the end tables that are going in the downstairs kids bedroom.

My daughter is staying out there with Grandma tonight and tomorrow. My sister-in-law flies in later this week to be here for a few days. There were some emotional moments before the movers arrived and once they were getting started. It’s still a shame that my father-in-law isn’t here to see everything. I don’t know if those who have gone before us can see us or not. I would think they are part of the great cloud of witnesses.

So maybe they aren’t able to see us at all times, kind of like in a cross country race. You see the runner at certain points, but you aren’t able to see him or her the entire race. I unpacked his coats and hats into the mud room and it looks exactly like how it would be if he were here and planned to use them. They’re supposed to be for anyone who is here who might need a coat to play or work outside. The house is huge.

I came home and was watching an Instagram story of a woman my age who is pregnant with her 9th baby. She is planning to have an unaided home birth but had gone and seen her midwife today. She was talking about hearing her baby’s heartbeat and out of nowhere it brought back baby heartbeat memories. I can’t believe my children were inside me at one point. Before I ever knew them, I’d heard each of their hearts.