I hit the jackpot!

No...unfortunately I didn't win the lottery, at least in terms of money. I mean I hit the jackpot when it comes to in-laws. I know many women out there that complain about their in-laws or stress about them, etc... but not me. I have the best in-laws a girl could ever hope for. They truly are two of the most amazing people I have ever met and from day one have treated me not like a daughter-in-law, but a daughter.

My in-laws constantly go out of their way to help out and make our lives easier. The biggest being that they completely changed their lives for us the moment Morgan was born. At the time of her birth in May of 2007 my in-laws lived in a beautiful new home in Phoenix close to their work, family, and friends. My father-in-law was "retired" and going back to work part-time for 6 extra months before official retirement and my mother-in-law was working as a nurse at a hospital that she had been at for as long as I had known her. All of that didn't matter. The moment Morgan was born and they saw how much help we were going to need they turned their lives upside down. Within no time they were working on selling their house and moving to Tucson to help take care of Morgan so I could continue working. In the beginning Donna lived at our house during the week helping me out while on maternity leave. She went to every doctors appointment, cooked for us nightly, cleaned our house, did our laundry, and would even sneak into our bedroom at midnight to take Morgan for a feeding so we could sleep. It was amazing.

Then when it was time for me to return to work Donna and Charley decided that they would rent an apartment in Tucson and live here during the week and drive back to Phoenix on the weekends so Donna could work and Charley would help prepare the house to be sold. They did this for over 6 months until they were finally able to sell their house and find a "dream home" (really it was all about the backyard) in Vail. Even then though Donna kept her job in Phoenix and for almost 5 more months continued driving to Phoenix every weekend to work sleeping at friends houses or getting a hotel. AMAZING right? All to help us out and make our lives a little easier.

Like I said before I hit the jackpot! Fast forward 4 years and they are still just as amazing today continuing to always go out of their way to make our lives easier. They are constantly on-call helping with getting Morgan picked up from preschool in time for doctors appointments and therapies. There to cover for us when she is sick and can't go to school and always offering us date-nights out.

Last weekend when we returned home from our mini- family vacay in Philly we came home to a sparkling clean house and a fridge filled with food. Yes, that's right, be jealous. While we were away my amazing mother-in-law came into our home and completely scrubbed it top to bottom. Things that probably have not been dusted in the 7 years that we have lived here were clean. Dinner was cooked and in the fridge for the night, laundry was done. I am spoiled! I can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciated it.

Then after talking with Donna yesterday she offered to take Morgan for a sleepover tonight (something they have been doing a lot for us lately now that she is officially retired!!!). She knew how badly we needed a night off tonight. Morgan has really been struggling with sleeping lately, most likely due to her new braces. On Wednesday night she was up every 45 minutes for most of the night and last night we were up every hour. It has been worse sleep than with a newborn. Knowing that David and I were desperate for a full night's sleep she and Charley offered up their own good night's sleep to have a sleepover tonight. Like I said, they are AMAZING!!!!

On top of all that they do for us they are the best grandparents a little girl could ever ask for. They do so many wonderful things with Morgan when she is at their house and they spoil her rotten. She adores spending time with them and never once has said she doesn't want a sleepover. Instead the moment I mention the idea to her she heads to her room to start packing. She always has a list of things she wants to pack and a whole plan for what she wants to do while she is with her grandparents. Often when we ask her who her favorite people in this whole wide world are she skips right over mom and dad and shouts "Grandma and Grandpa."

As you can see I may not have won the lottery but I definitely hit the jackpot in terms of in-laws. Thank you Donna and Charley for all you do for us everyday. You guys truly are the best. We love you!