#102. Love Your In-Laws

I decided to write on this item in the journal for a special occasion- my mother in law's birthday.  Now, if you know my mother in law, you know how wonderful she is.  If you don't know her, you will hopefully understand how lucky I am to have her by the end of this post.  Her name is Teresa, and she is extremely hard working, loyal beyond belief, and loves her family fiercely.  She is extremely sentimental (which is not helping my tendencies to want to hold on to every piece of baby clothing of my kids) and stronger than she knows.  

Nana's favorite 3 people!

                   

I think it is really special that my mom chose life lessons like this to put in my journal.  She knew how much I would need them once she was gone.  In-laws can be a complicated thing for many people.  Everyone is different, everyone has different beliefs, methods of raising children, goals in life, and personalities.  For some, this can cause a great deal of strife.  I have been extremely blessed in the in-law department.  I knew this before my mom passed away, but once she was gone and I had children of my own, the appreciation grew to a whole new level

My mother-in-law has been so good to me from the time Jeremy and I were dating.  I remember people telling me that she must really like me because she would try to get rid of girls that her boys dated that she didn't like! Ha!  I knew I was in good when during our freshman year of college, I was hospitalized with ruptured ovarian cysts- she and my mom drove 4 hours during the night to be with me when Jeremy called them, then stayed the weekend in a hotel together with me to make sure I was ok.

This picture was taken the night I went into labor with Luke!

Then there was the incident my sophomore year- Jeremy had his parent's car at college for a few weeks, and he had let me borrow it to take friends to dinner for a girls night.  I ended up hitting a large, LARGE deer (buck- with lots of antlers) with their car- totaling it.  Whoops!  I was terrified they would make him break up with me! Instead, they drove down to make sure I was ok and to deal with the car drama.  

   

Nana's boys!  Look how little Luke was!

Fast forward several years- my mom was diagnosed during our senior year.  I remember going to Jeremy's house to tell him (over our Thanksgiving break) and his mom sat and just held me and cried with me.  She was there for everything- she and my mom got along so, so, so well.  The bond they had once she was sick was nothing short of amazing. I know they had long, long talks about many things once she was gravely ill.  I know that they talked about future grandchildren, mine and Jeremy's future, and more.  I know that Teresa promised her to take care of me and my future babies.  I know that she promised to help keep her memory alive- which she has done so well.

Hanging at the beach with Nana and Papa!

Teresa took days off of work to take her to chemo and sit with her, she talked her into getting a puppy (my mom's first ever pet of her LIFE) a year before she died because she knew how much joy it would bring her- and she was right.  She even began to pay closer attention to her own health knowing that she was going to be so needed as a mom and grandma in the future.

Since my mom passed away, Teresa has grown to be not only my mother-in-law, but a fabulous Nana, and a very close friend to me.  We talk almost every single day.  Besides my best girlfriends, she is who I call when I need to talk, she is who I can vent to about anything and everything.  She is one of the very first people I ran the idea of this blog by- and she has been one of the strongest supporters.  She is strong and honest, loyal and loving.  She stays on me about things that I need to take care of, such as dealing with upcoming preventative surgeries for myself.  She tells me when I need to quit worrying about things.  She loves me at my best and at my worst.  She makes special time for us, whether it is on vacation or shopping before Christmas.  She knows that I need "mother/daughter" things once in awhile, and she always comes through.  She always, ALWAYS knows what to do or say.  On some of my toughest days since my mom's death, she has done things like surprised me with planting a hydrangea here at my house- one of my mom's absolute favorites.  

When it comes to being a Nana, she has been amazing since day 1.  When I was pregnant with Brady, she would come to my appointments with us because she was so excited.  She threw a huge baby shower for me and decorated it with quilts that my mom had made in advance for future grandbabies.  She had me convinced that if Brady was a girl, he had to be named after my mom.  When Brady spent a week in the NICU, she slept in the folding chair next to his incubator several nights so that I could sleep and recover from my c-section.  We moved in with my in-laws for the first 4 weeks of his life because I was so scared to be alone with him while he was on an apnea monitor and had breathing issues.  She went to breastfeeding classes with me and doctor's appointments with us. She was in the room when Luke and Claire were born, obsessing about how much hair they would have.  She did it all, both because she wanted to, and knowing that she was doing what my mom wanted her to do.

Now that we have 3 beautiful babies, she is a very busy, loving Nana.  My kids adore her.  She is such a kid with them- she jumps in the pool with them, goes down slides with them, plays baseball with them, and plays card game after card game with them.  My friend's kids love her almost as much as my own kids- they actually call her Nana and/or Hanna because that is what one little friend thought her name was when he was a toddler!).  She invites my friend's children to her house to swim all summer with open arms, and stocks her freezer full of popsicles and ice cream for them all.  They love going to her house and having her make up stories about witches and skeletons!  I constantly hear my friends saying how lucky I am to have the in-laws that I do, and I know it.  I think that Teresa is just as appreciative of our family because she knows that my mom would give anything to be here with us, and that she is blessed to be able to share our lives with us. 

Some of the kids who hang at Nana's pool and love her!
Check out Claire's face- she wasn't feeling it.

It is no wonder Jeremy turned out the way he did- he was raised by such loving and loyal parents, who continue to support us in all that we do.  Teresa does not like alot of attention and definitely does not want recognition...however I felt that this post coincided so perfectly with what my mom told me to do.  I do love and appreciate my in-laws, and I know what a gift from above they are.  I like to think that God has everything planned out so far in advance, he knew I needed them in my life to help with the loss of my mom.  He knew my children deserved several amazing grandparents (in addition to my sweet dad and stepmom).

Luke's preschool graduation!

I often times look at my two boys and talk to my mother-in-law about how things were with her two boys when they were younger.  I know that she hoped and prayed for them to grow into strong, smart, and loving men like they have.  I know that she appreciates the relationship that we have and the closeness she still has with Jeremy.  I find myself praying for my future daughter-in-laws (and dear LORD, for my future son-in-law...that poor soul! Claire is a challenge!  Ha!)

 I have read several posts online about praying for my future daughter-in-laws, and I have tried to  follow these and adapt them to my own.

•  I pray that they have mothers like mine, that instill in them the importance of love and respect. 
•  I pray that they learn to be strong and independent, humble and classy. 
•  I pray that they will stand by my boys through thick and thin, and help them weather any      storms that   come their way together. 
•  I pray that they will be good mothers and help my boys to become good fathers. 
•  I pray that they will support my boys and to push them to always work extremely hard, but to  know  that family comes first and that time can't be replaced. 
•  I pray that they will take good care of my boys. ( I know, I am old-fashioned...but I like  cooking and  cleaning for my husband and children) 
•  I pray that they will respect and honor family traditions and start some of their own. 
•  I pray that they will love them at their best and at their worst.  
•  I pray that they will have a deep love of God and instill this in my grandchildren.
• I pray that they will have the same kind of loving relationship with us that I do with my own  in-laws.

So Teresa, because I know you are reading this, I hope that your 59th  29th birthday and year are as special as you.  I am so grateful for you and how you bless our lives everyday!

For this post's recipe, I thought I would share one of the things that Teresa makes that my kids absolutely love- her Special K bars!  These are simple, delicious, and great to take anywhere!

Nana's Special K Bars

• 
  

6 cups Special K cereal
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 cups butterscotch chips
1 teaspoon vanilla 

 Grease a 9x13 inch pan. 
 Grease a mixing bowl and pour the cereal in.
 In a pan on the stove, combine the corn syrup and sugar. Stir over medium high heat until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter. Immediately pour peanut butter mixture over cereal and mix well. Then pour into the 9x13 pan.

In a microwaveable bowl, combine the butterscotch chips, chocolate chips, and vanilla. Microwave for about 25 seconds at a time, stirring well after each increment.  Once chips are completely melted, pour over the cereal bars and cool completely.  Enjoy!