Rites of passage and grateful for family

I'm especially grateful for Aunt Kristen and her daughter Abbey who are staying with us right now to help out after M's birth. When I see happy kids who are engaged in all kinds of activities and getting healthy meals, etc., I'm especially thankful for their service and love. I know I need to heal and recover, but I don't want to do this at the expense of my older children, so having their help is really important to me.
Especially today, I have a new level of gratitude. Riley, while she was supposed to be down for her nap--so she was in her crib, took off her diaper. This was just before she had a really big, stinky poo that she proceeded to paint all over her crib, the wall, dresser, etc. Of course, she waited to do this until I was out numbered with kids :)

I was taking a nap at the time so Kristen found her. When Kristen put Riley down in the bathroom to clean her up, Riley made a mad dash to my room, and climbed up on my bed. Kristen was right behind her and told me she was covered in poop. I brought her to the bathroom and got Riley in the bathtub. Meanwhile, Kristen tackled her crib. Before I fully realized what really happened, Kristen had it mostly cleaned up.

While I feel like less of a mom that I didn't clean up all of the poopy mess, I am very grateful for a loving Aunt who really just jumped in to help as needed. She is a loving and wise mom of four, all of whom are older than 8, so she's beyond the toddler phase. Yet, she willingly jumps back a decade to help our family at this time in our lives. Good family and friends really have the possibility to influence and help each other for good. Much love to all of our family and friends who, from all over the world, are there to love and support us as we welcomed another precious girl to our family. Thank you!

P.S. I have no pictures to include with this post--just imagine a big, stinky mess all over and you've got a good mental image of this one!