Change of Plans

As of yesterday, I no longer have an office/craft room (by the way, that was the official title... the "office-slash-craft room".... in case you were wondering). Wait, don't get too excited... it did not cease to be the office/craft room because it's going to be a nursery, we haven't hopped on that train yet no matter how long I've been sitting at the station waiting for my husband to hop on board. The reason that as of yesterday I no longer have an office/craft room, is that as of tomorrow, my mother-in-law (MIL) is coming to stay with us for an undefined period of time. I won't get into all the details because it's a lot and I'd like to respect my MIL's privacy, but as of right now, this is our best option and we have been blessed to be put in a position where we are able to help. And, as her family and as Christians, we are willing to do so. Dave and I are nervous- I really don't know her very much at all but she's always been respectful of me. I am virtually a stranger to her, too, so we'll have to see what our relationship becomes as we get to know each other better. It is going to be a major adjustment for all of us, and one that we never wanted to make, but she needs help right now and this is the best short term solution that we can come up with. Please pray for our family during this transition, and please pray for healing for MIL. Please also pray that it won't be long before we can help her get started again, on her own.

As for Jack, he seems to like MIL well enough. He's only seen her a few times in his 2 years and I doubt he remembers the last time he saw her, but I have always showed him her picture, and he is a smart cookie. He caught on right away that she was his grandma, though at first he was a little confused on how to differentiate between his two grandmas. It quickly became apparent, though, that we'd have to come up with a way to tell them apart during conversations, as Jack came up with his own way of telling them apart:

On Wednesday, the first day that MIL was here, Jack was calling her 'grandma'. Right as I was wondering if I was being silly for worrying that he'd be shy around her, he asked me a question that I misinterpreted to be "Where is 'little' grandma?" Thinking he was referring to MIL, I told him that she was on the couch. As I was rocking him before his nap, however I realized my mistake!

Jack: Where [little] grandma?
Me: Little grandma is on the couch!
Jack: No, where YELLOW grandma?
Me: (thinking, holy crap who has he been listening to that he knows about the concept of skin colors?! and MIL is Korean, but he's never noticed stuff like that before) Yellow grandma?
Jack: Yellow grandma at work!
Me: (still wondering and not quite sure what to say, making note to ask Dr. Google for advice later) Um, okay...
Jack: Yellow grandma at work! Where BLACK grandma?
Me: (huh?) Huh? Black grandma?
Jack: Black grandma on couch!
Me: (recalling a conversation a few days ago between my mom and Jack, regarding hair) Oooooooh!!! You mean yellow and black HAIR colors!!!
Jack:(very likely thinking "Duh mom, what else would I mean?") Yes, it the hair!

So, as the day wore on and Jack started referring to MIL as Black Grandma and my mom as Yellow Grandma, I started to wonder what someone would think hearing him say that and not realizing what he meant. I explained to him that Black Grandma was daddy's mom and Yellow grandma was mommy's mom. Then he started calling them Daddy's Grandma and Mommy's Grandma.
The next day (yesterday) I asked MIL if it would be okay if Jack called her Grandma Han.

Anyway, tomorrow is MIL's actual move-in date. I will be gone all day tomorrow*, and I feel bad about missing her first day in our home. Please please please be praying for our family as we make this transition, and for healing for MIL, as well as for us to have the wisdom and the resources to be able to find a long term solution (us= Dave and I, and Sarah and Joe... Dave's sister and BIL).

*I got a phone call from Pat-The-Photographer today, and he is shooting the Wedding Of The Century Tomorrow. As he is shorthanded (his sidekick- his wife, Tamara- is unable to shoot with him), so he asked me to help! Awesome! Pray for me because I'm nervous, but this will be a great opportunity for me!!! I get to observe the pro in action, and I even get to shoot with HIS camera! Awesome! And he's paying me! My very first paying gig and it's for a huge wedding of a well-known Long Beach family! Have I said "Awesome!" yet?