It Takes a Village

Today’s post is a little tough for me. I’ve been pondering this blog post for the past week or so-questioning what route to take? As I sit down to write it now, I still am not sure what direction I want to go. I’ll start off by saying that mine and Brittany's support group is unbelievable. We have the most wonderful family, friends, co-workers, etc. by our side. The part that I struggle with a bit is being o.k. with your support group doing what a support group is supposed to do-support.

I suppose I probably get it from my mother, but I have a hard time accepting help. I can be a bit stubborn at times and my motto has always been, “If I want something done right, I’ll do it myself.” As we sit here at 24 weeks one thing is perfectly clear...we cannot do this alone. We need help. I couldn’t be more thankful that we have the ability to get this much needed help during this crucial time. Other than a short 1.5 year spurt where I came back to Montana in early 2012 and got my MBA, I’ve lived elsewhere for the past 15 years. I’ve enjoyed it. A LOT. Throughout this time period, I’ve had the fortunate pleasure of building a wonderful support group. When I met Brittany, my support group doubled. We were flooded with people that cared, loved us, and supported us. When we found out we were having quadruplets in October, we almost immediately felt that near our primary support group in

Montana was where we were supposed to be for this next chapter in our lives. We jumped at the opportunity.

This opportunity almost didn’t present itself as a possibility though. If it weren’t for Covid, as well as some incredible learnings/realizations from the vast majority of the business community, most of us, (who may be working from home-as I am currently) would still be in offices. The fantastic organization where I am beyond blessed to work at quickly realized that it’s associates were extremely effective in this work from home environment. Without Covid, I wonder how much longer it may have taken to realize this fact? It’s extremely easy to continue on with the status quo when the status quo has worked so well for so many years but sometimes, the strangest thing will come along and force you to grow. I think that’s what has happened to a lot of businesses since early March of 2020. I KNOW that that’s

what has happened to me over the last few years.

As mentioned previously, Brittany and I tried for 4 years to expand our family and have children. During this time, we experienced every emotion possible. The biggest thing that happened throughout that time period though is we found ourselves-who we are as a couple. We were being prepped for what we are taking on at this current moment in time. Brittany has been in the hospital for 21 days now. She won’t be leaving until the babies are born. We’re HOPING + PRAYING that date is between 5 and 7 weeks from today. Throughout this time, her attitude has been unbelievable. She is so incredibly

positive and it’s unbelievably uplifting to see. The outpouring of support that we have received is being felt NOW more than ever-THANK YOU-To all our family + friends that have reached out, we cannot thank you enough. We have far too many thank you’s to write and we will get them done in due time, I promise. In the meantime, THANK YOU. Thank you to our parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins. Thank you to the best group of friends (the vast majority who make up a long running fantasy football league-who have spirited arguments over the merits of whether children should be able to choose whether or not they want to wear turtlenecks) I could have ever asked for.

Thank you to our neighbors, Jordan + Jenn in San Antonio, our realtor + friend Vee, the Sypesteyn family, Dillon family, Ayala family, Smith family, Turner family, Kamp family (+countless others) + of course my incredible work colleagues + mentors who have shown an outpouring of love + support. YOU ALL are helping us keep our spirits up and we are both firm believers that attitude + a positive outlook can have an enormous impact on a positive outcome for us. To those that have offered to provide support, we humbly + graciously accept. We know we can’t do this alone.

We’ve all heard the saying “It takes a village to raise a child.” That saying rings true now more than ever. Where in approximately 2 months, and many years thereafter, we will continually look to our village-for help to raise 4 children. Thank you for being a part of our support group-our village.