The first family member to come and help arrived before Olivia made her entrance! Papa was so incredible to volunteer to help us get more work on the house completed and get our bedroom ready for Olivia. He had already come to work right after we moved (more on this later), so he has given lots of TLC to our house and to us. Thank you Papa!
Waiting for Papa
Always a wonderful reunion!
Reading time, and notice Rocky! He loves it when Papa comes, and he will often sit at Papa's feet.
Finally ripping up a cable cord off the floor!
Painting our bedroom! Thank you, Papa, it is beautiful and a perfectly calm place for us and Livvy.
Hanging drywall in the dining room
Nice to be able to work together!
One of the many meals we have eaten in our living room since the renovation process began. Lots of fun memories! We have loved having our dining room back in working order the past few months, though.
Taking down wallpaper in the bathroom and prepping walls.
Bedroom before . . .
And After!!!
Yea!!!
Papa with us at the kids' dentist appointment. A fun time of work and play! Thank you, Papa!
Cookie was the first family to meet Olivia when our sweet girl was 3 days old! Cookie is always so wonderful to help us when she comes! She is an amazing multi-tasker and so thoughtful about doing little things that make all the difference! She loved on all our kids and us! She always works to keep the house in excellent shape and get everything caught up before she leaves! It means so much to us! It's so much work for a teacher to leave a classroom full of young kiddos with a substitute for a whole week! It takes tons of prep work before and catching up after, and we are so grateful for the sacrifice Cookie makes to come whenever these babies decide to make their entrances.
First time together!
The wonder of a new baby!
Ellery and Cookie make fun sounds and hear their echos in the distance. Ellery thinks
it's so fun!
A little late night chatting with Livvy. We had fun watching the Olympics with Cookie each night! It was really fun to have the Olympics going during post-birth, post-op time (definitely planned it that way ;) )
Love this sweet moment!
Cookie is a wonderful playmate!
Saying goodbye is always hard, but we got in some good smiles with our sweet Cookie just before heading to the airport!
Just thought this was funny from the early days!
Aunt Amanda arrived when Olivia Faith was 10 days old! She had just accepted a new position at work. What a blessing and such a generous gift for her to spend vacation time coming to see us and help out! Amanda was incredible! She played with big kids, cooked, cleaned up the kitchen each night, washed lots of clothes, played some more, and it was really wonderful for me to spend special time with my sweet sister each evening - something we don't get to do very often!
Precious snuggle time!
Working together after bath time - hard to believe these tiny babies can demand the help of two grownups sometimes!
Too sweet!
Aaahhhhhhh! Ellery is Dr./Nurse E this week!
Amanda helped Kiran make a Bat Cave - Awesome!!!
Playing with Lincoln Logs
Just a sweet moment I caught of my 2 big kids
Love you, Amanda!
Granna and Grandad (my parents) and Ninny (my grandmother, Dad's mom) arrived when Olivia was 2 Months Old! They had waited a long time to come, and it was a very special time. It was actually perfect timing to spread out the assistance a little and to provide a very welcome break for me after Jeff had returned to work for a while. My grandmother had never been to TN to see us, so it was a huge blessing for her to come! As you will see, the increased number of photos I take with each family visit corresponds directly to the increase in time following Livvy's birth :)
They arrived on Easter morning which was also Ninny's birthday! So, Mom made cupcakes for her with the kids.
Meeting Granna
Olivia and Grandad saying hello.
Rocking with Ninny
Playing with Ninny
Ninny making apricot fried pies - Yum!
Kiran got a light saber from Granna and Grandad for his birthday, and oh boy, did he have fun playing with Grandad that week!
It was fun to capture this.
Time at the park. Grandad can push really high!
Picnic at the park
I love pictures of babies in someone's arms/hands.
Our sweeties on Easter. No, Kiran did not wear his Superman shirt to church, but let me tell you, it is crazy hard to ever get a photo of him in dressy clothes. He will only change into them just before an event, and he is the fastest changer in the world when it comes to getting back into his comfortable favorites!
Climbing and more climbing!
Happy Birthday, Ninny!
Sweet!
Ellery's favorite - reading books with someone she loves!
The trees were in full bloom while they were here! And, we've had a year of incredible color with blooms! That was really nice to drive around and see the beauty.
One of many picnics in our front yard!
Hunting eggs
Helping Granna
The kids just loved getting to spend time with Ninny!
Playing out front
Being silly with Granna
Okay, a little story. This rocker was my great-grandmother's (Ninny's mother). Ninny gave it to me for rocking Livvy. I absolutely love it (you know how much I love rockers), and I especially love this one because it was Ma's. When I received it (back in December), it had a blue and white cover on the cushion, and it was old and needed to be replaced. I found some material and was going to have a friend help me recover it. I had no idea that my grandmother would be coming to visit. When she arrived, I asked if she would help me recover the cushion. She and I spend time together as she completed this project. I tried to watch and learn as she worked on the sewing machine that was Jeff's great-grandmother's (I've had it for several years and am so thankful for it. I do still have a lot to learn! It was really nice to have Ninny's help.) I feel so blessed to have had this special time with my grandmother and to have this wonderful rocker! Livvy and my big kids love it, too! Thank you, Ninny!
Too sweet!
Play time with Grandad!
Fixing meals for Granna
Drawing with Grandad
Checking out the birds who are singing early in the morning. The kids loved waking up and finding Ninny already awake each morning! They would go snuggle with her.
Having Ninny around this week was such a blessing as I haven't spent that much time with her in years! And, watching my kids play with her took me back to the memories I have of her during my own childhood.
Hard saying goodbye. Ellery actually chased their truck down the road!
I wish I had some photos of all the work Mom, Dad and Ninny did while they were here! The funniest thing and great memories we all have are of the laundry. Laundry, laundry and more laundry! Ninny, Mom and I had so many laughs over this. As soon as we thought the laundry was caught up, we'd see Ninny back by the washer again or folding clothes again. It is crazy keeping up with laundry these days! I'm actually getting better at it now, thank goodness! Mom and Ninny cooked and cleaned, and Dad raked leaves and sticks and swept the porches and walkways! And as you can see, they all loved on the kids! Thanks so much!
As I went back through editing, I was overwhelmed by all of the incredible memories made in the past few months of our lives! We are blessed with amazing families, made up of incredibly generous and caring people. It is an awesome thing to live life surrounded by such love and joy!
The past few years have been such a time of growth for me as we have started our family. I think I have learned more than all of the other years of my life combined. One of the greatest lessons I've learned is that the old adage, "It takes a village to raise a child," really is true. There are so many tasks to complete in a day, so many things to teach a child, so many things to understand about parenting, so many relationships to nourish. There are those times when you really need to be in two (or three) places at once. And, there are days when you just need a break. Thankfully, we have the most amazing friends who provide so much support to us. After living away from family, though, we have come to appreciate every single moment we get with them. We appreciate all they to do help while here, their incredible support when far away, and most of all, the love they have for us and the understanding that their love for us is strong and constant and that in a moment's notice they are available if needed.
1 comment:
precious post! great to see pics of your family.
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