Grammy Time!

What a blessing it was to have Grammy, Kim's mom, stay with us for two extra weeks after Papa had to go home! She helped us get back on our feet and keep life relatively normal for the two older boys!

It was an added bonus that she was with us to celebrate Thanksgiving! We went to church together, headed to Jon & Chelsea's house for a yummy meal, and then came home to spend time together! We had an extra little someone to be thankful for this year! :)

While Grammy was here, she did a lot of holding and cuddling with Nathan. He loved sleeping while laying in Grammy's arms. She even helped with Nathan's bath time once or twice!

Grammy also spent lots of quality time with the older grandsons. She came up with really fun ideas for them to do together.

a tunnel for cars out of Marbleworks pieces

teaching Ian how to make coffee

tickles by the Thomas tent

She helped with big boys' bathtime, too!

She helped the boys make snowflakes to hang on our kitchen window. Ian cut out the snowflakes and Ryan & Grammy decorated them with glitter glue and glitter.

Afterwards, the boys were happy to use the vacuum and ShopVac to clean up the extra glitter.

Grammy spent lots of time playing outside, including digging in the "construction site" with Ryan.

She also spent a lot of time playing trains.

One afternoon after school, Grammy helped the boys make M&M cookies. They were active participants in all parts of the recipe but most enjoyed putting the M&Ms on the cookies at the end (and licking the beaters clean :)).

After Grammy and Ryan came home from dropping Ian off at school together, Grammy thought of some fun projects for just Ryan as well. One morning, Ryan spent quite a long time painting on our easel. He thought it was so much fun!

Grammy also managed to find time to make both boys a fleece tie blanket. Eventually, these will go on the boys' bunk beds (when we muster up the courage to let Ryan sleep outside of his crib ... ha!). They turned out beautifully! Then, Grammy created a scavenger hunt so the boys could follow the clues to find their Christmas presents.

Ian was thrilled to read the clues all on his own, and Ryan enjoyed shining the flashlight. :)

The boys were thrilled by the matching, cozy blankets (and of course insisted on using them that very night). They also enjoyed the "why" book and the "trucks" book from Grammy and Papa.

We had to read them right away!

Later, when we did our Advent box surprise of reading Christmas books by the fire, the boys insisted upon using their Cars blankets! Nathan was perfectly happy in Grammy's arms. :)

As a small thank-you for ALL that Grammy did for us while she was here, we wanted to take her to see the Rockettes perform in downtown Houston. Kim and Grammy took Nathan along on their girls' night. He got a lot of attention from other spectators and was a saint the whole evening. We girls had a great time and really enjoyed the show!

Before Grammy headed home, she even helped us get ready for our next batch of company, including going on a fun, two-hour long trip to the grocery store! She got to witness how much Ryan likes pushing his own small shopping cart and helping Momma in the store! :)

Before she went home, we gave her lots of kisses and hugs! Thank you, Grammy, for giving of yourself so sacrificially while you were here. (And thank you, Papa, for being willing to share her for so long!) Thank you for anticipating our needs and for your advice, encouragement, and help while you were here. You helped things go so much more smoothly!

We all love you very much!

Nathan's first week

What a blessing it was to have Papa and Grammy with us during Nathan's first week of life! Life certainly felt a little chaotic, and it was wonderful that they were willing to keep our house running (caring for the big boys, taking Ian to and from school, cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, running errands). Wow! Thank you, Grammy and Papa, for the love and kindness that you showed us. We couldn't have done it without you!

So, what was Nathan (and what were the rest of us) up to during his first week of life?

Well, we all enjoyed holding our newest little guy as much as we possibly could!

 

We took lots of pictures of him (especially when he looked so precious fast asleep).

 

And, we tried to figure out what sorts of things made him the most happy. Being held, eating, and swinging in the swing seemed to top the list.

 Overall, our older boys adjusted relatively well to having a newborn in the house. They were interested in Nathan and wanted to hold him and help with him.

Ryan, pointing out all of Nathan's features

 Honestly, Ryan's transition was the toughest. There were more tantrums and tears than usual from Ryan, and he didn't seem to understand that we couldn't play with him whenever he wanted us to. It was helpful to have two extra playmates around who were always up for doing fun activities.

glitter with Grammy

two-card war with Papa

Ryan in Grammy's shoes

We appreciated having help and company from others.

Aunt Chelsea brought us some soup and had cuddle time, too.

Neighbor Karmen

Matt's staff sent us an edible arrangement. Yum!

We also did some fun, special things. Papa let the boys help him make homemade pasta.

 Grammy, Papa, and Ryan attended Ian's kindergarten Thanksgiving parade and feast.

Ian dressed as a Pilgrim. Others in his class were Indians.

Everyone paraded into the school. Here, they are entering Aunt Chelsea's 2nd grade classroom.

One of the stops was in Ian's prayer partner's (Jeremy) 7th grade classroom.

At the end of the (long) parade, it was time for group pictures and a trail mix feast.

All seven of us attended the Tomball Holiday Parade. This was Nathan's first official outing, aside from the doctor's office, I think.

Seeing HE-Buddy (the grocery store mascot) was a big hit.

Nathan spent most of the parade sleeping or nursing.

We saw Santa and Mrs. Claus at the end!

Nathan also accompanied Grammy and Momma to Hobby Lobby and slept through most of the outing in his Moby Wrap. What a shopper! :)

We started our Advent boxes during Nathan's first week. We enjoyed watching a holiday movie and eating popcorn together on one of the evenings.

At one week old, Nathan went to church. He looked cute, behaved perfectly, and got lots of attention from the ladies. :)

His brothers ate doughnuts. :)

Jon and Chelsea invited us over to lunch after church. Ian helped make smoothies. :)

We also did some routine things, like take a walk ...

We HAD to stop to see the construction work on the playground slide, of course!

We gave Nathan his first couple of baths. He wasn't sure he liked them , even though he got plenty of tender loving care throughout ...

So adorable right after the bath!

Nathan even helped Daddy win at a card game...

Thanks again, Papa and Grammy, for giving of yourselves so selflessly to ease our transition. We love you so much and enjoyed every moment with you!