Family Visitors

We have been blessed the past few weeks to have some wonderful family visitors come stay with us.

First, my sister Jody came from New Jersey.

She planned to come and help me with the girls after Eliza was born.  Since we didn't know when Eliza was coming, she booked her flight for a week after my due date.  Eliza came 1 1/2 weeks early, so she was already 2 1/2 weeks old by the time Jody came.  However, I still needed plenty of help.  Miriam is quite energetic and well, a typical toddler, so it was great to have the extra help.  Not to mention that Jody and I are best friends, so I enjoyed hanging out with her for over a week.

Jody and her husband Cace have exciting news of their own.  Finally after 6 years of trying to have children, they are pregnant after a successful IVF procedure.  Jody was in her first trimester during our visit, so although she wasn't "sick," she wasn't feeling great and smells really bothered her.  So we mostly hung out around the house, watched TV, talked, held Eliza and played with Miriam.

Miriam loved having Aunt "Dody" visit.

Jody also went to the pumpkin patch with us, and we (of course) did some shopping.

It was great to spend time with my sister.  I have missed her a lot since she moved.  It was also fun to talk baby and pregnancy talk with her and share in her excitement at finally having a child of her own.  She is going to make such a wonderful mother.

Our next visitor was Grandpa McBride.  Miriam loved having her Papa visit and kept him very busy, playing puzzles with him all week long.

Everytime Papa comes to visit, we put him to work doing some kind of home repair project.  The first year he and Stan installed canned lights in our living room.  Last year, they put flooring and insulation in the attic and garage.  This year, they gave me more space in my laundry room by adding another shelf and adding pedestals for the washer and dryer. In this small house, any extra storage space is a golden commodity, so I am especially grateful.

I am so thankful for my recent visitors.  It has been great to have someone give extra attention to Miriam right now, since so much of mine is spent with taking care of Eliza.  I have also loved just spending time with them, and look forward to our next visits in the coming Holiday months.