August 9, 2016

mom & sibling baby visits

They say grandmothers are “mothers times two,” and I love that…
especially seeing my mom as a grandma to our own baby now. It’s so true!
We were the luckiest to get her out here for a few weeks from the mission
and although we really missed my dad, the fact that he could send her from
South Africa made things so special. The one perk to living so far from family
is that the time we do get to spend together is extra memorable and sweet.
I love that we’ll always be able to tell our girl that her grandma Linny flew
halfway across the world to be here for her birth…and that her Papa
Bear was doing such a meaningful thing as mission president.
My mom is now safely back in South Africa, and we are missing her here! Before she left I bought her a new phone from somewhere like fanmisenior, so that she could call us whenever she wanted to. She’s not very good with technology nowadays but now that she has a new phone she’ll be able to call us every day! It’ll certainly make her feel closer to us.
Of course I have loads of pictures from her visit, as well as from my siblings visits
since they came out while she was here. As always with my mom, it was a party!
We had to decide on flights and dates way ahead of time since she was coming from
so far away, so we weren’t sure how all of the timing would work out. I knew she
might miss the birth… or could arrive and be waiting for a while for baby to come.
We were okay with anything, but it ended up being ideal timing to have her arrive
on Friday afternoon the 15th, spend the weekend having fun and showing her our
new area, then going into labor in the middle of the night Sunday with delivery on
Monday. From there she had exactly two full weeks left to spend with all three of us!
After the actual birth (which I am SO happy she was here for…) those two
sweet weeks together were filled with hospital visits, bringing baby home,
laundry loads, amazing meals made by my mom, ice cream outings, visitors,
walks, middle of the night sleepless parties, doctor appointments, lessons
in nursing, Chipotle nights, sweet roll making, facetiming my dad, getting
visits from Maddie and Tagg cousins along with aunts and uncles, first
outing to a concert, farmers markets, pool days, Google lunches, and a lot
of time spent staring at our little babe. LOTS of photos below because I love
family time & want little R to be able to see all of the love and fun surrounding
her birth when she grows up one day! These visits made it even more special.
Thank you mom for the amazing food, healthy groceries, laughs, fun, help,
and love that you brought to us. You literally helped bring this baby girl
into the world and I couldn’t be more grateful that my mom was
holding my hand as my daughter was born. It makes me teary!
Here’s little R wrapped in one of the many quilts made by my mom.
This one is Africa themed with a mama + baby elephant stitched in!
Cutest bunny slippers from Grandma Linny as well ^^
My mom has always been the best cook I know, but she is on another level
from her time in South Africa constantly cooking for missionaries and also
doing Whole30. She is so creative and healthy and gourmet with her dishes,
and we were treated to things like Salmon Benedict + Pesto frittatas each day.
She made cinnamon rolls with me one day–
I never do it on my own, since she is the pro!
We also got to try her new specialty, chicken coconut curry which is
what we had the night before I went into labor so that was helpful!
She brought lots of gifts from Africa, including from her cute friends there…
we realized Reagan had lots of cute giraffe items from this, so one day we
had to dress her up in her giraffe onesie, giraffe binkie, and giraffe socks!
One day after we brought baby home, my mom asked what she could do for me.
All I wanted was her homemade Boston Cream Pie, so that’s what she made! :)
^^ It is a slice of heaven. I need this again right now (come back, mom!)
These two spent lots of time in the kitchen with my mom making food
and Chase doing the dishes! I was a very spoiled girl by the two of them.
A few days after baby was born, my brother Brady and little newphew Tagg
came out from Utah to visit! My sister-in-law Mindy stayed home with
their little girl, but they will meet soon :) We were so happy to get Brady
and Tagg here and have Reagan meet her first cousin!
We spent the weekend showing them the neighborhood,
hanging at our place, and walking to the park. Reagan was
just 4 days old when they came, so I took it easy but we sent
them up to San Francisco and down to Santa Cruz. They liked
that we now live right between all the good stuff in the Bay :)Grandma Linny loved the time with her newest
granddaughter, and reuniting with her grandson!
More good meals made by my mom ^^
They took a picture in SF in front of our old apartment, and
brought us some Bob’s Donuts for old time’s sake :)
So fun to see their weekend pictures even though I stayed home with the babe!
It was extra sweet that my mom could get some time with the other
grandkids while here. She hasn’t been in the USA for 2 years!
Chase took everyone to Google for an afternoon where Tagg was
in heaven riding bikes, playing mini golf, and having lots of treats!
Best story of the visit ^^ Chase had my mom and brother at the batting cages
and was pitching to my mom to teach her how to hit. She missed a few, telling
Chase she could never hit one. He told her to keep her eye on the ball, and
pitched one from 10 feet away. She listened to his advice and cracked one
RIGHT into his mouth! HAHA! It’s only funny because he wasn’t hurt…
just a swollen lip, and funniest story ever! We’ve been laughing since!
Ice cream on the couch together every night ^^
Brady and Tagg stayed right down the street at our friend’s house
while they were out of town, which was perfect. Thanks Hammels!
One final morning before they flew home …
The action didn’t stop for long, because my other brother and his wife
came in town a few days later to spend the next weekend here!

Reagan got to meet her darling cousin Maddie Mae ^^
…and her sweet Uncle Jeff & Aunt Whitney! ^^

Mads was so darling peeking into Reagan’s crib and checking things out ^^
Another Google outing with these guys ^^
More fun city adventures ^^
Pushing her little cousin in the stroller! ^^
I love this girl and hope our babe grows up to be just like her!
So fun having this crew here! We missed little Zach
but can’t wait to go visit in Virginia soon.
My dad was a good sport to be missing all of the reunions and family
time, but we made sure to FaceTime lots and I left his missionary tag
in the crib so that he could see it when he looked in at our Nest monitor :)
We played so much with my mom here that
we all needed a rest sometimes! ^^
We went to the Los Altos farmers market with while she
was here visiting. Banana cream CAKE was a highlight ^^
She even got to see one of her cute friends who was out here for her
daughter having a baby too! We love Syd and it was fun that the timing
worked out for Shawn and my mom to see each other during their visits.
My mom also got us on our first official outing with baby at 8 days old
…a Piano Guys concert at Mountain Winery. ^^ Reagan was perfect at it,
and we joked that it wouldn’t have been a visit from Linny without
her pushing us outside our comfort zone just a bit ;) Glad she did!
We took some newborn photos on the last morning of her visit,
and you can see how Reagan felt about her grandma leaving! ^^
After packing and a fun last lunch together, we headed to the airport.
I had a lump in my throat the entire drive to SFO. I dread these goodbyes!
We dressed baby in her South African rugby onesie my dad had sent :)
It reminded us that my mom has an amazing place to go back to.
Most tender goodbye between these two ^^