Of Visitors and Visiting

Gordon's first week was full of hugs and cuddles from those who love him, both from extended family and friends. 

On Monday, Brad's dad, Grandpa Wayne came with Lucy and Michael to meet Gordon in the hospital:

He had come to our house to watch the kids when we left for the hospital (the first time) on Sunday night. 

Grandpa kept the kids the rest of the day and through the night as we rested at the hospital. The kids had a ton of fun and we SO appreciated his help.

One of our pastors and his wife, Noel and Grace, came to visit us on Monday evening in the hospital. I don't have any pictures of their visit but it was so fun to hang out with them for an hour or so. 

On Tuesday, we came home and relieved Grandpa of kid-duity. He went home to work for the afternoon but he and Grandma came back that evening AND they brought us an amazing dinner!

Meeting Grandma Lori

Thursday afternoon our friends the Luthey's came to visit and meet Gordon.

Amanda and Kaiyah

Selah and Ben 

A bit later, Brad and the older kids got home from Detroit with my mom, Grammy! 

Grammy Jo meeting her Gordon :) 

The kids listening intently as Grammy read them new books after dinner. :) What a treat to have her in our Lansing house!! 

On Friday, Amy and our friend Kaleigh came to visit us after work.

Auntie Amy

On Saturday we went to Hastings to show my mom where Brad grew up and to introduce Gordon to the Great-Grandmas. :)

Great Grandma Buning 

Aunt Kris

Brad's cousin, Hanna

Grammy Jo at Grandma Lori and Grandpa Wayne's - Lucy and I counted at one point together: 1, 2, 3, 4 Grandmas all in the same room! What a treat. :) 

Great Grandma Kidder

Gordon Charles is named after Grandma Kidder's late husband, Charles Wellington Kidder. Grandma was thrilled to meet her great grandson and teared up at one point, saying how happy she was that we had named him after Grandpa. :) 

My mom was able to spend a week with us! It was so very helpful to have her around. Lucy and Michael LOVE her and it was fun for me to see mom spend time with them in person (and not over Skype!). She got to see their eccentricities, the good and bad (with a little ugly too!) and got a glimpse of what our lives look like on a day to day basis. We took a trip to the library, got to show her our favorite grocery shop, took her to our favorite lunch restaurant and took advantage of free babysitting on my birthday! :) 

Mom asked how she could be a help to me and took care of everything on my list and more - when we drove her back to the airport on Thursday all my laundry was done (washed, dried AND put away!), the floors in my house freshly vacuumed and my bathroom was clean. She set me up for success and for the next week I was able to take it easy as I figured out what our new normal was going to look like. Thanks mom! It was such a help and delight to have you!

And thanks to all our friends and family who loved us well during our first weeks with Gordon! 

Twin Girls & Their Babies

Lucy has many small friends in Pampa that are very dear to her (and her parents!). One of her buddies is Karsen. Karsen is an energetic, smart, fun-loving girlie who loves her mommy, daddy and her bitty-twins (who's names change on a regular basis - Brad and Lulu have been honored to have the babies be given their names in the past!). Karsen's grandma ordered her a matching outfit set for her and her dolly and when the shipment arrived, she had received a double order! :) Karsen's mommy was so sweet to think of Lucy - the girls love love loved their outfits and put them on right away: 

It can be difficult to keep two girlies still for pictures! :) Especially when they are so excited.

Thank you Karsen for sharing this sweet gift! Caroline (Lucy's doll) has even shared her outfit with Ellie so she can match Lucy - we've gotten lots of use out of it! :)

Our 4th 2012 Trip Up North

All of our friends decided to get married in 2012, this has lead to many many road trips up north - this trip was our 4th and last scheduled trip for Andrew and Kaleigh's wedding.  

 Lucy, looking at a picture of her daddy "When he was a little boy!"

 We were able to watch a few of the Tiger's Games while in Michigan - Dad Kidder shared a few of his hats so we could all show some team spirit! :) 

Lucy had her nails painted by Aunt Amy, a very special first. (The most difficult part was getting Lucy to sit still while her nails dried!)

 We've loaded up one of our old phones with games and videos for Lucy - she calls it "my Phone" - it was SO helpful while we drove up to Michigan and back home. 

 Lucy also got her hair curled for the first time while we were visiting! Aunt Amy has the coolest hot-rollers!

 Waiting for them to cool off. 

 Taking them out!

 She had such volume!!!

 The curl stayed for maybe 30 minutes, the girl has her mom's hair! But it was really special while it lasted. 

We stopped in Cleveland Ohio on the way home to see our friends Miriam and Bogdan. Miriam asked me if I would speak to the ladies at their church so we left Michigan bright and early on Sunday morning, arrived at their church in time for service and spent the afternoon and evening with them. It was wonderful to see their ministry, their home and have a glimpse of their life. :) Even though our visit was quick, it was wonderful to catch up! 

A Visit With Friends

I've heard many people speak negatively of Facebook, saying it fosters a common knowledge of each other but doesn't foster true friendships. I can definitely see where those people are coming from, and for the most part I might even agree with them. But I am so thankful that Facebook reconnected me and my childhood friend Autumn. We started communicating more as we were both pregnant with our first children and our friendship has grown as our families have grown! It's crazy how when you are 2 and 5 or 10 and 13 the age gap seems so much bigger (Autumn was always the older beautiful ballerina to me) but as you grow older and enter the same life stage you find commonality and encouragement from similar experiences! :) Autumn's hubbie, Brian, had an internship this last summer that required him to be gone Monday through Friday - imagining how difficult this was going to be on her we invited she and the kiddos down for a week at the end of July. It was SO fun! 

Amelia (Mia) and Mason are "Irish twins" born just 11 months from each other! Mia is about two months older than Lucy. Our girls, for the most part, really enjoyed spending time together! I say for the most part because when you mix two smart, independent, oldest children - they don't always agree. :)

 There were a lot of "wrap me up like a baby!" requests.

Love this picture. :)

We visited the Amarillo Zoo:

The Shea Kiddos

 Sweet Amelia

The Kidder Kiddos

I offered to help Autumn put sunscreen on her kids... You would have thought I had never put sunscreen on a child before! I messed it up so bad! Sorry Mia!!! :) The adults got a good laugh out of my clumsiness.

Autumn and I knew how difficult it was to take a good picture of two kids, we quickly learned it is even more difficult with FOUR kids. :) 

We spent time together:

 Towel girls - all clean!

Haha, Mia's face is saying, "Lucy, if you would just smile - they'd let us go get dressed!" :) 

 We all love reading! 

Lucy, Michael, Autumn and Mia

We played. A lot:

 The girls decided they were cold this morning - so we pulled out some of Lucy's sweatshirts. :)

 Working together on puzzles. 

 This little guy has me wishing alongside Brad that at least one of our children will have lighter eyes! His baby blues are BEAUTIFUL!

 Play-Dough!

 Proud of a creation

 Concentrating

 Smooshing!

We spent time outside:

 "Swimming" in the pool out back

 Picnic at the park with Aviator Boy! 

We enjoyed cookies:

 This was right after our picnic at the park - and it was HOT that day! That's why the kids all look flushed. :) 

We sewed:

 Autumn and I both really enjoy crafting, crocheting, sewing and general home making - so we decided we needed to plan a momma activity for our time together too! We tacked an easy project out of the Oliver + S sewing book - bucket hats! 

 They turned out great - the best part... they are reversible! :)

My cute model! :)

 We recreated:

This is a picture of Autumn, her brother Zachary, Me and my sister Becca - taken in 1990 (? or somewhere around there) in Germany - we really wanted to recreate this picture with our kiddos in it! 

 This was the best one we got - aren't our kids cute? :) Michael has orange staining around his mouth.... he must have had carrots for dinner. :) 

Here are some of my favorite outtakes :)

 Sibling "Love"

 The buddies in the middle. :) Love that Mason put his arm around Michael like this! And it looks like Lucy is looking for Mia, who is hiding. :) 

Mason's expression is so cute to me, "Why are you leaning against me Mia?" 

Not pictured are afternoon cups of coffee and conversation that Autumn and I enjoyed during nap time. Evenings chatting with Brad about life as we watched the Olympics. Crazy meal times - how do families with more than two kids eat dinner in a peaceful way? 

It was a wonderful week - one we will remember for a long time! Thanks for coming to visit us Shea family, we hope that Brian can join us next time! :)