Grandma Karen

Here she comes!  (Being licked by a giraffe)

Almost as exciting as welcoming a new baby into our home was having Grandma Karen come to visit for three weeks.  She arrived on Sunday evening the 14th of October, just in time to help watch the boys while Mommy and Daddy went to the hospital Monday morning for Emma's delivery. 

Little hands helping pull Grandma's luggage

A first look at Baby Emma

Grandma helped with EVERYTHING around the house - cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, taking care of the boys . . .  She got Wiley started on a new chore of washing the breakfast dishes.  There were almost daily walks to the grocery store around the corner to make sure we always had enough bread and whatever else was needed. 

Sorting laundry with Grandma

Walking to Spar

She took the boys to the tennis court, and dug in the dirt with them.  In fact, together they planted a flower garden for Emma.  Each of the boys picked seedlings to plant and Grandma taught them how to get the dirt ready and carefully plant and water the flowers in the prepared bed.

Cuddling with Emma at Papachinos

While Grandma was content simply to be a part of our daily routine, we were able to do a few special things together, too.  The boys insisted on taking Grandma on safari to Pilanesburg, giving Mommy and Emma a quiet, restful day at home.  They also insisted that we show Grandma our favorite second-hand bookshop, just a "hole in the wall" but one of their favorite places.  Grandma treated us to dinner at our favorite restaurant - Papachinos - twice!!  She joined us for Aden's concert at school and enjoyed hearing his piano lesson, getting a sample of what he would play at the piano concert after she was gone (blog post coming soon).  Grandma got in as many cuddles as she could with Baby Emma, particularly in the night.  She shared a room with Emma, so when Emma woke up, Grandma brought her to Mommy to be fed; then when Emma was done, Grandma stayed up and burped her and changed her if needed, while Mommy went back to sleep.

Last goodbyes at the airport

In short, she spoiled us rotten!  It was a bit surreal when we said goodbye at the airport.  Daddy and Mommy looked at each other and said, "Well, here we go.  A family of six.  On our own."  The boys spent the next 48 hours tracking Grandma's path across the ocean and back to Ohio, and Noah kept asking when she would come back.  He wasn't completely satisfied with our answer until we promised him that we would also get a turn to go on the airplane and visit Grandma at her house.