As funny as it sounds, one of the first thoughts I had when we found out we were expecting Courtney and my due date was April 12th, was "Hooray, we won't have any weather issues when people come out to visit." Little did I know that Courtney would be born on the day of one of the worst winter storms they've seen here in over 40 years.
My mom was originally scheduled to fly in around April 16th. I was excited to have her here a week after Courtney was born. However, I got a call from her that night and she was still in Boise. Apparently the weather had been bad in Denver and Sioux Falls, and she wouldn't be able to get out until the following day and then there was no guarantee that there would even be a flight for her. She has to work and therefore has limited time- she was only going to get to stay for about 5 days as it was. They had looked around for every option, but nothing was working out. She wouldn't be able to come the following week because she had to get back for Houston & Becca's graduation. So we started talking about having her fly out on May 1st. I'll admit, I was a little sad. I'm usually fine- I might get some time with my mom or mother-in-law when I have a baby- but usually it's only a few days and I'm back to life on my own very soon afterwards, and I'm fine with that. For some reason I just felt bummed this time-maybe it was all the cold, miserable weather. The next day I got a call from mom that the airport had been able to arrange a flight! I was so excited that she was going to be coming out just a day later than planned after all! So we were all excited again and started to think of plans for when grandma came. Fast forward a few hours again... same problem...bad weather, and they cancelled the flight again. Again I was bummed. Luckily, there was a book club get together that night with the girls at Chevy's. It was good for me to take Courtney and have a night out with the girls. It was fun to get a bite to eat and spend the night laughing and enjoying time with the girls. I sure appreciate these dear friends. They really lifted my spirits that night.
So long story short- Mom ended up finally being able to fly in on May 1st. (And for the record...we did have *another* snow storm on May 1st! I wasn't even remotely surprised. Remind me never to travel with mom- she doesn't seem to have luck on her side when it comes to flying! Haha.) Luckily it wasn't too bad and although her flight was delayed by about 3 hours, it didn't stop the flight from coming in.
It was so fun to have grandma here! Courtney was already 3+ weeks old before she got to meet grandma, but it was worth the wait. The kids were thrilled too. We didn't have the greatest luck weather wise- it was a pretty cold, rainy 6 days while mom was here, but we just enjoyed spending time together. Mom was so sweet to get up with me in the mornings to get the boys off to school. It was fun to have some quiet mornings just sitting by the warm fire and enjoying the time together.
The boys love that Grandma is always up for playing games- I don't know how many games of Uno, Yahtzee, and matching game they played. Uno seems to be the favorite. I felt spoiled by the nights I could just sit and hold and feed Courtney while Mom whipped up a yummy dinner for everyone. Or an afternoon where I fell asleep on the couch while mom read stories to the little kids and vacuumed.
One afternoon after dropping Matthew off at preschool, I had to run a few errands and then we met up with Jeff for lunch. It was fun to enjoy the afternoon together with just the two little girls. We sat and talked and enjoyed the food.
Another evening, Jacob had a baseball game that we all enjoyed watching. I think Jacob especially loved having grandma there to cheer him on.
There was a night that Jeff put his grill to good use and fixed up an amazing dinner of some of the best steak I've tasted and fantastic grilled vegetables. He didn't even let the rain stop him.
On Saturday night- mom and I were finally able to slip away for a little time together. We did take Courtney with us too! We decided to look around at the mall and called it our 'Mother's Day shopping trip.' I got mom a cute sweater and she got me a couple of necklaces that I loved. It was fun to have some time together with just the two of us. It's always fun to be able to talk uninterrupted, reminiscing on the good old days and funny memories from high school and growing up. I don't remember the last time I'd laughed so hard in a long time. Having time with mom was so fun. We finished off the evening with a quick stop at Chevy's for a dessert that we shared. Courtney was a champ baby and slept for the whole night.
Sunday was a pretty normal day, but it was great to have grandma there at church with us. She held Courtney while I played the piano in primary which was helpful. After church we just enjoyed a nice quiet afternoon at home- we had dinner together and spent the evening playing games, looking at family pictures, and reading stories. I love Sundays like this! The only hard part is knowing that the time is passing all too fast. Before we knew it, it was already Monday and Mom was headed home on Tuesday. I think we were all a little sad to see her go. It's always hard to say goodbye. More than anything, I don't think you fully come to appreciate your mother and how much she has done throughout your life until you become a mother yourself. I am so incredibly grateful to have such an incredible, loving, selfless, wonderful mother. She truly is one of the most kind, thoughtful, Christ-like people I know. I love her and I am so grateful for her. As sad as it was to say goodbye, it was good knowing that we would see Grandma again in about a month when we took our family reunion trip to Disneyland. Otherwise I think it would have been hard to let her go! I was grateful to Dad for sharing her with us for a few days, and especially grateful to my Heavenly Father for blessing me with the most wonderful mother I could have ever asked for.
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