We spent 3 days in Fresno last week visiting family members that we love! Our trip was, of course, prompted by Ruby's arrival on January 20th (which is Charlie's 7-month birthday, so that will make the day easy to remember for me :) We also got to visit Aunt Denise and Levi and squeeze in a little time with G. Sue too. It's pretty convenient that everyone lives in Fresno!
Grandpa Bob (AKA "that farmer who lives with Grandma Sharon") & Grandma Sharon with their 3 (!) grandkids: Henry (2 yrs. 9 mos.), Charlie (7 months), and Ruby (5 days)...
Even though Aunt Jill has a baby of her own to care for, she still made time for Henry. Henry doesn't know what to think of his aunts having babies of their own! It takes them away from devoting all of their attention to him. He'll have to learn to adjust :)...
Grandpa Bob & Ruby...
Gabriel Wiens, Charlie, and Ruby...
Here's Ruby with one of these really precious accidental baby smiles. I LOVE those!...
Grandma Sharon & Jill taking pictures of Ruby on the quilt I made for her :)
We also spent some time with Denise, Levi, G.G. Sue, and mom. Here's G.G. with Levi (I seriously just laugh when I look at Levi, I think he is going to be such a funny little guy!)...
Charlie & Grandma Gail (I know I'm biased, but I just think Charlie is the cutest little guy around!)...
And here's Henry playing baseball in Denise's backyard. The thing I love about Henry is that he rarely gets bored. He's always coming up with games to play and he tries to include as many people as will join in...
G.G. Sue, Levi, Grandma Gail, and Charlie sitting on Uncle Andrew's
fantastic raised beds that he built. Denise & Andrew have a thriving winter garden. They are inspiring me to attempt one myself next year...
Here's Henry playing "store" at Aunt Denise's house. He pulls down her dryer door and sets up various pantry items on it and them sells them to us. It is just plain adorable and very creative...
Denise & I squeezed in some time to layout a gallery wall for her while I was there. These things are best done with 2 people. A second set of eyes makes it come together so much easier...
And here are a few cousin pictures. I didn't get one great one, but here are a few decent ones...
And this picture includes Levi & Ruby, so all of Henry & Charlie's cousins are represented...
And one last gratuitous Ruby shot because she's just so darn cute...
So in summary, we had a good time visiting our family. I will say one thing though, being a mom away from home for 3 days by myself was definitely tiring. It was hard to get the boys down for naps at decent times and hard to keep bedtimes consistent, so consequently the boys were grouchier than usual. This meant that I was a bit more weary than usual. So, it was especially nice to get home to daddy on Friday. Nice to visit, but nice to come home too. Which is just as it should be, I think!
I should also note that holding newborn babies is pretty much the best thing ever! I never thought of myself as much of a baby person, but now that I've had 2 boys, I just savor that newborn stage so much. It seems so long at the time, but looking back on it, it is just too short. And, since Charlie was so darn big, I hardly ever had a newborn stage with him! Watching Ruby wear her little newborn hospital cap made me remember that Charlie's hospital cap never even fit him! Every time we put it on him it would slowly creep up and then pop off. He also was never able to wear a newborn size diaper. *Sigh* All of these things made holding Ruby an extra special treat. I can't wait until we see her again :)
