Parents' Visit
Monday, October 02, 2006

Sorry for the super long hiatus. My parents left early yesterday morning and I didn't find time to do my usual daily post while they were here.

We had a great visit. We didn't do anything too eventful - just relaxed, ate, and shopped - but it was still really nice. Oh yeah, and my mom & stepdad are FREAKS about yard work. They LOVE anything that has to do with landscaping, so my mom pulled every single weed around the perimeter of our house (and that was no small task, mind you!) and trimmed all the shrubbery. My stepdad mowed the ditch that DH didn't get a chance to mow before they got here and also did some little home-improvement projects inside the house. He re-wired some lightswitches that had been wired wrong, "helped" my husband fix my mom's laptop (and by "help", I mean stood behind him and asked a billion questions in an abnoxious yet cute sort of way :), and helped DH put insulation under our bathtub. It was a regular fix-up fest....and I wasn't allowed to help. Every time I bent over to help my mom bag lawn clippings, she yelled at me to stop. Hee hee. I kept telling her that I didn't invite them to come stay with us so they could spend the whole week working on our house, but she insisted that yard work is relaxing for her and that my stepdad would be lost and bored without a few projects to keep him occupied. Here's the house now:

I wish I would've taken a "before" pic....it was a jungle!

They drove here and brought a whole truckload of stuff for us: a crib, a car seat, a baby swing, misc. other baby items, a solid oak t.v. armoir for our bedroom, and all my "Growing Up Girls" figurines that I accumulated over the years.

I bought this adorable Melissa & Doug wooden toy food set on one of our shopping excursions. I know it'll be a while 'til our baby is old enough to have fun with it, but it was half-off and I just love wooden toys like this!

My parents seemed to enjoy coming to church with us. I was initially a little nervous about that because our song service tends to be a bit loud and exhuberant and my stepdad is pretty traditional and isn't too fond of "rock" music. But they said they liked it a lot. Maybe my sister's also non-traditional church has broken them in a little bit :)

I miss them already and was sad to see them leave. The week went by so fast!!! But my mom is planning on coming back up in April when the baby's born. I have a whole issue surrounding that situation, which you can read about HERE. I'm sure I can get that resolved without hurting anyone's feelings, though. I'll just have to be tactful and explain my reasoning.

Well, I'm back to babysitting! The kiddo's daddy took some vacation time and watched him all week. I think it was probably really good for them to get some father-son bonding time in. Originally, his grandma was going to babysit all week, but that didn't work out. I feel sort of guilty that the daddy had to use up so much vacation time so I could spend the week with my parents.....but then again, they've known that I needed this past week off for about 4 months now, so I figure that's plenty of time to line up another sitter. Kiddo's sitting on the couch watching a video right now, quietly munching on some cheerios while I catch up on my blog. What a patient kid!

***ETA***
Oh yes, and I almost forgot to add that DH started his new job today! He is making considerably less than he was making at the company where he worked for 6 years, but it is worth it. He will be doing computer tech work, which is what he loves. His boss told him that he hires everyone in at that modest rate and then raises their wages when he can evaluate their worth. I'm confident that they will be fair and pay DH a good amount. Plus, DH eventually wants to work at our church full time, and the experience he will be getting at this job will be perfect for preparing him for that. Can't wait to hear how it went!

Labels: family, my house

posted by Unkempt Mommy @ 1:16 PM,

2 Comments:

At Tue Oct 03, 06:19:00 AM CDT, Danielle said...: You're back to blogging, yeah! Sounds like your parent's visit was a good one and a blessing in that they helped out with things needing to be done. The house looks great. You just need to get you a couple mums from Lowe's for color and you'll be set for fall!!!

So, I read about the step-dad situation and I think your idea of telling your mom your feelings and letting her break it to him is a great one. That's what I would do. When you're baby mooning you don't want a ton of hustle and bustle going on. I'd make it clear you want him helping fix it things after your moon though. If they plan on visiting again in June or so that would be perfect. You'll be feeling better and up for stuff to get done.

The baby's area looks great and what a blessing to have things just given to you, isn't it?
At Tue Oct 03, 10:46:00 AM CDT, Anonymous said...: I'm glad you had a good time. I have a great idea for you...have your mom and gma visit you, and have your s'dad come work on MY yard! Your place looks FANTASTC!

Babymoon? I was so not in the know when mine were born. I had DH's mom, 2 sisters and bil here the day after I came home from the hospital (c-section) for Christmas. No wonder poor Katie didn't want to latch. We were relegated to my bedroom since we didn't even have a rocker in her bedroom yet at that point!

I can't believe you have your nursery almost set up. What a fun place to sit and pray and dream. Enjoy!

~Shawna Lee
http://shooflypieandgrits.blogspirit.com/