Grandma Karen & Grandpa Perry Come to Visit

Mom and Perry came to our house Saturday evening and left Sunday evening. Like the day before with dad, I was happy to see the look on her face when she first held Audrey. I knew my parents were looking forward to being grandparents, but I guess I never imagined the moment when they would first meet her. It makes me happy to see them so happy. Saturday night we just visited, hung out with Audrey and ordered Chinese food. Mom gave us some gifts. Her neighbor, Ouida, sent a glow worm stuffed animal. Another neighbor, Scott and Melissa, sent a cute outfit. Audrey’s Great-Grandma Messick sent a hand crocheted sweater and bonnet. It’s pink and white, beautiful and delicate. Since I started knitting, I really appreciate the work put in to handmade things. It’s also something that Audrey will always be able to cherish since it was made with such love and came from such a special woman. Mom got Audrey some soft building blocks so we could take pictures with her name spelled out with the blocks and she got her a Baby Einstein gadget that plays music and lights up. She surprised (in more ways than one) with a gorgeous necklace. It’s a silver heart with a diamond in the middle. One half of the heart is a mother and the other half is a child. I was surprised because it was such a thoughtful, beautiful gift. I was even more surprised, because it was identical (except the diamond was different) to the necklace Chris gave me in the hospital right after Audrey was born. I don’t know how they picked out the same necklace! Mom knew it already because we had emailed her some pictures from us in the hospital and she saw me wearing it. I felt really bad that they both bought me the same beautiful gift because it was silly to keep both but I didn’t want to hurt the feelings of either one. Later that night Chris told me that he liked the placement of the diamond in hers better and I confessed that I did too. We decided to keep the one from my mom and return the one he got me. Now I’ll just think of this necklace as being from both of them, and in a way, that makes it even better because when I wear it I’ll think of them both.

Saturday night was our first night at home. We were a little nervous about how it would go because at the hospital, Audrey hardly slept. She wouldn’t sleep in the hospital bassinet at all and would only sleep in your arms for about 15 minutes at a time. We went to bed and put Audrey in the bassinet next to my side of the bed. She woke up every 30-90 minutes. I would hear her cry (Chris was knocked out) and feed her if she was hungry or wake Chris and ask him to change her if she was dirty. I’m still on pain medication and getting up and down/walking isn’t very comfortable. After taking care of her she fell back asleep immediately. We turned on a teddy bear that makes “womb” sounds that Uncle Adam gave her and it seemed to help a lot. Waking up so frequently wasn’t exactly fun, but it wasn’t all that bad either. The next morning mom took her for 2 hours so we could sleep some more. They sat in the glider together while Audrey slept and mom watched some TV. We felt pretty good after getting the extra sleep.

Sunday flew by. My left eye started hurting really bad. The night before my eyes were dry, but now I was actually in some real pain. Mom took me to the walk in Redi-Clinic at HEB and Audrey stayed home with Chris. It was good that mom was there, because I’m not supposed to drive for a week. I had a corneal abrasion and was given an antibiotic ointment to put in my eye. My theory is that maybe I rubbed it too hard when I was tired. The nurse said that I nicked the crap out of it and it would have been infected by the next day had I not come in. While waiting for the prescription, mom picked out groceries to make us a chicken marsala dinner that night and she also surprised me with a pretty floral arrangement.

After coming back from HEB, the day really went quickly. I finally got my first shower since Wednesday and it felt wonderful. We ate dinner and took pictures with Audrey and also with the baby announcement sign in the yard that Perry got for us. Before I knew it, they were heading back home. She’s planning to come back later and stay for a week. I’m looking forward to it. I think we’ll have a lot of fun together with Audrey.