Two weeks with Gma Nana

MomR stayed with us at our new house 2.5 extra weeks to continue helping out. I am so glad she stayed this long! We would still be living out of our suitcases without her help. She did all of the cooking and cleaning, which allowed me to take care of Dallin. We took turns entertaining Tanner. And we just kept really busy with unpacking and getting the house settled. 

Thank goodness Gma Nana took lots of pictures!

This is our first time eating on the back porch for dinner. It was really sunny so Jeremy put a blanket over his head to keep from getting sunburned. Even though it was 7:00 pm, the brightness of the sun made it feel like it was only 3:30 in the afternoon. I guess because we are so North? 

Tanner and Jeremy were begging to go back inside because of the heat. I was the only one who didn't mind; I LOVE the heat and humidity!

Jeremy found these new Sunday shoes for Tanner! Tanner wore them to his Nursery class on our first week at church, so now he calls them his Nursery shoes. Tanner loves his shoes and he loves nursery! I was worried he would have a hard time at his new nursery, especially since it was hit and miss in our HB nursery. (Some weeks he would walk right in and be super happy, other weeks he would cling and cry. No apparent rhyme or reason to it). So far he has been really good and loves it! He does the best when Daddy drops him off.

At one point, we all went to Target to get some toys for Tanner. He didn't really have much to play with since he went to Daycare in HB everyday. Now that I'm home fulltime, we need to stalk up on more kid things! We all ended up with our own shopping carts. Grandma Nana had her own, too!

Here's a bunch of cute random shots from Gma Nana's camera:

Because Gma Nana helped so much, I got to spend time doing this...

And this (at the city pool)...

And this...

And this...

And this! 

Notice how Dallin's hand is hanging onto my collar? He tends to do that a lot. So sweet! 

With Gma's help, we got the living room to go from this...

 

 To this! She babysat both boys while we shopped for this new furniture.

 Gma watched Dallin so that Jeremy, me and Tanner could go on some bike rides. We've discovered that our neighborhood is SO beautiful!!

 

Tanner spent lots of time with Gma. They took lots of trips to the park across the street from our backyard...

 

They baked cookies and muffins...

 

And Gma had lots of little toys and projects to do with Tanner!

Together, we went on some outings, including the quilt shop, Costco, and a big street fair in Rochester called Thursdays on First Ave! Yay, there is a city less than an hour from our house!

 

 To say thank you to my mom, we took her out to eat at the best place in town. It's called the Old Mill. We had the most delicious steak dinner and this was our view!

 We got a special room in the wine cellar. That was a big mistake with a two year old, haha.

Throughout her visit, I got to spend a lot of quality with my mom. We were able to strengthen our relationship in lots of ways! I love her. I am so grateful for all she did for us this visit and for all she has done for me in my life. We miss you, "Gohma"! Come back soon!!

1st week in Minnesota

We arrived in Austin on a Sunday evening. The church members came earlier that day to clean our house. They also had a warm dinner waiting for us! That was such a nice welcome, so so kind of them! The moving truck didn't get here until Thursday, so we used blow-up mattresses for beds and survived with some kitchen supplies and toys that we brought with us. 

Jeremy had to work right away. In fact, on Monday morning he had a 1 day business trip to Boston. DadR started working on projects in the house. He installed new closet doors, replaced the locks on our entry doors, fixed driers and plumbing and heating, built book shelves, installed window treatments and light fixtures, and the list goes on. He took dozens of trips to Home Depot, which was a huge ordeal because it's 22 miles away!

But he also made sure to spend time with his grandkids.

At the end of every day, Jeremy and I evaluated what we had done and added more things to the list of stuff to do: start utilities, take baby for his 2 week check-up, buy pp towels, etc.

I focused on taking care of the baby. 

MomR entertained Tanner and cooked for all of us.

This was a time of many changes for Tanner. He did really well during this first week, and was mostly his sweet, tender self.  As Tanner "wrote" in the previous post, he became Papa's special helper with every task on hand.

Dallin was super precious the whole time.

In the evenings, Jeremy helped DadR with the two-man jobs.

Notice Tanner helping...

My Dad helped me start my own garden. The soil is super rich here, and lots of rain, so we'll see how things grow!

I should also mention that all of our neighbors came to meet us and brought us cookies. Everyone seems very nice here, down to earth, slow paced, no one is in a rush. We quickly learned that we can't rush through the stores while we shop. People are just to eager to stop and talk to you, to have a nice visit in the store. TOTALLY different from what we are used to! It is very refreshing to experience this slower way of life!

On Saturday, we celebrated all our hard work by going on an outing to the SPAM Museum! It's a super cool place, with interactive exhibits and lots of fun facts and history to learn.

Tanner LOVED the SPAM factory station.

DadR drove back home after the first week. Tanner was so sad about it; he constantly asked "Oh no! Huh Gampa go?" We are so grateful DadR was able to be with us for a whole week to share his wisdom and skills with us. We couldn't have made so much progress without his help! 

Luckily, we weren't left totally on our own. MomR stayed with us for a couple more weeks.