Visit from Nana and Grampy Stults

My parents came out to visit. My mom was scheduled to come out on the 8th, my due date, and my dad on the 10th so I had initially thought that with my luck, since they already had their plane tickets, Jane would possibly arrive after they left on the 14th. Fortunately, Jane came well before their arrival. This is the first grandbaby for my parents and so they were over-the-moon in love with her even before she came and she is totally their princess now.

Both my mom and dad were hoping for a girl- my mom in particular said that she was happy it was a girl so she could buy things because if it was a boy, she wouldn't have bought anything :-) - and my dad loves little baby girls, especially having 3 of them. I loved that my mom decided how we should refer to them in their new roles even before Jane was born- she would be called "Nana" and my dad would be called "Grampy" (or "Grumpy" depending on his mood she joked).

And Nana has been spoiling her rotten already. Once my mom found out it was a girl, she started buying items for her like cute little sparkly sandals to blankets to tutu skirts to ballet slipper socks. And we haven't even seen what Jane's Christmas presents are yet :-) And then, some of the kind members from back home also sent baby Jane some gifts. She is one lucky girl.

I am happy that Jane was good for Nana and Grampy while they were here. She was then difficult for us during the night but I would take that any day to have her in a good mood for other people. We made some trips to Target, Ikea, Round Table Pizza lunch buffet, Los Gatos for Opa and Icing on the Cake, but most of the time was spent at our apartment feeding, playing with, and holding a sleeping Jane.

My mom perfected the art of calming Jane with what she calls the "newborn shuffle"- she even sang a little song while doing the bouncing movements around the room. My mom also found that Jane likes the first 3 verses to "I am a Child of God" but not the 4th verse (she immediately started crying and stopped when my mom stopped singing).

I love this picture of Nana and Jane looking at each other and having a bonding moment.

Sadly, Jane was not in the mood for a photo shoot with Nana- we took about 10 different photos and this was the best one of Jane (which leaves a lot to be desired)

Grampy was so worried about little Jane being in the NICU that he repeatedly called us for updates as to her condition, even when he was still at work. He loved looking at her, even while in the car seat sleeping, on the first day but he refused to hold her because he was taken aback by how tiny she was (my sisters and I were all at least 8 pounds) and he was afraid to break her. I told him that if she had survived several weeks with William and myself then he would be fine, but it wasn't until William just plopped her into Grampy's arms that he finally was ok with it. Here is a photo of that moment- and Jane actually cooperated this time.

And then he was fine, holding her and doing a special running/bouncing movement that I should have gotten on camera- it was priceless.

He also loved to hold her while she was sleeping, though he would give her to me or my mom when she started to fuss.

Now that I am a parent, I have an even deeper gratitude for my mom and dad as I realize just how much they love me through the continual sacrifices they made on my behalf throughout my life. I also now know how much they worry about me and only want my happiness.

We look forward to more time spent with Nana and Grampy!