A wonderful visit from Memere and Pepere

Eric's parents came to visit us for a long weekend.  The time flew by, and I wish that they could have stayed for much longer!  How many people get to say that about their in-laws?  Well, I am really lucky because Pat (Eric's mom) and I get along really well.  We definitely have our differences-- for example, she is very neat, organized, and cleans regularly.  I am not always organized despite my desire to be, and while I am not dirty, I don't prioritize cleaning over much, so it is always done when it's done.  But we have a lot of common ground, and have always had a lot to talk about, and certainly now that we are both mothers to two boys, I find it so helpful to have her advice and hear her experience.

Anyway, they arrived very late Wednesday night/early Thursday morning (2 am).  We had a terrible night with the boys, one of them was up about every 2 hours.  Then on Thursday the boys napped poorly; they would go down and sleep for 30-45 minutes and then be up again, tired and cranky, but refusing to sleep another minute.  We dealt with it, but ended up spending the day at home managing their naps and lousy moods.

Here are some pictures of Benjamin with his Memere:

And Ben and his Pepere:

Their grandparents brought them a walker, which our pediatrician suggested when she noticed how much they like standing up and bearing weight on their legs.  Both boys got the hang of it very quickly, and it is really fun to watch where they choose to go and what catches their interest.  Right now, they're interested in each other:

Whoever is in the walker will walk over to whoever is stationary, and they laugh at each other.  It is really adorable, and I hope the start of a beautiful friendship!

Eric and Steve (his dad) got a ton of work done around the house, including replacing our kitchen sink and installing a laundry tub in our laundry room.  Pat helped me with the boys, did countless loads of laundry, and cooked us a practice Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday night.  She didn't need practice cooking, but I practiced my turkey-eating.  I think I'm in good shape for the holiday!

After they left today, I decided we should take advantage of the beautiful weather and my adorable children and take some photos in the park at the end of our street.  We are not great photographers, and we had a hard time with the settings on the camera, and a hard time getting the boys to look in the same place, but we managed a few good photos.

Here I am holding Benjamin:

 And here I am holding Asher:

Here is Asher eating leaves.  I had hoped that the leaves would be on the blanket and look decorative and fall-like, but who was I kidding?

The boys falling over each other:

And my favorite, the three of us together:

There is more to say, but I am tired.  Last night we had Benjamin crying at 10:30, my sister calling because her cat is missing at 10:40 (and while I am sorry he is missing, I was SO relieved that no one was dead that it felt like good news), Asher crying at 10:50, and my sister calling back at 11 to say that she had spotted the cat and he is not dead, but not yet home.  So not a great night of sleep!  But overall, a good weekend, and I am looking forward to my parents' return from Italy on Tuesday, I have really missed them.