Picture 4 - visit from the cousins

I have very cool nieces and nephews (on both sides of course!). Laura F. brought Rachel and Aaron down to see baby E on their last day of Christmas break. Wasn't that sweet? They wanted to see their little cousin since it had been a while (they were out of town over Christmas). They are so cute to watch with him - they're fascinated with him, and want to watch him "play." Of course, Eli's play right now consists of wacking at items in front of him - with great intent, of course. Aaron wanted to know if Eli had liked his Christmas presents - unfortunately he can't play with them all yet, but he has shown interest in hitting the buttons on this steering wheel thingy Doug's parents got him. We also rolled his 'giggle' ball to him, and he hit it with his feet, or hands, whatever is handy at the time, or whatever appendage the ball happens to roll into. We took him on a walk to the park across the street, thankfully he fell asleep (since afternoon naps are come and go these days). R and A had fun playing on the playground, and I of course enjoyed catching up with my sis-in-law. I am so glad over the past few months to have gotten a chance to spend more time with Laura F. She came down (from Cypress) several times in the early weeks when I was here with Eli, desperately needing a nap (me, not Eli), or needing to run errands without the baby. We would talk, and she would (and still does) encourage me in my new journey of motherhood. There are millions of opinions out on there on how you should raise your baby - when to feed them, how to get them to sleep, all that stuff. I've been doing the best I can, and feel ok in general about it all (at this point, anyway!), but in the beginning, it sure was great to hear someone say, "you're doing a great job," or give compassion saying that those first weeks are the hardest and it will get better. And it has. During this huge transition in my life, of becoming a mother, quitting my job, transitioning to this new job of mom at home, I've really enjoyed that one of my new perks is getting to spend more time with family!