Weekend Visitors!!!!

Apparently Barton, MD isn't an up and coming travel destination, so we don't get a lot of out of town visitors other than my family.  So you can imagine how thrilled I was when my friend Melissa and her daughter Lydia came for a visit last weekend!!!! 

It had been YEARS since I had seen Melissa, and it was my first chance to meet Miss Lydia...seriously, she is wayyyyy cute!!!  It got me super excited (and a little less nervous!) to have a little girl!!!!

Melissa and I met years ago when she arrived in Maryland as a missionary!  How random???  We know!  We have kept in touch over the years with letters, holiday cards, e-mails, Facebook, and she's a fellow blogger!  Melissa and I both had our own struggles with becoming mommy's, but we ended up entering the first-time motherhood realm around the same time, so we've been able to enjoy new mom stories, share photos, and reassure each other that yes it's completely normal that my kid doesn't  ______  (fill in the blank, we've probably asked it/said it/did it!)

Melissa has warned the world that sweet little Lydia has some separation anxiety issues from mommy and that she isn't the greatest sleeper (been there, done that, and STILL doing that with Samuel).  So we were totally prepared for the worst scenario, which in my head went something like: Samuel and Lydia, screaming at the sight of someone that they didn't know and staying up all night long! 

But, as usual, our kiddos proved us wrong and were quite pleasant and happy with each other!  Samuel didn't even try to run from Melissa, and Lydia was all smiles!  Lydia liked Samuel a lot, and I was surprised and THRILLED to see that Samuel didn't dislike Lydia either!  Whenever she would cry, he would try his best to cheer her up...crawling after her and waving when her mommy went out to the car and giving her Weebles to play with!  It was such a relief to see that Samuel might be able to tolerate a sibling!

However, Lydia's main interest at our house was Eric (and the Weeble Wobbles too!)!  Both Melissa and I were surprised at how quickly she took up with him.  Smiling, cooing, blowing raspberries, giving high fives!  Lydia was quite the flirt!  When Melissa ran out to her car for a minute, Lydia cried for a second before she and Eric hit it off with the Leapfrog table.  She was thoroughly entertained by Eric for the next 20 minutes and barely looked for her momma (which, I know from first hand experience with Samuel, it's almost a relief to know that your child can be without you for a few minutes!).  After a riveting game of peek-a-boo, Lydia returned to Melissa and was ready for a nap!  Though I didn't say it to Melissa (I didn't want to scare her yet!), I think in about another 15 years Miss Lydia is going to be a heart breaker and wrapping all the guys around her little finger!  With a smile like hers on top of her cuteness, she just has a way with the boys!!!  Both Eric and Samuel loved her (I did too, but I knew to keep my distance! Though, you can imagine how thrilled I was after a few hours she crawled to me to play!)

Watch out Seger family!  This little lady will be a heart breaker!!!

Samuel loved her!!!

Eric was such a great host, making all our meals and entertaining Samuel so I could catch up with Melissa!  I had so much fun talking with Melissa!!!  We have similar views on parenting and are both working on dealing with separation anxiety, trying to be the best mom we can be with little sleep, raising our first child, and learning how to be a parent with our families far away!  Even with the support of our amazing husbands (I haven't met Rob yet, but from what I've heard and read about him, he sounds great!) It's hard not having our own family nearby!  It produces it's own type of struggle explaining that grandma and grandpa (or Uncles, Aunts, and Cousins) live far away.   There are many days when I wish I had a relative who lived nearby! 

Since both of our kiddos are night owls, we stayed up late chatting (Samuel passed out at 1!)  I got a couple hours of sleep in, before my lovely pregnancy heartburn woke me up, and to my surprise, poor Melissa and Lydia were partying in my living room still!  It was nice to have someone to keep my company while I couldn't sleep, and Melissa was happy not to have to sit up alone!  It was like we were in college only with kiddos around, those 4:30 mornings are just different with babies and toddlers!

Though I have tried convincing Melissa to move here, she's staying down state...for now.  I think the best angle to work is her husband Rob and Lydia :0)  I mean, who doesn't want to live in Barton???

The visit went by way too fast, but I was thankful for the time we had together!  And I'm even more excited now to see the Segers in just 2 1/2 weeks for a trip to the Baltimore Aquarium!

I wanted to grab a picture of the two of us (or 4 of us depending how the kiddos were feeling), but by Sunday morning, we were both tired and I though that we might wait until we go to the aquarium to take the picture!  I didn't bother getting out of my pajamas until after they left!  Lydia and Melissa were such great house guest when it came to me and Samuel.  Being 6-months pregnant, I'm pretty sure my pajamas were on by 7pm and I was eating chocolate by 8.  Melissa never said a word (probably since she was just there not too long ago!!!) and while my house isn't fancy and spotless, she didn't seem to care!  Ah yes, motherhood really does lower your standards!

Melissa is such a good person and a fabulous mom.  I know what it's like to go months on end with little sleep, and how frustrating it can be, but Melissa really pulls it off wonderfully!  She looks great, she's so funny, and she is such a kind and patient momma to Lydia!  No wonder why Lydia doesn't like her to leave her sight!!!

Now that Lydia is getting older, Melissa is looking into socialization activities for her and Lydia to get into and to meet other area mom's. It seems to be a lot harder in a more urban area to meet moms.  Probably since there are so many mom's groups, they probably are hard to break into!  Unlike here, there are few options so you just keep seeing the same people everywhere you go!  Mops, library, market, yep, we are all there! 

Though Eric made some very interesting observations as to why Melissa might be having a hard time finding the right mom's group (yes, this is what Eric said!).

We learned that Melissa isn't a big fan of breakfast foods.  Eric's solutions (direct quote from Eric): 

1.  Melissa needs to start carrying around a dozen jumbo eggs and a pancake mix in her diaper bag and stroller and wear a I <3 Maple Syrup t-shirt...no one likes people who don't care for breakfast foods

2.  Be super thankful for Rob...he knew you didn't like breakfast foods and he still married you ;0)

3.  Tell no one that you like steak sauce with your steak...Eric has also suggested a t-shirt with a picture of steak sauce with a big X through it...he feels it might be more appealing :0)

Ah yes, you know Eric approves of you when he dole out such wonderful advice...by the way, Eric was not even a little bitter than Melissa turned down pancakes...she was able to redeem herself because, like Eric, she can quote almost any movie!  It was quite impressive watching the two of them quoting and discussing movies over breakfast!

We were sad to see the Seger's go, but we are counting the days until we visit them!!!  After six years of not getting see each other, we are getting together twice in the span of a month!!!! 

Also, I need to thank Melissa for the giant bag of maternity clothes and little girl clothes!!!  I've already put the maternity clothes to use...and I should definitely mention that Mel is a girl after my own heart!  She gave me 25 baby headbands!!!!!!!  I have a hat obsession with Samuel, so Melissa has successfully supplied my new headband obsession for Cora!!!

See you guys in a few weeks Seger Family!!!!