This is titled GREATNESS not only because we are thankful for all of these people in our lives, but also because she got to meet her Great Grandmother and Great Great Grandmother who was so excited to see her and put her to sleep each night with Polish lullibies.
Becca, Ben, and Hannah arrived to celebrate the fourth of July with us, which was quite a trip considering they had a new house to move in to and they left their vacation at the beach to make it in time for the East Longmeadow parade. I would say that their rush to get here was because Becca is obsessed with babies, or she really missed me, but the added joy of the whole trip was when Becca let me know that she too was pregnant (I don't know why I say "too" - I'm not pregnant anymore, but somehow it's difficult to disconnect with the pregnancy stage). It was amazing to hear the news from them - Becca and Ben are going to be such great parents and baby Neufeld has one heck of a big sister!
Kris and Jill had a whirlwind 24-hour visit, but we had a great time and they got their fill of Julia. We were able to see them again a month later, which made the quick trip bearable. We went for a long walk in the park and Kris paid special attention to sister Scout so she wouldn't feel so left out.Aunt Kirstan FINALLY arrived when Julia was about 7 weeks old. The timing of her trip was perfect because Charles had to go out of town for a week. This was the first time that I truly felt confident getting out on little trips during the day...I am starting to get to know Julia and what she (and I) are capable of doing in a day. Key word is STARTING...she is still a bit unpredictable! We had so much fun together and the greatest part of the whole week was watching Kirstan with her neice. They had an immediate connection that was beyond words. I had so many moments with tears in my eyes as I watched the love between the two of them. We also asked Kirstan to be Julia's God-mother while she was here. Of course, she is honored! Julia is a lucky girl to have Kirstan for an aunt. I have a feeling in a few years I will be hearing "But Aunt Kirstan is so much cooler than you mom!"
And then Kate and J. came. Kate and J. were married in May and indirectly, Julia got to be in their wedding (in utero). She tells me she had a good time :)
J. is from New England so they got to visit some family while they were up here and we had a random assortment of fun as we introduced them to our neighbors at our Neighborhood Party and of course they loved spending some time with Julia. Julia was especially enamoured by J. (I think it was the red beard) :)
And I should put Chrissy first on this list - she was on stand-by when Julia was born to drive from Boston to Springfield. She saw Julia on the day she was born (yep, drove all they way out for a 45 minute visit and then drove all the way back to Boston). She got to spend a little bit more quality time with her a few weeks later on a random Thursday when she has off work. She came at a good time b/c Julia got stung by a bee and I needed her nurse practioner skills to make Julia all better. She is so good at that!
And you know what is funny about these visitors? This is ALMOST all of my wedding party (aside from my grandparents and the boys of course). The only one missing is Allison Huett - she lives in California and I know that if she were closer, she would be here in a heartbeat. These are my life long friends and it is precious to share Julia with each of them. They are going to be such an important part of her life. I am sure there are many visits to come - these were just the highlights...what a summer it's been!
