Quality Time with Grandma Taylor
February has been a month for family visits - we love it! Mom Taylor just spent 5 days in town with us and we had such a good time! Kayla was her smiley happy self and melted her Grandma's heart. Christmas-time was really busy with so much family, so it was really fun for Mom Taylor to have a lot of 1-on-1 time with Kayla this trip. And it was really nice for us to have someone watch Kayla while we got some things done around the house. We are redoing our basement and mom watched Kayla all day Saturday, Sunday afternoon, and Monday evening while David and I worked down there. We got almost all of the lighting completed in that time. David only got zapped once :) And, for what it's worth, it was the plug of a florescent light that got him, not any of the electrical work we were doing. Plus it was really nice for me to have company during the days while David is at work. She let me get an extra hour or so of sleep in the mornings, and then was on baby duty during the day so I was able to get some things done around the house, and get a break from taking care of Kayla all day long. She also helped clean (dust, vacuum, etc) my living room while I took care of the mounds of paperwork everywhere... and we worked on baby-proofing our house a little. We had to do a little furniture rearranging so Kayla can't (hopefully) get hurt with the lights anymore, and we found places to store toys that are out of the way. We are getting there!!
I also have to say - I really don't need to ever buy clothes for Kayla! Mom Taylor is honestly the best gift-giver I've ever known (in general), and this is her first grandchild, and well, little girl clothes are irresistible! So, I can't say I'm too surprised that she gives Kayla some of the cutest clothes (see most of the pics above!!).
I have to say that I really love my MIL. We don't get to see David's family as often as we'd like to, but each time we do I feel that our relationship gets better and better. I really appreciate the friendship that we've been developing over the years, and I also appreciate how helpful she is when she visits. She either genuinely loves to clean or she just genuinely loves to help out (either way my house is always more clean when she leaves than when she came!), and she does it in a way that is helpful (as opposed to, "wow, you really keep a dirty house, let me help!"). I feel really lucky to have the type of relationship that we do; I feel that she loves me as one of her own children and has always made me feel like part of the family. I feel like our relationship has deepened more now that I have a child - as we can talk about mothering tips and such, and also that I need more help around the house than ever before! I really couldn't have asked for a better in-law relationship, I just love David's family to pieces!