Monday, August 15, 2016

At Home with Moses and First Visitors

Sometimes coming to the world isn’t all that easy!  I’m not sure Moses believes what he is advertising on his brand new onesie, as the world doesn’t really seem like a playground right at this moment!

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But coming home was so fun for all of us! Sure there were anxious moments, worrying about nursing issues, stitches and a crying baby but most of the time it did seem like a wonderful new playground with new challenges. 

There was the first bath, given by two adoring parents with just a little advice from Grammie.

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Lots of swaddling…
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….. a big dose of adoration from every angle!
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And lots of time in a very comfortable basket!
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Three nights passed with not very much sleep for parents and baby while I enjoyed a full-night’s sleep on my comfy air mattress. Although I loved the opportunity to hold and talk to him after an early morning feed so the parents could go back to sleep.

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And sometimes that great Dad caught a wink or two with Moses while Charity slept!

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Our first time out of the house all together was a short walk to Trafalgar Square in the rain. It was raining just lightly when we left with that little cherub safely tucked into his mom’s new baby carrier. And it was a wild, crazy downpour by the time we got home. Moses loved it!

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Charity loved showing Moses her favorite flower boxes on the way back to the flat.

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To our delight our first visitors arrived from Switzerland shortly thereafter! Perfect timing! Our Swiss family were on their way to the US for adventures in camping and hiking before joining us for the family reunion in Utah. They were pretty excited to see the baby and Charity and Ian were thrilled to show him off!

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They brought some adorable Swiss booties and fresh Swiss Macarons that put the French ones to shame!

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We had a nice lunch together including Tal’s pretty much favorite food in the world….olives!

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I wandered over to Buckingham Palace with these great Eyres and we had so much fun showing the actual Queen’s Palace and Gardens to one excited little girl!

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We went back to the flat in time for a little Zero birthday party for Moses. Charity had the cake recipe all picked out and had intended to make it while she was patiently waiting for labor to progress, which didn’t quite turn out as planned! The cake was delicious and we were so happy to have some family visitors to call it a party!

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Charity walked a long way for a new mom to show off their favorite spot to view so many of the wonders of London. Bless her heart! Within a few hours the Swiss Eyres were on their way back to the airport for their early departure for the states the next morning.

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I spent some fun times preparing food from charity’s selection of favorite recipes. Meanwhile a parade of midwives, their doula and health workers came right to their flat to make sure that everything was going well for Charity and the baby. Wow! I had forgotten about that luxury from the time when I had two babies in London when we were serving our mission from 1976-79. Oh that they would do actual home visits like that in America! Here’s Moses getting weighed in that little “hammock” by two delightful heath workers.

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Ian and I and a wonderful crew of helpers did all we could to help Charity make this momentous transition. Ian’s help was impeccable. What a great Dad and wife-supporter! He got up with the baby in the night when Charity was exhausted and was so attentive to their every need! 

We even tired cabbage leaves to see if we could help the swelling in Charity ‘s feet go down!  Do you love the blue nail polish?

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One morning their darling doula was starving by the time she got to their flat since she’d been at a delivery since the wee hours of the morning so we were happy to share a little of our breakfast with her!

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The next day our wonderful Amy, Saydi’s BFF since childhood, who lives in England, who threw a fabulous baby shower for Charity and has helped so many of our family members when in England, came and brought her little three-year-old cherub with her to meet the baby. We had a smashing visit with such a dear friend!

Moses obviously liked this sweet little girl as much as we do!

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So much fun!
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The next day we took a stroll to Covent Garden, not far from Charity’s flat. Moses seemed to love those little outings to beautiful places….

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Here’s a close-up of that cute London hat that Grandfather bought for Moses at Harrods when we were here before the baby was born:

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Hours were spent just gazing at this little angel from heaven!

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Charity was pretty proud of herself when, with Ian at her side, she made it to her first Pediatrician appointment on the bus!


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The day before I left we walked over to our favorite St. James Park where we had been just a few days when Moses was still inside! What a grand change of events!  What a splendid place to start a new life!

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We have, between us, approximately a thousand pictures of the first eight days of Moses’s life! There has to be somewhere to stop! So I guess this is it! We adore this “Little Man” as his dad so often calls him. We expect wonderful things to come from this sweet little child with a big name to live up to!


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I enjoyed every minute of cooking, cleaning, loving and getting know this sweet little family whose lives have just been changed forever! 

I am so very blessed to have been there to witness this mighty life-changing experience, wrapped up with so much love! I think my greatest contribution was to say, “That’s normal” when little worries popped up!

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Charity, you’ll have to take it from here. You were truly a champion through the inevitable difficulties of the first week after birth…and so well supported by your Knight in Shining Armor!
For the actual birth story, check it out on Charity’s blog here

Thanks for letting me be a part of it! Love you!

3 comments:

Sydney said...

This is such a sweet and tender blog post. Made my heart swell and brought back a boat load of memories of helping my own daughter after she had her first little one. Thanks so much.

Julie said...

Lovely pix.

Just curious, what's a zero birthday party? Was it to celebrate Moses's birth?

The cake looks brill:)

Theo Fam said...

I just love the way you are such a fabulous cheerleader for your children! I love your positive outlook on life and hope that as my children go I can follow your sweet example! I have wonderful parents myself but have loved adding many of your practices to my own family. Thank you Eyre family!!