The Grandparent Parade!

Just want to start this post of by saying how blessed we are to have such awesome parents.  We have had so much help and support from both our sets of parents in the last few weeks and it is truly inspiring as we start our parenthood journey.  

The start of the 'Grandparent Parade began with Ronnie's parents....

From day 1 home from the hospital, Grandma and Grandpa Merrill have been incredibly helpful!  Cathy came by with food in the first few days (and I'm sure to also sneak in some cuddles from Drew) and they have been great about coming over to let me get some rest during the day.

Grandma Merrill also LOOOOVES her camera so we have lots of great pics to share :-)

A week after we were home, Drew got to meet 'Papa' Butcher for the first time (we've decided to keep Ethan's tradition alive and call him Papa :) ! 

 

Dad and Connie arrived on Saturday night and I was so excited to see them I could hardly stand it! 

We had lots of fun with Papa!  One of the highlights was Sunday night when they announced the seed and spot that the Cyclones would have in the NCAA Tourney - in fact we even have a video of all of us when they made the big announcement! 

Drew with papa in his sleep sack.. papa referred to it as his sleeping bag. 

 March Madness has taken on a new meaning for us - it will always be the season that reminds us when baby Drew was born!  We listened to LOTS of bracketology and got ready for all the games to come!    Drew had a great time hanging with papa to help him make his picks!

Drew and papa had lots of chats.. talking about ISU basketball, I'm sure!

Dad and Connie left on Wednesday March 20th - it was sad to see them go.  They were great help and we had lots of fun together!

Next on the Grandparent Parade was Grandma Lori!  We picked her up at the airport the same day we dropped dad off.  So no time for mommy to get sad that her family was gone!

Nothing could have prepared me for how much help Grandma Lori (Wendy refers to her as the baby know-it-all) was going to be!  She knows everything about babies and just had a way calming both Drew AND me down at times! 

Drew loved sleeping in Grandma's arms...

We had a great time with her - went on stroller rides and watched LOTS of basketball games, including ISU vs. Notre Dame and ISU vs. OSU..  Drew has officially seen Grandma Lori at her finest! 

Seeing mom go was not easy...I wasn't sure how I was going to do it without her!  She helped with the laundry, made us lots of yummy food and was my 24/7 nurse and baby expert.  Even though she held Drew all the time - I was the one that was spoiled! 

  While she was here we also did our own little newborn photoshoot.  I sent her into Ronnie's office on a hunt for some baseball "props" for the pictures and she did a great job of finding a few!  Love these fun pics! 

Needless to say - I have a great MOM...she sure is a wonderful role model to have as I enter motherhood!

Next on the Grandparent Parade is GREAT-GRANDMA Merrill!  Ronnie's grandma arrived earlier this month and has been over to spend time with Drew several times.  She sure knows how to rock him to sleep! 

Well that ends the Grandparent Parade...there are still a few more great-grandparents that need to be seen, but we will get to see them during our "Iowa Tour" in May!

Many many thanks to Drew's wonderful grandparents - we are so thankful for everything you do for us and all the love you give!