After a grueling 4 hour drive through LA and San Diego traffic, we arrived at my parent's house, dropped the baby off, and went out to dinner. After dinner, I asked Shane if we could go to my favorite beach down the street. It was just after dusk and it was take-my-breath-away-beautiful.
Shane and I get to have dates here and there, both with and without Xinyi, but this one stood out to me for some reason. I'm still not exactly sure why, but it was special. Probably the beach made it special, for me at least. I love the beach and I love that particular beach. You can park right up against the ocean and the waves are always so beautiful. We strolled, star gazed, and just took it all in. It was wonderful.
On Sunday, we also visited our old church family at Redemption Church. It was so good to see everyone! Our old home group consisted of five families - three families with three children, one family with two children, and us, childless newlyweds. At the time, most of the kids were between the ages of 3 and 7, with a 2 year old and a newborn in the mix. Without really knowing it, we witnessed and learned a lot about parenting from these amazing couples. We watched as kids fought and were taught to reconcile. We listened to parents disciplining their children. We enjoyed hearing, "Mom, I'm hungry!" at 9pm at night from the parents of three boys. We equally enjoyed seeing the amazing play area full of dolls, unicorns, and pink pink pink in the home of the parents of three girls. One couple invited us over for dinner one night and we watched them give dinner to their two children, ages 4 and 5, I think, at the time. Two of the five families applied for and went through the Foster to Adopt program with the county. One of them is currently fostering to adopt :). All in all, it was an amazing group of people.
Even two years later (since our move to LA), we were welcomed with open arms. One family has added a new little one to their mix, and we've added Xinyi to our mix. Xinyi is 9 months old, and I haven't left her at the nursery at church yet. The first six months or so, was definitely the right call - she needed to nap and those naps happened in the baby carrier. The next two months were just me holding on. Last month, mommy and baby started going to Little Lambs together, but I hadn't left her alone yet. That was going to happen this past Sunday, but since we were in San Diego, I hadn't thought about leaving her at a new church nursery when I hadn't even left her at our church's nursery! But I did :X. The mom with the newest little one was heading towards the nursery and she gave me courage! I dropped her off and said "bye baby, I'll be back!" and walked away with my friend. I told her, "This is my first time leaving her at the nursery." She replied, "Oh good job! It's the most liberating feeling! You can sit in service with two free hands!"
It actually was really liberating! Shane and I were able to hold hands during service, and enjoy the sermon, without wrestling a squirmy, loud baby! The joy! And Xinyi did great! When I went to get her, the helpers said she had fun, didn't cry at all, and she came back to me with a big smile on her face! Yay, go Xinyi!
More pictures to come on Wednesday, but, it was a good trip. Xinyi has amazing grandparents. Truly amazing. They love her so well, and they love us well too. So do all her family. And her church family. It was a very good weekend. And, I am really glad we got to see the beach at dusk.
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