My weekend started off on Thursday with the best possible text from Jessica: Jackie is coming home today!

When I left work I stopped at the store and got balloons to leave outside their house because every new mom, dad and baby should be greeted by balloons when they come home from the hospital. And when it’s been an extended hospital stay it’s call for extra rejoicing!

Dale and I stopped for a visit after our Kiwanis meeting. It was absolutely wonderful to hold Jack in his own house and it felt like we had waited for this moment for way too long. Jack was nonplussed, as you can see, but Grampa was a bit verklempt.

I went over on Friday afternoon for a bit. I could pretend it was to give Jess a hand but the truth is I just can’t get enough of this little baby. He’s super snuggly and just loves to be held and this Nana is happy to oblige.

We had our usual Friday Night Snacks. It was good to be home and enjoy some time together and I always love a chance to use my Ouija cheese board.

On Saturday morning I hung out at home. I did some reading and some painting with watercolors. Pumpkins are so easy to paint! It felt great to be back in a bit of a routine.

And then in the afternoon we went to visit Jackie again. Who could resist this little raccoon? Not us, obviously. We’re so lucky that they live just a mile up the road on the same street that we do.

We went to Shoveltown Brewery for Oktoberfest and enjoyed pumpkin beer (me) and IPA (Dale) and some delicious bratwurst and good music. It was crowded but fun.

On Sunday morning I helped out with a food drive in Carver and then we came home to watch the Pats game. Yay!

The best part of the day, though, was after the game was over when Jackie came to Grampa and Nana’s house for the first time. What a treat to have him here. He was super excited, too, as you can see. And very cute in his little skeleton suit. It glows in the dark!

When we weren’t holding him we put him down and covered him up with the blanket I made for him. Talk about verklempt! It made me so happy to remember all those stitches and all those thoughts I had about him while knitting it and to see him snuggled under it was an amazing feeling.

So. It was a weekend full of Jackie and that made it absolutely wonderful!

Sunsets make some of the best watercolor photos, I think. And this is a sunset from the hallway right outside the nursery at the hospital, I think on Saturday night. The days all sort of blend together when you’re in a hospital but what I do remember specifically is looking at the sunset each night and thinking about all the sunsets Jack will get to see in his life.

Okay. Gotta go. I’m getting all verklempt again.

Are full of joy! And Jack!

Jack with his Mom.

And with his Dad.

And his big brother, Patrick.

Jack with his Nana.

And Jack with his Grampa.

Jack with his Auntie Hannah.

And his Mom again. She holds him the most and that’s pretty much how it should be.

And Jack with his Nana in our very first selfie.

Jack is doing great and has just needed a little extra time for his little lungs to adjust to life on the outside. We are hoping he gets to come home really soon!