More Grandparents!

One thing is for certain; this kid is surrounded by people who love her. The bonus to having 3 parents is that there is no lack of grandparents in her life. Brielle has now met all of her grandparents. Her dad's mom & step-dad were the last to meet. They live in Winnipeg and have been unable to travel to meet her, so we decided to make the trip over the long weekend, to spend some time with them.

 

Rhonda, Grandma Liz, Dean & Brielle ready to go to the zoo.

Dean hopped in with us and the four of us travelled to Winnipeg together. Brielle did quite well for being trapped in a car seat for umpteen hours. We broke the trip up into two days; left on Thursday after Rhonda & Dean were both done work, went as far as Moosomin, spent the night and then travelled the rest of the way to Winnipeg on Friday morning. Brielle was wound up like a top by the time we got there, which was okay, because she was very outgoing and took to her grandma with ease.

Riding the camel.

On Saturday we went to the zoo, which turned out to be a great adventure. The weather had been rainy but it magically stayed away while we were there. But with the earlier rain and threat of rain, the zoo was quiet. It was almost like we had it to ourselves. After the zoo we spent a bit of time at the mall and then headed to The Forks. It was then that it rained so we did as much indoors as we possibly could, before heading back to the house for a delicious meal and some more visiting.

Riding Hudson the polar bear.

On Sunday morning we made our way to Regina, which was where we spent the night, before heading home on Monday morning. All in all it was an absolutely awesome trip. The rain was nothing. Our whole point for going was for Grandma & Grandpa to meet Brielle and for everyone to start a relationship and form a bond. I think we accomplished that. It was so great to see Brielle getting to know more family. Both Rhonda & I want her to be surrounded by love and happiness and we both feel grandparents give that.

Rhonda, Dean & Brielle at The Forks

It was also very nice for Dean to be able to share his daughter with his mom & step-dad. I mean, to us, she's a pretty special girl and I think she radiates happiness. We see it all of the time and want her loved ones to also share in that. I know that Grandma & Grandpa Pottinger enjoyed every moment with Brielle and it's times like this, where life-long memories are created. And we felt so welcome in their home and family. It was great!

Brielle with her Daddy

I understand that Brielle is too little to remember this experience forever, but without these experiences, she'll never create memories. The more time she spends with each family member, the better she will remember for years to come. As she gets older, it'll click for her, but it'll never happen if we (her parents) don't make the effort for moments like this. It's tricky to have every family member see her often, simply because there are so many and most are not close to where we live. She has four sets of grandparents, the closest living two hours away and the furthest living almost 10 hours away. She also has four great grandparents, lots of aunties, uncles and cousins spread out all over the place. It's hard, so time spent together is cherished.

Brielle with Grandma Pottinger

The decision to have a baby was not something we took lightly. The decision to choose our donor was not something we took lightly. In the beginning, Dean was going to only be our donor but shortly thereafter, we all made the decision that he would be Dad. I think we made the right choice for everyone involved; especially Brielle. I am the first to admit that children don't need both a mother and a father in their life to be raised well. There are millions of kids with only a mom, or only a dad, or two moms, or two dads, or no mom and no dad, and they are just fine. If the active parent/guardian takes their role seriously, they can raise amazing kids. I know a good handful who have done/are doing an awesome job! (you know who you are) My hat goes off to you!! But if all parents can be active in a child's life, then that's great too.

Brielle with Grandma & Grandpa Pottinger

In our case, Brielle has two mom's, a dad....plus dad's partner. Two active females and two active males. How does it get any better than this? We all have something to bring to the table when it comes to roles, values, morals, standards, humor, talents and personal relationships with her. If you add everything up, she is going to be a very well-rounded, cultured little girl. She'll learn to do crafts, wood-working and building, work on cars and tell jokes from the mix of the four of us. We are all very different, but the one thing we have in common is that we love this little girl.