Marissa Hermer's Family Is Living the California Dream After Their Move from London
"Everyone seems to be thriving in California," the #LadiesOfLondon mom gushed.
To say that Marissa Hermer and her family went through a difficult time as she prepared to give birth to daughter Sadie last year would be a major understatement. After being diagnosed with placenta accreta shortly after finding out she was pregnant, Marissa and her loved ones had to deal with the fact that losing the baby and her own life were real possibilities. Even after Marissa successfully gave birth to Sadie on April 21, 2016, she experienced a health scare and coped with postnatal depression, and Ladies of London fans witnessed those heartbreaking moments this season.
But you wouldn't really know that the Hermer family experienced any of those hardships today. "Sadie is doing very well. She's thriving. She's almost 10 months old now. Her brothers [Max and Jake] adore her. We adore her, obviously. She's just a ball of giggles. She's so sweet. She's such an easy baby," Marissa recently gushed to The Daily Dish. "And she's enormous. She's in the 99th percentile, so when anyone sees her — her doctor just saw her for a recent visit — he's like, 'No one would ever know that she was two months premature.' So it gives everyone hope that these little babies, they're very strong, they're very resilient."
Marissa is already planning Sadie's upcoming first birthday party, which is going to be extra-special now that she and and her fam have moved from London to Los Angeles. "We're gonna have a little first birthday party for her. I'm really excited," she said. "And actually, my parents are gonna be able to join because they're only an hour away in Newport Beach. They've never been able to come up for little birthday parties or things like that because they're usually oceans away, but now they're gonna be able to come to Sadie's birthday, which is really nice."
Little Sadie is feeling the love from her family. Photo courtesy of Marissa Hermer
Max and Jake get in on the fun at a Valentine's Day party at the Hermers' house. Photo courtesy of Marissa Hermer
Now that the Hermers are stateside, they're able to keep in touch with Marissa's brother, as well as her husband Matt Hermer's brother and sister-in-law, all of whom live in New York. "We've got a lot of family in America," Marissa shared.
And that's just one reason the Hermers couldn't be happier in their new home. "Everyone seems to be thriving in California. The kids absolutely love it. Sadie's pretty much happy anywhere. She just sort of giggles and drools, and she's happy," Marissa said. "But the boys are so happy. They have a lot of space to run around, they've got sunshine. We have a big backyard. Our house is much bigger than it is in London. So they're really sort of soaking it up. We spend several mornings of the week on the beach. They've never had that before."
Marissa said that Matt is also "very happy" for suggesting that the family hop across the pond. "Matt loves the outdoor lifestyle, even being a Brit, he's a sun worshipper. He loves nothing more than going around in a T-shirt and shorts and flip flops. He's a California dude," Marissa said. "So it's like coming home for him."
In the few months that Marissa has been living in the Pacific Palisades, she said that she has already noticed some differences in raising kids in the U.S. versus the U.K. "Generally, Brits are much more formal with their children. There is a time and a place for children to be seen and not heard. I was born in Southern California where everyone's together the whole time. There's the family unit, which doesn't really exist so much in Britain," Marissa told The Daily Dish. "So it's actually really nice, especially where we live, Pacific Palisades, it is all about the kids. It's all about family barbecues, family dinners, we take the kids everywhere, family soccer games. Max and Jake have a Friday afternoon tee-ball game that everyone comes, brings pizza and beer on a Friday. It's so nice and cozy and sweet."
Experiencing that family time is what moving to California was all about for the Hermers, after all. "The reason why we moved is Matt, he thought he was gonna lose me. He thought I was gonna lose Sadie. He's like, I want to sell everything and have that family time with this unit he thought he was gonna lose for a while," Marissa said. "And so that's very nice to recharge our batteries as a young family and to hold onto each other and be like, 'OK, we made it through a really rough time,' and now, just enjoy it."
Find out more about Marissa's life after this season of Ladies of London, as well as what her pals have been up to, below.
