Heaven

It is heaven having a baby in our house.
He is beyond words.
He has grown so fast, even faster than I realized.
Where has this little angelic infant gone in such a short time?!
He is a rumbling, tumbling ball of energy...all smiles and laughter.
What love I feel...almost exploding!

Back to School

Have you ever felt like this?

I sure have! Especially lately with my typical back to school blues. (In fact, I am pretty sure Elijah learned that pouty face from me...or maybe his mama- haha.) Anyway, we are back in school full swing. Today was the beginning of our third week of school, and for me things are still not settled. This is the time of the year that I dislike most...new kids, new schedules (one can hope), new teachers, new administration (this year again)...the newness feels disconcerting to me, and I struggle to get organized, to regain the momentum of last year, and to form a bond with a whole new group of middle school children, who normally rebell against that whole bonding thing. I am SERIOUSLY back at work here, folks!

I will say that this sweet face, waiting for me when I arrive home...it takes away ALL of the frustration, the anxiety, the worries, the stress...it just DISAPPEARS completely when I see things like this:

Baby updates: He says mama. He sits up by himself. He is 7 months old this week. He has three teeth on the bottom in the front and two more coming in on the top. He smiles at anyone and everything. He is THE happiest boy I know. I am THE proudest grammy on earth.

Here's hoping something sweet will make you smile this week!

Getting all Gershwin

"...Summertime, and the livin' is easy

Fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high

Your daddy's rich and your mamma's good lookin'

So hush little baby

Don't you cry..."

Loving the little bit of summer that I do get to have with this precious little man.
Oh the adventures...and the easy days filled with such joy...smiles, laughter, and a love that makes me think my heart might actually burst...he's the sweetest boy around!

Far Too Long

Far too long since I've posted...I couldn't even remember how to log in! haha

Far too long since I've felt the waves crash at my feet and felt the tug of the wet sucking sand...

Not really, I suppose...but it feels like too long. These photos are from Baby Boy's first trip to the beach. The daughter felt sorry for me since I am having to work through family vacation #1 (our yearly trip to Myrtle Beach), and though I've missed it before, this would have been Baby Boy's first beach trip. When I realized it and felt like crying, she suggested a day trip- just the three of us! What fun! He was so serious about it all...the sand, the sun, all of the sounds. Just too sweet. He's growing much too fast for us all. Four months old, two teeth, and at the last doctor's visit, fourteen pounds. Whew! It all happens so fast! Since these photos were taken, he has been swimming three times and LOVES the water. I am so glad; his mother sure was a water baby!

Lots of new photos thanks to the daughter's fabulous 21st birthday gift (Canon Rebel Ti) and more stories of summer to come. Gotta get back to work. Hope you find something refreshing to do this week!

Three Months and 21 years

Just three mere months ago, I didn't yet know this amazing boy. My heart hadn't yet realized how much it would be consumed with every yawn, sneeze, gurgle, bubble, or tender-headed kiss. In these months that have flown by, the love has not only blossomed, it has gotten more and more fierce with each passing second! I had no idea that humans could love so intensely. It's just like I felt with the daughter, only times two and somehow different. We could (and do) spend hours looking at his fingers and toes, listening to him try to laugh, and wondering what he will be like as he is older...we'll know soon enough, as time passes all too quickly. Happy 3 months, precious elijah graham.

Dessert first! In honor of one of the daughter's friend's 21st birthday, we made these adorable cupcakes from Bakerella. I couldn't believe how really simple they were, and just too cute!
Happy 21st Angelina Ballerina!

Next, in honor of the daughter's new apron, we decided to make a yummy pasta dinner from one of PW's recipes...this is one I printed off many, many months ago, and just got around to making it. Really yummy if we do do say so ourselves. A nice ending to a lazy Saturday and a really rough week!

She's learning how to multi-task like all moms do! Baby E. is not exactly crying, but wanting more of his mommy's attention like all babies do. I can not say how interesting it is to watch the daughter mother a son...it warms my heart, makes me laugh, and surprises me at each and every turn. Being a grammy is THE best job in the world!

Ahhhh.

Hoping you have been able to enjoy something refreshing this weekend...family, food, or something fun! Have a wonderful week.

What Keeps Me Going

Is it summer yet?

Procrastination 101

Grades are due tonight...by midnight...

I am getting there.

It is now 9:19 PM.

The lovely daughter and I have been working on them in between making dinner, eating dinner, feeding the baby, and answering the random cell phones calls / texts. She went off to visit friends for a few hours, and now I am left to my own devices. I am no better than my middle schoolers. What do I do the first chance I get?

Read a few email messages, check a few new posts on other people's blogs, and decide that it's been SO long since I posted...I just have to write a little something quick and post a few new baby photos. Ha.

I am the queen of distraction.

Hey...is that the baby crying? Yep. He's calling for grammy. Gotta go...give some lovin'!

Grades? What grades?

Two Weeks

This baby boy is two weeks old today.
His grammy had to go back to work.


Believe me when I tell you that this was THE hardest thing I have ever had to do concerning my job...exchange this boy for stinky middle schoolers. Whew. What a day. After being out for two weeks, my room looked like a tornado went through it. I am not sure I will ever find all of my books to return to my personal book shelves. I really could not believe my eyes when I walked in this morning. It will take me the rest of the week to regain control over it all.


Thinking of this baby boy made me want to just take my purse and run.
I didn't, but I wanted to!

No matter what, he was so worth it all!

The Book of Eli: Part 1

My heart is fillled to bursting...I never imagined I could feel so much love for someone...and along came Elijah Graham.

Chapter 1

Birth.

January 18, 2010 8:15 am
Eli is born.

Immediately, I fell in love with his lips...for the daughter, it was his ears.

The daughter's surgery went well, and I was honored (and somewhat stunned) to be right there with her as her support person. Never in my life have I seen such sights...the insision, the blood, the not so gentle pulling and tugging, her insides, a patch of the boy's black hair...and then there was Eli in my arms (after a brief bit of screaming in another room...a temporary clean up, suctioning, and then into Grammy's arms!)

Chapter 2

Recovery.

The daughter was in recovery for awhile before she could officially meet her son. In the meantime, the OR staff whisked me away to watch him get weighed ( 6 pounds, 10 ounces), measured (19 1/2 inches long), bathed, and dressed by the nurses in the baby nursery. Finally, the moment came when the daughter could meet Eli. She was so tired and still hooked up to an IV which made it difficult for her to use both arms. She also had 24 hours worth of something called a magnesium drip for patients who have had pre-eclampsia so they will not have seizures. Nice. No worries at all. It made her feel groggy and, for lack of a better description, heavy-limbed. Eli spent the entire night with us, and I was all to happy to take care of him. The daughter is breastfeeding, and obviously she needed help at this point.

Chapter 3

The real room!

After her 24 hour medicine drip and monitoring, they finally moved the daughter to a regular birthing room- very nice "suite" with lots of hard wood floors, pretty decor, and not so comfy furniture. So much happened in Room 340...bonding, feeding, snuggling, hugging, kissing, and gushing over all of the perfect baby parts that Eli has, taking photos, continuing recovery for the daughter, and visiting with the 3 visitors that were allowed to visit (the hospital has very strict visitation rules since November 2009 for pregnant patients, new moms and newborn babies...only 2 support people and the grandparents are allowed- that's it! Apparently, great-grandparents don't need to be on that list, much to my father's dismay!) We were in Room 340 for the rest of the hospital visit- from Tuesday through Thursday,and then it was FINALLY time to go home! (By the way, I didn't have time to realize that I looked like hell...LOL...almost no sleep, THE most uncomfortable couch / bed, and a sort of primitive shower set up...too happy to care really!)

Chapter 4

Home.

Dorothy wasn't kidding when she said, "There's no place like home." January 21, 2010. It was a cloudy, dreary day, but we were so ready to leave that place. The husband was awfully cute as he scurried about getting things ready to help take the grandson and the daughter home...putting in the infant carseat, packing the enormous volume of items that had gathered in her two weeks in the hospital prior to the c-section, and just being so happy not to be home alone...We were so ready to leave. I must interject here that the daughter could not have had better care; she had some awesome nurses that were extremely helpful and informative. I asked specifically for six comment cards to write personal thanks to each one of them!

Home...home was on the horizon!

(So very tired. Doctor's appointment tomorrow early...so to be continued...)

Homecoming

My God is ever faithful! Praise Him!

The daughter and Eli are home. They came home on Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010.

Everything is great, but so busy with a newborn baby in the house...(right now it is 3:34 am and I have just now found a quiet moment before I go to bed to type this tiny post!)

I have lots of stories & more photos to post SOON, I promise!

Returning...to peace

Just returned from the hospital...a late night visit with the daughter after an all day / night visit.
I am completely wired.
I should be sleeping...
Neither one of us got much sleep last night when I spent the night with her there.
I am going to work in a few short hours.


As I drove home on the empty streets between the hospital and our home, I felt this overwhelming sense of peace, a familiar feeling kind of. If you know me at all, you would know that typically, I am someone who worries about everything. (I get that honest, from my mother.)

But over the last several years, God has NOT abandoned me even though He should have.
My husband has been through major heart surgery for a rare heart condition, surgery to remove a benign brain tumor, and another surgery less than a year later to remove another benign brain tumor in almost exactly the same spot. Through it all, I felt the prayers of our friends and family surround me like the very arms of my God Himself...(I had only one tiny breakdown thankfully with Sallee, my very best friend in the whole wide world, who knew just what to do) but through it all, I felt an almost eerie sense of peace...I've heard it spoken of- that peace that passes all understanding. I felt it. I did not worry. I rested in the fact that I KNEW God was taking care of us, of my husband, and He would not let anything happen to him. It perplexed me like nothing else...to see, no to feel, prayers working so strongly...it was such an overhwelming experience.

However, I am not a faithful daughter. I rarely go to church. If I am honest, I never read the Bible. I have long abandoned listening to Christian music for the most part. I pray, but sporadically at best. I claim to be His child...but I know I would never be so distant with my earthly father. Why is He so faithful to me? I do have a heart that longs for Him. I am His daughter, but I allow the things of this world to busy my head and my heart.

Still, like tonight, on the silent, empty streets on my way home to an empty house...He is with me. He is with my child...protecting her and her unborn baby, Eli.

Precious, Holy Father,
Forgive me.
Know the cries of my heart...how I long to be close to you.
Know that I believe with all of my heart in You and thank You for Your mercy, grace, forgiveness, and love.
Thank you for the debt You paid for MY sins...so that I could be clean and free.
I know I do not deserve it, but still You are faithful.
PLEASE be with Aubrey and Eli. Protect them and keep them safe.
Thank you for sending me family and friends that know You, that pray for us...
Thank you for this peace.
Amen.

4 generations

The daughter is in the hospital; she's been there a full 24 hours so far- she has PIH= Pregnancy Induced Hypertension (they are testing to see if it is preeclampsia).
Eli is not supposed to come until the C-section on Jan. 29, but that may change...we will see what the doctors say tomorrow. They are monitoring her and running several tests. Several nurses have said that she might not be able to leave until after he is born. Oh goodness! (and she has a baby shower on Sunday.)

I took the day off to be with her today.
As I sat there today at one point, I thought how lucky Eli will be to know his grammy (me) and his great-nana (my mom)- there will be 4 generations soon!

I have a few vivid memories of my great-grandmother. We called her Granny Bell (her name was Annabelle), and she was SO tall; she wore a size 13 shoe, and was terribly afraid of her mailman. She had a red-headed baby boy doll with red felt overalls that she let me play with...I loved playing with the brass mail slot in her front door, and she would tell me to come away from there because the mailman would come soon. I am not sure what she had against the mailman, but I have such clear memories of her and her house even though I had to be younger than 5 years old. She died sometime after that, I think.

I hope Eli will know and love his great-grandparents...I know he will.
I guess I just realized today how special it is that he will be coming into an extended family that completely loves him already, and is anxiously awaiting his arrival!

Hope your week is a good one!