Babies

This week, for the very first time, I was able to hold both of my grandchildren in my arms!!

It was amazing!

It was wonderful!

It was so very sweet!

As I look at these babies, my heart is overwhelmed with feelings of love and tenderness. Words cannot express how much it meant to me to hold them together. To see the older one trying to get closer to the younger one....trying to kiss him over and over. Although, with the way she kisses with her mouth wide open, it looked more like trying to take a bite out of him!

It was fun to see the differences. Audrey is 21 pounds. Chase is just under 7 pounds. Audrey is very mobile....crawling, standing, getting teeth. Chase is still sleeping alot and just lays where we put him, and makes the little soft sounds. Audrey's hair is growing back, while Chase is losing what he was born with.

Both are just adorable (not like I'm biased or anything).

Both have the most cutest faces!!! (still not biased here)

Both are so very loved!!

I can't wait to see these two babies of mine (yes, mine!!) grow and develop, along with the third little one coming in a few months! To watch them play, walk, talk and laugh!!

Hard To Swallow

My daughter has another cold (it's the third one in the last couple of months). She is still stuffy and now the cough has set in. Her getting sick is bad timing. She has finals at school and has been studying very hard. Plus she can't hold Chase, and Audrey is coming home for a visit this weekend. So I've been pumping the medicine down her throat, trying to get her better. We usually have the liquid kind for her to drink. But last year she finally learned how to swallow pills so she's been taking those instead. Until this week, that is. Now, for some reason, she can't swallow the pills. She blames this on her father.

I don't like taking liquid medicine. It tastes gross and makes me gag. Give me the pills any time. Once the kids starting taking medicine in pill form, I was hoping to never have to buy the icky tasting medicine again. But...there's still Stan to consider. Poor, poor Stan, who can't swallow pills very well at all. Even the little ibuprofen pill, he has trouble swallowing. He puts the pill in his mouth, drinks some water, and then keeps throwing his head back, trying to get the pill to go down. It's quite entertaining to watch. And fun to tease him about it. Which we do...alot!! He has always had trouble taking medicine. When he decided to take vitamins (because of his advanced age), he went out and bought some pills. He opened the bottle and out came these huge pills. Of course, he gave it a try. In went the pill, and then alot of throwing back of the head! A person could get whiplash just from watching him!! Sometimes the pill went down...but even then, he had a hard time doing it. So, we had to go and get him vitamins in liquid form! Yep, he has to drink his vitamins!

There's no hope for Stan to overcome his non-swallowing pills phase...it's lasted over 48 years now. But I have high hopes that Megan will once again be a pill-swallower, like a normal person.

Leaving On a Jet Plane

For as long as Stan and I have been married (26 long...er...I mean wonderful...years), I have always taken him to the airport whenever he went on a business trip. There have been a few occasions when children or a commitment on my part has prevented that from happening. But for the most part I have taken him and picked him up. And those of you that know him well, knows that he travels alot. It doesn't matter the time he arrives or departs, or if it is snowing or raining, I'm there to greet him.

When the kids were young, of course they had to come with me. At one point, Melissa and Matt thought that Stan worked at the airport since we were always dropping him off and picking him up there.

Now, most of the time, Stan really couldn't pick the times he left or came home. He was at the mercy of the airlines. When he flew to Alaska, the only flight out was the red eye, that landed around 6:30 am. That meant that I got up at 4:30 to make the hour drive to Denver (earlier if it was snowing). Or sometimes it would be the meetings start or end time that dictated his flights. Whatever the reason, I was there.

This morning was no different. This morning he had booked himself a 6:00 am flight. That's right....6:00 AM!! And that meant leaving our house around 3:00 am, which meant getting up at 2:00 am, because he is REALLY slow in the morning and it takes him awhile to get moving. At 2:00 am, he moves even s...l...o...w...e...r.

As he was packing his suitcase last night, he made the most astute comment about how it wasn't the best move he ever made by booking such an early flight. You should be proud of me that not a "DUH" or a "No kidding" ever passed my lips. Seriously. I may have to buy me ice cream later to celebrate my restraint.

He may be thinking that he will never do that again. And he may mean it. Until he does it again.

Duh.

All By Myself

When I was talking to Melissa the other day, the subject of living alone came up. She was telling me that she really doesn't like being alone in her apartment. And when she did live at home, she especially didn't like being in our house by herself. Too many sounds and the house is too big.

I remember feeling the same way when Stan and I were first married. He went on his first trip when we had been married four months. He was gone a week and it was the longest week of my life (at least it seemed like it at the time). We lived in a little 2-story townhouse. Very, very small. I was okay during the day. At least it was light outside and I could go places to keep busy. But at night, it was a different story. I kept all the lights on, the TV stayed on for noise and I walked around with a pool cue stick in my hand constantly. I'm not sure what I would have done with the cue stick if I had to use it, but I felt better with it. So it was always beside me. Yep, even when I was in the bathroom. And I'm really glad I was never put to the test of using it. The stairs in the house were the kind that you could see through between the steps. So every time I went down them, I just knew that a hand was going to reach out and grab my foot. It was just a strange week for me. I couldn't relax and I really didn't know my neighbors well enough to ask them to babysit me for a week. Plus I didn't get to talk to Stan while he was gone. First of all, he was in Italy, and second, we didn't want a big long distance phone bill (this was waaaaayyyyy before cell phones).

Of course that was the first of many times that I was alone. Stan has always traveled ALOT, with the Air Force and then in the civilian world. It did get easier over time. I still didn't like him being gone so much, but I learned to deal with things on my own. And then once the kids came along, they did their part in keeping me busy. These days, if we have a crisis, it's very easy to reach him....to get his opinion on what should be done.

I guess it helped me to be more independent, to learn to do things for myself. I definitely had to grow up. And that's a good thing. I wish the same for my children. I just hope they never have to walk around with a pool cue stick for bravery!!

A Mother's Day to Remember

Today was Mother's Day. And I had a great day. I was given flowers by my husband and children. A picture frame with me and my grandbabies in it. An Audrey book. A purple butterfly coffee mug and keepsake box. A lap desk for my laptop. Dinner at Red Lobster with Stan, Megan, Matt, Amber and Chase....and Barb and Wayne at the last minute. Other than Melissa, Mark and Audrey not being here, I had a great day.

Over the years, I've had alot of great Mother's Day moments. Lots of flowers and gifts and dinners out (mostly at Red Lobster). I have a wonderful family. And I love every one of them very much.

But....(isn't there always a but somewhere?).....I do have one Mother's Day memory that is not a pleasant memory for me, although probably one that I will never forget. Nor will I let Stan forget it.

It was Mother's Day 1995. We lived in Virginia. We went to church and then I picked Red Lobster for my nice dinner out. So with all three kids packed in the back seat of the car, off we went. When we got to the restaurant, we were told it would be a 90 minute wait. Well, that was just too long for Stan. Way, way too long. So his opinion was that we should try another place because clearly not all restaurants would have a wait as long as this one. There were a few good places around that area so we packed all three kids back in the car and off we went...again. Second place? Hmmmm....90 minute wait. Third place? Hmmmm....2 hour wait. By this time we are just driving around looking for a restaurant that didn't have people hanging out the door waiting. Eventually Stan saw the perfect place. It's called Bob Evans. There were no people waiting outside, lots of parking available and no list to put your name on. I'm sure there was a good reason for that.

I went along with him, mainly because I'm stunned that he would spend so much time driving around, looking for the perfect place (meaning NO LINE) when obviously we could have already been seated at Red Lobster. We got seated at a table (yep...no wait), and I order spaghetti...yum (didn't see any shrimp or lobster on the menu and don't think I would have ordered it anyway). I really think he was clueless at this point on my mental state, or the thoughts that are going through my mind. Completely clueless. So, I spent MY day at a place that I didn't like, just because of a little bit of a wait at the place that I WANTED to spend MY day.

Well.....naturally, being the forgiving and understanding wife that I am, I forgave him....NOT. I stewed on this for weeks. Still stunned and in disbelief that this happened.

Eventually, I got over it (well, maybe not). All was well, until Father's Day came along. Stan's choice was to go to Outback. So we packed up the kids, went to church and then off to HIS choice for dinner. And the wait when we got there??? Glad you asked! It was 2 hours. And what did we do? Without hesitation, Stan put our name on the list and we stood in a corner and waited....and waited....and waited.

I think that that's when he really started to get it. Really started to think "uh huh...what have I done?" He didn't want to wait an hour for a table at MY place but he was okay with waiting 2 hours for HIS place. This is where the light bulb goes off over his head!

I have to say, that since that fateful day, we have ALWAYS gone where I wanted on Mother's Day. They could have said that the wait is 5 hours long, and Stan would have sat his butt down and waited.

Yep....he's been sucking up to me ever since!!!

Spring is Here (2)

This is what we woke up to this morning:

Yep...sunshine....blue skies....a little breezy.....and no rain!! The weatherman did get one thing right--it is cooler today than it has been over the last few days. And we still have a "chance" of some rain showers late tonight and into tomorrow. Maybe. Who knows. Obviously the weatherman has no clue.

But what upsets me more than the lies of a weatherman, is the fact that Stan is just loving this! He has a big smug smile on his face, laughing at my disgust at this beautiful day, knowing that he COULD have done the dreaded chore of mowing, but just tickled pink that I have already done it!! He had quite the bounce in his step as he headed out the door this morning...the butthead!!

At least the yard looks nice, if I do say so myself!!

And Stan is not getting off too easily....because I did leave one job for him that he may not have noticed. Yep, he gets to pick up the poop!! And he has a nice sunny day to enjoy while he does it!!

Spring is Here

We noticed last week that our grass was starting to grow. But mostly around the edges, thanks to Gizmo, the oldest dog in the whole world. She only pees and poos around the edges, so it gets really thick there. Stan didn't get a chance to mow last weekend while he was home (shocker) so I told him that I would try to get to it this week. Why, oh why, did I say that??? Remember, I'm a good wife.

All week the weather has been beautiful. Blue skies with temperatures in the seventies. It's been great. And every day, I think of a reason not to mow or sometimes not even thinking of mowing at all. And now it's Friday. Stan comes home tonight. So the question on my mind all morning has been "to mow or not to mow?" Hmmmm...what to do. It really does need it. The lazy part of me says that's almost Saturday....that Stan can do it tomorrow....what's one more day. Then I turn on the news and find out that all the sun and warmth is over after today. Yep, tomorrow it's going to be rainy and temperatures in the forties, and lasting through Sunday. Just terrific.

After groaning and moaning about my lot in life, I get ready to mow. Then Melissa calls. So I talked to her for awhile. I moan and groan to her that I really don't want to mow. She says what I've thought....that Stan can do it tomorrow. Oh, how I wish he could. After we hang up, I actually get my lazy butt up and go outside. Matt starts the mower for me, just to make sure it still runs after months of no use. And the stupid thing actually starts. Bummer!!

That's that. No more excuses. No more delays. I mow the yard (only the front since the back is not bad yet--that's my story and I'm sticking to it). All I can say now is that it had better rain tomorrow. And it had better be cold. Or I may have to go hunt down a TV weatherman!!!!

Now some Pictures

When I wrote yesterdays blog, I was just recounting the conversation I had with Megan a couple of weeks ago. I didn't think that since I was writing about adding pictures to a blog (any blog) that anyone would expect me to add pictures to yesterdays blog.


But I was wrong. I had a message on my answering machine this morning from my mom-in-law. And I was politely informed that I was a tease. As she was reading my blog, she was eager to get to the bottom and see some pictures. And when she got there....nothing!


So so very sorry!! I didn't mean to be a tease. Really I didn't. So in order to get back to being the favorite daughter-in-law (I'm their ONLY daughter-in-law), I am now going to add pictures. And I figured the best way to get back in her good graces was to add pictures of her great-grandchildren!!


And here they are:

And I hope everyone is happy now!!

HELP!!

I have to be honest. I am completely, one hundred percent, no doubt about it, a computer dimwit. I have no idea how to do things on it. No idea how it works. And am completely intimidated by it. If I need to know how to do something on it, I have to ask my husband or children to walk me through it. And by walking me through it, I mean that they have to talk in small words, and talk slow, and tell me exactly what to do...step by step.

Usually they say "oh that's easy....just do this and this and then you're done". DUH!!! Remember? Dimwit here!! That doesn't work with me. I have to be shown and sometimes more than once. My husband will show me but when I ask him to do it again, just to make sure that I have it right, he goes and does it ANOTHER way. He sits there and just clicks away (he's very click happy) and expects me to follow. My children just shake their heads at me. They don't understand that the computer world is totally foreign to me. So then I have to remind them that I didn't grow up with all this technology. We didn't have cell phones, Blackberries, IPODs, pagers, laptops, running water, electricity, etc.

So when I asked my 14 year old to help me add pictures to my blog, the conversation went something like this:

me--Can you help me add pictures to my blog?

her--I guess.

me--I want to put a picture here, but I have no idea how to do it.

her--You have to download it, put it in a file. Rename the file. Open your blog page, find where you filed the picture. Click on this, click on that. Picture will upload. Blah blah blah...

me--What???? Itty, bitty brain here!!! Remember??

her--laughs at me, shakes her head and then tries to walk me through it again.

It took awhile. But we finally put a picture on a couple of blogs. I may even understand how things work a little better now...NOT! I'm still intimidated. Still don't understand. My hope is to one day be to be able to put a picture of myself on my profile so that I'm not just a silhouette.

What's In A Name

I have a sister , Gena, who thinks it's her job to nickname everyone in the family. That's what she does. And she does it very well. She gave each of my kids a nickname. She would wait until she was around them for awhile and then say....so and so looks like so and so. It was very cute and sweet, unless you are one of my kids.

With Melissa, we called her by the nickname for years. She liked it and we liked it. Everyone called her that name. Then she started middle school and that was the end of that. We got "The Look" if we dared to call her that name, especially in front of her friends. So we had to get out of the habit of doing it. It's not easy, but we did it. I would tell you what that name was, but I'm afraid she will hurt me....and I really want to keep seeing my granddaughter.

She gave Matt the nickname "Bud". And even though we called him that on occasion, it never really stuck on a long term basis. He never really cared what we called him. "Hey You" worked just as well as anything else.

With Megan, she gave her the nickname Magoo. Actually at first, it was Mega Magoo. And even now, fifteen years later, we still call her Magoo. Gena is the one who does it the most. And I think for the most part, Megan loves it.

I think it's funny that Gena loves to give out these nicknames. But if you were to call my sister by her real name, she would absolutely hurt you!! I would tell you what her real name is, but I really want to keep seeing Gena's granddaughter too!!!