Just Playing Around...

    Sometimes, when the grandbabies have all gone home, I just play around.
                                            It's good for the soul.

What a Difference a Year Makes !

These first four pictures were taken one year ago when my twin grandsons were born.

And now they are one year old !

I have truly enjoyed my first year of grammiehood. Looking forward to celebrating many more milestones and creating many more memories. Happy Birthday !

Happy Birth Day April !

Flashback to January 29, 2009. My husband and I head for our car as we leave the bowling alley. We make plans with our friends to meet the next week - same time, same place. As I get behind the driver's wheel I check my phone messages. Only one. It's from our daughter who is 32 weeks pregnant with our first grandchildren. That is correct. Grandchildren. She is expecting twin boys in mid March. I start up the car as I listen to her message.



" Mom, Kyle and I are on our way to the hospital. My water broke. Meet me at the Elliot."



Holy cow ! This was the phone call I had been waiting for. I looked at what time she had called. Twenty minutes had passed. I jammed the car into drive and stepped on the gas.



'Deb, maybe I should drive," my husband quietly suggested.



" Why? Why should you drive?"



"Well, so far you have managed to drive over the curb and you just took a left turn at that red light. There is no left turn on red law as far as I know," he calmly replied.



" I am fine," I not so calmly snarled.



I drove for a few miles and then quietly turned and looked at him. Using my quiet indoor voice I said , " I can't remember how to get there and I need to get there fast." My mind was whirling and I could feel the emotions starting to take control. Somehow we made it to the hospital and I parked in the nearest snowbank. We ran through the hospital doors and made a quick stop at the front desk. We were directed to the third floor birthing center. My daughter had originally hoped to have a homebirth but that wasn't to be. She was still hoping to not need a Cesarean section and had been doing her homework for months. I knew she was prepared. I, in the meantime, was prepared to sit in the waiting room as long as it took for my grandsons to arrive.

I tried to contain my emotions as I approached the nurses' desk. I told the attending nurse my whole life story and she finally interrupted me and asked me my daughter's name. I told her and she looked at me calmly as she said, "She'll be brought into recovery soon." What?

"No, you don't understand. My daughter just arrived here thirty minutes ago. It is her first birth. I truly doubt that she gave birth in thirty minutes."

"The twins have arrived and are on their way to the Newborn ICU floor." What?

None of this was making sense to me. This was not the birthing plan that April and I had gone over and reviewed for months. I looked the nurse right in the eye and said, " Is my daughter okay?" She met my stare and said tight-lipped, " They will be wheeling her to recovery soon."

My knees started to wobble. I felt nauseous. I reached for the arm of a chair to support me. "Where is my daughter? I need to see her now! "

And at that moment my son-in-law turned the corner and was facing me. And he had a huge smile on his face. I knew then that April must be okay. I started to cry.

And she was okay. Despite a few complications, an unexpected C-section and a great loss of blood my little girl was okay. And her babies were okay. She was now a mommy. And I was a grammie. And a new chapter in our lives was about to begin.

I walked into April's room to find her hooked up to many machines, looking so small, so pale. I wanted to climb right into the bed next to her and just hold her close. Instead I got as close as I could and bent down for a kiss.

" Mom, I did it. I had the babies." She beamed from ear to ear. "Have you gone to see them yet?"

"No, not yet. First I had to make sure my baby was okay." I brushed her hair out of her eyes.

"Mom, I lost five gallons of blood." It was then that I realized that April was a bit drugged up. I smiled at her and just nodded in agreement. April has always had a flair for exaggeration.

The rest of that evening was spent running to the fifth floor to see my incredibly cute grandsons and back to the third floor to visit with April . Not sure who designed the hospital but not the best of plans. But it did allow me plenty of time for reflection. I remembered that Halloween almost thirty years ago when April arrived - our little treat. I remembered the thousands of pieces of artwork and poetry that she had created including many love notes to me which I will cherish forever, her dancing while standing on her daddy's feet, carrying a pair of her daddy's dirty socks around and smelling them throughout the day, the scare we had when the doctor thought she might have cystic fibrosis, the dance recitals, the cheerleading tournaments, the proms, the popcorn soup she made for the family, and the night she stood on the stage for a school talent show. Oh, that night...she stood on the stage , age 10, accompanied only by a piano player as she sang 'Would You Like to Wish On a Star' ~ her tiny voice lost in the huge auditorium. My husband and I sat in our seats, willing her to sing louder...the empathy was overpowering. We wanted to just reach out and grab her to our chests and hug her tight. And that is how I felt the night the twins were born - I just wanted to reach out and pull April onto my lap and hug her tight. I wanted to take away the pain from the traumatic birth of her sons, I wanted to shelter her from the stress of motherhood, and prepare her for the emotional roller coaster which lies ahead. And while I can't physically protect her I am always there for her - to talk with, to laugh with, to share with, to help her in anyway possible.

And now we are celebrating the first birthday of the twins. One year has passed. The boys are growing and thriving, happy and healthy. April and Kyle are excellent parents, working together. April writes a blog, Eclectic Effervesence which allows one to see the struggles and joys of raising twins in this day and age. So April, thank you for giving your father and I the gift of grandparenthood and Happy Birth Day ! Celebrate !

Baby Love

Once a week I have the pleasure of caring for my twin grandsons, my sweet peas, for the whole day. They are now 6 months old, robust and healthy. Someone recently asked me what I do with the twins all day long and as I rattled off our list of activities I felt a blog post forming in my head.


Since both boys are starting to teeth, lots of time is spent chewing. Below is one of their favorite chew toys. I love all of the colors. I also keep a supply of wet washcloths in my freezer which feels good on their swollen gums. Teething is not one of my favorite things.

Before the boys arrive I set up a big blue blanket on my family room carpet so they will be safe from dog hair, germs and other dangers. The big blue blanket allows for plenty of play space. Last week I had to go to the bathroom so I explained to both boys that they were to stay on the blue blanket while Grammie ran quickly to the bathroom and quickly emptied the bladder. Both boys agreed that they would stay on the big blue blanket plus I wasn't really too concerned because neither boy is crawling yet so... imagine my surprise when I came back to find this...

So much for the big blue blanket and no more bathroom time for grammie!

Reading is one of my favorite things so we read together each day. Eric Carle is one of our current favorites ~ especially the 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'. The sweet peas love the pictures of colorful food and are starting to enjoy independent reading time.

Eric Carle might have made some of the food pictures a bit too realistic...


Okay. So true confessions. Sometimes the TV is on in the background for white noise but when a certain show comes on please do not call the house and ask to speak to the sweet peas because they seem to have a little crush on Bonnie and their little eyeballs are glued to the set. They also love the Sally Field commercial promoting some osteoporosis medicine. Both boys flirt with her via television. Just like their grampie.

We smile lots during the day because we are happy that we are together.

Below is a picture of our favorite toy. The boys are fascinated with their toes. They lay on the big blue blanket and talk to their toes, suck on their toes and teeth on their toes. Last week I laid down next them and tried to stick my big toe into my mouth and quickly realized that it wasn't happening. The boys did find it amusing to watch though.

We take walks through the neighborhood. It is a rather bizarre feeling for me since I used to push my own children in a stroller through these same streets many moons ago and now I push my grandbabies past the same homes, stone walls and trees. Life goes on.

In the hot afternoon, we lay on our big blue blanket and watch the fan. The sweet peas love to watch the fan and they go crazy when grammie plays with the remote and changes the speed on it. Their eyes grow huge and their feet start kicking as I hit the superfast button. I start to giggle as I watch them. And once again I learn an important lesson from my grandbabies ~ simple joys are priceless.

So what do I do all day long with my sweet peas? I enjoy each moment, I love them to pieces, I hug them, I kiss them and tell them that I will love them forever and always. And then we wrestle some more!

Our tree is growing...

First comes love...

It seems like only yesterday that my husband and I went to visit our oldest son at the University of Maine. He was a freshman, living four hours from home. Leaving for college had not been the easiest of transitions for him or for those of us who were left at home missing him. There was a void in our home and in our hearts. I became more and more excited as we approached the campus. I needed to see with my own two eyes that he truly was okay, that he was surviving the rigors of academia and the weekend 'activities'. When we got out of the car I could barely contain myself when I saw him walking towards us. I resisted all temptation to run up to him and give him a huge bear hug. I didn't want to embarrass him totally. I settled for a quick peck on the cheek and then a mini bear hug. I stepped back and took a long look. Somehow my son seemed different but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. He nervously danced around and seemed rather giggly. What was this new behavior? I checked his pupils. Normal. I checked his breath. Hmm...normal boy breath. He took a deep breath...'Mom, Dad, there is someone I would like you to meet.' Ah, I quickly comprehended the situation. My son had met a girl, a girl who captured his heart and soul.

Over the next few years of college and after graduation their love continued to grow and strengthen. Our entire family fell in love with her ~ he chose a woman who is intelligent, kind, beautiful, humorous, patient, thoughtful, generous, compassionate, logical...perfect for my son. It was as if our family had had a missing puzzle piece and then when she came into our lives, she was the perfect piece and our family was complete. We accepted her with open arms and open hearts. Our family tree gained a new branch and was thriving.

Then comes marriage...

Last August this wonderful couple was married. It was a storybook wedding and I wrote an emotional post which left me teary and exhausted upon its completion. It seems hard to believe that in one week they will be celebrating their first wedding anniversary.

Here they come pushing a baby carriage...

Yes, that is correct. This wonderful couple gave birth two days ago to my granddaughter. They will be celebrating their first wedding anniversary with the cutest little baby girl, who I will refer to in my blog as my little Olive. She weighed in at a whopping seven pounds and was twenty inches long. Ah, it has been a lovefest around here. Lots of kissing, hugging and celebrating as we welcomed Olive into our family. Our family tree has never been healthier. My heart and soul have never been more complete. And now I would like to introduce you to the newest member of our family...our little Olive !

This is love.

Life at its Best !

For the past few days I have been consumed with thoughts of my parents and especially my father which I wrote about in my previous post. This past weekend though was filled to the brim with happy occasions ~ graduations, babies, weddings and cherished time with family. It was exactly what I needed to flush some of the feelings of sadness and worry from my mind - even if it was only temporary, it was necessary. I had fun photographing some of the events of the past 48 hours so buckle up - it was a whirlwind of activity!

On Saturday we attended our nephew's high school graduation. Hard to believe that he is eighteen years old- time flies when you are having the time of your life.
The speeches began. I love all that is going on in the background ~ unfocused attention...
My ADD or ADHD or Boredom kicked in and my camera and I started to look around for interesting shots. The kids in the picture below started to get antsy and the beach balls came out causing some distractions...

And then...I found the hats. I zoomed in on the caps of the some of the students and was impressed with the artwork. I was able to sit still for the entire two hours as I focused on the hats. I did listen politely and quietly and clapped loudly and proudly when my nephew received his diploma but his last name starts with a "B" so he was one of the first ones to receive his diploma - and there were a LOT of kids after him. Here are a few of my favorite caps...

Our youngest son arrived early on Sunday, Father's Day, with treats for his dad. I did have my eye on this pink sugary morsel. I resisted, sort of. I thoroughly enjoyed every bite of a honey glazed donut. Great way to start the day!

In the middle of this wild weekend my oldest son and his wife moved back into our home ~ with all of their belongings. They are getting ready to start a new adventure with a new job and a precious baby arriving at the end of July. A crowded, chaotic but happy home full of love !

And on Sunday we headed for a wedding. Our niece was getting married. Here's my man - dodging raindrops.

This is the first time I have ever seen a cat at a wedding. A naked cat at that !

Working the camera !

No groomsmen here - only groomswomen ! Girl Power !

Sharing the Love !

The wedding was held near the town in which I grew up. We drove by my childhood home. My parents moved out of this house twentyish years ago - and my dad would be very upset if he saw how run down it looks. He always had beautiful flowers, manicured lawns...you can't go back home. I wish I hadn't.

While in my old hometown we stopped to visit a dear friend of mine. We hadn't seen each other in years and I am so glad that we took the time to stop and say hi. Of course I had to show her my grammie brag book. Notice I am wearing a corsage that my niece gave me at the wedding - just because !

And then finally we arrived home and found these little pumpkins there, waiting to wish their Grampie a Happy Father's Day !

And now my soul is nourished and I am ready for the week ahead !