McBlog

This needs some fine tuning, but I couldn't wait to post it anyway.

Mike and I just returned home from Noogan town to visit with Eric and Becky and Evan. We had lots of fun playing with Evan and watching him experience some new foods. This was a combination of carrots and sweet potatoes.



After dinner, Evan definitely needed a bath!




Then Evan and Grandpa needed to recover from a weekend full of fun!

This was our first attempt to get a photo of Evan in the stocking. He was more interested in a bottle and a nap than a sock and a cap!

Here is the sleep sack that I just finished. Stay tuned for the hat I'm working on.

Two weeks ago, Mike and I drove to Chattanooga and picked up Becky and Evan to bring them home for a visit. It seemed strange to have a baby in the house after thirty-one years, but it didn't take long to adjust to the 2:00 AM feedings. We had a lot of fun with him and now the house seems very quiet since he's gone back home. Here are some pix from the visit.

Evan with Grandma & Grandpa










Evan meets 'cousin' Laura













Evan meets Uncle Dan










Evan just being Evan




























Evan's First Beach Visit














Three Generations

A long time ago, Mike's mom rocked him in this chair.


It found its way into our attic and garage where it sat for many years until Becky announced that she was pregnant. Then Mike rebuilt it, and I refinished it and had it reupholstered.


Here is Mike rocking his first grandchild in the same chair that he was rocked in. Pretty Cool!

Well, it's not been a quiet week in Noogan Town. Our sweet little Evan made his grand entrance six days early on Sunday August 10. He weighed 7 lbs and 5 oz and was 19" long. It's been quite hectic ever since. Becky had a long, but easy labor, and a long and not-so-easy delivery. She almost had to have a C-section. She and Evan came home Tuesday afternoon and Tuesday evening we had to rush to the emergency room. He was choking and turning PURPLE! They did a chest x-ray and told us he had fluid in his lungs (maybe from the difficult birth) They decided to admit him to do a swallow test in the AM to check for reflux. That meant that Becky couldn't feed him, so they inserted an IV into his tiny baby vein. It took about 4 nurses to finally get a vein, and the whole time poor baby Evan was screaming. Also his bilirubin had risen, so he was going to need phototherapy. The next morning they did a swallow test which came back fine, and a radiologist said that the X-ray was normal. No fluid in his lungs. In the meantime, this first time grandma was a basket case! But he still needed the phototherapy so they put little blinders on his baby eyes and put him under the lights. Late Wedesday night, he was released and they came home. I was hoping they would keep him another night because I was afaid of another choking incident. All's well that ends well and Mom and baby are doing fine, particularly since we discovered Mylicon drops! They are truly a miracle elixir sent from heaven!

PS. I've started him listening to Mozart, Chopin, and Beethoven! :-)

As you can see by the dates of my entries, I am not a real dedicated blogger. Not too much that is blog-worthy happens in my life. That will soon change when Becky gives birth to my first grandchild. I am leaving tomorrow for Noogan Town to await the blessed event. The next time you see my blogging face, you can call me Grandma...Gran-mama....or Grandmother Most Exalted! But I will not be Granny!

In the meantime, today marks another anniversary of the day my life changed forever! Mike is at work, but I may just have to go to McDonalds and celebrate by myself with a cheeseburger and an orange drink! :-)

Late last year, I created the Sisterhood of Grandma's Traveling Coat. The red coat made its way through five cities for pictures. Here is a quick slideshow of all the members of the Sisterhood to date. Maybe there will be a new sister in August!

He/She has Eric's profile!

I went shopping today for some gender-neutral gowns for our little munchkin, and look what I found!
The caterpillar jumped into by buggy when I wasn't looking! He's 5'6" long!














Bek will be teaching the baby how to sign, so when I saw this book, I just had to have it.

Last year, my bluebirds tried several times to expand their family, but the eggs kept disappearing. I figured it was probably the 'harmless' water snake that I had seen on the porch. Now I have the proof. Two days ago there were two eggs in the nest. I just checked to see if more had been added and look what I found! My heart almost stopped! I'm still shaking, but summoned the courage to grab my camera to prove my snake egg-napper theory correct. Poor birdies! Guess I'll try greasing the pole with Vaseline to kept away the serpents!

Just some snaps of Easters Past. Dan, Beck, Eric! Plus some bonnets from years gone by!

Dan is beaming in his brand new Bimmer, a BMW Z4!

I just finished the prototype for the cradle liner. I found this in my fabric stash and decided to use it before I cut into the dragonfly fabric. It's actually some leftover fabric that I used to make bedding for one of Becky's baby dolls many years ago.

My grand-niece, Annabelle, is a huge Broadway musical fan. This weekend she got to see Sweeny Todd live in Louisville. She wore her Mrs. Lovett costume that she made for Halloween and met the actors at the stage door. They graciously agreed to sign her meat cleaver!

One of the best movies I've seen! Marion Cotillard has been nominated for an Oscar for best actress. It's in French with subtitles, but I will definitely watch a second time. You can see the trailer here: UPDATE! She won the Oscar. I watched the movie twice, and I may have to watch it again!

Last week, Eric had to be out of town for several days, so I drove to Noogan town to mommy sit with Rebecca. Her 12 weeks of nausea are pretty much over, so she and I had great fun baby shopping. I’m afraid I was stricken with the FTNGSvirus. (FIRST TIME NEW GRANDMA SYNDROME) Fortunately, it’s not life threatening, but it sure can put a dent in the pocketbook. There have been so many renovations in baby and childcare since my last baby thirty years ago. I couldn’t resist a cute little green onesie with turtles on it, so it came home with us. It’s pretty much gender neutral, but I brought it home with me and will get some ‘girly’ trim to add to it just in case the munchkin is a girl. Next we went crib shopping. No one makes a plain ole fashioned crib anymore. They are engineering marvels like a transformer toy from the 70s. We finally found what Bek was looking for at Wal Mart, so of course, it came home with us too.
I also ordered the fabric for the nursery curtains and crib dust ruffle.


Looks like the old Singer is going to be busy!

This is the first photo of my first grandchild.



Becky has always liked the name Sarah, so if it's a girl, that will probably be her name. They don't plan on finding out the sex of the munchkin until delivery, so all the planning and decorating must remain gender neutral. I am making a new liner for the Jenny Lind cradle that I got when Becky was born. This is the fabric I found on ebay. Not too girly, and not too boyish. It looks like we may have an ebaby!

Today is our 40th wedding anniversary! I've condensed 40 years into less than three minutes in the new slideshow using some favorite photos of just Mike and me. Here is the first page of the ALL ABOUT US scrapbook that I've made using most of the same pics as the slideshow. It's each of us at 18, living on opposite sides of the continent, before we met. It proves that we really were young once!

(Music is "After All These Years" sung by Foster and Allen)