A Big Day for Grandma!

Well today I went and hung out with the girls while Jon went to school. I had to share the girls because their other grandma came over for a visit. We should have taken a picture of the girls with both grandmas but it didn't happen. The princess's grandma crocheted this cute little scrunchy for her. She was so cute wearing it on her teeny, tiny, ponytail. Then the most amazing thing happened. Little Elizabeth woke up while I was there. She stayed awake for around an hour. This was my first time to get to hold her when she was really awake. I introduced myself, and as I was sitting next to her other grandma, I turned her to the side to introduce her also. It was so fun to be with her awake for a while.

She was so precious which maybe her little name from me. But it was an awesome warm loving feeling to hold such a tiny cutey. She is so skinny that her skin just wrinkles all over her body. It's like she is wearing a little Elizabeth suit 3 sizes to big. I know she will eventually fill out all that extra skin. But until then her little legs will just be "wrinkly like the elephants!" That was a total quote from a pantyhose commercial from the 70's. But it's what I think of when I see her tiny wrinkly legs.

Then the princess came up and gave her a love. It was so sweet. (O.K. I admit this picture was staged, Issy loved her sister and started to leave, and I told her to come back and do it again, I had get a picture:-)

In this shot she has on her sun glasses, but she is trying to put on her fake eyeshadow. She was so serious:-) Then I had to leave the girls with their other grandma to pick Mike up. He had gone to a show in Oregon, and Vanilla Ice was on his plane to Salt Lake. I guess he is doing a show here.

A day to celebrate!

So 6 days a week for 6 weeks we have had to drive Chris to a clinic in Salt lake for medication. Today on the 6 week anniversary, his councilor finally moved him to weekly! He gets to take home a weeks worth. So now we only have to drive to Salt Lake once a week! We are all sooooo excited that we are finished with his trial period!!! We have had a lot of good talks because we are together every morning in the car. Mike would take him often, when he could. So it was at least pleasant. Plus when he moved here, and we started going the gas prices had dropped, so that was a blessing.

We celebrated this morning with McDonald's breakfast it is already a good day!!!

Then I made fudge to welcome some new neighbors into the neighborhood. I hadn't taken the time to make sure my candy thermometer was correct. So my fudge was soft. We had to eat it rather than give the neighbors less than perfect welcome treats:-)

a day with the girls....

First a rant, then some pictures. Erin is so tired and so are the rest of us. One sweet tiny baby has wiped out an entire families energy. So this has really made me think about the "octamom" she is nuts. Her own mother looks crazed just from taking care of her first 6 kids while she was in the hospital. Then I was thinking how will she even get them home? there is no car big enough to put 8 car seats in! I suppose their are vans, but think about the hot summer, and how long it would take to get eight car seats in and out of a vehicle. But add her other 6 and I don't think there is a van that will hold that many passengers. How will she even shop at the grocery store? All of the babies couldn't even fit in 1 cart. I saw an interview with her and her mom. Her mom is upset with her and asking her how she is going to provide for all of those children. Her answer made me roll my eyes. She said "I'm just going to have to give up controlling everything, and accept help." Is anybody even offering to help her? It doesn't look like she has any other friends or family. That mom is old and tired and wigging out because she and her husband are it! Unless there are stranger out there offering help. I just felt like she was expecting the entire country to support her and her children. And I'm not talking about welfare, she seems like we all should pull out our checkbooks and send her a check directly. OK rant over:-) Now sweet baby pictures!




So I went over and hung out with the girls today. Erin got a yummy bouquet, the princess was so excited when she saw it. So the first thing she picked was the chocolate covered strawberry. I have taught her right. Then she proceeded to eat every grape out of the arrangement.

But she took a moment to share with her "bebe".

Later in the night we were hanging out in the basement and she wanted to hold "L". They are teaching her the sign language "L" so when you ask her her babies name she holds the sign up for L.

Elle was happily sleeping while grandma was holding her and kissing on her.

Then Erin went to take a nap, and the princess got her baby dolls and put them by Elle.

Issy is no longer afraid of her baby sister, and is starting to take a little interest in her.

Pink eye.......

Well Saturday morning the princess woke up with pink eye. How fun is that! Grandpa and Grandma had to go to a meeting, and leave her with 2 of her uncles. Who are completely clueless on diaper changing or anything but playing with her. When I got home she was starving!

We could not go to the hospital with the princess so her dad came and got her and took her to an urgent care. I went and hung out with Erin on Saturday night. It was a fun night. I sat in her nice little quiet hospital room and held little Elizabeth. Erin wasn't killer sick so we were able to just chat. That was about the best she has felt for the last 6 weeks. She showed me all of her spent veins. they pumped so many antibiotics into her that they had to use a lot of veins. Evidently antibiotics are hard on your veins.

But she got a precious little one for all of the hassle she has been through.

They brought Elizabeth home on Sunday night. We were all there to greet her. We all had dinner and made over the new baby. Issy was still a little afraid of her, so she kept her distance. Which was a good thing with her pink eye.

We had a nice time, but Elizabeth wouldn't wake up. She has her days and nights mixed up.

So Grandpa got to play with her and try to wake her up. It worked she woke up and ate!

A happy baby in our happy family!

The first meeting.....

Thanks you for all of the sweet comments on Erin's situation. I will ask the kids the name of the insurance company and get back to you on that. I feel bad having this picture up of Erin, her doctor won't let her shower until tonight. When she got her blessing the oil was in a big container and she got a ton of it put on her head!:-) She hasn't showered in over 2 days, but is so tired she wouldn't have the energy to do it if she could. They are telling us that her recovery is going to be longer because she was so sick when she delivered. So when you are looking at her in this picture just know she has been through to much. And she is getting better and has a sweet baby to show for it, I think she looks beautiful! Also this is a picture of the first time Issy met "Elle." Then when we tried to get Issy to sit by baby "Elle" she was afraid of her.

But a few minutes later she was willing to get up with Grandpa while he was holding her.

Uncle Chris got to meet her too. He couldn't get over how tiny she was.

I unwrapped little Elle and I ask Issy where her toes where. She touched her tiny toes and smiled.

Grandpa gives Issy big kisses and says "whmaaa" he was so happy when she got old enough to say it back. So this is little Elle's first "whmaaa" kiss.

And then me and my little Elle. We look nicer today after some rest, than we did yesterday. We are going to have a nice long family recovery month!

2 Princesses.....

So while Erin was in the hospital Issy was playing with us. Her dad taught her sign language "I love you." But she mostly just does "love you." She hugs herself and then points at who ever.

This time it was Grandpa!
Then she loves to dance so she was dancing to American Idol.

Then we found out the next day that Erin had spent another night in the hospital. I started to get worried after this. She hadn't seen Issy for a while and wanted a blessing. We headed up to the hospital. Monica one of Erin's closest friend was there visiting her. which made Mike and I feel good that Erin had somebody else who loved her there.

Erin was very sick the pneumonia was in a bad place. They had to do a CT scan of her lungs and told her there were complications with it. they also said she had pleurisy, I have just heard about that in old movies. but she couldn't breath and was in horrible pain just trying to breath.

Issy was having funny, she played with a sunbeam on the floor for a while. But Mike noticed that she was getting sad with Erin being so messed up. So we left.

We took her to lunch and Mike and I were pretty messed up. Erin was in scary shape. When she coughed it broke your heart. She didn't look good, and she hadn't slept in 3 days, she was exhausted.

After lunch we went to Target to buy Issy some diapers and another outfit. I didn't pack her up when I grabbed her. So when we were shopping Erin called and said she was having an emergency C-section. The pulminoligist (sp?) had seen her scans and said the baby had to come out NOW!

Issy got her grandpa to buy her a hat. They were funny and hid it from Grandma. But we rushed home from the store and I rushed back to the hospital. the insurance thing was that they were out of network. But Erin was so bad they didn't want to move her. Jon got things worked out and `they didn't have to move her so they started the C-section. I was very surprised that they let me go in too.

They had a hard time getting Erin ready. She was swollen all over including her back. and she has a little scoliosis. So it took an hour, to finally give her a spinal block. they said it would have been way to dangerous to put her to sleep. The c-section went perfect and little Elizabeth came out 2 weeks and 4 days early. But she weighed 6 pounds and 6 ounces, and 17 1/2 inches long.

Erin was doing better soon after. she could actually breath, which will help her lungs heal.

And I now have another sweet little princess to love!

Her dad was very excited she has a cleft chin just like her daddy.

She was enjoying stretching out. And is sooooo precious! We are happy and feel like Erin is going to get better a lot quicker now.

A long long nap....

So last night I was in bed reading after 11:00. Erin called and ask me to drive to her town and get the Princess because she was going to the hospital. I rushed out of the house and got to her. Their friend was with her reading her stories, his wife is pregnant too. I got her and brought her home. We got to bed at 1:00AM. Then she woke up at 7:00AM at home she sleeps till 9 or 10 for her mom! I hadn't grabbed her any clothes it was late and I was tired. So this morning we ran to Target and bought her a new outfit. Then ran to the church to finish up visiting teaching routes. I told her to let me take a picture of her new outfit and she posed so cute. She liked it, even down to the pink socks.

Then her Grandpa and Chris came and picked her up. I had to run to a hair appointment after and by the time I got home she had crashed with Chris.

I put her in a more comfortable position and they continued to sleep.

And they slept.......

And slept.......... for 2 hours.

Then she got up and had some lunch. Her mom is sad and feels like her body is giving up on her. But she found out she pulled a muscle in her back, and she has pneumonia. The doctor put her on bed rest for a bit. Bless her heart life is tuff for her right now. Keep her in your prayers she needs a little extra love.

A long trip home... or never fly on Friday the 13th!

So we drove out to the side of town that I grew up in. I decided to go take pictures of my old houses. They are right next door to each other, my parents wanted to build a house and sell it, build another house and sell it, until they had their house paid off. But they got as far as 2 houses and got distracted. So this was the first house, we built in Gilmer.

And this is the second. So many memories! Wow, I had some good times in these houses. This is the house I lived in when I met Mike.And I put this picture on for Erin. This is a banana fudge bomb, from Blue Bell. We always got these when we traveled through Texas. I couldn't find them so Gina went out got me some.

We ran to Wal Mart the last night and I ran into my Friend Kay. She started working there in High school and has been there for a while (OK Mike is giving me guff on this one she's been there around 28 years, that is a "while"). She has done well and worked her way up managerial ladder. She was a manager a long time ago when dad had his open heart surgery, she helped me out when I went in with my dads checks:-) Then it was fun to go in over the years and see a friend. She has trained and opened a lot of stores. She said her next step is to get her own store. I hope she will get it soon, she's great. We chatted for a long time, mom and dad found a bench to sit on while we caught up with each other. And she isn't aging a single bit, not one grey hair or wrinkle to be seen, she is gorgeous.

Thursday I packed up, we grabbed Aunt Renee, another Swanner burger and head over to Dallas. The burger was great as always, but it made a mess on me while I was driving. I smelled like onion for the rest of the day.

We went to Aunt Beth's and spent the night. I love being with her. We all went out to eat another fine TexMex meal, at an old favorite El Chico's. Then we went back to her place for dessert and watched a movie. We slept in late and got up threw the bags in the car, picked up my cousin, and drove to the airport. Two things were just a bit stressful I should have had my cousin Lana drive, I drove through Dallas traffic, it has been a long time since I have done that, my knuckles got a little white! Then Lana mentioned that there was a plane crash that morning and all of the people died. I thought wow this is a fun subject to talk about on our way to the airport, for me to fly in a plane! But I laughed to myself. Because if I would have said anything out loud my parents and aunts would have worried about me being nervous. And I wasn't nervous. Then Gina called and said, "don't watch the news!"

I sat at the airport for 3 and a half hours. One guy on my flight said, "I will never fly on Friday the 13th again!" Our flight was late and I was going to miss my connecting flight. The princess and her mom came over to greet me when I got home. Actually Mike had fun surprises waiting for me, but they had to be postponed for a day.


The good news was. I was going to have an all night lay over in Phoenix. So I called up Ana and she picked me up and we headed out for a girls night. We rarely get those nights since I moved out of town! We headed over and picked up Cathy and enjoyed ourselves. We laughed and I TALKED, after we dropped Cathy off I told Ana it was all about me. I did all of the talking. Cathy does that to me, she ask all these questions and I don't reciprocate and ask her any. So it was all about me. Next time it can be about Cathy and Ana:-)

The TexMex was great but nothing beats the Southwest Mexican food. These tacos were soooooo good! I miss this kind of Mexican food.


I finally got home today, On Valentines day, so I had fun Valentine surprises! This was the first, I almost cried. I just kept kissing that face and telling him he was beautiful. He will grow the beard back right away but it was amazing to see his sweet little face again!

Then the kids cleaned out my pantry. I wish I had a picture of it before it was a huge disorganized mess. Again I was almost brought to tears, because I could actually walk in the pantry and not have to step carefully.

And then the final gift. My closet, we had issues when we moved into our house, and the closets didn't get done. Mike bought a rod to go across one wall of the closet and then we had boxes stacked in there, because we didn't have enough room to hang all of our clothes. Plus closets aren't my thing anyway. So Mike went and bought more closet units and finished out our closet. It was awesome I now have a real closet! So my trip ends on a happy note.