They Say....

Life is what happens while you are making other plans.  And I've been living that recently.

I explained in my last post back in October that our son-in-law, MK, has been critically ill. While he was "medically asleep" for 8 days, we kept our grandson so our daughter and MK's parents could be at the hospital around the clock. It was a very serious situation for a couple of days, but through God's mercy MK survived and is home. He is still very weak, even after being home for a while now, and it will take some time for him to gather strength.

SR and I had a routine of sorts before this. He did his thing and I did mine, and we had our life planned out so to speak. Continue doing what we were doing...keeping the grandchildren a couple of days a week, and I clean my mother-in-law's house for her once a week. While I was at home, I would sew and try to keep up the house, read blogs and even comment on them. The unexpected  seems to have blown our routine out of the water for the long haul. Life happened while we had other plans. And you know what?

THAT'S OK. We need to be more active in our watching the grandson, and our daughter needs a bit more help than before. That's what families do though isn't it? They take care of each other.  I read a devotional one night before going to bed and it resonated with me. I won't quote it or try to type it all out for your reading pleasure *wink* but the point was....
Take joy in the day you are living. Try not to say "I'll be happy and enjoy my life when this or that happens or goes away."  And I realized I was trying to push through the days to get to the other side, so to speak. I did what needed to be done, but without any joy or contentment. The Apostle Paul wrote that he'd learned to be content in whatsoever circumstances he found himself, and I want to be like that!

So now, instead of tolerating days, waiting for the time when I can get back to my plans and routine, I'm trying to enjoy the time spent with my babies, and just be where I am, doing what I'm doing at any given time. Family is everything and I'm blessed to have a close one.  There will be less sewing, less crafting and gardening, and less blog reading, but as I said before....THAT'S OK.

Now, I'll show you the latest picture of my two babies that are here now...remember I have another one arriving in March. HAPPY FACE!!

Ups and Downs, Happy and Sad

Life has been quite busy of late. Between grandchildren, family demands, and life in general, I've not had time to post much. Some things have been good, some things have been bad.

First the bad.
My father-in-law has Alzheimer's. For quite some time it was a very slow progression. Not so now. He's at a point where we must begin medicating him more strongly, to protect my mother-in-law from his temper and unpredictable behavior. We know that he is miserable himself and we are hoping and praying that the medication will help. I've been talking with a very helpful and kind lady who has a lot of experience with Alzheimer patients and her insight has been invaluable.

Now the good.
My grandbabies are simply awesome!

The joy they give me is never ending! And now we have more good news!! My son and daughter-in-law are expecting another baby in March! We hope Klaire will get a little brother, but we will be happy with whatever God decides to bless us with!!!!

I've been doing some sewing and a tiny bit of painting, but mostly I've been keeping grandbabies, and helping in-laws. This is the time in life when these are the most important. Everything else will be there when I get to it.

This summer in south Arkansas has been mild to say the least. Plenty of rain,  and reasonable temperatures have made it very nice. The only downside to that, is that sometimes it's too cool for LMW to swim. We bought him a 30" 10' pool this summer.

Hopefully, I will have other interesting things to talk about another day. I'm also considering the consolidation of my two blogs to make it easier to post. I'll be making a decision on that soon. I've thought about it before, and never done anything about it. I think it might be best since I seldom post here.

I'll be back....

The Speed of Light

My life and the lives of my loved ones seem to be speeding by at an alarming rate. I can't believe I haven't posted since the middle of April!! Life is full!

Here are some pics of what's been going on....

A trip to Hot Springs to the beautiful and majestic Garvan Woodland Gardens. Three of the ladies in my Sunday morning Bible study and I made a short drive there and enjoyed a gorgeous day!

I have 80+ photos but won't try to show them all to you. Ha!

My sweet babies are growing too quickly!! LMW's 4th birthday....WHAT?!!

Klaire's first birthday...again....WHAT?!!

That's all for now. I'll check in when time permits. (big laugh here!)

KLAIRE ALLYSE!!

Here are photos of our GORGEOUS baby girl. She was born Thursday, April 18, 2013 at 1:59 p.m. She weighed 8lbs and was 20 inches long.

She is beyond precious.

Only a few hours old.

Grandpa and Daddy 

Mommy

Nanna B

We at first thought her hair was red. Her Daddy texted me from the delivery room and told me it was red, but later we realized it just looked red due to the lights in the room and how red she was. Today we saw that it's really a blonde color. And who knows what it will turn out to be later. I predict her eyes will be blue, but we'll see.

They will come home tomorrow and then we can really start having fun!!

I will apologize now for the many posts that will be filled with her pics. You know how we grandparents are when we get a new baby!!

It's Time!

Wednesday evening, April 17th

I unexpectedly find myself a little teary right now. My sweet son and his beautiful wife are on their way to the hospital to start the inducing process.

I'm so excited I can barely sit still, but the husband and I won't go until early tomorrow morning. Unless....they call and tell us to get ourselves up there pronto.

I can't believe it's time to meet our little Klaire. As soon as the dust clears and everything has settled down, you can be sure I will post photos!! In the meantime, we as a family covet your prayers for a safe and uneventful delivery. We already know that Klaire will be perfect because God doesn't make mistakes. Ever.

To be continued................................