Wednesday, July 14, 2010

01-25-2011

Well, the waiting period is up and we can finally announce that we are expecting another baby in January (our blog title is my due date). Nicholas wants a baby brother (which means we'll probably have a girl : ) We'll find out the sex in early September and then we can work on finding a name. Mike has already gotten the baby room ready, although I will have to decorate once I find out what we're having. As you can imagine, we're thrilled, excited, terrified, and everything in between. Here we go again with the sleepless nights, crying, and diapers, but we can't believe how fast time flies and how those moments go by quickly. Of course we get the sweet smiles and "first" moments along with everything else. It's a cliche, but they do grow up so fast. We just feel blessed that Heavenly Father is sending us another one of His children to raise...what a responsibility. We'll keep you posted!!

Monday, July 12, 2010

Farewell Grams!

My sweet grandma passed away July 3rd, and we are so happy she is reunited with my grandpa (they were married 66 years and he passed away on Jan 1 of this year so at least they weren't separated for long). My Grams taught me lots of things as she helped raise me and my brother. Here's just a few things.
1) Love of reading...my grandma read to us every night for years and always took us to the library every week. When I was in elementary school she would write down every book I read, sometimes the list was hundreds of books long. I still love to read, and I thank her for teaching me the power of good books.
2) Being grateful...there was never a birthday or Christmas that went by that my grandma did not sit me down afterwards and have me write thank you cards for each of my gifts. She always reminded us of the importance of being thankful and grateful for what you receive.
3) Being frugal...when I was still young my grandma took me to the bank and opened an account for me. She and I would go to the bank every month and put my allowance in and I saw my account get bigger and bigger. I always say she was the biggest penny pincher there was, but I believe it was because of her that she and my grandpa lived debt free and could always pay cash for everything, even their homes and cars.
4) Loving your husband...my grandma was always talking about my grandpa or doing things for him. I remember when I was five and I said "I hate grandpa when he comes home" (I think I was jealous because my grandma always wanted to spend time with him when he got home from work). Well, she marched me inside and washed out my mouth with soap and taught me how important it was to respect my grandpa. She made my grandpa's lunch for him every day for the 50+ years he worked and never ever complained about his jobs. In old age, they never left each others' side, and even when she was in her late Alzheimer's stage, she recognized my grandpa. It's no surprise that she passed away so soon after he died...they were best friends and soulmates.
5) Hard work...my grandma taught us at a young age to appreciate work. I still remember the stars she gave us on our chore charts.
6) Being smart...my grandma strongly emphasized good grades at school. Every report card was scrutinized and if we made less than an A she wanted to know why and how come we hadn't done better. I know it was her insistence on the best that I went through high school, college, and graduate school never making anything but As.
7) Love of music, theater, and art... My grandma always took my brother and I to the theater to see plays, ballets, and musicals. She took us to art museums and she and I took oil painting classes together. I'll always love those paintings that we painted together. She played gospel music for us every night before we went to bed, and I still remember falling asleep to "Amazing Grace"
8) Being honest...when I was 4 I took a piece of bubble gum from the local grocery store. As we were driving home, my grandma noticed me chewing it. She turned right back around, made me go in the store, apologize to the store owner, and pay for it. Well, I never stole anything ever again.
9) Good treats...my grandma made the best pies, lemon bars, and Reese's peanut butter cup cookies. She always gave me a tin of cookies every time I came home from college. She didn't cook much when she got older, and I never felt Christmas was the same without her sugared pecans, orange balls, or fruit cake bites. I'm glad I learned how to make a pie crust from her.
10) Loving the Lord...my grandma took us to church every Sunday, bought us own Bibles, and could be found every morning in her room reading her Bible. I knew she loved the Savior, and I'm glad she's with Him now.

I'll always remember going to the duck pond to feed the ducks and taste the honeysuckle, picking peaches every summer in the Oklahoma heat, playing hide and seek (she'd hide a plastic strawberry container somewhere in the house and my brother and I would just love trying to find it), having her roll my hair in curlers every week, and making the best roast beef gravy every Sunday (I told her I wanted a swimming pool full of her gravy so I could put my rice in it and eat all day).

My grandma was a special lady, and most of who I am is due to her influence in my life. She sacrificed a lot to help raise my brother and I, and I consider myself so blessed to have had such a great example. I'll miss her and will always thank her for all the many wonderful things she taught me and the memories we made. I love you Grams!!

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Whose Bed?

 

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When I was at Costco today, I decided to get Cheerio a new bed.  Nicholas claimed it as his and wanted to take it into his room for nap time.  Looks like it did the trick, he was passed out when I went in to check on him.  I hope Cheerio likes the bed as much as Nicholas does (if Cheerio can ever get it away from him : )