Will That Baby Ever Come?

Sarah was so convinced she was going to have her second baby a week early--just like Eli--that pretty soon she had everyone believing it. When that day came and went with no indication of the baby coming any time soon, and the next day and the next and the next passed by, Sarah started getting very nervous.

The reason for her worry was Rebecca had requested I watch her three children for two days while she substituted at the elementary school. Sarah could not believe the nerve her sister had in booking me on those days--one of which just happened to be her actual due date.

Let me point out if she had had her baby one week early, as she had been telling us, there would have been absolutely no conflict whatsoever...

But, since the baby was not making an appearance and the days were ticking down--to the substituting days and the actual due date--Sarah was getting very tense and very uneasy thinking about the possibility of me being an hour and a half away instead of 30 minutes away. She was counting on me to take care of Eli when she and Jeff went to the hospital.

Finally Sarah put her foot down and insisted Rebecca bring her family up to spend those two nights.

Turns out that was the best idea ever considering Sarah called at 3:30 a.m. informing me her water broke. I did feel horrible about yanking Eli out of a sound sleep a few hours later so I could get him back here by 7:15 a.m. when Rebecca needed to leave.

I'm sure Eli had the time of his life playing those two days with his little cousins while his parents were busy at the hospital.

Decorating must be in the genes because not only does Brooke love to decorate the house when she comes, but Eli likes to do so as well.

His form of decorating is putting cookie cutters in a special pattern on the piano bench. Looks beautiful, right?!?

Eli had a blast joining in on whatever antics Brooke and Caroline were doing--like throwing pool balls all around the basement. Fortunately all walls are still intact as are all small children's heads.

He got a little rambunctious with Spencer several times. At the end of nap time, he and Caroline were doing their best to make Spencer laugh while he was still in the pack-n-play. Then Eli started taking it to the extreme shaking the little bed so hard I was afraid he would pull it right over. I'm sure Sarah and Jeff will appreciate that fun thing he learned at our house.

Another great pleasure Eli got was shaking the high chair when Spencer was eating. That was fun for at least one of the two boys involved and the other little boy might never want to get in that chair again.

All three kids enjoyed coloring with markers when Brooke got the great idea to make a butterfly kite. She's very creative. She also made a slingshot out of paper. That girl has a great imagination.

There was one big problem we had when the Golden family was here. Bear got lost! He is the love of Brooke's life and when bedtime rolled around, he was nowhere to be found. Thankfully there was no major breakdown over it--just major sadness as Brooke looked around for another suitable stuffed animal replacement for her bedtime buddy. And it didn't cause her to lose sleep over the matter.

She was moaning in the morning about how she really missed Bear and wondered where he could be. I knew where he was. When I had walked out onto the front porch to tell Rebecca good-bye that morning, I looked over the porch railing and spotted a white object down below. The white object was wearing purple panties and completely resembled the lost animal.

When I shared the good news with Brooke, she lost no time in hitching up her pajama pant legs and running through the pouring rain to retrieve her favorite stuffed animal. She uses the weeping-branched tree out front as her "tree house" and that's where Bear had spent the night. She was so worried about how cold her wet Bear must be after having spent the night outside in the rain. But, no worries. After throwing him in the washer and dryer, he came out looking much brighter.

After dinner we took Eli to the hospital to introduce him to his new baby brother.

It was very hard to get Eli to hold still for a family picture. This is the best one I got.

Eli had other things on his mind--like running from one end of the room to the other. Back and forth. Over and over again. He was like a little man on a mission. He had to keep running. Again and again and again. It was hilarious and I think it wore Sarah out just watching him.

Congratulations to Jeff and Sarah on baby boy #2. Carson is adorable.

Mother and baby are doing well!

Quotes of the Week

"Do Something. If it works, do more of it. If it doesn't, do  something else."
-- Franklin D. Roosevelt


"Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow  old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul."
-- Samuel Ullman


"You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close  the door on the past. You don't try to forget the mistakes, but you don't dwell on it. You don't let it have any of your  energy, or any of your time, or any of your space."
-- Johnny Cash

The Life of a One-Year-Old

Spencer got his first turn to celebrate his birthday at the Ward family dinner party.

Even though he's now a year old, he isn't very big.

But he sure likes to eat.

He gets into every cupboard and drawer when he gets the chance.

He's become quite daring in his walking abilities.

But sometimes comes up short on his destinations--as evidenced by the goose egg on his forehead and the cut on the corner of his eye.

Spencer is getting more brave and adventuresome all the time. And all the time he's got that big grin on his face.

He's going places he's never been before. And Rebecca hopes one of those places isn't going down the stairs falling face first or rolling head over heels.

A Home Decorating Little Cookie Monster

This little girl LOVES to eat Oreos when she comes to visit.

So does her sister.

Another thing Brooke loves to do when she is here is redecorate the house. Each month when I put out new seasonal decorations, she always moves them around to her liking. Apparently she and I don't have the same taste in decorating...?

(Note the pile of bunnies on the bookshelf behind Caroline's head.)

One night when Rebecca's family was spending the night here, Brooke was coloring before bedtime and enlisted my help. "Come on, Grandma! Let's make some beautiful pictures for me to hang up!"

She instructed me that we were going to color people in bed sleeping. They had to have a pillow, their eyes had to be closed and they had to have zzzzz's over their heads.

We got quite a pile of pictures completed before she headed off to bed.

The next day I saw how she had beautifully decorated the bedroom where she had been sleeping--strategically placing each piece of precious artwork to her liking.

I'd say if she doesn't have a future career as an artist, she surely will be a very qualified home decorator. She's getting lots of experience at a very young age.