Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Babies, Grads, and Blessings All

My goodness. Everybody told me about a lot of things to expect about being a grandmother. Things like "your life will never be the same" and "you can't imagine how this little one will capture your heart" and "being a grandparent will change your life". And these things are all true.

But nobody ever told me what a totally exhausting job being a grandma is!

I suppose the fact that little Tyler was born the same week his Auntie Jessica was graduating from high school didn't help. Tyler was born Monday morning and spent his first two days in the neo-natal intensive care unit. So of course I was there every minute I could be. Then a day later, he came home. And of course, I was there every minute I could be. I cooked and cleaned and served my daughter. And I held the baby - a lot. And then my second daughter who lives way on the other side of the country in Boston decided at the very last minute that she absolutely could not stand to not be here with all the big family events happening - so she hopped on a plane and came home!!! And then Andrea had her ultrasound and we were invited to come and find out that our second grandbaby is a girl! Imagine that - we have a grandson and a granddaughter. God is just so good! And then we had a big celebration in our back yard for Jessica on Saturday. And then on Sunday, my baby, graduated from high school. We had a house full of company and we had the most fun. To say we are so proud of her is the biggest understatement of all time. She was given a special award at her graduation - the one called "The Ambassador for Christ Award". This award is given to one girl and one boy from the senior class each year. It was a total surprise to her and to us. And it says so much about her character. During the ceremony the entire class dispersed into the audience and gave flowers and hand written notes of love and appreciation to the people who have played special roles in their lives. It was a very emotional moment and one I will always remember. Looking at this picture you can see what a very blessed mama I am. All week long my heart has just been so full of happiness and blessings and my heart can't contain it all. So often these days it all comes spilling out of my eyes! Tears of happiness and joy.


Now that graduation is over I plan to spend a lot more time with this little guy. He is so sweet I could just eat him with a spoon! He is doing so well considering his difficult start in life. He is still a bit jaundiced but not enough to worry about. He is such a good baby. He never cries. He sleeps well. He nurses well for his mama. And yesterday when I held him, he held his head up all on his own and just looked all around the room.



Did you know that there is a learning curve to grandparenting? We are learning where we fit in and where we don't. It seemed really strange at first to leave our little grandson at the end of the day. After all, we had never had a baby we loved so much before that we left in someone else's care! Even it is was with our daughter and son in law. It just seemed odd to walk away and leave him. We thought perhaps we could share him - you know - we could take him home part of the time and his parents could come and visit! LOL! But alas, it doesn't work that way. So we love him and kiss him and snuggle him as much as we can - and then we leave him with his very capable and very loving mama and daddy. And we go home and talk about how amazing he is and how much he looks like us and how good he is! And we calculate when we can go see him again without being considered nuisances!

Here are some pictures of his nursery. We painted the walls in yellow stripes. I made the crib layette for Tyler. It was so fun to do. I even made the sheets for the crib - which turned out to be surprisingly easy.



It's kind of funny though. We spent so much time preparing his nursery - but he hasn't spent a moment in there! He is held almost all the time!

I want to say thank you to all of you who have posted lovely comments of congratulations. I have been behind in my blogging - but I intend to get around a visit all of you soon. As soon as life settles down a bit. I'm hoping that it will anyway. And I may even have something to blog about that doesn't contain baby news. But you probably don't want to take that to the bank!

12 comments:

Michelle said...

oh he's just so adorable! Congratulations! What a beautiful nursery too. Congrats to your daughter on her graduation and wonderful award!

When I was pg w/Kayla we had Tyler picked out if she would have been a boy...and now Lucas' middle name is Tyler :)

Donnetta said...

These are precious moments you will never get back. You just take your time and enjoy your family and these moments! That is what you should be doing!! :-)

Dawn said...

What a wonderful week or two you have had! He is just adorable. OF course you'll be talking about him in your blogs forever now - you know how much I do that! It is expected. We're the grandmas.

But I did take one of the twins home quite often, in an effort to give Kristen some sleep. It was exhausting, but necessary!

gail@more than a song said...

Oh look at your cute, cute girls! Fun times you've been having and that sweet little boy too. You did a great job with his nursery bedding, I'm impressed! And did you do that monogramming with his name and that cute lettering? Great job.
You're so fortunate that they live close by and you can see the baby and help them out. A granddaughter next, how fun! Is this the one that will be named Ava Clair?
Fun pictures, thanks for sharing them.

Anonymous said...

Your love shines for ALL your babies--grand and otherwise :).

I bet years from now I'll remember your words about there being a "learning curve" to grandparenting; you're wise to be sensitive to that.

Congrats on your new arrival...your soon to be arrival, and your baby's graduation! My baby just graduated 5th grade, and I was moved to write about that today...I can only imagine when my first born graduates H.S.!

:)

Ooooo, I popped over to say HEY, we'll have opportunity to meet at SheSpeaks in a few weeks! I'm thrilled as I see peeps in my Bloglines registering links (since I'm "that far" behind in reading my blog listings...:/).

Happy day! :)

Mishel said...

Congratulations on all the exciting things going on in your life! Lots of life changing events for sure!

And the crib bedding is beautiful--you did a GREAT job!!

Tiffany said...

The nursery looks great! How exciting all the new things that are going on. He is so cute!!! Tell your daughter congrats what a wonderful thing to get an award and graduate! Have a wonderful weekend!

Barb said...

You're already the perfect grandmother. You have exactly all the right feelings and yes ma'am, I could have told you that it's exhausting.

Congratulations to your daughter on receiving that amazing award. I remember the emotions of graduation day too.

You know, Cameron's almost three years old and it seems like only yesterday, he was born and I was in complete awe. And now there's Avery. I so, so know how you feel. They're just the best reason in the whole world to get older.

Congratulations again. I can't say it enough, I'm so happy for you and your whole family.

Dawn said...

Thank you so much for your kind comments to me - you have become a special friend - and now we're grandmothers in common!

Katie said...

Oh Robin! How exciting! Congratulations to you all!!!

Dianne - Bunny Trails said...

How sweet, Robin! He's just adorable. Congratulations!!! :D

At least you can still get a full night's sleep as the grandma.

Anonymous said...

.
He's so totally cute. Well done! CONGRATULATIONS to ALL Grads!

Hey young Grads
good show I say
you've done it now
you've showed us how

You've had some good times
You've made some good friends
now some will go off
to do it again

So good luck in college
You can do it
Have a real wild time
but don't over do it

Try to make friends fast
many of the early ones
will be the ones
who last

Unless you love
to get up early
don't schedule your classes
way too early

And try to get to class
as much as you can
you'll be glad you did
then you'll deserve a cold can

But try not to party
too much before class
you'll more likely attend
and you won't be an ass

If you fail the easy Calc
don't take the harder one
just keep your eye on the ball
between all the fun

You'll be entering
sort of a fantasy land
of reading, writing, and thinking
with those who can lend a hand

So, do your best with grades
but at least finish the task
and soon another graduation
will come at last...

So
CONGRATULATIONS
GOOD LUCK
and HAVE FUN!!!


:)
.