A Gift of Love…

If I do say so myself, I think that my daughter had the most beautiful wedding gown that I have ever seen.  Not only was the dress pretty on its own, but I thought it was absolutely the perfect dress for her.  She looked beautiful!

So I was quite surprised when she told me that she was giving her wedding dress away.  “Giving it away?” I asked.  “Why would you want to do that?  Don’t you want to save it for Paisley?  You can’t get rid of the most beautiful dress I’ve ever seen!”

Mandy then explained that she was giving it to an organization that takes the wedding dresses and makes specials gowns for babies that are lost while they are in the hospital.  This is a cause that is very close to Mandy’s heart, and it certainly is worthy, so how on earth could I argue with that?

“Besides,” Mandy told me, “Not one of my friends ended up wearing her mother’s gown.  I’m pretty sure that Paisley won’t want to wear mine.”

( If you would like to learn more about the Angel Gown program, click here.)

Before she took her gown to the organization, she took a few photos:

Now she can say that Paisley has had a chance to wear her dress, and some little angel will have a beautiful gown to wear.  Well done, daughter…well done!

He's Finally Here!

After Mandy suffering through pneumonia at 38 weeks of pregnancy, having the worry that he looked liked he might be breech for awhile there, and just a roller-coaster ride in general during the last month of Mandy's pregnancy, the most beautiful grandson in the world is finally here!  We got the call at 4:30 this morning that Mandy was at the hospital.  It took us a little while to get on the road, but we were out the door by 5:30, arriving at the hospital a little after six-ish (thanks to no traffic!).  Jeromy’s mother, “Nana”, was already there, and Mandy was working through some major labor pains with the help of her faithful hubby.

It wasn’t too long (around 7:00) before the nurse booted the grandparents out to go sit in the waiting room.  It seemed like forever before we were able to go back again.  We later learned that the reason it took so long was that the doctor on-call from Mandy’s OB didn’t show up on time.  They waited as long as they could before Fox actually was delivered by the nurses there, with the doctor showing up after the fact.  Because of this, it took longer than usual to get Mandy situated.  Nana and Lolee are both still pretty upset about this, and I probably don’t need to ever see Mandy’s doctor.  However, Mandy and Fox are doing fine now (thanks to the nurses!), and I know that the whole world will want to get a peek at the most beautiful grandson in the whole world:

Comebacks

As I was coming out of the chicken coop the other morning, I was greeted by this beautiful sight:

Did it just suddenly bloom?  Or did I just suddenly, finally notice it?  I’m not sure which is true, but it certainly lifted my spirits.  I’ve been a little disconnected from things lately.  It seems that for the past several months, someone is always sick or there is a crisis of some sort.  After my recovery from feeling so awful during January, last month Mom spent five days in the hospital with another round of pneumonia.  The only good thing that came of it is that the doctors finally recognized that she needs to be on oxygen as part of her daily routine.  Before she could come home, the “oxygen people” had to come to the house and set up a little rig for her here and also bring  her a little stash of oxygen tanks for any outings we might undertake.  Mom has finally become accustomed to moving about the house while tethered to her oxygen unit.  We are still trying to get the hanging of the portable tanks, as we really haven’t ventured out much since she came home.  While still not her old self, Mom is at least feeling better than she did last month, and the oxygen seems to be helping her breathing a lot.

Poor Paisley is plagued with a variety of illness and issues, but her mother also has had a rough patch lately.  An old foot injury flared up, and poor Mandy has been a little encumbered herself as of late:

We’re hoping that she heals soon, for being pregnant can be physically challenging and being gimpy can be physically challenging, but being both is just miserable!  Speaking of which, my “most beautiful child” quandary has now been solved:

How great is that?

In other news, Alan has “come back” home…well, until mid-April, anyway.  He had a little lull between seasons at Yellowstone so he flew in last Thursday.  He is enjoying watching television and eating at restaurants; he even went to see “Oz the Great and Powerful” with a friend this weekend.  We are enjoying having him home, and Toffee was just over the moon to see him.  He’s still as cute as ever:

In addition to his company, I am enjoying how much help he can be.  I had ordered some bare-root strawberry plants (way more cost-effective) and he helped me get them planted in some containers that I had squirrelled away over the years:

This is not the final stop for these strawberry plants – I have a nifty thing that I am working on, but first I am trying to get as many 2-liter soda bottles as I can (Alan is helping with that, too).  I can’t wait to show you this new project once it is finished…it is just what we need here in the heat and drought that is Texas!

I’m hoping that the arrival of spring will bring renewed energy and good things for all of those I love.  Here’s  to enjoying “comebacks”!

Happy Birthday, Mandy!

I can’t believe that my baby girl has turned 30!  It seems impossible; however, Mandy’s knack has always been making the impossible…well, possible.   She even managed to be born on Thanksgiving Day – a special blessing, indeed!

Here I am, ready to leave for the hospital:

She was a big bundle of joy – 9 pounds, 11 ounces and only 19-1/2 inches long!  (I still don't know why they had her dressed in blue.)

She didn’t sleep a whole lot when she was little (so much to do and see, you know), but she was just the most beautiful thing I had ever seen:

It was just the two of us for a while (with Dee Dee right beside us, of course)…

…She was just a few weeks away from turning three when Robert became “Daddy”.

She became a big sister to Alan…

…And continued growing, and doing well in school and just everything that she tried.

There were holidays and parties of all kinds through the years -- she loved dressing up at Halloween!

She did some dancing and singing in the Texas Children’s Choir and Broadway Troop…they even performed at Sea World and at a big military Christmas shindig at Fort Hood:

She grew into a lovely young woman…

…Who graduated high school with honors…

…And graduated from college with honors, too!

And now my baby has a family of her own!

I am so very proud of my daughter and of the woman she has become.  I feel honored to have had the privilege of being with her through the years.  Happy birthday, Mandy!  We all love you!