Last week (March 14) our precious Daniel turned 4 years old. It makes me sad that he no longer has any resemblance of a baby. I have been baby crazy since I was old enough to know what a baby was. I never had any aspirations to really "be" anything when I was growing up, but I always knew I wanted to have babies and lots of them. I remember when I was 10 my Aunt Bonnie had their third child, Molly. I remember Lois and I were actually pretty mad at mom because she wouldn't have a baby too. Aunt Bonnie let us "share" Molly. She was kind of a community baby between our two families, and I think she was greatly loved and adored by all of us. I remember Aunt Bonnie letting me feed her bottles and help her bathe Molly. I remember the baby shower my mom had for her. She got a bassinet and it had a big stork in it. My mom's other sister Merle also had a baby the year Molly was born, Amy, and a couple years before that she had Matthew. They lived in Utah. When Matthew was a baby they came to Colorado to visit us. Aunt Merle let me help her do anything with Matthew. I even changed his cloth diapers. I remember one day we were having a barbecue outside and Aunt Merle asked me to check on Matthew, he was napping. When I went to check on him, he was awake so I got him up and changed his diaper. I was trying to be very careful with the diaper pins, but I stuck his stomach with one of them. I remember thinking very clearly that his belly was going to probably pop open and everyone would know that I had hurt him. I was crying, and Aunt Merle came to see what was taking me so long and if I needed help. When I told her I had "stabbed" Matthew's tummy, she hugged me so tight and assured me she had done the same thing many times over the years and none of her babies had ever exploded from it.
When Lois and Pete got married and had their first daughter, I felt a love I had NEVER felt before in my life. My precious, beautiful Carrie was the world to me, but then I found out, just like parents do, that with every baby born your love just grows beyond measure to encompass all of them. I felt the same way when Beth was born and then Jennie. By the time Jennie was born, Lois and Pete had moved to Washington and I was so sad that I wasn't able to see her right away. Growing up I always imagined Lois and I living in the same town and having babies together like my mom and her sister Bonnie did. Our cousins were our best friends.
Carrie now is a mother herself of one very precious beautiful boy named Rece. He is so adorably cute. The way he holds his head in some of the pictures you just know he is thinking "hmmm".
Beth is a mother now too. She has Austin who is going to be 3 on May 1. He is a funny, hilarious, loving, kind little boy. He loves his Grammie so much. She cares for him when Beth is working as a nurse, and boy does he get cared for and filled with love every day he spends with his Grammie. Sometimes I think he would prefer her over his mommy, but just for a little while. Last week, March 15, Beth and Jason welcomed a precious new baby girl into this world. Her name is Rylee Marie (her middle name is after her Grammie and Lois's grammie). She is so beautiful, but man I'm glad I didn't have to deliver her. Beth is a tough one. Ms. Rylee weighed in at 9 pounds 2.4 ounces and 21-1/2 inches long of all beautiful baby. I feel so blessed to live here and to have been able to see her before she was 24 hours old. Jennie is a student Virginia Commonwealth University working on her masters degree. She hopes one day to be an athletic director for a pro team. She's got what it takes. She was an awesome pitcher and fast pitch softball player. Years ago her team from Moses Lake went to a big fast pitch softball tournament in Colorado. Mel and I and Nicole along with my parents and my brother's girls all went and stayed in Denver to watch her play. Lois and Beth had driven from Washington to be there. That was pretty awesome and Jennie wowed a lot of people with her athletic abilities.
My brother Andy and his wife Corinne are the parents of two absolutely compassionate, kind, loving daughters. Amanda is 21 and Cora is 20. Amanda is in college waiting to hear if she gets into nursing school. She is a straight A student as well as working full time as a nurse's assistant at the VA Nursing Home. She loves her patients, and I know they have to adore her. She has a heart bigger than she is. Cora is a customer service representative for a small airport in their hometown of Rifle, Colorado. She has been nominated as customer service representative of the year in Pro Pilot magazine. I for one think she deserves the honor. Cora couldn't be mean to anyone if she had to be. She is a very sweet spirit. One of the coolest things about these girls is their love and comittment to Jesus Christ. They both serve in various ministries in their church. I also think it is cool that they were home-schooled, and it simply shows that home-schooled kids are learning at the equivalent or higher than publicly educated kids. This is a testament to their parents, especially their mom who made the sacrifice and comittment to teach her girls at home.
So last week was Daniel's birthday, his second one without his daddy. It makes me sad. Last year I just had a party for both Daniel and Nicole on Mel's birthday, March 29, which was in between both of their birthdays, Nicole's is April 19. But then the very next day Rylee was born, another miracle, a new life a gift for God. Lois and Pete are such sweet grandparents. It is joyous to see them with their grandchildren and the love they have for them. That's when it occurred to me that Mel and I will never be able to share the love of grandchildren between us. Mel's older son and daughter both have children. Aaron's are especially special in my heart, and I had the chance to take care of their oldest daughter Megan for a whole school year. The things she did still make me laugh. However, I would have loved for Mel and I to see Colie's babies and maybe Daniel's.
So all in all in the sadness and in between there is a lot of joy. I am just thankful that in some small way I can be a part of Rylee, Austin and Sarina's lives, along with my sweet Bethie and her Jason and watch my sister glow with "Grammiehood" and Pete with his sweet and gentle nature that he extends to every kid he is around. These people love my kids and me, and that is after all what life is all about.
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