Oh, Wow! Oh, Wow! OOOOOOOH, WOW!!!!

I’M A GRANDMOMMY!!!!

Yes, I’m screaming! And I’m doing a lot of (virtual) jumping up and down and dancing on the ceiling! Because . . . I’M A GRANDMOMMY!

I haven’t shared before today because I needed permission (I do not want to get banned from baby adoring!)

And know what? He is gorgeous! Beautiful! And BRILLIANT!!!

♥ ♥ ♥

This isn’t our new grandbaby. This is our son, the baby’s daddy. Born on his due date, five pounds, thirteen ounces of perfect baby boy.

And our new little pumpkin looks a lot like this. 😀

Want to know what it feels like to be a brand new, first time, week old grandmommy? I can tell you.

It’s like . . .

• Winning the Boston Marathon without running a step
• as you win a jillion, million dollar lottery without buying a ticket
• while winning the Irish Sweepstakes without even trying.
• at the same time as you get the world best, biggest, sweetest, most coveted award for just being alive!!!

Funny thing is, being a grandmommy makes you (me, at least) kind of gah, gah. I find myself holding our little guy close to my heart and just gazing at the boy. Even his cry is music to my ears–except it usually means it’s time for him to eat. Again. 🙂

I’ve offered to go over in the night to hold him so his parents can sleep, but they haven’t taken me up on that yet. Probably a good thing, too. I think it takes young people to be what a kiddo needs.

Besides, my son and his wife have everything under control. Any question they have, they Google and find the answer. (And since my DIL’s sister is a OB-GYN with a nine-month-old of her own, anything they can’t find, Sister knows!)  Need an extra pair of arms? There’s a thing you can wrap all around you and the baby so he’s snugged right up to you and he’ll never slip. Need a place for him to sleep close by but where he won’t get squished? There’s a nest that’ll fit right in your bed where he’ll be safe.

They have all the answers!

And yes, the knitter in me has been busy, too. Baby’s new hat! I made it a little big on purpose, so he can grow into it. (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!)

And if you believe I made the hat large on purpose, maybe you’ll believe I made his high tops too big for that reason, too! 😀

At least they’ll be there when he’s ready for them.

This is Granddaddy, holding a brand-new precious hand while Daddy holds his other hand.

Doesn’t it make your heart melt to see grown men take such perfect care of a newborn? (Sniff)

One more picture of my first baby boy when he was just three months old.

New babies are God’s perfect gift. I couldn’t be more excited unless I was twins.

♥ ♥ ♥ 

The Excitement Builds

I did the coolest thing this week. Really, the COOLEST!

I met my new (first) grandson, Woody. And I had so! much! fun!

We all met at the hospital where #1 Son and #1 DIL will be delivering. #1 DIL’s mom and dad as well as her Doctor Sister were there. They’re such interesting people, I was very entertained while we waited. And waited.

And finally, we got to go into the room with all the equipment. It’s been a long time since I had babies, and in those days, it was unusual to have an ultrasound. They were available, but most people only had one if there was the possibility of a problem. Or if your doc owned his own machine, and he needed to pay for it. *grin*

But these days, they’re regular as clockwork.

There were two chairs in the room, and since I have a play hip, I was offered one, but I turned it down. I couldn’t sit. I was too excited! Meeting my grandbaby here! 😀

I’m sure everybody has been through one of these. I’ve even been through one, but this was the first one I’d been part of where we were looking for something as fantastic as a baby. And guess what?

Here’s Woody!

Isn’t he adorable? Okay, it reminds me of an x-ray, but he’s on his way! He weighs about 12 ounces right now and is about the length of a banana.

The technician couldn’t get his profile, because he kept looking at the camera. (The boy is just like his daddy! Never wants to miss a thing.)

While we were there, I couldn’t help remembering, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made . . . My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven . . .

And the best part: “Your eyes saw my unformed body;” Psalm 139. Our eyes saw him, too! 🙂

Of course, “How precious are your thought about my grandbaby, oh Lord! How vast the sum of them! You love him even more than all his parents and grandparents combined.” 😉

Naturally, I came right home and knitted hard. I’m making him a giraffe.

The beginning stages.

Where I am now. (Looks kind of like a squash, gone wild.)

 This is the picture in the book. Hopefully, it’ll be ready by the time he’s ready to play with it. LOL.

When I got to the stuffing part, I thought, “Oh, those plastic beads might weigh too much for the little guy.” So I stuffed without beads, but it looked as if I was going to make a misshapen Big Bird instead of a giraffe, so I unstuffed and added plastic beads.

Did you know plastic beads can make their way out through knitting, no matter how tightly knit it is? Okay, I’m not that tight a knitter, but they kept falling out. So I shoved a plastic bag in there and filled it with the beads. The stuffing is on top, and he’d have to work really hard to get to the bag, so I don’t think it’ll hurt him. Or the giraffe.

BTW: When we went for the ultrasound, both #1 son and DIL were wearing converse tennis shoes. Next on my knitting list: Knitted baby high tops. Red ones. 🙂

The boy has gotta have something to walk home from the hospital in! 🙂

We’ll see if I can get everything finished in time.

“And He took Woody in his arms, placed His hands on him and blessed him.” Mark 10:16–a grandmommy’s version.

Since I’m like the last one of my friends who has kiddos to get grandbabies, I need your advice. What did (do) you do to get ready for them? Knit? Quilt? Pray?

Please share!

Inside Signs

Was this past weekend not the most beautiful two days you’ve ever seen in your life? Okay, if not THE most beautiful, they were among the top five, weren’t they?

The temps were perfect, what leaves are left after this drought are just starting to change, the grass isn’t growing quite as fast (although it might if we had a little rain) and I think I’ve come alive again. Or maybe I just woke up after a long summer’s nap.

How do I know? The signs. No, not outside signs like air temp and grass color. The inside me signs, such as–

• I finally got the total revamp of my office good and started. No kidding. After all this time of piddling, I’ve got Gimme Bags stacked as high as an elephant’s eye. (Need one?) And a few books I’m never going to read stacked up to give away. AND I’m clearing a path to move the thingy behind my desk to the west wall of my office where the bed used to be. I’ll dig out the desk and move it next.
• I watched a cooking show and actually had the energy to want to make what the woman there was whipping up. No, I didn’t make it. (Duh.) I just had the energy to want to. 🙂

(Isn’t it funny how TV chefs never need recipes? Or to measure/chop or work hard? Or have trouble thinking of something for supper? Or have something flop? Must be magic in the camera. But I digress.)

• I saw a picture of bread someone else had baked, and I wanted to make it, too. (The energy to want to. See?)
• Ordered a book on baking bread. (More energy resurge. Get ready world. I don’t work in front of cameras.)
• I started looking for and finding a few trees that were changing colors as we drove to Stillwater. (One of my favorite fall things is autumn foliage.)
• I had the urge to start exercising–walking, riding my bike, something. NO. I didn’t exercise. I just had the–stop asking that. Okay?
• I’m knitting. (Yep. Really knitting. Not just thinking about it.) Okay, I’m only knitting a bunny for now (I’m planning to make her one of those cute gathered net skirts all the babies are wearing in pictures) but hey. Keeps me out of trouble in the evenings. 🙂

Front half of the bunny and the legs of the back half. Imagine the ears, nose and mouth. Oh, and tail pom-pom. 🙂

Looks like she’s shopping, doesn’t she? “Hm. I kind of like these pants. Wonder if there’s enough tail room.”

That might be another sign of fall–my weird sense of humor.

How about you? What are your inside signs that the seasons are a-changin’?

Loving the Weekend

How was your weekend?

Mine was FANTASTIC!

First, it rained. Lovely, wonderful, glorious, beautiful rain. And not just a little drizzle. We had 2 2/10 inches in our rain gauge. One of the women I go to church with said she got 1.61 inches. When I commented on how precise she was, she said she had a digital rain gauge. (I want one!)

We celebrated #1 DIL’s birthday yesterday. I have to tell you, my kiddos are the best when it comes to picking wives, and #1 did a bang up job. His wife has great relatives that I just enjoy the heck out of.

Her parents, sibs, and the woman she made my Shirt Tail Relative are all people who just tickle the soup out of me. We didn’t get to see her fam this weekend, but I did have a little time to play with her pupper.

Yesterday, Queen Sophia had on a designer mini-skirt. DIL told me the name of the designer (something to do with Guns and Roses) but I don’t remember the name. It’s funny, but this sweet doggie has a better wardrobe than I do! LOL.

#1 son charcoaled yummy burgers for us. DIL prepared wonderful dips which, while they were actually purchased at Sam’s she tested to find the best ones and put in beautiful bowls. They were delicious! We finished with a cake from Merritt’s Bakery.

Ooooh, yum!

We said goodbye to Stony-the-super-youth-minister and his family yesterday. That was a heart breaker, I can tell you. As I mentioned before, he’s been here for 18 years and he’ll be sorely missed. The church was full of people who didn’t want to miss his last sunday with us.

As a going away gift, the church gave Stony and Dana an interest-bearing account to be used anyway they want, but which (hopefully) can be used someday as a down payment on their first house. And a Past Preach came to say goodbye, too, although the YM will actually be living closer to where the Past Preach is living now. I loved the few moments I had with Sherry, the PP’s beautiful and talented wife! Sadly, I didn’t get to speak to her DIL who was part of #1’s wedding.

The rest of my weekend, I spent taking an online knitting class at Craftsy called, KNITS THAT FIT. I’d have named it Fit Your Knits, since that’s what we’re learning to do, but they didn’t ask me. (Go figure.)

Here’s why I took the class–I tried on my Shalom Sweater that I knitted last year. (Might have been the year before.) And I found that I must have had someone else in mind when I made it. Someone like, oh, I don’t know, the Jolly Green Giant, maybe?  😦

   You can find the pattern here.

That’s what it’s supposed to look like. Because I didn’t swatch, didn’t check the sizes and did the equivilant of putting on a blindfold and throwing a dart (sizewise) I ended up with a sweater that would fit the Hulk.

It hasn’t been blocked yet, so it will look better, but it’s still huge. And since I absolutely refuse to unravel it and start all over, I might just add buttons and turn it into a double-breasted robe. 🙂

Anyway, I’m taking the Craftsy class to keep that from happening again. I hope! LOL. Now if I can just get brave enough to actually write down my measurements. *sigh*

Tell me, how did you spend your weekend?

Snitting. Again. Ü

I’m a snitter. (Sit+knit=Snit. Right?) I might have  mentioned that a time or two in the past. (Cough.) The thing is, though, I’m a winter snitter. I love to knit with wool during cold weather.

Once in a while, I like to have a project to work on in the summer, too. So the other day while I was in T-Town, I decided to buy yarn to knit a prayer shawl.

I love the idea of knitting prayer shawls for people. In my imagination (which is often so vivid, it gets me into trouble) I can see people I’ve been praying for and with, wrapping up in these shawls as they go to the Lord in prayer.

But when I got to Loops (my favorite knitting store) and started looking through the yarn, even acrylic was too hot for this break-into-a-sweat-at-the-drop-of-a-hat woman to use.