Baby pictures

Sam is doing a great job of keeping me supplied with pictures and updates. Here's one from Tuesday, still in the hospital. It's all I can do to keep from picking him up right out of the picture. I can just imagine how soft he would feel and how sweet he would smell. Look at his long toes! Sam says he's going to be a runner!

His bilirubin number was a bit elevated today, so they sent a bili-blanket along home. That must be new. Back in the day they just kept the baby in the hospital longer than the mother, which was my very sad situation with Lisa. She didn't come home till she was six days old. I'm glad they've found ways to treat them at home.

His first ride in his car seat. They say he was sleeping so much today. That probably means he'll be awake tonight, unfortunately. Maybe they can get a picture of him with his eyes open!

God cares about little things and little, tiny babies (part 2)

Okay, here goes with the second half of my big, three-day weekend.  

As I said at the end of the previous post, Destiny and I packed up after the Jubilee Fest and headed for Ephrata Hospital in Lancaster County.  Dick stayed behind to do Austin duty (what a chore, haha!), since Anthony and Lori each had events going on.  Between the four of us, Sunday was like a major intersection of events that we had to maneuver through without losing anybody, haha!

As Destiny and I left State College, I noticed that the beauty of Autumn is upon us already!

When we got to the Ephrata Hospital at 7 PM, I found out that, unbelievably, Jenn's labor process was still pretty much "stuck" at 2cm, despite some drugs to get things going.  Apparently little Sammy's heart did not like that drug, so they had to keep its use at a minimum.    Before Frank arrived at the hospital to pick up Destiny, she had a chance to see Jenn and give her a pair of earrings she had made for her at the Jubilee Fest in the afternoon.  I promised I would text her a picture of the baby as soon as I could.  

So we settled in for the long haul!  Bless Sam and Jenn.  This was the beginning of the second night of lost sleep for them!  (Well, for me too, haha!)  I tried napping on a tiny couch in the maternity waiting room, but it gave me a crick in my back, and by the time they wheeled the second recliner into Jenn's room for me, my crazy back felt better sitting erectly or standing!  At some point after midnight her contractions became a lot harder, but she was still just 2 cm. and exhausted, so they gave her an epidural.  Things slowed down and Jenn even fell asleep.  The midwife said she wasn't ready to "call the dogs in yet", which I assumed meant resort to a C-Section, so I took up Sam's offer and went to their house a few miles away to catch get some sleep.  He promised he'd call me when things were moving ahead. 

I had no problem conking out immediately on their living room sofa when I got there at 3 AM, even with Lily, their black cat, pouncing around wondering who in the world was this strange woman in her house.  I woke up with a start at 6:45 and thought, "What??? Still no call from Sam?"  I got up and started washing up and changing clothes, etc.  At 7:10, when I was almost finished I got this text message from Sam:

As it turned out, while Jenn slept, the contractions were effectively doing their job, and when they checked her again she was dilated 9 cm and everything was go!  He was born at 6:54 AM, weighed in at 7 lb. 14 oz., measured 21 inches long, and was officially named Samuel Arecio Ireola.   He was immediately interested in looking around!!  Look at him checking out his dad!!

 Look at them!  Who would even guess the long haul they had just come through?  Looks like Sammy is waving for Grandma's camera!

Sam and Sammy.  Melt my heart!

No problem getting him to figure out how to suck.  They said that on most of the ultrasounds he had been sucking his thumb!

"Good morning, Little Sammy.  I'm your grandma!"   He proceeded to acknowledge my introduction by peeing on me!  They hadn't put a diaper on him yet!  At least we knew that part worked!

Later Jenn's parents arrived from the Harrisburg area.   Here he is with Grandma Karen.....

...and Grandpa Mark.

When I left around 3:00 in the afternoon, Jenn and Sam had each just been initiated into the joys of changing those first poopy diapers!  I hated to leave, and I am having trouble disengaging myself.  I keep thinking about them and wondering how everything is going.  But I have much to accomplish in a few days here at home, and it's easy to keep in touch.  I just keep looking and looking at these pictures and wanting to smother him with hugs and kisses.  When I left the hospital yesterday, I went to Dick's parents for a nap, ate dinner there, then visited a short while with my stepmother, and then drove home. 

In case you're wondering, when does the other grandpa get his chance?  This coming weekend!  I am actually heading to Orlando with Lori and Austin.  She has a conference down there, and we'll get to spend time with Lisa and George and Sophie.  So Dick will take that chance to go spend some Sammy time.  Wow, this grandparenting thing just keeps getting better!

God cares about little things and little, tiny babies!

I'm not sure it's possible to pack more good stuff into a weekend than I just did!  Before I even go back to Saturday's activities, here is a picture to feast your eyes on from today - our newest grandchild - Sammy.

But before I tell you about him, I must go back to Saturday.  God once again showed me how much He cares about the little things.  Destiny had called me last week to say that she would not be able to take violin lessons at school unless she provided her own violin.  The school does not have enough instruments for every 4th and 5th grader that wants to take lessons, and since she already had a chance with a school-owned flute last year, she would have to provide her own instrument this year.  She told me all about a paper they sent home with info about renting instruments from a music store.  I had to tell her that I could not help with something that would require monthly payments, but that I would look on Craigslist.  (I was thinking,  "What's the chance there would even be anything advertised that would be her size that we could afford?")  Oh ye of little faith!  When I looked on Craigslist, there it was - a 3/4 violin at a price too good to be true.  I emailed, heard back a day or two later that someone else was also interested in it.  But I kept asking the Lord for it.  On Saturday morning when Destiny was here, I got a phone call from the violin seller - the other interested party had never gotten back to her.  It was still for sale!  Later Destiny and I drove the 20 minutes and bought the violin and very nice case for $10 less than advertised because it needed a new string and new rosin for the bow.  We went to the music store where they put the new string on and assured me that, while it was not a high quality instrument, I had not over paid for it, and it was good for a beginner.  All for the cost of just two months of rent!  Destiny was in heaven as she took that bow over those strings and pretended she was playing a lively dance piece!  I'm so sorry I somehow forgot to take a picture.  I just love how God "orchestrated" that lady's circumstances and ours in such a timely way.  

Now on to our Sunday!  At 1:37 AM I was awakened by the ding of a text message on my cell phone.  It was from Sam.  They were at the hospital, Jenn's water had broken, she was 1 cm. dilated.  I tried, but it was no use.  I could not go back to sleep after that.  My mind was running full steam ahead.  I finally got up around 2:30 and got to work.  I made chicken corn noodle soup for our Sunday lunch at Houserville House of Hope.   I worked on another song that the praise team will be doing in a few weeks.  I did end up getting another hour of sleep before it was time to get up for church.  

We went to Fillmore first, as usual, then Houserville House of Hope.  We had lunch at Houserville, because they were setting up for the afternoon event - Jubilee Fest.  But my brain was turning to cotton by that time, so I did not stay for the festivities.  I went to Anthony and Lori's house nearby and took a wonderful nap.  Here are pictures from Houserville.  The first one is of Destiny singing a solo during the offertory.

The Jubilee Fest was an absolutely wonderful family afternoon - activities for all to enjoy.   Card making, massages, jewelry making, dance, games, martial arts, cupcake decorating, nail care.  

This church really knows how to have fun with their community, and I love it!  

After my nap was over and Destiny was finished at the Jubilee Fest, we packed up and headed to Ephrata Hospital where Jenn was still laboring away.  I will pick up on that story next time!

Friday fun

When you don't hear anything from me for days here on my blog, sometimes it's because I'm nose-deep in music arrangements, prep, and practices.  And having a ball.  But there's just not much to write home about!  

Yesterday, however, Austin's preschool was closed, so he was my buddy.  We went to the bank and the grocery store, he talking NON-STOP.  He even tries to tell me which way to go when we're driving.  He's always saying,  "Go dis way," and "Go dat way," as he points.  And he recognizes so many things as we drive by them.  There's a new Cracker Barrel in town, which he's been to several times, and sure enough, as we drove past it yesterday, he pointed and said, "Cwacky Bawell."   

After his nap we had fun with a bag of new balloons.  I have one of those little, plastic things that pumps them up, and he just loved pumping, then I'd slide the balloon off the end and it would go spinning and flying.  But then he wanted me to tie one so he could bat it around.  

We've been happily surprised how profusely our marigolds have grown and blossomed in the past month.  We are no longer the only house on the street with no flowers!   I just thought of it that I haven't seen any rabbits running around lately.  I wonder where they went?  Dick did spray some stinky-smelling anti-rabbit and deer stuff on the tiny, little marigolds in June or July.  Maybe it scared them completely away, haha!

Last evening we drove to Harrisburg to meet Frank.  He brought Destiny there from Reading, so we could have her up here this weekend.  It was raining torrentially  (spell check doesn't think that's a word, but I like it).  The interesting thing was that off to the west was a bright sun peeking through at the edge of the dark clouds!  So cool!  And sure enough, to our east was a HUGE rainbow.

 

The rain did not last all evening, thankfully.  We got our girl, complete with her birthday dress, so she can wear it to church on Sunday.   

As Dick drove, I indulged his favorite Friday evening passion.  Lancaster Newspapers has a link to a live blog from Manheim Central's football games.  Since he couldn't sit at his computer and keep up with the game, I was a good wife and found the blog on my iPhone.  I read those updates aloud to him throughout the entire game!  And I have to admit, it was FUN!!   I am no football fan.  Until our boys (Frank and Ray) played for Manheim Central, I had absolutely no understanding of the game.  When the crowd would cheer or boo, I would quietly say to Dick,  "What just happened?"  Now if I could have had an iPhone and a live blog to follow while sitting at those games, I probably would have understood what was going on!!    

Celebrating Anthony's birthday

This was a big day for us thirty-five years ago.  Anthony was born at 9:20 AM on 9/20/1976.  We now had a girl and a boy - the supposed "million-dollar family", haha!!  It was a very happy day for us.  I gave birth to him at our doctor's office (planned that way), and brought him home soon afterward.  We had three beautiful days at home.  Little did we know that the days ahead would bring tremendous anxiety due to extremely elevated, quickly rising bilirubin numbers and the resulting necessary blood transfusions.  I've never written about that experience on this blog.  Perhaps sometime I will.   Sometime when I'm in the mood for crying a lot.  At the end of the ordeal, this picture was taken at eight days of age before we brought Anthony home from the hospital.  Doesn't look too much worse for the wear, does he??  He was just as soft and squeezable as he looks!

This evening we had fun with Austin while Anthony and Lori went out to Red Lobster for dinner.  They brought a YUMMY ice cream cake along home.

Austin's a pretty picky eater, but not when it comes to cake!

More having a blast

I have nothing but smiles and warm fuzzies as I think back over this past weekend.  On Friday evening Dick left right from work to drive an hour-and-a-half to Selinsgrove High School, where our home football team (Manheim Central) was playing.  Caleb Walton, from our home church, is the quarterback for the team.  Of course Manheim Central won, and Dick got to see lots of people he knew, so it was well worth his drive and late arrival home.

Meanwhile I was at home cooking up a storm for our big weekend of company that was coming from Lancaster County and DC.

On Saturday morning my sister Mary Ellen and stepmother arrived shortly after 10:30.  They had never been here before, so I gave them the tour of our little house, then took them for a drive through the countryside to pick up a prescription and a few more groceries.

Dick got off work at 12, and we had just sat down to a lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches and my homemade cream of tomato soup, when Jeremy and his friend Mike arrived from DC.  Jeremy had never been here before either, so I also got to give him the tour of our little house.

During the afternoon we went to downtown State College to see the huge Penn State campus.  Mike had never seen it before.  Jeremy had two definite stops in mind - the cheese shop, where you can get the best cheese and the best coffee in the world, and the creamery, where you can get the best ice cream in the world.  I really don't think I'm exaggerating either.  When we got to the cheese shop, Anthony had just gotten there too!  Couldn't have timed it better!

From there we went to the creamery.  Jeremy had orders from someone in DC for a box of their ice cream!  We thought we would get cones, but to our amazement, the line for dipped ice cream was out the door and down past several buildings!!  And this was a non-game Saturday!!!   We did without cones!  Jeremy bought several boxes of ice cream and we had some for dessert later. 

Back  home, we had a cook-out, eat-in meal of chicken breasts, turkey burgers, and tilapia....

...followed by an acrobatics show by Jeremy and Austin!

Mary Ellen wanted a four-generation picture, but Anthony wasn't there.  Lori said,  "But I'm not one of the generations."  And Grandma Mary said,  "Well, I'm not either!"  So this is our four-generation picture, sort of!!

Jeremy loves his grandma!  She cracks us up.  When she looks at herself on a picture, she sees an old lady.  When we look at her, we see her humor and love!

Jeremy and Mike went to Anthony and Lori's for the night.  Sunday morning Mary Ellen and Grandma Mary came with Dick and me to our early service at Fillmore.  Bless our dear Fillmore friends - they were beyond friendly and welcoming.

From there we went to Houserville House of Hope, where Jeremy and Mike joined us as well.  Once again, a very warm welcome.  And a very good time playing with the praise team there.  Our drummer was absent because of a sore throat, and I really missed having him on the team.  During the offering Jeremy and I sang The Prayer, which we had done at a wedding in May.  How I love singing with him!

After church was over, we went to Anthony and Lori's church to pick up Austin.  They each had responsibilities in the service, and there was another hour or so to go till it would be over.  

When we got home, Austin was delighted to discover that the guys were in Pawpaw's shed.  He LOVES Pawpaw's shed.  Jeremy was going through the boxes and tubs of his old stuff - pictures, artwork, swimming medals, chorus medals, books, home decor from his Lancaster house, etc, etc.   

Mike kept Austin entertained outside.  He's so good with children.  Austin was so handsome in his plaid shirt and jeans!

After lunch, and before everyone left for home, we managed to get a few pictures.   Sisters....

...and brothers.  How can it be that these two, who were once my newborn baby boys, are now such big grown men?  And handsome too, I might add.

We kept Austin here for the afternoon.  He looks so TALL on this picture!   Wasn't he just a baby?   

I got a good nap while he napped.  When he woke up, he was obviously not finished.  I rocked him a little while (loved it), then asked if he wanted to sleep beside Pawpaw on the couch.  He snuggled right in beside Dick for a while and blessed his pawpaw's heart!  Wish I'd gotten a picture of that.

Anthony came for him around 5:30.  Then Dick and I were off to our third church service of the day.  It was the evening for our monthly praise and prayer service at Fillmore.    Marybeth Morrison, my new good friend and alto vocalist from Houserville, joined us in leading the worship, and of course Ross, Fillmore's amazing guitarist.  I also did a duet with Melanie Fisher again.    She goes to another church in Bellefonte, but helped the Fillmore choir last Christmas.  I think she's in three or four choirs!  Anyway, we just love singing together.  And I just love bringing people from various churches together in worship, just as I did in Lancaster County.  I hope this is just the beginning. 

Needless to say, Dick and I were ready to kick back and relax and hit the sack last night!

Having a blast!

We are having a blast! Grandma Mary and my sister Mary Ellen are here from Lancaster County, as well as Jeremy and his friend Mike from DC.

Good food,

good fun,

and good family time.

Happy Birthday, Destiny!

What a great time I had celebrating Destiny's birthday with her yesterday!  Actually, her birthday was today, but it worked better for me to go a day early.  I loaded up the store-bought cupcakes as well as the frozen home-made ones and headed out around 11 AM.   It was a lovely day for driving.  

I got to her school in Reading shortly after 2:00, and we had fun distributing the cupcakes to her classmates.  She was disappointed we couldn't treat them with the ones she had made and got some tears when I told her, but I told her I had cried too, but at least now we could have cupcakes to treat her family as well.  

Here's a rather blurry picture of her classroom. 

After school we drove to Park City Mall near Lancaster.  She did her homework as we drove.   At Park City I knew exactly where I wanted to go and exactly what I wanted to get her.  A few weeks ago when we got a few items of school uniform clothes, she had asked if she could just try on one of the beautiful black and white dresses hanging nearby.  She knew I could not buy one, and she didn't beg, but she looked gorgeous in it.  So yesterday, armed with my 30% off Kohls coupon, we found those beautiful black and white dresses (already 30% off!) and we got her one.  I wish I had thought to take a picture when she was trying it on.  Here she's just holding it in front of her.  

We enjoyed some yummy Auntie Anne's cinnamon sugar pretzel nuggets, then went to the Castle Roller Rink.  J'von's mother dropped him off at the rink, and later Frank came too.  The kids had so much fun.  Last year when we took the two kids there to celebrate Destiny's birthday, J'von was just learning to skate and fell a lot.  But he has gotten so much better since then.  They enjoy being together so much.

Frank with J'von and Destiny.  (The lighting was weird and made it hard to get a good picture.)

J'von's mother picked him up, Frank took Destiny home, and I went to Grandma Mary's to sleep.  We had fun catching up on our aches and pains and watching funny things on her computer.  This morning we shed some tears together as we remembered what we were going through two years ago at this time.  Two years.  I can hardly believe I haven't seen or talked with my dad in almost two years.  

I got home around 11:00 this morning and spent the day working on music arrangements.  This evening we had a good practice with the praise team at Houserville.  And now my good bed is calling my name loudly.