A year ago, we found out that Colin and Spencer's baby would be a boy. It was a huge, much needed highlight in a week of hell. We knew that this baby would be a blessing to our family, and that his birth would help us heal. We knew he would bring joy to our lives. What we did not know was that he would be the cutest little blue eyed, chubby cheek baby with the sweetest personality. I can't believe it has been a year since the gender reveal, and I cannot believe that baby is now 8 months old! I am so thankful for him!
Because look at him! He is the cutest little guy! And he is all the best parts of his parents. He has Colin's easy going, happy nature, and Spencer's sweet, roll with the punches attitude. We absolutely adore you Easton/lil Dale!
*side note - I think I better buy this baby some toys - this weekend Colin sent me photos of him playing with a stick and an electrical insulator! Poor Easton!
And honestly, we are the most blessed people, having three insanely adorable grandchildren, who make our lives feel like all the struggles, all the work and all the years of parenting came complete circle and we can just enjoy being grandparents. Truly, aside from the births of our own children, the best thing we ever got to do was be grammy and poppy!
And for as sweet as this one is, she is equally ornery! But she is also the most enthusiastic little person. If you give her something, she is genuinely excited about it. She has to put it on, or use it, or eat it right now! Mallory got her new goggles. She had to put them on - right now. And then we had to go swim right now. Fyi, she doesn't like tight stuff, and these goggles were absolutely worthless at keeping the water off her eyeballs because she wanted them looser! She happily wore them anyway!
Everyone loves aunt Bubba!
The city of Carbondale allows you to keep 6 chickens. No more. And NO roosters! The girls had 5 of their chickens get killed by the neighbor's dog. They built a new pen, and reinforced it. I got a few extra pullets when I ordered my chickens for them to take home when they got the pen built. Yesterday, they picked out 5 new birds from my "hatchery brown egg layer special" and it was hard, because they wanted all of the chickens! Wrenley wanted a brown chicken. When I pointed out she had a brown chicken in her pen, she then said she wanted a black chicken. Evie picked out a couple, and then Madison told them they had their 5. Wrenley was not done picking and she was not happy about stopping at all! She is a girl after grammy's heart - I too want all the chickens! I will be interested to see how long it takes before the girls have them all tame. Their one surviving chicken is definitely their pet/friend. I hope they have good luck and get lots of eggs!
Yesterday, I also managed to can spaghetti sauce and salsa. I did not get all of the things done that I had planned. The neighbor gave me some cucumbers, and I am planning to make some pickles, and I bought a ton of jalapenos, so I was going to make more jelly. Guess I have projects for my evenings this week.
I also attended the visitation for the mother of my friend, Sally. It sent me spiraling down memory lane. When you grow up in a very small town, and go through 13 grades with the same 30 or so kids, those kids become almost like siblings. I spent time in their houses, my brothers were friends with their younger brothers. Their moms took us places and did things with us. Sally's mom taught me piano lessons for a while. Their moms discipline you, and your mom does the same to them. You become almost afraid to disappoint any of them. And when they pass away, you feel it too, because they became like family at some point. I lived with Sally at KSU. Our parents took turns coming to town and taking us out for lunch. Her mom was a person who loved to give you lots of advice. I didn't always like the advice, but she gave it anyway! Recently, her mom had grown older and a little bit cantankerous. I will admit that there were times when running into her was a bit of an ordeal, because it was hard to get away from her. I feel bad about that, but....life. We already know I need to work on my patience - guess there is more work to be done there.
The other thing I have been thinking about is how death changes your life. I feel like losing someone close to you is just relentless. The firsts - holidays, and birthdays without them, hurt like hell. And you want to celebrate as you always have, to carry on, but it feels wrong. And then there are the daily things that happen where you are just reminded by random junk and it tears you up for no real reason. And then you relive it all over and over. I liken it to being stabbed with a tiny knife. It won't kill you, but it hurts and it is just so damn unnecessary. My friend Sally is the last one left in her childhood family. She has now buried both parents, and both of her siblings. I cannot imagine that amount of pain, and my heart hurts for her.
And that is where we are at on this fine Monday...in a cesspool of my own brain soup.
