Baby Shower, Coming Up!

It's 7:00 pm. and I had to take a break.  I've been working for about 12 hours now, cleaning my house and setting the tables to get ready for tomorrow's baby shower.  It's been fun.  I just still don't feel well with this killer of a sinus/allergy/cold/whatever it is.  I'm taking decongestants and antihistamines, which helps to dry me up, but it makes my head so foggy.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing except when you have a lot to do and have to think a little. 
I've got the pink and brown chocolate teddy bear lollipops done and the chocolate dipped strawberries are finished.  The floral centerpieces are on the tables, the tablecloths are on, the plates, cups, napkins, and forks are set out.  I have to organize the activities now and wrap the little knit hat and booties.   DIL Melissa is coming early in the morning to help make up our door prize basket and help with any final touches.  I'm having the rest of the food catered, which I gave second thought to figuring I could save money doing it myself.  With the way I feel, though, I'm glad I stuck with the caterer.  It'll be a lunch of egg salad and chicken salad croissant sandwiches, spring salad, and vegetable tray with dip.  Cupcakes are being done by the bakery and balloon bunches are being made by the party store.  Mom is picking up the cupcakes and balloons in the morning for me. 
I'm excited for tomorrow.  I'll take pictures and hope to tell all about it on Sunday.
BTW, DIL Diana called me this morning.  She is back in Spokane with Brandon and she had her follow up testing this morning with a specialist to check on the possible spina bifida with their unborn son due in September.  She and Brandon were told everything looked fine and good, but they will do sonograms once a month now just to keep an eye.  They were much relieved and I felt pretty sure of this result after talking to many people about it, but just to have them relieved makes me feel much better. 
So all baby news is good again. 
OK, break over.  Going to finish up today's list, then take a hot bath with a glass of wine.  I know, I probably shouldn't drink wine with the allergy pills, but at this point how can it hurt? 

Routine and Organization

We took the grandsons home Sunday evening and I'm tired.  I've been thinking about this and wondering why?  I raised two boys that were also 16 month apart in age and very active, just as my grandsons are.  I never felt so tired raising my boys as I do after five days with my grandsons.  Why?  There are a couple of reasons I've come up with.
First, and most obvious, is that I'm 25 years older.  Second, I've figured out that routine is a large part of my daily life and existence.  I love routine.  I thrive on organization.  And the older I get the more attached to routine and organization I become.  Because of this I get a lot done and when all is going according to routine I feel at peace.

According to Wikipedia:  "Routine, as a course of normative, standardized actions or procedures that are followed regularly, often repetitiously".
And according to G.K. Chesterton: "Of all modern notions, the worst is this: that domesticity is dull. Inside the home, they say, is dead decorum and routine; outside is adventure and variety. But the truth is that the home is the only place of liberty, the only spot on earth where a man can alter arrangements suddenly, make an experiment or indulge in a whim. The home is not the one tame place in a world of adventure; it is the one wild place in a world of rules and set tasks."
These are words that I live by.  Well, you throw two little active boys into my neat, organized, routine of a life and it's not that I don't want them, it just takes me a few days to adjust and situate myself and the boys into a new, temporary routine.  So by the third day that the boys were here we settled into a good routine.  We all had fun and the boys were well behaved and I wasn't "growly", as Landen would sometimes call me. By the fifth and last day they were here Bob and I hated to see them go, almost, but we were glad to resume our old and familiar routine once again.  The boys said they wanted to stay and live here forever.  But if that happened, life at Bobby and Nina's (Grandpa and Grandma's) would soon turn into a normal routine for them and they'd want to move on to a more fun temporary routine someplace else, I'm sure.

This week so far has been spent fightning an allergy, sinus thing and it's kickin' my butt.  Regardless, I got more work done on the garden beside the shed and I'm getting the inside of the house cleaned up for the baby shower this Saturday I'm giving for DIL Melissa.   DIL Diana and granddaughter Riley were here Tuesday and Wednesday.  They headed back to Spokane today.  Oh, that little Riley is just the sweetest little thing.  I just can not quit kissing her. 
Today I'm off to finish the baby shower shopping.  I have a whole list of odds and ends that need purchased and done for Saturday. 
Lists:  That's another must have in my life.  So off I go now to cross off the items on the current list by day's end. As is my routine, I'll have a new list for tomorrow.

Busy Weeks Go By So Fast!

Have you missed me?  This has been such a week. 
My computer kind of died on Monday.  It just kept shutting down right in the middle of things.

 I couldn't work on it like that.  Got it to the computer fix-it shop and it looks as though the fan and motor just needed some cleaning.  Working good now. 

We also got the grandsons on Wednesday since their mother had another sonogram on Thursday and then left from there to go for her Air Force Reserve weekend in Pittsburgh.  Their dad, (our son, Austin), works long hours as an Air Force Recruiter and does quite a bit of travelling so they just brought the boys to us until Sunday.  They are really good and very sweet, but I get so worn out.  I wouldn't have had time to get on the computer even if I had one this week.

They love getting a "tubby" with bubbles in the jetted tub.

My other DIL, Dee, and my granddaughter, Riley, are in town from Spokane for two weeks.  They split their time between her family in Pittsburgh and the rest of the family here.  We got to see her Wednesday and Thursday.  What a doll baby.  Dee looks real good.  She's also pregnant and due in September.

 They're having a boy this time. We now have a pattern that seems to be evident; the DIL's gain more weight being pregnant with girls versus pregnant with the boys.  Interesting!

I had all three of my grandchildren with me at the same time for one day.  That's only happened twice now.  I'm a lucky grandma.  I can't wait to be able to get pictures after September of me with all five of them.

We had a frost for two nights in a row and it looks as though my yellow dahlias didn't make it.  I covered them each night.  The red daisies did just fine, though.  Now today was a beautiful, sunny and 80 degree day.  I was able to clean off some of the yard furniture while the boys played outside.  Work time is cut in half with them, though, because of the potty runs and food and drink requests.  Then at 2:00 I took Logan into the doctor for his shots needed for kindergarten in the fall.  Oooh! he was real brave until those needles went in, then what a scream.  Then the little sweetie apologized to me for crying! Ahh! So like any good grandma, we went to Wal-Mart for a new Transformer and then an ice cream cone.

 He was as happy as could be instantly.  I just can't believe he'll be in kindergarten!

Austin came up for tonight and tomorrow to be with his boys and then he has to work at a marathon in Pittsburgh on Sunday. 

Oh, almost forgot!  I'm also trying to finish the pink and brown baby quilt for Melissa's baby shower that I'm planning for next Saturday.  I got the newborn hat and booties finished.

 I work on the quilt from about 8pm until 10pm.  I'll make it!

Landscaping, Gardening and Outside Decorating

The weather continues to be beautiful in Western Pennsylvania.  Except for a few pop up snow flurries and very cool at night, the sun has been shining on us much earlier this season than in years past.  I'm taking full advantage of this and working outside as much as I can.  It's not only great exercise but I love the results.  I love to look out the window and see flowers on the deck or drive up to the house and have everything look neat and manicured.  I know, a little OCD, I admit.  But it makes me feel good. 
If you read my post from about a week or so ago, you know that I kind of goofed up on how much mulch to order.  Well, my neighbor offered to take his pick up truck and go to the stone and mulch yard and picked me up another scoop or so of the red mulch.  Free delivery this time.  I have the best neighbors.  Both neighbors on either side of me are retired and they work outside all day long.  The truth is, they are more OCD than me.  So I think they are willing to help me out with things because they don't want  the house next to their perfectly manicured yards to look like crap.  Whatever the reason makes no difference to me.  I appreciate their work and their help.
So here's the finished result of the mulch debacle.

And notice the beautiful rhododendrun in full bloom.

Everything's blooming and the grass is so green.

I shoveled and raked 'til I had blisters, a sore shoulder and my back hurt so bad I could hardly stand up, but it was worth it.

Now that the front of the house is done, I'm working my way down back.  Starting with the back deck.  I started it a few weeks ago with my red grill, cushions and painting the chairs.
(See April 9 post).  Now I've added a red fountain that I saw at K-Mart.

It looks like a cracked Tuscan like barrel.

Added the red geraniums on the wall and above the door. These are fake.  From Jo-Ann's.  Sometimes the fake stuff just works better.  It always looks good and requires no watering and trimming and they don't die.

Got the hummingbird feeder from Wal-Mart.  Planted yellow dalias and red dianthus in the window boxes.  They show up prettier in person and they should fill in.  These are real.  From Lowe's

Filled these porch boxes with yellow dalias and red gerber daisies.  Mom found me this darling rooster pillow at Lowe's.  The perfect colors and maintains my rooster theme.

I had this garden stool and thought it went pretty well with my red, gold and green color scheme.  But if you can notice, the flowers were an orange and not really red.  This bothered me so much, even though everyone told me it was close enough.  I just couldn't get past it.  So I got out my red paint and a little paintbrush and painted each orange flower red.

Isn't that better?  Believe me, in person it's much more noticeable.  Really, it is.  I'm happy with it now.

Then finally, here's the latest addition I just worked on today after a Big Lots trip.  The plaque on the wall, the plant stand and the watering can all from Big Lots.  I had the pots and filled them with red gerber daisies (real) and the rooster had been in my kitchen.

Now I'll be moving on to my sitting area and little garden under the deck and the garden beside the shed.

More to come -----

Spina Bifida - Please Don't Let It Be

My DIL Diana called us the other day from Spokane to give us the exciting news that their baby due in September is going to be a boy.  We couldn't be more thrilled.  My wish has already been granted that I have a granddaughter, two of them no less. I wanted Brandon to have a son.  Their daughter, Riley, will be a year old on May 30 and now he'll have his boy. 

Brandon and Dee with newborn Riley about 10 months ago.

Oh, and their dog, Layla

I'm glad that both my sons will experience the thrill, fun and excitement of boys like Bob and I did with them.  And I also want them to experience the trials and tribulations of teenage sons that we also went through with them.  You know, pay backs.  Just kidding!  Kinda (not really).
When Dee told us the news we didn't want to tell anyone except immediate family at the time because Brandon was out on a Survival Training mission and he wouldn't know he was expecting a son until he got home yesterday.
Last night Brandon called us to share his excitement both about his recent training mission and about his new baby.  Along with his excitement, though, was a piece of worrisome news that they just received from the doctor yesterday.
Dee's blood work just came back and it shows elevated levels of AFP - a protein produced by the fetus. This COULD indicate spina bifida. You can read more about this here:


http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/spina-bifida/DS00417

This is rare and does not mean that the baby definitely has spina bifida, but it's an indication that they like to check on further. They don't have Dee scheduled to see a specialist until May 7. Needless to say they are very worried, as now we all are.

I called a very good girlfriend of mine, Cheryl, right away last night.  Cheryl used to be a nurse and worked with her husband, Michael,  when he had his own private OB/GYN practice. He now works for a large hospital out of town and is now a perinatologist (specialist in problem and high risk pregnancies).  Cheryl said it is probably nothing. They get false positive readings on this type of thing all the time.  Dee and Riley are going to be coming home here on the 22nd for two weeks and Michael will be glad to talk to Dee and look at her sonogram DVD while she's here to see if he can determine anything further from it.  Dee's doctor told her she saw nothing indicating on the sonogram at all. Cheryl said that if they were really concerned they would have had her into the specialist immediately instead of setting it for May 7

Brandon said he wished they hadn't even said anything to them, but as Cheryl explained to me, it is much better to know these things ahead of time for a couple of reasons.  When the baby is born the hospital and doctors are well prepared for any immediate action that needs to be taken.  And secondly, it gives the parents and family 4 or 5 months to physically and mentally prepare themselves. 

I think everything is fine, but we will all be concerned until her May 7 appointment.  Regardless of the outcome, one thing is for sure.  This will be a very lucky little baby boy to have the parents he's going to get.