Presenting..

Baby Owen Sean
He's wide awake in Grandma Wendy's arms.
He weighed 6 lbs. 12 oz.

After the hospital visit, I went to Computer Son's home to look after Owen's brothers and sister. We ordered pizza and watched movies while Daddy was visiting Mommy and baby in hospital.

Tomorrow they'll be home. Hospital stays are short and sweet these days. They don't let you rest like we did way back when.
But then again, I think most mothers would rather be at home surrounded by their family (and not eating hospital food!)

Baby Boy Born!

Finally, finally Owen Sean made his way into this world at 8:48 this evening.
I was just going to turn off the computer for the night, when the phone rang.
It was Computer Son.
Congrats, Mom - you're a gramma again!

Ooooooo, I could hear the little one crying in the background.
How much does he weigh?
Hasn't been weighed yet.

Wow - so he's just born?!
Yep.
Everybody well?
Yep.
Talk to you tomorrow. Kiss your wife and brandnew little son for us please.

Will post more details and pics later.

Can anyone identify?

I know the pics are lousy. Taken through the window, even with the zoom, the pics are not clear.

But I didn't have anything to blog about.

This little bird is sooty black all along his back and creamy white along it's front. No other colours.

I "googled" black and white birds Canada and (as you can imagine) got a lot of stuff, but not the right stuff.

On another note - there are gremlins in bloggerville. I have tried leaving comments on some of your blogs, but it didn't work. Mainly the blogs with "letter verification". I also left a comment or two on my own blog, answering some of your kind comments.

Gone!

Where to?

No idea.

So I'll apologise to those of you who didn't receive my comments. Hopefully this will be fixed soon.

Update: No baby yet. Still waiting.

Grace is doing remarkably well. She's out of ICU, all the tubes and catheters removed and she's back to breast feeding. Truly a miracle!

If all continues on this way - she'll be discharged home in another day of two. Can you imagine being discharged from hospital after heart surgery in 4 or 5 days? Blows my mind. I guess little bodies heal fast.

Good News and waiting...

Hubby's little granddaughter underwent an operation on her heart today.

We waited all day for the news. Finally Hubby's Younger Son called with the good news that the operation was a success. Little Grace will now begin to heal. At just three months old, this was a rather traumatic way to begin her life.

We are still waiting for littlest grandson to arrive. Mother is frustrated. Contractions come and go. She has been to hospital once and sent home. This is baby number 5. You'd think her body would know how to do this by now.

It's cold and windy these February days, but the strong, bright sun is encouraging.
Hubby's strength is returning. He is coming out of his "down cycle". It is so good to see his energy returning; as if his spirit had been lost, wandering in the woods. Now he's found his way back home again.
For how long?
We never know.
But we will celebrate his return.

Finding the balance

This weekend was special.
I bought a dozen red roses for "us" to celebrate.
We ate shrimp and chocolate (not at the same time).
We said "I love you" and talked about how lucky we are to have each other.

I remember hearing people say:
"Cherish the time you have together. Have no regrets at the end. Do whatever it takes to make your loved one feel loved and comfortable."

I have a feeling this will be his last Valentine's Day.
I may be wrong. I've been wrong before.
But Hubby's been so weak and tired lately.

We talked about the good old days when we were both younger and stronger. How we worked and traveled and enjoyed life thoroughly, thinking it would be like that forever.

"Sometimes," says Hubby sitting on the edge of our bed, "in those hazy moments before waking up, I totally forget I have COPD. Just for one quick moment, I think I can jump out of bed - the way I used to. Then I remember (he tugs at the oxygen cannula in his nose) and my heart sinks to the bottom of my feet."

I turn my head so Hubby doesn't see how quickly my eyes fill up with tears. What must it feel like to live with a sick body? Day after day, tethered to an oxygen hose. Wondering if you can make it across the room; up the stairs; to the bathroom. Knowing that time is running out. It must take a really strong person to live like this without going crazy.

This afternoon I jump in the pool, grateful that I can. Grateful I can swim with my friends. Grateful I can sit with my daughter and drink coffee, while I cuddle my new little grandson.
"Gramma! Put Nafan down!" commands little Jasmine.
At 2 years old, she still wants to be picked up. She wants me to play with her - not baby Nathan. So I scoop her up in my arms and dance around the house - grateful.... once again.

When I get back home, Hubby is sleeping.
I suffer a moment or two of guilty panic.
Until I check his breathing - and find he's o.k.

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day filled with love and hugs.
I've been feeling a little under the weather, so will catch up later on.
Have a nice weekend.

It's Bloomin' Tuesday!

Over at Jean's Blog "MsGreen Thumb"

Here are some mini-yellow daffodils and the beginning of some cheery red tulips..... thinking of peeking out.

Here is a better pic of the tulips - just beginning to open.

Yes! They're fully open and do brighten up my kitchen!
So there you have it. Just a few flowers bloomin' in my house.

Thank you bloggers for presenting me with.....

Two Awards!

Ernie over at The Empty Nester has kindly and generously given me this Angel Award. I would like to follow her example and pass this on to anybody who would like it. It's so hard to make a choice out of all the deserving and wonderful bloggers out there.........so this is for everybody.

Sue over at White Lilly presented me with this Lovely Blog Award too! A big hug and a thank you, Sue. Once again, it is too difficult to choose any one or more bloggers who deserve this. I think everybody does.

Thank you Ernie and Sue for your thoughtfulness.
Happy Blogging everyone!

Does your mood....

......really have anything to do with how your day goes?

Yesterday, I was in a bad mood. Nothing felt right. The old expression "you woke up on the wrong side of the bed" seemed to sum up my cranky self.
It started with Morning Pages. Nothing I wrote made any sense.
Fine. Forget writing.
Maybe I should just forget the whole computer thing for today too.
Fine. No email, no blogging, no nothing.

Decided I might as well run a bunch of errands and get out of the house. Did I really need that pack of sponges at Home Hardware?
No.
Or the spiral notebooks on special at the drugstore?
No.

Hubby had asked me to pick up an audiobook for him at the public library. Maybe I would also find a good book to curl up with in the evening. Something to soothe my frazzled nerves.

Checked out the "new books" first. Nothing.
Went to the audiobook section. Couldn't find Hubby's book. Looked everywhere. Asked the librarian. She couldn't find it either.
Strange.....
Back to the regular book section. Spend nearly an hour searching for a suitable book. Everything seemed wrong. Too romancy, too historical, too boring, I've probably read this, I don't like the cover, I don't like the title.
Finally I settled on a book with a fuschia-pink flower on the cover. This story was set in the jungle. Oooooooo!
And "just-in-case", I chose another one - an old Irish novel.

After supper I settled in with my exotic-looking jungle book.
It sucked. The author was trying too hard; giving away everything from the first chapter. Yawn!

Good thing I got the "just-in-case" book .
The first few pages started off just fine. Until........they found the body. O.K. - maybe not so bad. I like murder mysteries (as long as it's not too descriptive). They found the body in a tree........chained to the branches.....the birds had poked out his ..........never mind. I put both books away. To be returned. As soon as possible!

Today, I woke up on the "right side of bed". I had planned to visit my daughter and help out with the new baby.
I had a wonderful day. Little Nathan is doing well. Got my "baby fix" as Hubby says.
Jasmine and I got Mommy's clean clothes out of the dryer, brought them upstairs and then smooshed them all about on the living-room couch, playing peek-a-b00 with the tea towels instead of folding them.

On my way home I stopped in at the library. I returned those horrible books and just quickly scanned the "new book" section.... "just-in-case" I found something good. Well, didn't I find a brand new book by a favourite author of mine? Right there waiting for me!
Encouraged, I went over to the audiobook section "just-in-case" I'd find the audiobook Hubby had asked me for yesterday.

Well, well - there it was! Staring me in the face as if to say "naw naw - I was here all along!"

I must have spent a total of 5 minutes in the library today, coming away with the perfect books, whereas yesterday it was almost an hour - of wasted time.
Was it my mood... my energy?
Or coincidence?
I wonder.

Happy.........

Groundhog Day, Happy Imbolc, Happy Flower day!
I bought some tiny yellow daffodils at the grocery store today. I went with the intention of buying a pot roast. The roasts were kind of pricey and I didn't like the look of what was available, so I spent my money on spring flowers instead. There are tulips in that arrangement, but they've yet to bloom.
Remember the green pottery bowl I just had to buy? The one with swirls and little fishes swimming inside ? It's now providing a base for a green tropical plant.
Darn! I got the microwave in the pic.
Will try again.

That's better. If I could only erase the wall phone.

And this is a disaster! These were my grape hyacinth bulbs I bought on sale and potted up several weeks ago.

Like a mother hen I watched and waited for the first sprout to come alive. Yes! Several more followed suit. Oh, I was going to have such lovely flowers.

Patiently I watched the sprouts turn into long green stems. That grew and grew and grew. Finally, I realized that that's all I was ever gonna get. No flowers.

Now I realize it's because bulbs need a cool period before "forcing". And I had bought them from the gardening section of Walmart. They were supposed to have been planted in the fall. Not forced indoors.

Never mind - I enjoyed the green foliage anyway.