2013? Bring It On!!

2012 brought great news - Morgan and Desiree are having a baby.  2013 will bring the BABY!!  For years, Hollis called me a "baby freak."  I hated it when he said it - I don't want to be any kind of freak.  The facts however, cannot be denied.  I really, really love babies.  The only ones I'm related to that have come along since I had my own all live very far away.  This will be my first nearby related baby since Curtis was born 24 years ago.  That's a pretty long wait.  Here are some of the things I cannot wait to do with this little guy just in this year alone:

Mid to late April - he will be born.  I am sure I will annoy his wonderful mother to no end going on and on about how he looks just like his father.  I will try not to but every fathers mom does this.  I will try not to bug Des with my observations.  Very soon - in the first month or so - I look forward to having that little guy asleep on my chest, just like my babies used to do.  I love it when you pick up a newborn and the pull up their knees and put their arms up over their heads to stretch.  They grunt and squeak - it's just adorable.  My grandson will do that and I will treasure it.

May or June - he will come to my house on Sundays for family dinner.  I will have to share him but he will be here with his Papa and uncles and great grandparents and I will savor it.

July or August - he will giggle.  Smiles will be all over the place but sooner or later he will laugh out loud.  I hope it's when I lift him over my head and lower him toward my face - that used to make his dad giggle.  It will bring back great memories.

September or October - he will be trying to crawl and Ayden will be hauling him around.  I can see this in my mind.  Ayden and Ashton will be great big brothers but at age 9, Ayden will be the one to hold him on his hip and this little guy will pat his brother and smile.  Once he's mobile though, he will chase and be chased by his brothers - maybe up and down my hallway.  That will be a hoot!

November or December - he will start eating food.  I will sit in front of his high chair and every time I move the spoon toward his face, I will open my mouth wide.  I won't be able to help myself - I've tried with other babies.  Oh, and when I pat him after a bottle, I will burp - I always do.

I'm not sure when he will first spend the night at my house but I hope it will be a very regular event.  I want to love him and watch over him and just let him know how glad I am to have him in my life.  I hope he will come to feel the same way about me.  I figure it will be 2014 before he says "Omi" or "Papa" but he will and it will be very hard to not give him anything he wants in the whole wide world when he does - except soda.  I won't give him soda.

Baby Wooldridge - 16 wks

Prior to his arrival, there will be sewing - lots of sewing!  I will crochet for him and craft for him.  That will be pretty fun too.  People keep asking me how many quilts one baby needs.  I shall endeavor to discover the correct number.  

So I have some events mapped out for the year.  They are the things I anticipate when I am going to sleep at night.  I hope each of you has some events mapped out.  Maybe you plan to travel or change jobs.  Maybe you're going to move or learn something new.  I plan to bond with a baby - because I am an enthusiast of the highest order when it comes to babies!  I wish you all a wonderful new year.

Advent and Acolytes

Today is the 4th Sunday in Advent.  All but the center candle is lit on the Advent Wreath.  There were no greens yet in the sanctuary but there was our usual Eucharist.  There is a family of 3 at St. Margaret's.  The dad of the family is deployed for a year to Kuwait.  The mom and the 10 yr old daughter of the family hold down the home front and we are all watching Dakota grow up.  We like to think we are keeping an eye on them for the dad while he's gone but they seem pretty able to cope on their own.  This morning just after the procession of one priest, one acolyte and two lay Eucharistic ministers, while we were still singing the processional, I noticed Dakota had her mom engaged in an earnest but quiet conversation.  Then Dakota left her mom's side and tiptoed to the sacristy.  Shortly, she emerged in her acolyte gown and filled the empty acolyte spot on the side of the church that didn't have one.  I glanced around the congregation to see several knowing smiles.  When we went to take communion, I asked Mom if that had been Dakota's idea.  She said "Oh yes.  She asked me why there wasn't a second acolyte.  I told her whomever was scheduled must not have been able to make it and she said 'But Mom, I'm here!' so I told her to go get vested."  One little instance of awareness.  One little act of initiative.  A willingness to serve without being asked.  The knowing eyes of others present at the worship.  It was small but it impacted me deeply.  It all matters.  Maybe just to those of us who noticed, but it matters.  I caught up with Dakota after the service.  I told her that I really appreciated her role in the service this morning.  I told her that back in the 1970's, I was the first girl to be allowed to acolyte at my church.  She could not even grasp that.  Today I am just thankful that I saw an act of service by a 10 year old girl.  May she never loose her willingness to serve.

Adventure in Alabama

Katelyn told us all about a year ago that she thought she'd graduate in August 2012 and to begin planning for the event.  I waited until about a month ago to get really serious about getting there.  I missed her high school graduation because the dumb ol' Army scheduled Harris' Purple Heart Ceremony for the same day back in 2008, but I digress.  Having completed all the required courses for a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology, Kate was planning to walk the stage on Saturday, August 4, 2012 at 9:00 AM.  I was determined to be there.  A few moments on the Southwest Airlines website made it clear I would not be flying to Birmingham and then driving to Tuscaloosa.  If I wanted to go, it would be in my car.  I started casting about for fellow travelers as soon as I realized I was looking at 13 hrs of driving - EACH DIRECTION!  Curtis thought going along was a great idea and Clayton also agreed.  I know that the entire clan would loved to have gone along but these guys had the clearable calendars so they were in.  

At the 5 hour mark of the designated route was Tyler - bingo! - housing! Mom graciously waited up very late on Thursday night for the 3 of us to arrive after having worked all day.  She got up and fixed breakfast for us Friday AM and sent us on our way.  She then drove to Houston, picked up my brother, Currie and they flew to Birmingham and rented a car.  We drove 8 hours.  Actually, we drove 4 hours to Vicksburg, Mississippi and took a break.  I got us some fried chicken to take to the Military Park and in we went.  Mom had reminded me that her great-grandfathers name was on the Wisconsin monument in the park in recognition of his service in the Civil War.  We began the driving tour and Clayton and Curtis were immediately entranced.  We stopped at the huge Illinois marble monument and they took photos and video.  It's pretty impressive in it's construction and there are bats living in the recesses of the carvings so it was cool to see.  We stopped at a couple more spots along the way but then we got to the Wisconsin memorial.  The names of all the soldiers who served were in bronze on plaques covering well over 50 feet of wall space but each group was alphabetized so we started at opposite ends and searched for Peter Peterson - I won!!  The boys saw their 3X-great-grandfathers name on a Civil War monument.  It was somewhat indescribable for them.  Vicksburg National Military Park needs more time than we had to devote to it that day.  I hope someday they will go back and see all it has to offer.  We had to eat our chicken and hit the road.

 

Laura and Kate at Baumhowers

Matt & Jordan

Clayton & Curtis

Four hours later, we were in Tuscaloosa.  Lots of family had already arrived and when Mom and Currie rolled in from Birmingham, we all went to dinner.  Kate was so happy to see us all and just glowed with excitement.  We had lots of fun and great conversation.  After dinner, some grown-ups went back to the hotel to crash and some grown-ups went out with the graduate and her entourage.  They called it a night just before 4:00 AM.  

One Happy Graduate

Kate had to be at pre-graduation festivities at 7:30 so she was up and gone pretty quickly.  The rest of us go to the Coleman Coliseum at 8:20, the procession began at 8:30 and the ceremony began at 9.  There were about 1,500 graduates.  A few hundred PhD's, a few hundred Masters and several hundred bachelors candidates who all paraded across the stage to accept the symbols of their accomplishments. The cheers for Katelyn's name were the loudest due to a really big entourage sitting all together.  It was loud and great.

After graduation, we all caravanned to Carmelo's for brunch.  Great meal, lots of laughing, a glowingly beautiful graduate and beautiful weather made it all perfect.  Now to go all our separate ways - The Marston's and McLaren's back to Fairhope, Matt and Jordan back to Chattanooga, Mom, Currie, Laura, Kate and Lex to Birmingham to see UAB where Lex is now attending and us back to Texas.  We took a rest first.  I even tried to go to the only quilt shop in Tuscaloosa but it is closed.  It is full of fabric and tools and patterns, but it is closed (I was sad about that).  The boys and I left about 4 and drove back to Vicksburg.  Since the park was closed, we did the next best thing.  We went gambling on a casino boat.  We left with eleven dollars and change more than we went in with and then had a bite at Waffle House.  We got to Mom's house about 1:30 and I woke up about 7:40 this morning.  The boys got up and we went to Kathy's to eat breakfast and visit.  They left for church and we drove 5 more hours to get home.  We went a little over 1,600 miles in just under 72 hours.  It was so much fun and all three of us are so very glad we went.  Thanks Kate, for such a great celebration of your awesome accomplishment!

Birthday post post script

Caroline and me in Gruene

Fireworks

Kitten tossing is kinda fun!

My beautiful boys and me - Harris, Clayton, Morgan, Curtis

Fireworks

One of two beautiful plants I got for my yard from my in-laws.

Here are some photos from Birthday weekend. . .

Barrett, Curtis, Chris, Clayton, Morgan and Harris

I am a Card Deck

I turned 52 last Saturday.  That's the card deck part.  If I were incredibly clever I could come up with lots of card deck references but 52 and card deck are about as far as I got with that idea.  Instead, I'll just recount my birthday adventures.  I managed to drag things out for several days.  On Thursday, my office had a pot luck to wish me a happy birthday and as is the custom at The SCOOTER Store, my desk was decorated with confetti, streamers and balloons.  It was quite festive looking.  I loved it!  Friday was birthday event free unless you count all the people asking me what I had planned for my birthday weekend.  

This wonderful teacher I met during my last year of teaching named Caroline has become a dear friend.  Her birthday is June 29 and a couple of years ago we began a tradition of going to our favorite spa for facials and hairstyles as our co-birthday celebration.  This year we got appointments for 12:45 so we decided lunch first would be the best plan.  Morgan was working at the Gristmill so we picked Gruene as our first destination.  Morgan has been anxious to make me a Bloody Mary since I discovered that I love Bloody Mary's so I had one of those and Caroline had a 'Rita.  She and I split a fried shrimp plate which was delish and for dessert, Morgan made us birthday shots called Captain Morgan Undertows.  It was a couple of different colors, very sweet and I would have had another but I didn't think to ask.  I am new to the world of shots. So far, just in the last nine months or so I've had a Vegas Bomb (okay, 2 of those), a Purple Gecko and now this Captain Morgan yumminess.  I believe I will continue to explore shots.  I like 'em!  But I digress. . .

Caroline and I wandered in and out of an antique store in Gruene and then went to Gaston's.  We came out with naked, well moisturized faces and fabulous hairstyles.  We hit one more boutique and then headed home.

When the boys were little, it was fairly common for my birthday event to be dinner and the summer blockbuster movie.  This year we did that again.  Morgan, Harris, Kristin and Curtis brought pizza to the house and then we went to see Brave.  Clayton had to work at the rodeo so even though he came by the house for a few minutes, he didn't get to go to the movie with us.  Brave is wonderful!  I loved it.  It proved once again that I am really a 10 year old trapped in a 52 year old body when I turned down an invitation to go see Magic Mike with a bunch of grown up women in favor of seeing Brave with my kids.

Sunday family dinner was hamburgers and fireworks.  Harris is all about the fireworks and this year, he was actually able to purchase some - they were banned last year.  He had noise makers and pretty shooters.  It was a figurative and literal blast!  Clayton brought Shelby to meet the family.  Barrett and Erin were there and so were Chris and Casey.  I took a few photos of the guys and Curtis took some fun video.  I went to sleep both Saturday and Sunday a very content birthday girl.  I think if I were one of those people who begins to hate birthdays, it would have happened by now.  I truly enjoy mine.  Even the card deck one was great.

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the third time I gave birth.  It is time to tell the last delivery story even if it's about the next to last kid.  Harris was late like Morgan - maybe it's an April thing.  I was almost two weeks past my due date and awfully tired of the whole situation.  I had had an ultrasound test at 20 weeks along to verify my due dates and at time learned that boy #3 was on his way.  By now, Hollis, Morgan, Clayton and I all had middle names that start with L.  Finding an L middle name for this boy is easy enough - my grandfather's first name was Lyle.  He did not like it much.  He went by Steve to most other adults but I can still hear my grandmother exclaiming "Lyle!" when he used colorful language that she did not like.  We had a middle name.  The first name was trickier but I'll get to that in a bit.  I went to see my doctor the day Harris was born.  It was first thing that morning but I'll never forget what he said after my examination.  "Something is eminent."  No kidding, Dr. Ryder?!?  Something is eminent?!?  I am two weeks overdue with child #3 in 4 years and something is eminent?  He was not mistaken.  Hollis came home from work at his usual time that day and we took Morgan and Clayton over to his mom's house for some dinner and great-grandparent time.  If I dominoed in the next day or two, it would be a while before they got fussed over (and at) by Paw and Gregie.  Feeling certain I was in labor, I didn't eat but Hollis and the boys were well fed.  We then took the boys home and put them to bed.  Willis followed us home and we left for the hospital.  I arrived about 7:30 in active labor and we settled in.  My dear friend Suzy met us at the hospital and stayed for all the fun.  Dr. Ryder broke my water when I was about 7 cm and at 10:34, boy #3 made his entrance.  No drugs, no drama - there he was.  Once he was all cleaned up and in my arms, Hollis and I knew we had to nail down the name thing.  There were two choices:  Nathan Lyle or Harrison Lyle.  We did the only thing we could think of - we flipped a coin!  Heads would be Harrison, tales would be Nathan.  Heads, and Harrison, it was.  Paw's grandfather was named Stanton Harrison and he so wanted us to use the name. It always cracked me up that he pestered me so about using the name and then proceeded to call the kid Hayden for a couple of years.  I didn't get to use the same wonderful hospital for Harris that I had for Clayton but I had made the decision not to rush home in the morning as I had done before.  I would allow the hospital to care for me not just one, but two nights.  Dumbest plan I ever made.  I got tangled in the sheets my first night and due to some pretty bad lower back pain, I couldn't get out.  The nurse was not much help.  My overall care was just not what I would have gotten at home.  My mom arrived from Houston the next day to take over with the big boys and she brought them to meet the baby.  Morgan at age 4 was all about this new baby.  Clayton at 18 months was quite indifferent.  I really wished I had gone home.  The next morning as I was preparing to check out, the nurse came in and rolled my baby out of the room.  She said I was required to attend a new mothers class.  She said my current experience did not exempt me from the class.  She even said that I would not be allowed to have my baby back or check out until I had attended the class!!  So I sat there crying as they told me how to hold him, nurse him, change his diaper, put him in a car seat and care for him in general.  When I had the chance to go to a different hospital for #4 - I grabbed it!  I still managed a drug free delivery and took home a very healthy baby.  He was the biggest of the 4 at 9 lbs, 8 oz and was a very sweet east baby.  I love thinking about their "birth" days.  The memories are of hard work that results in the most precious prize of all.  I am blessed beyond blessed!

It's a boy! - the first time. . .

Next Saturday Morgan will be 29 years old.  Cleverly, he and Desiree have decided to get married on April 6th next year and will all the excitement around that event, I won't even notice that he will be 30 - or so we all think!  Here's what happened when he was born.  As I've said before, I always took time on the boys birthdays to tell them the story of the day they were born.  The four very best days of my life and Hollis' life.  The story of the day Morgan was born actually started the day before he was born.  I was about two weeks past my due date and Dr. Lovell said that if I hadn't dominoed on my own by Monday, we would induce on Tuesday.  My only ultrasound test had been very early in the pregnancy so we did not know if we were having a boy or a girl but there was something about knowing that it would indeed be over soon that allowed me to relax.  On that Wednesday, the 6th, Hollis came by our apartment at lunch time to pick up a key to the safe deposit box.  We were paying for this delivery ourselves and didn't know if they would keep the baby until the bill was paid so he was going to get some savings bonds to cash so if the hospital was cash and carry - we would be able to carry!  As he came into the apartment, I was sitting in a chair with a plateful of leftover Chinese food propped on my very large belly.  I put the plate aside and got up to go to the bathroom and as I did, my water broke.  I immediately called the doctors office and after Hollis called his office, we left for the hospital.  Dr. Lovell at that time delivered at Metropolitan Hospital on the edge of downtown San Antonio.  My contractions began as we were arriving at the hospital but they were not what you could call regular.  As the afternoon progressed, my labor was iffy at best.  I agreed to have some Demerol "to take the edge off" of the contractions.  First bad decision.  A couple of hours later, Dr. Lovell decided from his office across the street that perhaps I needed to have my labor intentionally stalled for a while in hopes that when it resumed, it would be more regular and productive.  This would be accomplished with a larger dose of Demerol - I agreed.  Second bad decision.  I was very groggy, very quickly but the contractions didn't really stop.  Then the good doctor made another decision.  He decided that perhaps I should be put on a Pitocin drip to stimulate my contractions - while I was nearly knocked out from the Demerol.  I don't actually remember agreeing to this decision but it was the third bad one.  I labored all night long.  All the training in the Bradley method of childbirth was lost because I came to in the MIDDLE of each and every contraction.  I had no time to breath, prepare, anything.  When Dr. Lovell checked me first thing Thursday morning, he said that I could push.  I was still pretty out of it but I tried.  Shortly thereafter, he said that it was going to take forceps and a pretty stout episiotomy to get this kid out.  For this part, he thought a light caudle anesthesia was called for.  At 9:27AM, Morgan Lee was born.  And then I hemorrhaged.  I had already had an IV for hours but they were putting fluid into me as fast as they could along with drugs to make the bleeding stop.  I stayed in the recovery room until 5:00 that afternoon and the minute one bag of fluid was empty, another one was attached.  I did begin to come out of the grogginess and was able to make a few phone calls.  While I was on the phone with my mother in Houston, Hollis came into the room with the information card about baby Morgan.  He handed it to me and pointed to the line that said "weight."  I gasped quite loudly and my poor mom on the other end of the line was freaking out.  I said "Mom!! Do you know what this baby weighed?!?"  She did not.  I said "NINE POUNDS, SEVEN OUNCES!!!"  I will never forget what she said next:  "Laura, you don't have to give birth to Kindergartners.  You can start with little bitty dudes and work your way up!"

I was moved to a room about 7:00 that evening and finally got to see my son.  He was so big and so beautiful - instant love!!  I had a parade of visitors that evening and then Friday morning, I went home!  I had wanted a medication free delivery and to leave when my baby was six hours old but I wasn't even awake yet when he was six hours old.  Although there were several things about this delivery that were not in my birth plan, and although I did not get along well with Dr. Lovell and did not go back to him for the other 3 deliveries, I do have to give him credit for one decision.  In 1983, HIV was out there buy they were not screening blood for it yet.  My hemorrhage was really bad and Dr. Lovell could have just as easily ordered a pint or more of blood for me that day and changed my whole world.  I remain grateful to him to this day for ordering fluid - and not blood - for me.  Oh, and it turns out they bill you for babies - we got to take him home and we didn't even have to sneak him out in my suitcase! 

His 29th Birthday Dinner - Dad's stir fry.

Happy Birthday Son!  You continue to be a great source of love and pride for us and we couldn't love you any more than we do right now.