Behold the Hodgepodge

1. ‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder’  What’s something you’ve seen recently that you thought was beautiful?

Our new granddaughter born on March 20th is the latest most beautiful thing I’ve seen.

2. Our culture and beauty…your thoughts?

The nosiest people in our culture usually try to force what they think is beautiful upon us. Beautiful to me is someone who’s inner being is loving and kind and who stands up for what is true and what is right. Someone who will make a stand quietly yet forcefully not giving in to bullying. Being comfortable in your own skin is beautiful to me.

1 Peter 3:3-4 (ESV)

3 Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— 4 but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.

3. Age before beauty, beauty queen, beauty mark, beauty sleep…which beauty-ful phrase resonates with you today? Why?

 I’m going with age before beauty in the sense that as my outer beauty fades I will be content in my grey state because of all I’ve already experienced and learned and continue to learn.
Isaiah 40:8: The grass withers, the flower fades,
    but the word of our God will stand forever.

4. I read here a list of the top ten beasts animals that scare us the most-alligators, coyotes, black bears, birds (but pigeons in particular), sharks, bats, bed bugs, rats, rattlesnakes, and the black widow spider. 

Which ‘beast’ on the list scares you the most? What is the likelihood of you having an actual encounter with that particular beast? Did a movie contribute to your fear of this creature? Have you ever had a real life encounter with any of the animals listed?

Because they are so hard to get rid of the scariest on this list are bed bugs to me. I’ve never experienced them but just the thought gives me the creeps. I have had life encounters with bats, coyotes, a black widow spider and rats in the attic!!

5. Where were you when you last heard a bell ring? Was it alarming or musical?

At Providence Mount Carmel Hospital on Monday the 20th of March when our granddaughter was born the hospital played a lullaby over the loud speakers throughout the hospital letting everyone know a baby had been born. We were in the waiting room and we all cried when we heard the bell toned Lullaby and Good Night over the speakers. It was musical and beautiful.

6. What’s your favorite carb? How’s that for random?

Bread, all kinds of bread, plain, savory, and sweet. I’m so thankful I’m not gluten intolerant.

7. Let’s wrap up another month of Hodgepodging and life with an acrostic. Recap your month using the word MARCH.

March brought
Addyson May into our lives causing
Rejoicing in our family and putting
Colville on the map as our favorite place to visit for the joy of
Holding our precious little granddaughter

Addyson May was born on the 20th. We left our house at 4am to drive 5-1/2 hours to Colville Washington to be at the hospital when Addy was born.

Our son’s response for us when he came into the waiting room to let us know all was well with his fresh wee babe and her mama.

Rejoicing over our first grandchild.

Colville is going to be our favorite road trip so I can do more of this…

Holding her and just watching her breathe and listening to her baby sighs is heavenly.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

March 2017 is an epic time for us as we entered the world of grand parenting. Looking forward to getting back over the mountains and through the woods to spend some more time with Addy and her new parents! My blog posts have been all about this new time in our lives and hopefully everyone will bear with me as I share what I can’t keep under my hat. Rejoice with those who rejoice.

Linking up with Joyce at From This Side of the Pond for Hodgepodge Wednesday.

L is for Love at First Sight…

Daddy and Gramps looking lovingly at Addy May on Thursday March 23rd. She’s 3 days old in these photos.

Addy and her mom.

Isn’t She Lovely

L is for the love we have for our first grandchild Addy May who is lovely and has stolen our hearts.

Linking up to ABC Wednesday with Mrs. Nesbitt, Roger and the lovely team of administrators.

First Full Day at Home

Wednesday March 22nd dawned nicely with these views from our kids’ home. We got to their house with Jamie’s Granny shortly before nine.  Dear was going to make Swedish pancakes for everyone. After looking at Dan and Jamie and how tired they were we decided to stay with them instead of at Granny’s house so we could take care of Addy in between feedings and let mom and dad get some sleep. We gathered our belongings from Granny’s home and moved to Dan and Jamie’s for the rest of our time. Uncle Josh and Auntie Laura were over for breakfast on Wednesday, too, before they headed home. As often as they could Dan and Jamie napped while Dear and I held down the fort and watched after Addy.

Later in the day Addy had a nice grip on Dan’s finger as she slept peacefully after an afternoon feeding.

Rayna looked on to see if all was well with the newest member of the family.

After another feeding we gave the portable cradle a try and it worked great to keep her feeling snug as a bug.

Rayna checks on her regularly.

Daddy is getting quite comfortable holding and comforting his little girl. Steak and roasted veggies for dinner with donuts for dessert. Wednesday evening I stayed up with Addy after her evening feeding so Dan and Jamie could sleep until at least 10 pm.

The first full day at home came to a close. Dear and I were originally planning to drive home on Thursday but decided it would work better for everyone for us to change our plans and stay till Saturday.

I have to agree with so many of you who say and have said that becoming a grandparent is very special. We enjoyed every minute we had with our kids and Addy. Just holding her and looking at her was a sweet treat. It was also great to see how well Dan and Jamie are doing with their new parenting roll. They are really exhausted but they are doing well and helping each other out.

We are all thanking God for our little Addy and for our safe travels and nice time of bonding.

Homecoming Day…

Tuesday morning, March 21st,  we headed to the hospital again to see how everyone was doing. Doesn’t he look relaxed with his new daughter on his lap?

We took her little hat off so we could see her hair. We left the kids to wait for their discharge papers and headed to the grocery store to pick up some things for the welcome home dinner.

Here they are all ready to give Addy her first ride in her infant seat. Uncle Josh and Auntie Laura gifted her the outfit that Jamie chose to bring her home in.

Home at last.

She looks a bit concerned here.

Once in mama’s arms her countenance changed.

We ate in shifts. We had tacos for dinner and some sweet rolls for dessert and some celebratory drinks.

It was nice to be in her home setting to enjoy some down time. Uncle had another turn to hold her and so did…

…baba. It was so good to look at her sweet face while she slept. We left hoping their first night would go well with an appointment to come back in the morning to make them breakfast.

Mosaic above was created by lovely Auntie Laura. We are all over the moon about our little Addy May. Needless to say there will be lots of posts here about our Addy.

Linking up with Maggie at Normandy Life for Mosaic Monday.

Barn Collective

Some barns look better from far away…

This view is from the drive that leads up to our son’s home. We arrived in Eastern Washington on the first day of Spring and our first grandchild arrived on that day, too.  In the above photo the area beyond the trees is all water now and that is not how it is normally. Here’s a zoom in shot from Saturday with the sun lighting up those trees to make them golden.

A month ago we were at our son and daughter-in-law’s and the next photo was taken of this same view covered in snow.

This area of Washington has had a lot of flooding due to their snow fall amounts and the melt along with rain and the ground not being able to absorb the water. There’s water in places we’ve never seen water before. On our way home from Eastern Washington on Saturday I took this next photo.

There’s a reflection on this day because of flooding. This field is not usually filled with water.

Linking to Tom’s Barn Collective.

I Stood Outside the Gate ~ Hymn

hereford 076

I Stood Outside the Gate

I stood outside the gate,
A poor, wayfaring child;
Within my heart there beat
A tempest loud and wild;
A fear oppressed my soul,
That I might be too late;
And oh, I trembled sore,
And prayed outside the gate,
And prayed outside the gate.

Oh, Mercy! loud I cried,
Now give me rest from sin!
I will, a voice replied;
And Mercy let me in;
She bound my bleeding wounds,
And soothed my heart oppressed;
She washed away my guilt
And gave me peace and rest,
And gave me peace and rest.

In Mercy’s guise I knew
The Savior long abused,
Who often sought my heart,
And wept when I refused;
Oh! what a blest return
For all my years of sin!
I stood outside the gate,
And Jesus let me in,
And Jesus let me in.

hereford 077Words: Josephine Pollard, 1870.

Newborn Joy!

Just a few hours old.

Addy with Uncle Josh.

Addy with Gramps.

Auntie Laura

Auntie Laura with daddy looking on.

Diaper change by daddy.

Nighty night sweet girl.

We will be on the road today heading home. Addy’s maternal Granny will be able to spend some extended time with her first grandchild today. She was in the labor and delivery room with Jamie and Dan until Addyson was born. Dear and I will be coming back over the mountains in a couple weeks to help out again and get some projects done.

She’s Our First…

…so there might be an overload of photos for awhile.

Her mommy and daddy both did great during labor and delivery.

Her daddy impressed the nursing staff with his attentiveness and care.

She came in at a healthy weight and length.

She was born on the first day of Spring 2017.

We knew her first name and now we know her middle name, May.

She makes the cutest little noises while she sleeps.

We are enjoying all the cuddle time we can get.

Mommy and Daddy are adjusting to her schedule. Sleep comes in about 2 hour intervals.

Rayna the dog is adjusting well to her and feels the need to alert Jamie when Addy cries in distress. When Rayna comes in from outside her first stop is at the baby cradle to see if she’s still there.

We prayed to God during her time in the womb, for her development and safe delivery and we are thanking God for those answers to our prayers. Now we pray for other things as well.

She will have lots of historical photos to look at when she is older as she was born during the Steven’s County floods of March 2017!

I will have many posts to document these days for Addy to enjoy later in her life. Thank you to all of you who prayed and shared good things about being a grandparent. I appreciate all your kind wishes and thoughts.

In the Meantime…

…here are a few photos showing what this part of Washington is experiencing because of their heavy snow that is melting and has no where to go since the ground is saturated or frozen. The folk around here are saying this is worse than the flooding in 1996.

The photos I’m showing you are areas that are usually fields not lakes.

This wasn’t a waterfront property before.

Highway 395 had to post detours north of here because of water on the roadway. Hopefully heavy rains will not be in the forecast and the ground will be able to absorb all this excess water. We are glad our kids and their extended family here live on higher ground.

We enjoyed the homecoming of our kids with their little one. While we were waiting for them to be discharged we saw these visitors just outside our granddaughter’s nursery.

Here’s a little sneak peak of our little granddaughter. One wee foot!

Soon I’ll be able to share more. We are getting lots of good cuddle time before we head back home.

So grateful to God for keeping our daughter-in-law and granddaughter safe during pregnancy and delivery.

The Waiting…

We arrived to the hospital at 12:45 after leaving home at 4 a.m. and picking Josh and Laura at the Spokane Airport at 10:50 a.m. and driving the last miles to Northeastern Washington. Now we could relax and wait knowing we would not miss hearing the news fresh from the delivery room that Addy had arrived.

Jamie’s granny was in the waiting room already and had been there for a few hours very kindly texting us any progress while we were on the road.

We settled in and got excited everytime we heard that things were progressing.

This is what the day looked like from the hospital waiting room on the day Addy was born.

As the waiting went long we decided if we started a jigsaw puzzle her arrival would speed up.

It worked because Jamie’s mom came into the waiting room crying and said, “we have a baby girl”. We then heard the lullaby over the loud speakers that announced a baby, our Addy, was born. When we heard the lullaby we all cried again. Soon enough we got to see her daddy’s elation as he came into the waiting room to announce her arrival and that all was well! PTL!

We found out after Addy was born that her daddy had worked on a jigsaw puzzle during the times mommy could sleep while in labor. I need to share this with our pop who works on jigsaw puzzles everyday.

Everything is ready for Addy’s arrival home. Since the last time we saw Addy’s room the elephant and bubbles have been added.

We are thankful and have had some great times holding our new granddaughter and listening to her sweet sounds. Later when we get the okay to post photos of her and her parents holding her I’ll share more.

Thank you all for you prayers and kind thoughts and comments for us during this exciting and blessed event in the life of our family.