Goodbye, Grandpa.

My grandfather passed away last weekend, leaving my Gram to continue on alone. I suppose, technically, she has been on her own for a while now... Grandpa finally succumbed to the Alzheimer's Disease that took him from us in any communicative way a few years ago. His obituary can be read here I posted a letter to him on http://www.celebratinglife-ut.com, but I am re-posting it here so it can be preserved once the guest book on that site is gone.

Grandpa, I could not have asked for a better grandfather. I have never, not once in my life, questioned that you love me. You have been ever patient, ever kind. You treated me, from earliest childhood, with patience and respect. It is my greatest wish that when I am gone, I will be remembered as you are - as one who loved learning, loved life, and loved others without condition or exception. I miss you with all my heart.

Delaying the Giving of the Thanks...

My six week check-up has been scheduled for the week after Thanksgiving. Unfortunately for Trip, that means he will have to wait a little while to have something to be thankful for...

I just spent the second night in a row sleeping with Toby on the recliner. These chairs, hand me downs from Trip's folks (Thanks again!) are incredibly comfy.. but somehow, now that I can actually sleep in a bed in semi-comfort (and without a nest of pillows to support the individual swollen bits of a pregnant body) it's lonely to be down in the basement. Luckily, though, since this is the second kid... I know that this is all just temporary. I remember being up at 3am with Jack and bawling because I honestly didn't believe I would ever get to go to sleep EVER again. The best part of the second baby so far is that I know that all the rough bits of this first few weeks are very short-term, and I can relax and just go with the flow. In a few weeks, this will all be a memory and I'll be wistfully thinking back to when Toby was tiny and new. .. of course, it's easier to look back wistfully after a good night's sleep...

Jack & Me & Baby Makes 3

The weather today was amazing. Incredible. It was one of those days where you say to yourself, "Self... it is now officially November, and it is 70 degrees outside". It was SO nice, in fact, that I actually got myself dressed, got Jack dressed, got Toby into the snuggly carrier, and hauled the three of us out to the mailbox. (This may not sound too impressive, but our mailbox is part of a cluster of boxes and therefore several blocks away... so checking the mail is no stroll to the end of the driveway for us...)

Jack held tightly to my hand and together we walked, naming colors of the grass and sky, counting to 10, and reciting our ABC's. Toby slept soundly, all warm and snuggled on my chest, and a breeze ruffled through the trees and made the wind chimes tinkle as though it were a spring day.

At that instant, I thought to myself.. "THIS is Motherhood." And for a shining moment, I was entirely, serenely at peace.