Chere's Belly

Mom's Belly Growing:

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months
7 Months

8 Months

Any Day now!

Worlds Cutes Baby Bump at the Beach

Izic Came For Dinner

Izic, his Mom and Dad and his guard dog Nugget came for dinner. I made fried chicken, artichokes and mash potatoes. We had a nice time and Cody got to try the gravity boots.

He gets circumcised tomorrow, so we are praying he is not in too much pain. This guy gets better looking every day. His hair is turning blonder, and he is so strong, he holds his head up and does a push up when put on his tummy. I'm in love.

His parents are very happy and madly in love with each other and him, it is precious to witness. They are such a happy well balanced family.

A Crazy Year!

What a year++! Daughter meets new fabulous boy, he buys her a Malamute puppy, takes her to Hawaii, asks her to be his wife, date set & then baby on the way (we really thought it was the flu). Wedding planned in 6 weeks, it was perfect. Then on to prenatal issues, baby shower, and baby arrives 4 weeks early! Meanwhile we watch the puppy often and learn to keep our opinions to our selves. Not an easy task. I'm a tired Nana- but oh so proud of the new family and how my daughter, new son-in-law and grandon are the biggest blessings in my life.

I don't have any more pictures with his eyes open. He is a preemie & sleeps all the time. I've taken pictures everyday, but none with eyes open. He went to the Dr. on Wednesday and got a clean bill of health! He gained all his weight back. Friday he had his first bath and didn't even wake up for that! Today he lost his belly bottom & met Nugget for the first time. It's all very exciting. Cherè is doing excellent and so is Cody- the nursery is done and sooooooooo cute!

Nugget Fun and Games

While Izic is getting acclimated to his new home, we are babysitting Nugget, his giant Malamute brother. Nugget is still a puppy (9 months) and likes to get into trouble. On the first morning home, he broke into the neighbor’s back yard by digging under the fence, then he dug up a huge skull, and brought it to my bed.

After I put my heart back into my chest and Gary took the skull outside to examine it via “Bones” style. He determined it to be a large dog skull buried 2 years. These neighbors have always been odd, but whats under their sod, no gives me nightmares. Gary had to spend most the morning mending the fences to keep Houdini in (as he also tried to climbed the fence and ate the top of the boards).

The next day, for some reason only a doggy brain can determine, Nugget ate 4 of our 6 Italian leather dining room chairs. Big, chunky bites taken out of them – making them look like Beverly Hillbillies throw outs.

He also knocked over three of my glass vases and ate the flowers out of them, brought a pinecone to my living room floor and then devoured it. He has moved my couch pillows around. He jumps on our bed every night, thinking he is a puppy and we have to shoe him out. this morning he ate a basket of laundry and ate a $140 pair of sandals. My favorite Malamute prank was that I found dirty paw prints on my kitchen counters. Yeah he is fun, and we beat him a lot and never tell his parents.

Izic is Home!

Izic came home with a flourish of activity as the nursery is not done and still smells of paint. All his cuddly cute possessions are located in the hall. Nice baskets holding impossibly small socks, hats with fishes on them and lotion potions and creams.

Talking to Izic here:
We (Grandpa and I) had come before they got home and cleaned up. So mommy settled into the big bed, worn out, but happy to have her family home. My goals was to do the work Mommy couldn’t do as her only job is to keep you happy, fed and loved. You were super small and liked to sleep all the time. So Mommy has to wake you up every two hours to eat. You latched on good, but fell asleep after five minutes. So then Mommy would have to pump, so there was more milk for you and feed you thru a tiny tube that was attached to mommy’s nipple. Sometimes you even got the milk from mommies finger thru the tube.

Daddy made dinner the first night, a delicious fettuccini alfreado. Mommy really liked it but it upset your tummy the next day. Daddy is working hard at finishing your room, shampooing the carpet (he is even thinking of starting a business doing just that) and putting your crib together.

You went to the doctors and he gave you a clean and excellent review. You have gained back almost all your weight and you are strong and healthily. Your parents brought you back to Mail Plus and I got to show you off to my friends and everyone agreed you were the most handsome boy around. I love you so much.

Izic Has Arrived, I am Nana

March 12, 2010 at 3:58 AM, Izic graced this world with his presence. He weighed 6 pounds 13 ounces and was perfect (except for the temporary cone head). He is the spitting image of his father.

Here is how the night went.

She had called me at 1:30am the night before and I convinced her she was not in labor. The next day, still uncomfortable, the doctor told her to go the the hospital. She stopped and ate a burrito first. (she has eaten a taco or burrito everyday of this pregnancy, so much so we teased her the boy would come out asking for the Carne asada titty). She was examined and found to be at 4 cn. At 6:00 pm they did the epidural as her labor was back labor and very painful. We (the grandparents) waited in the lobby, taking turns visiting the room.

At 8:30 we decided to go eat. The nurses were pretty sure that the labor was going to be long, so we left the hospital and went to dinner. We didn't share this fact with the laboring mother as she was hungry and would have killed us. It was Thursday night in SLO, so Farmers Market was raging. We stopped and picked up my wine shipment from my wine store, where our friend wished us luck and then ate at big Sky Cafe. Hummus and buttermilk chicken, with a bottle of Clairvoyant wine, which was poignant and rellavant. Relaxed and full, we returned to the hospital.

She was still having a hard time and the vigil in the lobby continued. At 2:00 AM, she started pushing. Izic was born at 3:58 PM. The grandparents joined the new parents and we passed him around like a hot potato. He was healthy and my daughters first comment was "That wasn't so bad, Dad get me a Snickers bar!" She is going to be a wonderful mother. She was strong, resilient and set on having a healthy baby. There is no stopping this Mama!

While I waited, I prayed and worried for the safety of my daughter. She is my baby and even though the promise of grand child is over whelming, I feared for my child. I prayed a lot, spent time in the chapel, raided nurses stations for ice water and coffee and slept on plastic couches (with plastic cushions as a pillow when my purse became to hard.) I even had time to fill out a ridiculous survey of the "Best Of" which I have tried for many years but couldn't find the time to answer 83 questions. I had time and nervous energy, so when the restaurant wins "Best of" they can thank Izic.

Words can't express the feeling of holding your grand baby for the first time. It is like God had handed me an angel, that would fill my life with joy forever. He is a miracle. His mother is a saint. I am in awe. I am honored that they are willing to share him with me. I will not disappoint and will love completely and absolutely. I am mush.

We drove home delirious and happy at 5:30 am watching the crescent moon set as the sun rose. It was a magic day, a day that will change my life forever, for the good.

At home, I was greeted by the giant Malamute puppy who was full of energy and ready to play. 6 laps around the school calmed him down enough to let us sleep. This is their puppy and we are just watching him until they get settled.

No sleep came, and I raced back to the hospital when I was called by my daughter who ordered me to buy slippers no matter how stupid they were. Izic's head had started to round out and all were happy. Momma was chewing on local ribs and deep fried artichoke hearts. She is working on the nursing, as Izic is pretty tired from the labor and falls asleep at the breast.

I am over the moon excited and happy for this new chapter in my life. Nana is happy!

The Nursery

My son-in-law is creating the worlds most unique and fun nursery for the baby. It is a work of art painted and sculped by a non-artist. The room is over the top impressive.

It is painted 3/4 of the way up the wall with dark blue and scalloped like the top of the waves. The top 1/4 is baby blue sky with clouds on the ceiling and a sun around the light bulb. Under the waves are large paintings of a cute whale, a octopus, a pair of sea turtles and a sunken pirate ship with a shark swimming over it. There are sailboats on the waves with yarn sails and crabs crawling around the bottom. It is Uber cute!

But it is not done and she is due any day.

The crib is not together and she is due any day.

The carpet is stained with paint and needs to be cleaned and she is due any day.

There house is a disaster of boxes and baby stuff and she is due any day.

I like things in order, I obsess about details and like to prepare. I have a back up plan, for my back up plans. He is cramping my style and making me sweat at night ( I do that anyway thanks to Menopause) This has taken over my life and I'm so hot I might spontaneous combust.

I can't say anything, because that would be interfering and I will never do that (ROLLING EYES).

I enlisted the OB/GYN to tell him that that baby can come at anytime and she is due any day.

This is my first taste of keeping my noisey=nose out of things. All this pent up frustration has turned my into a shopping fanatic. Before I hated to shop, but those baby stores, with copius amounts of cuteness and impraticallity, are calling me. I can't stop. My credit cards are maxed for the first time EVER. I don't buy things on credit, but now I am begging NASA for more.

Her baby bag is packed, all clothes are washed and if she goes into labor before the room is finished, Grandpa can put the crib together.

I quess my lesson is that the room is their first attempt at making magic together (besides producing my first grandchild) and it is theirs, not mine to monitor.

This Grandma stuff is hard.

Did I mention they are renting?

Did I mention that SHE IS DUE ANY DAY.

Breaking the Law

So I entered into this new life as a mother-in-law and Grandma-to-be. I have struggled with my relationship with my new son-in-law, there is just no practice for this gig and I have a knack for saying what I think. There is no filter between my red head and my big mouth. I consider it charming, but understand some people (who didn't come from my womb) might find it disconerting at first.

My daughter and I work together and get along perfectly. She calls me her best friend. Her new husband is just not that happy with the fact she tells me EVERYTHING. In fact, I'm not entirely comfortable with knowing everything in their newlywed life. We made it thru the wedding planning and wedding without a blow up and as long as I don't contradict him about his giant Malamute puppy, we probably won't draw blood.

But Izic is on the way, my joy, my heart and something I have dreamed of since I squeezed out my first baby. He is due on April 2, 2010. I am praying that he is born on the 1st of April, as that is my favorite day of the year. He will be my little fool.

I will chronicle the things I learn, relearn and amuse me on this blog and hopefully when Izic is all grown up it will make him giggle and blush. Today, I broke all the rules and used my husbands credit card to buy an overpriced crib set that only I love. Everyone will be pissed, but I don't care. Izic will like the whales and the sailboats. I could have got the nearly new crib set at the thrift store for $20.00, but this Grandma stuff is like Crack and I just couldn't resist.

So the power struggle begins!