Sunday, November 19, 2017

About A Boy

Also about a girl (his mama), his Nana (me), his great-grandmothers and why blogging needs to happen concurrently with life happenings or you end up scratching your head trying to remember what you wanted to blog about in the first place.

Anyway, back to the boy.


Remember our trip out west? The one I started writing about a month ago? Well it ended in Washington where hubs and I spent three days with this little guy and his parents. Mostly this little guy and his mama because my son-in-law has a work schedule that is demanding with a capital D.


He's a wonderful dad though, and we say if baby boy is fussing (which is a rarity) hand him to his Daddy because he can make every little thing better in a matter of seconds. It's a gift.


In a happy turn of events the weather out there was delightful! This is not always or often the case in Washington State, but we had two full days of bright blue skies and were able to get outside for some nice walks. Baby boy loves being outdoors which makes strolling with him enjoyable.


Really anything with him is enjoyable and I still need a blog name for baby boy.


Punkin?


Hubs and I were happy to have a couple of days to soak up his sweetness because we knew when they made their way to our house we'd have competition. As in these girls right here-


The great grandmothers. And if his sweet Aunt hadn't been working a fair chunk of his visit I'd have had to arm wrestle her for time with him too.


The little west coast family of three made their first trip to The Palmetto State this past week and I had so many friends commenting on my last post and on Facebook about how happy and excited they were for me getting to spend Thanksgiving with my grandson. I so appreciate your kind thoughts, but they will not be here for Thanksgiving because see paragraph 2.


But! we take what we can get, and I will have a happy Thanksgiving whether he's here or there because gratitude is dependent on attitude not latitude. Ha! I mean he's part of our world now no matter which state he calls home.


Speaking of gratitude...may I just say nothing in this world makes me happier than seeing my girlies together. My heart literally leaps in my chest.


Baby boy was an A+ traveler coming and going and really he's pretty happy most of the time. He's so loved, and I can't help but think about what a gift that is and about children growing up in this world without it.


The 'kids' spent the first part of the week in town with my son-in-law's family and the second part of the week at the lake with us. My son-in-law's grandma came all the way from Mississippi with his aunt and there were friends and cousins who popped in to say hello and hopefully get to hold him. He took it all in stride.


Mostly.

My mom flew in from New Jersey and hubs collected his mom from Tennessee and we paced the floor and played a lot of dominoes waiting our turn.




They would say he's worth the wait. 


And I would say amen. People try to tell you what being a grandparent is all about and while they agree it's completely amazing they universally struggle for words that tell you why. Here's what I know so far...


A grandbaby makes your heart light when the day feels heavy. It can be raining buckets outside but you feel sunny on the inside. He is always learning...growing...discovering and you see beauty and wonder in something a minute ago you might have thought plain and ordinary.


He looks in the mirror and spies a boy. Himself. His face lights up in an instant and you feel yours do the same. He breaks out in a smile the size of Montana and you smile too, so big and so wide your cheeks positively ache. This smile is organic, coming from deep inside you and making it's way across your face. You stand helpless to keep it from coming.

This tiny human reminds you a smile is contagious...that a word gently spoken can smooth the rough edges of this world...


That we are small, but love makes us strong and brave.
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11 comments:

  1. You found the words and I can totally agree. There is nothing quite like a grandbaby. I say this after posting on FB a few minutes ago, tons of pictures of my Big grandbaby playing rugby. I still smile when I see that great big 6'4, 295 lb. hunk of a man with a smile on his face. And he still gives the best hugs around. So, let me just tell you, that you have a lot of years ahead to find total delight in that precious grandson - "Punkin."

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  2. What a beautiful boy! Seriously, he is so handsome! You look so happy! Who cares what day it is on the calendar - it is a holiday when everyone is together. I am sure you all ate well, laughed and loved while you were together and that was a lot to be thankful for!

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  3. Beautifully said Joyce. Love all your pictures. And I love being a grandma too. Being so far apart is not so wonderful. But technology does help to make it seem not quite so distant.

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  4. Love this Joyce, glad your visit was wonderful <3

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  5. Awe Joyce, such a heartfelt post, makes my heart smile really big. I know all of those feelings. Blessings abundant for a great week!

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  6. I agree with Elizabeth DAy´s comment...you found the words. It makes your heart feel so light, when things are heavy, so true!
    Yesterday we went to a park to take some family photos, and everyone was NOT in a good mood (because they all hate formal photo making), but then comes the "little one" and it just brightens everything up and soon everyone was laughing. :)

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  7. I'm so glad everyone had such a loving visit. That little boy is not going to be lacking in the people who love him department, is he? :) I can't believe how much he's changed and getting cuter and cuter along the way. I'm trying to work out new blog names for Baby M and Baby R. I didn't think about them not being babies forever when I came up with those titles. I guess wishful thinking got the best of me. LOVED all the pictures!

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  8. You sure have a wonderful way with words. Brilliantly said. The photos are so great and I see so many changes already. He is a lucky young man!!

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  9. I second all of the above! That is a precious boy and will never be lacking for love. Beautifully said, and I love the attitude gratitude latitude!

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  10. We are right there with you. We just had 4 special days with our little grandgirlie. We celebrated an early Thanksgiving. We drove the 6 hours home today. So glad you had the time you did with your little grandboy and glad our state gave you a couple nice days to walk about with him and his mommy.

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  11. The very best blessing ever! My heart is so happy for all of you.

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