Birthdays & Babies~

Johnny & I will be traveling within the next few weeks to central Mississippi in order to celebrate with our oldest grandson. Austin turns 4 years old this month and we're excited to be going over for this occasion! It actually seems that just a Christmas or so ago his mother was telling us that the catch-all room in their home would soon be a nursery! Tears flowed with the excitement of entering the grandparent stage of our lives.

On the heels of hearing that Stacey was pregnant, came news the following Mother's Day that Jenny was expecting! Two! We would have two by Christmas!! Now we love our daughters and feel overly blessed to have them. But we did pray for at least one grandson! The very day that our first grandson was born, Jenny called with the news that she was carrying a son as well! Ian was born within four months of Austin's birth. To say that Johnny was excited to have two grandsons in one year is an understatement! His feet didn't hit ground for, well, they still haven't.

However~we do have a little girl to buy dolls and dresses for! Stacey & Brett now have Alaina, who will be two this December. She can hang in there with the boys, but loves to go shopping with the girls when we get together! Raising daughters I've decided, is much easier than little boys. Boys are all out there! They have to use all five senses, and then some, to experience life. And they want to use them all at one time! Whereas, little girls are observant, more contemplative, and have a much longer attention span!

Celebrating his first birthday this year is our youngest grandchild, Noah. Watching him learn to stand alone, inch along side the furniture, and pull up on everything and anything has made me realize just how rapidly Austin and Ian have matured. I'm not so sure I like that. And the delightful thing is, their mothers feel the same way! Not only were we blessed with beautiful little girls, but our little girls love their babies. They're not anxious for them to grow up and leave the nest!

I am so fascinated! Everything I feel for our three girls is intensified with these four babes. As a parent, one is caught up with work, finances, and "was I too strict?" or "was I too lenient?" As a grandparent, I just get to love totally, unabashed, without having to get caught up in the raising part. I have more time to just be there. It's impossible for me to lose interest in watching them and wanting to interact with them. I'd act like a complete fool just to hear one of them laugh. I'd reread a story a dozen times just to have one lean on me. I'd rock them for hours just to smell that sweet scent. How does one thank God enough for these little, captivating gifts?!