Two times Two

Two years ago this week, I was making final preparations for a 400+ mile trek across Iowa on a bike.  An Iowa native, RAGBRAI (Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa) was calling me back to my roots.  I had put in countless hours and miles in preparation to join my brother Bruce and son Corey on the journey.  It was to be the highlight of my summer - until something more important came along. With a scant few days notice, I bowed out of RAGBRAI, leaving my teammates to traverse the state without me.  In my place, Flat Lory hitched a ride on Bruce's back, something he has not let me forget in the intervening years.

So what would possibly make me throw aside 6+ months of training at the last minute?  Grandloves, of course - which is always the answer to all questions in this blog.  Specifically, it was the premature births of Faith Anne and Naomi Hope.  Rather than pedaling among the corn, I was grandboy deep in the newborns' brothers while their Mom and Dad were at the hospital.  At the time, Aidan (3), Josiah (2), and Elijah (not yet 1) were in my care for a week.  My brother might try to convince you that he had the harder job carrying Flat Lory across the state of our birth.  I only know that I had the better job, and I wouldn't trade all the rhubarb pie he ate even with all the PB&J and mac & cheese I indulged in with those boys.  (I've never claimed to be a culinary master.)

Last year and this one as well, I will spend a week in the Iowa sun, sleeping in a tent and rising early to pedal across my home state.  But before and during my journey, I marvel at those two little girlies who turned the Harris world upside-down.

They turn two on Friday.  How is that possible!  And yet, the have gone from tiny little loves, well under two pounds each unable to breathe on their own, to strapping (through still skinny) two year olds exercising their lungs when they feel overshadowed or slighted.  In other words, they are typical two year olds!

Recently, I received the blessing of watching the two of them (and just the two of them) for the day.  What a day it was!  At times, they expressed their opinions showing they are still babies and wanting undivided attention.  Other times, they wanted freedom to explore their world independently.  As I said, typical two year olds...

Faith and Naomi, you have blessed us with your presence - your love, your demands, your personalities.  Thank you for keeping us on our toes.  Thank you for giving us double the joy, even when you are being double-trouble.  Thank you for letting me be Granma!  Happy, happy birthday to two very special two year olds!  With twice the love - twice over!

Stepping Out!

Faith & Naomi - taking the world by storm!

Little fingers, little toes.  It is not possible to be a parent and not count your newborn's fingers and toes, as if you can't tell at a glance how many of each there are.  Still, you marvel at them, so miniature and so perfectly formed.  Those are the same appendages that attempted to spread their mother's ribs such a short time earlier.  They thought they could - and sometimes, mom was pretty sure they did!

Over the next months, you are hardly aware that those precious digits are growing and changing.  They still seem so delicate and miraculous.  I felt like that with all my sons, and with each of my grandbabies, as well.

My youngest grands - the twin girlies, are fast approaching two years.  It doesn't seem possible it has been that long, and yet, it doesn't seem possible that they haven't always been part of the family.  We have marveled at each step of their development, not taking anything for granted:  their birth - impossible early, their size - less than 2 1/2 pounds between them!, their fragile bodies - fearfully and wonderfully made.  We hardly dared to hope, but couldn't bear to do otherwise.

Recently, I was out of town and hadn't seen Hope and Naomi for a couple of weeks.  It's not possible, of course, that they actually changed immeasurably in that period of time, but my eyes don't believe what my head is telling me.  They seem to have grow inches and pounds in that short time!  And where their tentative steps had to be coaxed before, now they were on the move!  Their next steps turned out to be, well, steps!

From humble beginnings

How is it possible that from hands and feet stretching to span an inch came beautiful little girlies covering distances in the blink of an eye?

Thank you, God, for miracles and blessing that stretch and grow.  Thank you, God, for Faith and Naomi!  Once, again, I am the most blessed Granma I know.

Picture Perfect

I have this thing about pictures - though absolutely no talent personally.  When I say "pictures," I mean snapshots, which is the extent of my capability.  They always look better in my head than on my camera, but I love them anyway.  As my bestie, Merry, says, "The best camera is the one you have with you."  Thank you, Apple.

Snapshots aside, I really admire photo professionals.  I admire their artistry and persistence and anticipation - especially when photographing people - most especially small people - who do not take direction or prisoners.

We recently engaged our friend, Stacy Vitallo, to take one year pictures of Faith and Naomi.  Mind you, they passed the one year mark six months ago.  But seeing as they started life on the miniature side, the decision was made to stretch the celebration documentation a bit.  It seemed like such a great idea.  And while the bright ideas were cropping up, why not take a picture of the three brothers along with their sisters?  Indeed, why not...

Step one:  Distract Faith long enough for Mama to hide.  Otherwise we would have needed a video camera to capture Faith crawling at lightening speed to Mama to be held.

Step two:  From her hiding place, Mama found some "pearl" necklaces to use as a photo prop.  That met with some success!

Step three:  Remove pearl from brothers when their turn comes to face the camera.

Step four:  Arrange boys aesthetically for a pleasing picture.

Step five:  Repeat step four.

Step six:  Coax smiles - with varying degrees of success, and never all at the same time.

Step seven:  Go for broke!  Throw all five into the mix!

Step eight:  Buy Stacy a beer.  I think she earned it!  Actually, there were some absolutely adorable pictures of each child.  But sometimes it's all about the one that got away.  It's certainly not a still life, but it is a real life!  Thank you, Stacy!

Christmas Magic

There are some special "grands" Christmas memories.

Last year was one of them.  Holding two precious baby girles, home from the hospital, but still tethered to oxygen.  How sweet that was!  This year, holding them is much more difficult - they want to be down and moving, especially Faith.  She gyrates in your arms, demanding the freedom of the floor.  What a wonderful, miraculous, welcome change!

Bella's first Christmas with us was last year, too.  She arrived walking and talking, of course.  She and I made ornaments to decorate the tree, dancing snowmen and gingerbread men and women.  We started out following the directions.  We ended up with a whole village of our creations - no two the same.

A dozen Christmases ago, was Bryce's first, all six weeks old of him.  I was still trying on the name 'Granma,' and hadn't settled on the spelling yet.  But I certainly had settled on Bryce!  He has sparkled on Christmas every year since.  I'm looking forward to some boardgames with him this Christmas.


Tyler was almost a year old by the time his first Christmas arrived.  Older and wiser, he enjoyed all the gifts, especially the wrapping and bows.  I love to watch the world through his eyes, which haven't lost the wonder of expectation.

Elijah slept through much of his first Christmas, a mistake he won't make again, I'm sure!  Being grandboy number five at the time, the pack-and-play was a safe location for him, while the rest of the world spun out of control with laughter and bits of colorful confetti raining down.

But my favorite grandboy Christmas memory is the year Aidan learned to blow out the Christmas tree!  He walked into the house, straight up to the tree and started blowing.  The behavior seemed a bit odd, quite frankly, two-year-old adorable, but odd.  Court and Christine let us know that we should stand at the ready by the light switch that controlled the outlet to the tree lights.  We were a quick study.  The lights went off (or back on) with each watery blow from his lips.

My next favorite memory is too intertwined to be a separate memory, though it happened two years later.  Aidan was then in control of the light switch for two-year-old Josiah.  His younger brother would giggle with delight that started at his toes.  Aidan, sharing in the joy, joined a duet with the shear joy of toddler laughter!

I can't wait for Christmas!  I wait expectantly with the joy of a toddler for the gathering of the red and green grands!  Merry Christmas, everyone!  And merry memories in the making!

Some Birthdays are Bigger than Others

Growing up!

Some things don't change in a year.  For example, this time last year I was putting in lots of miles on my bike to get ready for RAGBRAI, a week long bike ride across the state of Iowa.  My brother, Bruce, and my son, Corey, were doing the same.  And here we are again, wondering why anyone would want to ride a bike across the state of Iowa and anxiously, crazily anticipating the trip.  The difference is that Corey and Bruce actually made the trip in 2015, which might lead one to believe that they are the truly crazy for doing it again!

I, on the other hand, sent Flat Lory as my RAGBRAI representative last year, when Faith and Naomi decided to enter the world at just 24 weeks, weighing slightly more than a pound a piece.  3D Lory spent the week with their brothers Aidan, Josiah and Elijah, loving it and (realistically) longing for bedtime - theirs and mine (which coincided pretty closely).

Of course, the girlies first months of exploration where medical in nature. It was quite some time before we could even get a clear view of their precious faces.  But it was worth the wait!  After almost four months in the hospital, they came home tethered to oxygen and monitors with endless doctor's appointments and medications.  Court and Christine threw themselves into the honor of loving and caring for the girlies - oh, and their three brothers!  

Faith making it through an obstacle course 

Naomi's birthday smiles!

Now, weighing in at about 15 pounds a piece, they are exploring the reaches of the universe, or at least of their universe, and getting more bold by the day!  Faith, especially, gets herself into some pretty amazing positions trying to keep up with her brothers.  Naomi is perfecting the army crawl as well, though she can also get what she wants with her beautiful smile.  The world is wrapped around their tiny and perfectly formed and functioning fingers.

So, little girlie girls, it has been quite the year, an extra special one because of you!  This Granma can't wait for another year of loving you both!  Happy First Birthday!

Friends and Countrymen, Lend Me Your Ears!

Naomi - with room to grow

Faith - Pretty in Pink

With all good intentions, I promise this will be the last Disney post.  Meaning - I will not be held responsible if sentence #1 turns out to be an outright lie...  But this post is a must, cuz there is much cuteness to be displayed!

Before leaving to Florida, I spent some time mulling over what gift to bring Illinois bound grandbabies from the land of Mickey.  The possibilities are endless, of course, in the land of the world's largest souvenir stand:  t-shirts, toys, stuffed animals, to name the most conventional.  The mouse, of course, doesn't stop there, but I did - until...  Merry suggested bringing back ears for all the mini-folk!  Perfect!

Bella - My Bell!

Aidan - Lightening McQueen

So between Space Mountain and Soarin' we four travelers embarked on the great ear hunt.  Finding ears was not the problem - they were EVERYWHERE, including the heads of most of our new best friends and mouseketeers.  Total non-sequitur: while trying to figure out how to spell mouseketeers it occurred to my typing fingers that it could be "mouse-cat-ears" - a shout out to Tom and Jerry, I suppose.

Anyway, mouse ears come with glitz and glitter and in Army drab.  There are bride and groom ears, princess ears, Star Wars ears, Winnie-the-Pooh ears (which kind of defied imagination),  Lightening McQueen ears, under the sea ears...  You get the drift.

Tyler - Scorcerer

Josiah - Goofy

Not feeling the need to start collections of our own, Merry and I brought our "vintage" ears from a previous trip and paraded them around.  Bryce chose the R2D2 ears for himself and Ava's ears lit up - and flashed in time to the music at various attractions as well as being timed to the fireworks.

But really, how adorable are the Illinois mouseketeers!  It would have been nice to get all those ears in one picture.  It was suggested.  However, we all know how mice tend to scatter when you try to catch them.  I would say that Mickey has that affect on the mini ones.  In truth, it's also the nature of grandbabies.  I am settling for assembling them in this blog.  It's the easiest way to get them to sit still!

Elijah - Mickey!

Thank you to Mickey for the additional set of ears each.  I'm sure it will have a great affect on their listening skills, too!  As long as they can hear "I love you" - that's all that really matters!

Rite of Passage

There are just some things that girls do for no other reason than their chromosome make up.  Actually, make up is one of those things.  Another is giggling uncontrollably for no apparent reason at inappropriate times.  Once Ginger, my sister, and I were sitting in the balcony of the church watching our father perform his minister-ly duties.  We started giggle over the great vantage point we had of the bald spot forming in the back of his head.  Nothing could stop us - not the looks of those sitting beside us or the pointed glance of our father.  Not even the tears running down our faces.  What finally stopped us was the benediction.  Once we didn't have to stifle our laughter, it dissipated.  Girls.  Back to the train of thought at hand.

Another thing girls do is showers: bridal and baby, generally.  In modern times the groom is also extended an invitation to bridal showers.  Poor guy.  The lone bastion of testosterone in an otherwise giggly, made-up room.  It's not exactly like he could refuse the invitation.  So he makes the best of it with a room full of women - one of his former fantasies come to think of it.

This past weekend, we had a shower for Colin (eldest son of mine) and his intended, Emma.  (We can't wait to hear the I do's in July!!!  Awesome choice, son!)  It entailed all the requisite shower material: flowers, food and festivities, giggles, gifts and gabbing.  (I'm a fan of alliteration, can you tell?)  But more to the point, all three of my grandgirlies were in attendance!  That is Bella on the left helping her mom with the gifts.  Christine is standing behind holding Faith, and I am seated with Naomi.  Could be the other way around - Christine with Naomi and me with Faith.  Hard to tell from here.  (Colin looks a bit unfamiliar with the protocol, doesn't he?  It's enough to make me giggle, again!)

Regardless, this is a sign post of an era, I think:  the adult-ish ME doing something with my female relatives of younger generations!  Ah, pink!  To gather with so many women that I love with every fiber of my being - five are with me in this picture alone!

Here's to a new era of showers and the women who attend.  Much love to each and every one!

Paint me a Picture

Last Friday, my bestie, Merry, invited me to come to my son and daughter-in-laws house to help her paint stripes on their walls.  I'm honored that she will let me near a paint brush with her, but that's another story. I think she probably likes me better than she likes my actual painting, but it was an invitation none the less.  Merry is very artistic and smart and she loves me.  Of course, I said yes!  My biggest concern was if I would end up painting a grandboy or two.  I am easily distracted those love bugs.  And they, for their part, like to watch - and help - and whirlwind around the room, wet paint not withstanding.

5 Noses in a Row

When we arrived, clad in our best pre-painted clothes, I started by spilling coffee.  I hadn't taken my coat off yet, and I don't even drink coffee.  Humble beginnings.  As Merry calculated the stripe proportions, I played with three grandboys.  The girlies were sleeping.  And to make things all the better, Court was kind of working from home and Christine was painting an adjoining room.  This means the number of midgets outnumbered adults by only one.  Piece of cake!

I shepherded three munchkins down to the toys in the basement, keeping their voices (alternately giggling and crying) two stories away from sleeping grandgirlies.  Of course, there were tales of this one hit that one - accidentally, I'm sure - and the blue toy was more coveted than the green one.  Discussions ensued until the voice of reason (that would be me) arrived at an equitable arrangement.  I'm still half a step ahead of them - except where paint may be found - or coffee.

When I went up to check if I was needed for painting purposes, I was told I was in charge of crowd control instead.  About that time, the rest of the crowd woke up.  Upstairs I went along with my entourage.  For anyone keeping score, that leaves no bodies in the basement, 3 adults on the main floor, one Granma, 3 grandboys and 2 grandgirlies upstairs.  Daunting, yes, but help was literally a scream away.  And there was - a scream - when in a fit of all-boy-bravado, Aidan got his head smashed under the crib.  Aidan headed downstairs for Mama kisses with Josiah following for good measure.

In a purely numbers game, my odds improved - 1 on 3, though the three left were the youngest.  I kept losing track of the only mobile one while changing diapers on the younger two.  Now, if you are confused as to who is where and why and wondering if the paint is confined only to the walls, then I have succeeded in my endeavor to explain the morning to you.  That's pretty much how I felt, too.

Stripes finished - I never got near paint, but neither did the boys - Merry and I took our leave, - well, after several rounds of kisses and "I love yous" and "come back again next Wednesday."

I had a great time - for a few hours - with roadside assistance just a few steps away!  I have known for years that Christine is an amazing Mom, but I just have to brag on my daughter-in-law.  RESPECT, Christine!  Total RESPECT - times FIVE!

Well Loved!

You know what I love most about grandboys and grandgirlies?  They are just love machines.  I am absolutely attracted to them like a piece of metal to their high-power electromagnetism!

Regardless of who does the walking in the door, the first order of business is hugs and kisses - and if your original grandboy has hit double digits, there may be other shenanigans as well: ducking to miss a kiss that he knows he can't ultimately avoid (nor does he really want to), or jumping up and wrapping his legs around me for a full contact hug.  I brace myself when Bryce walks in the door.  I love that, too.

Occasionally one of the mid-sized midgets thinks he can do without the requisite loving, focused as he might be on a certain toy.  Not to worry.  Eventually he will want a Granma favor, and that always comes with a price.  I won't be denied!

The youngest recipients of  Granma loving aren't big enough to run away, and way too smart to avoid it!.  They also dress in pink, which makes them something of an anomaly in this household!  Faith and Naomi are getting so big - 10 pounds!  Almost a ten fold increase in six months!

I could fill this blog with pictures of more people kissing these little sweethearts that would make a politician envious - and we all know there are way too many politicians in the spotlight right now!  But there will never be too many kisses for these miracle bundles!  They are sweet and beautiful girlies, obviously well loved: by Mama and Daddy, by brothers and cousins, by aunts and uncles, by family and friends, by people who have never seen them in person but have been praying for them all this time!  And, well, by this heavily metaled Granma, taken in by their magnetic beings.

God has blessed you, Faith and Naomi - and He has blessed us, too, with you!

Universally True

I grew up in a family where there was always room for one more.  I don't exactly remember my parents saying that, but I never remember being denied when I asked if a friend could come over for dinner.  There were already seven of us gathered around the table, but eight had a good ring to it.  One year we had a foreign exchange student, so adding a friend stretched us to nine.  There was always enough.

When my eldest, Colin, was a whole three months old, we discovered that our family would be growing again.  I remember watching my baby sleep and wondering if I could love another one as much as I loved him.  But the moment Corey was born, all doubt disappeared.  Love is not a static quantity that must be divided among the interested parties.  It is elastic.  Even that doesn't describe how love works.  Elastic can be confining.  It gets stretched and sometimes breaks.  Love just keeps expanding - like the universe, or so I'm told.  I haven't measured the heavens lately, nor have I figured out how to measure love.  Maybe there is no reason to measure either...

Universally speaking, grandbabies are a black hole of a whole different kind - the best kind!  Whether the black hole is blue or pink, the gravitational pull is so strong that it sucks you right in and never lets you go.  I wouldn't have it any other way.

In my experience, babies have come home within a couple of days of their birth day.  The excitement of the birth hasn't worn off - seeing the 10 fingers and toes for myself, kissing their peach fuzzy heads, even changing a diaper is confirmation of new life.  "This is real," it shouts.

Last week, two little bundles of pink came home.  It was a long anticipated homecoming, and well worth the wait.  To hold Faith and Naomi together, nearly four months after they first made their appearance. well, it made them real, too.  It's like a child waiting for summer vacation.  Just when you give up that it will ever happen, it arrives, and all the pent up excitement and anticipation does not disappoint.

The Harris universe has expanded.  It is not at all an uncomfortable stretch nor does anything about it diminish another's share.  It just got bigger to accommodate two wee little baby girls. We are all standing in line waiting our turn to shower Faith and Naomi with four months worth of kisses:  their parents, brothers, cousins, aunts and uncles, Granma and, as you can see, Grampa, too.

Welcome home, love bugs, and welcome to the family.  We love you!

Picture Perfect

Granma and Naomi

I'm a writer.  OK, I'm not quite as famous as, say, Stephen King or Erma Bombeck.  But the three of us have something in common:  we write because we must.  Well, Erma doesn't write anymore, and I didn't/don't know either personally.  But I feel confident in my assessment.  I think better with my eyes closed sitting at a keyboard letting the words flow out my fingertips.  And the words from my fingers are more trust worthy and true than the ones from my mouth.  Of course, I make great use of the delete key, as well as Control X and Control V.  Verbal conversation is much more problematic on that front.

My husband, Ken (the Grampa to my Granma), is a photographer.  He frequently sees something different than the rest of us when he has a camera in his hand.  It's a zen thing - I've seen it, I admire it, and I am not capable of it.  I take snap shots, which are very different and rather pedestrian, though they make me happy.  Viva la difference.

We could probably debate endlessly on whether a picture is really worth a thousand words.  We could, but it takes time for me to relay to my computer keyboard the essence of my 1000 words.  He tires of the wait and wanders off with his camera to capture the world.  BTW, his Lightroom and Photoshop programs are pretty time intensive, too.  What can I say?  It works for us.

Last week, though I got to hold two very special baby girls, Faith and Naomi.  They are not quite 3 months old, tipping the scales at 4 pounds each, and it's the first time I have even touched one of them.  To hold those little girls and feel them squirm and kiss their peach-fuzz heads.  Christine captured this picture (thank you!).  And for once, I just might be speechless - and wordless.  My fingers don't know what to type next.  It's not exactly that I have no words, it's just that so many words flood my senses that I can't keep up!

However, see sentence number one of this blog.  They require me to write a few words as they bubble to the top:

Miracles

Beautiful

Precious

PINK

Adorable

Wonder

Glorious Gifts of God

Grandgirlies

Possibilities

Potential

Pure, unadulterated LOVE

Naomi with the sticky-uppy peach fuzz

Faith with the well coiffed hair

Score one for photography.  These pictures says more than this writer can put into words. This Granma is in love all over again!

Lessons Remembered

There is nothing like a week in the trenches to remind one of where they came from.  And I got just had just such an adventure last week with a near four year old, a two year old and an 11 month old.  It was like a time warp - going back to when my three boys were roughly the same ages.  I rediscovered some things forgotten, and learned a few new wrinkles, too.

1.  Cheerios, the unsung hero of yet another generation.  Bless you!
2.  One of my favorite adages from my early motherhood days is this:  nothing makes a child more thirsty than to move their cup back from the edge of the table.  There is a corollary to that rule:  nothing makes a toy more desirable than putting it away, except, that is, seeing a discarded toy in your brother's hand.
3.  This leads to the next truism:  little boys can scream like little girls - loud, high and piercing.  You think you can ignore him and out last his efforts.  You cannot.
4.  Some babies HATE blow driers, well, one in particular - Elijah.  Fortunately, hair dries faster with a screaming child in the background - though certainly not fast enough.  The vacuum has the same affect on Sir Squirmy, not that I can blame him for that one.  I'm not particularly fond of that implement, either.
5.  Soon to be four-year-old's love to help, meaning every task will take
twice as long as it should.  However, there is no better way to increase the enjoyment of dusting, vacuuming (when Elijah is sleeping like the dead upstairs), and cleaning glass.  Bonus streaks in the glass make for beautiful sunsets.
6.  When throwing a ball, a two year old's directional compass is suspect.  This improves substantially sometime around age four.  However, the age at which he can successfully aim the contents of a container of water when playing in the pool develops much later in life.  Sometime after they hit double digits, maybe?  Cell phones beware.
7.  Baby tummies stretch to take in an amazing volume.  Visualize an 8 ounce bottle in a tummy that has already had lunch!  Sometimes it is necessary to relieve pressure with a burp.  Regardless of how loud, this is preferable to the liquid variety of release, which can, on occasion, reverse the entire digestive process.  This sad fact has not changed in the intervening 30 plus years since my babies were babies.  It is not any more cute now, even when the perpetrator smiles his most winning grin after the fact.

And finally, my favorite piece of new wisdom for generations to come:

8.  When a near four year old announces, "There he is!  Kill him!", he is probably talking about his aversion to flies.  Prudence dictates, however, that you lay eyes on each of his brothers post haste...

POSTSCRIPT:  Sisters Faith and Naomi were born last Tuesday afternoon weighing in at 1# 5 oz and 1# 4 oz, respectfully.  They are beautiful and impossibly tiny and intricate.  They are doing well for their size, but as you can imagine, there are many hurdles to overcome in the next few months.  Naomi, in particular is standing in the need of prayer this morning.

Updates are available at  http://www.carepages.com/carepages/FaithandNaomiHarris/.  Thank you for your prayers for their continued health and development.