UTAH BABY WATCH:Day 8

No news at all today! Not a darn thing happening. . . Ben is off watching the UFC fight at Spencer's with Monte and Sean. Kaylee is asleep and Jamie and I are entertaining ourselves watching HGTV. Too much fun.

UTAH BABY WATCH: Day 7

I can't believe it's day 7 and there is still no baby! Jamie got a spurt of energy today and cleaned the house from top to bottom, as well as doing all the laundry and grocery shopping. So maybe that nesting instinct has kicked in. Kaylee is feeling tons better and almost back to her old self.

I finished reading book #4 (since I've been in Utah) TIME IS A RIVER by Mare Alice Monroe.I loved the main character and the setting in a cabin in North Carolina. I don't know why I am so drawn to the subject of rivers and fly fishing. I left my heart in Montana a few years ago with all those beautiful rivers. Anyway, It's a great book with lots of layers and a satisfying ending. She is a great author and every one of her books are worthwhile.

UTAH BABY WATCH: Day 6

The good news is that Kaylee is feeling lots better today. The bad news is that Jamie has had zero contractions.

The good news is that Jamie ordered TIVO and it arrived today. But the bad news is that all the good shows are reruns tonight! Rats. She is excited to have a DVR again after being without it since August.

That's all the news for today, except that we had a gorgeous day in Provo! The high was 30 and the clear blue skies and white covered mountains are breathtaking. It is such a treat for me to be able to enjoy this winter weather. Of course I'm indoors and not driving, so it's a win-win for everyone. . .

UTAH BABY WATCH: Day 5

NOON - Kaylee is a sick little girl. Last night she woke up whimpering, but went back to sleep on her own. She was quieter and more snuggly than usual this morning, and her cheeks were flushed. Yesterday she didn't have much of an appetite. Jamie took her temp and it was normal. She took it again a few hours later and it was 102! So she called the Dr. and was able to get right in. Kaylee has an ear and throat infection, possibly strep. They did a throat culture and gave her a prescription for antiobiotics and she's on her way home now.

This morning Jamie also got up and went walking with Ben at the BYU gym bright and early at 5am, came home and showered, took Roxy to the vet to get her shots at 9am, and Kaylee's appt was 11:10. So it's arleady been a busy day for her. I miss Craig and I feel bad about canceling preschool for a few weeks, but other than that I am so glad to be here to help. It could be an interesting day. . .

11 PM - Sweet little Kaylee is feeling a tiny bit better, but she still has a ways to go until that fever breaks. Her little cheeks are bright red and she is so mellow. Kaylee was so happy to see Ben when he got home from school tonight. She and Jamie both had great naps today, and for fun tonight my nephew, Tyler, and his fiance, Amber, came by for a visit. It was so fun to meet Amber at long last, and to see how smitten Tyler is! Who knew??? They are a darling couple.

UTAH BABY WATCH: Day 4

Jamie had her Dr. appt this morning and she's almost dilated to 2cm and 70% effaced. The Dr. felt like she would go this week, and if not, she would strip her membranes on Tuesday at her next appt.

Thursday, January 29 is my Grampa Buff's birthday (Elmer Peater Buffington). He would have been 107! Maybe he will help us out!

UTAH BABY WATCH: Day 3

NO NEWS TODAY!!! Jamie had some braxton-hicks contactions this afternoon and again tonight, but so far no action. She went and got a pedicure tonight, hoping that it would help move things along (it's true - it's supposed to work). We shall see what tomorrow brings. She has a Dr. appt. at 9:50, so hopefully there will be news of some sort.

It is cold! The high tomorrow is going to be 28 but feel like 18. Yikes. It was so pretty today with all the snow covered trees. Kaylee was an angel today and took a 3 hour nap. It is so nice being here, I feel a bit guilty that it's been so nice and relaxing.

UTAH BABY WATCH: Day 2

We all slept great last night and woke up to snow! It was rainy and snowy all day, and then late this afternoon the snow got really heavy. A big storm is moving through tonight and tomorrow. No baby action at all today. It was nice for Jamie to catch up on her sleep and have a nice lazy day. She even got in a nap. So now there is no excuse for that baby to keep stalling. . .we all caught up on our sleep, the grocery shopping is done, I'm in town and everything is ready for the baby. Maybe tomorrow will be the day. Ben has class tomorrow until 4, and us girls are planning to run a few errands and keep Jamie walking. Kaylee has been adorable and tonight we had a fun visit with my nephew, Danny Jacobson. Good times.

Today I finished reading Susan Wiggs new book, "Fireside" #5 in the Lakeshore Chronicles. The series is set in a little town in the Catskills. This book takes place during the winter, so the snowy weather today made it the perfect read.

UTAH BABY WATCH: DAY 1

Jamie called 3 weeks ago and said she was 60% effaced and dilated to 1cm even though baby boy wasn't due until VALENTINE'S DAY. . . The Dr. was amazed and didn't think she'd last past Jan 10th. We all hussled and hurried to be ready and the next week there was only a 5% change, and the same this week. On Tuesday she was dilated to "1cm plus a wiggle" and the baby is in position and at station -1. So, things are moving along! Then last night Ben called us about 9 p.m. and said she'd been having good contractions and this time they were close and more intense. They had several false alarms earlier in the week, so I went ahead and got my ticket and flew up here this morning. She's still having contractions, and has a constant backache, so we're all ready for this baby boy to make his entrance.

We walked the mall and went to Sam's Club this afternoon, but things have slowed down again. Hopefully she'll go in the next day or so. I am so glad to finally be here. It is so fun to be in their darling house and be with my sweet Kaylee! I think it will work out well for me to be here so Kaylee is used to having me around and I get comfortable with her routine. She is getting so big and talks and sings up a storm.

We are hoping for a quiet night tonight so we can all catch up on our sleep. Jamie and Ben were up at 3 a.m. with contractions 2-3 minutes apart for about 90 minutes. I finally finished packing and got to bed after midnight and was up at 4:30 to shower and catch my 7:00 a.m. flight from Orange County. I had the perfect flight. Craig dropped me off at the airport, I checked in and walked right onto the plane. I had an entire row to myself and it was a nice normal plane instead of one of those little puddle jumpers! Then we landed 20 minutes early and I walked off the plane, made a pit stop, and when I got down to baggage claim there was my luggage! I waited a few minutes, and after several decietful phone calls from my darling nephews Danny and Tyler about picking me up at the airport, who should be there to pick me up but Jamie and the gang!

Kaylee was smiley and giggly and happy to see me. That is definitely the best feeling in the world to see those sweet faces of my grandchildren light up. Plus it is always so good to be with Ben and Jamie. Now I miss Craig and the kids at home in CA. I guess I'll always be missing someone!!! Hopefully there will be more action to report on Day 2.

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things. . .

Karen Hansen made this darling little nativity puppet glove. How cute is this? Every time I try to pack it away, Paige somehow finds it and she "needs" it. It's my favorite new Christmas treasure of the year!


I realize this post is about a month late, but better late than never! The month of December was a weird one for me because I had the stomach flu, strep throat, and allergies. Fortunately, I was okay on Christmas and New Years, but it really threw me off. "Low Expectations" is my second favorite motto after "Baby Steps" and that got me through, in addtion to tons of help from Craig and Rebecca. I love Christmas, and this year was especially sweet for me because we have Josh home from his mission and Rebecca, Mark, Paige and Claire with us while they wait for their transfer to Idaho this spring. It was fun to have a "retro" tree with just the child friendly ornaments and the old bubble lights like Craig had on his tree when he was a child. I must say, there is something to be said for keeping things simple. Although, can you ever really have enough Christmas decorations? I'm pretty sure not.

When I was a little girl, I loved arranging the simple nativity my grandmother kept on a bookshelf in her hallway. I would arrange it one way and then at some point Vicky, my older cousin by 4 days, would arrange it her way. We would go back and forth all evening during our family Christmas party. I now keep that special nativity in my hutch all year long. I love my Precious Moments nativity, but since it's porcelain, I couldn't let my kids play with it. When I shared that with a friend, she told me to go to Woolworths and get the nativity pieces sold separately. Back in those days (the 1980's) they had metal basket/bins filled with individual pieces. So each year I bought a few pieces and since they were plastic I kept it down low for my kids to play with and rearrange to their hearts content. It's not the cutest set, but it is my treasure. Back in the day they would play with it along side their fisher-price toys. Imagine my joy when fisher-price started making a darling nativity of their own (fisher-pricestore.com)!

Somehow, I started collecting nativities and friends started giving them to me. I only put out a few this year, in keeping with my child friendly theme. With 5 busy little grandhchildren under the age of 4, I didn't want to worry about things breaking or having to get after the grandkids. Although I missed some of my favorite decorations, it was a treat to focus on the simpler, sweeter aspects of the holiday this year.
I love Jim Shore's Heartwood Creek designs. They're a perfect combination of two of my very most favorite things: quilts and nativities. I got this sweet one [above] on sale after Christmas last year. I love it's title - "The Journey That Changed the World". I love the original nativity [below] as well. Each piece has part of the nativity story carved into the clothing. It was so exciting when the extra set came out with a drummer boy, camel and palm tree.


My friend Ruth gave me the original set of the Willow Tree nativity, and since then, friends and family member have completed it for me. I especially love The 3 Trees, that I got in Texas when Kaylee was born.


I never get tired of the wooden nativity made by my friend, Joni Robinson.My sister, Dana made the cute garland.



Ella Wride was our RS President when we first moved to Moreno Valley in 1980. At that time, she was in her late 60's and she took such good care of all of us young mom's. One Christmas back then, Ella made this NOEL magnet set for us and gave it to us with a batch of rocky road fudge that her husband, George, made. They were such dear people and it makes me smile and think of them when I put this up on my frig each year. It is simple felt and pom-poms, cut with pinking shears, but it is one of my treasures.


Thanks for letting me ramble on about a few of my favorite things.

THE PERFECT PRESENT

We have the 5 greatest kids. They make the holidays so much fun for us. This year, they gave Craig and I a combined gift. Neither one of us had a clue what it could be, and they were all very stealth about it (and delighted to have a big secret). We love basketball, and one of our guilty pleasures is having the NBA League Pass so we can watch all the games we want. Especially nice when there is zero to watch on TV (how much longer until Chuck is back?) It has been years since we've been to a game, and I've missed seeing my beloved Utah Jazz in real life. So, our perfect present was tickets to a Jazz-Laker game on January 2. It was such a fun surprise and such a treat! The seats were amazing --- row 20 across from the visitors bench. I wore my "diamond" jazz pin and blue and navy striped shirt in Jazz colors. I was a little uncomfortable being surrounded by Laker lovers. It was fun to go to the Staples Center and see how that area has been completely transformed. When you get off the freeway the street is lined with purple lighted trees, it was so pretty. Sadly, my team lost, but they came within 3 points and gave the Lakers a run for their money at the second half. It was interesting to see the match ups in person and up close. You don't realize how tall or strong some of the players are. The Lakers are so long and so strong. Even I can admit that! The next day we watched the taped game on TV and it was fun to see the contrast from television to the real thing. The real thing is such a blast. We are so spoiled now! Thanks Ben&Jamie, Mark&Rebecca, Greg&Melissa, Nick&Renee and Joshie for such an awesome Christms gift. You are the most wonderful children in the whole world!!!!!

OUR MERRY CHRISTMAS

It has been a fun holiday season for us having all the kids home for a week at Thanksgiving and having Josh home along with Mark and Rebecca's family here to liven things up for Christmas. I did not take very many pictures this year, shame on me. And of the ones I did take, they are kind of dark and not the best, but maybe you can get the drift.

After having a fake tree for 4 years, we got a real tree and it was so pretty it looked fake! We even got the popcorn and cranberry garland done this year, so I was a happy camper. That should have been our clue. About 10 days before Christmas it started to dry out and on Christmas Eve it was crunchy and all the branches pointed down. So sad for such a pretty tree! We took it down the day after Christmas instead of enjoying it through New Years. It always makes the house so empty when the tree comes down. Anyway, back to Christmas---

On Christmas Eve we read the Christmas story from the scriptures and Paige used the Fisher-Price Nativity (or, "little lord 'tivity" as she calls it) to illustrate it while Mark read. It was pretty cute. The girls and Uncle Josh got to open that one gift on Christmas Eve and it was matching pj's! Josh's were so big he said he could fit both Paige and Claire in them and still have room, so of course he did! You had to be there, but it was pretty funny. We watched "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever". Paige was especially intrigued how the Herdman's blew up a shed in the beginning of the movie. For the rest of the show Paige asked "are they going to blow this one up?" whenever they showed a new building! Hopefully we didn't traumatize her too much, because I love that movie.

On Christmas morning, Craig and I were the first ones up, so for the first time ever I took my time and got ready and it was a fun relaxing morning. After opening presents and having orange rolls for breakfast, the Bryant's were off to Grammy's for another round of Christmas morning. That afternoon, Nick & Renee and the Gargalis family joined us, along with the Bryant's for Christmas dinner and more present opening.

We had such a fun day, but I think the time has come to defer to the kids so they can stay home and play with their presents and not have to travel hither and yon with tired little ones. It's our turn to be the traveling grandparents! I am a firm believer that we can celebrate any day in December we want, because the important thing is just being together. Eventually I want to have special Christmas party and spendover for the grandkids (inspiration from Pres & Sister Hinckley and Rayma Leach) but that might have to wait a few more years. It will be interesting to see what the future brings with our holiday celebrations, with 3 of our 5 kids moving out of state this year. . .