Rails For The Baby!

After many weeks of hard work Andy has completed the remodeling of the stairs. If you recall the stairs were carpeted and have never had railings. No railing on the staircase is not very safe! We have been wanting to redo the stairs since we moved in but there have been so many projects that it kept getting pushed to the back burner.

When we learned that Tracy and Alan were expecting a baby the stair project suddenly went to the forefront of the honey-do list! I can't express enough how talented Andy is! It seems that if it is done with wood, he can do it! This was a much bigger project than it appears and took weeks to complete since Andy can't work at the pace he use to.

Sir Winston just being a cat...with no cares.

Under construction:
Andy replaced all the stair treads. He cut and routered the new ones.


We decided to paint the stairs. We have laminate on the floor in the living room and thought that if we put real wood on the stairs it would clash up against the laminate. We didn't want carpet because it is so hard to vacuum. Since our home is casual we thought the painted stairs would work well.

Abby didn't know what to think about all the construction. I'm sure she is glad it is all over. I know Andy and I are!

Thanks Honey! You're the bomb! :-)

Cloth Diapers Fuzzi Bunz, Hemp & Bamboo

Wow, has diapering changed since my kids were in diapers! I remember bringing Tracy home from the hospital in 1972. The hospital gave me a sample pack of Pampers. That was great or so I thought. The first ones you had to pin with diaper pins, they were flat with pleats. Everytime she peed it just ran out the leg! Next, they improved them and put tabs on them, but the tabs had paper that you had to peel off and it was a choking hazard! So, another improvement was to have the tabs that folded over on themselves. They still were ineffective. So, all in all in the year 1973, cloth diapers were the only way to go. Not to mention that I could not have afforded them even if they had of worked good!

Tracy without her diaper!

I used the long Curity birdseye diapers. It became quite an art to learn to fold them to fit Tracy as she grew. I was very good! I loved to wash the diapers and hang them on the line to dry. They were always so white and something about it made me proud. I used diaper pins and never stuck her but I did stick myself a couple of times. The only thing of course about cloth diapers is the pooh. Rinsing in the toliet is really not fun, but I see now they make a sprayer to go on the water line to assist in the rinsing.

Tracy has decided to use cloth diapers on her baby girl. I'm very proud of her for making that decision! In researching diapers we have found that there are a wide varitity. There are prefolds, all in ones (AIO), pocket diapers, hemp, bamboo, cotton, fleece....the choices just go on and on. This is the one Tracy has decided to use.



I can hardly wait until baby gets here. Tracy, you have to share! I've been shopping and shopping! So far we have a crib, mattress, swing, play pen, diapers, some bottles, and lots of clothes. I'm still working on her baby quilt. I'm about 3/4 of the way done. Maybe I will finish this weekend. I guess I need a cattle prod!

My Girls (& Guys)

Andy, Abby (doggy) and I set out for Austin, TX last Saturday at 4AM. Abby had a bath on Wednesday and was nice & clean for the long ride. However, she either developed a urine infection or was going into heat (even though she has been spaded) and stunk the car up something terrible. I had to stop and get baby wipes! Tracy had a few antibiotics and that seemed to help. Now that we are home, I do believe it was the start of her heat cycle. Jack & big ole Roscoe down the roads are going nuts! Other than that the ride out was uneventful.

I had already been warned about rubbing Tracy's tummy and I was planning to refrain, but when I saw her little tummy pooching out I could not contain myself! Pregnant bellies are so sweet to rub! She looks good. It is just heart warming to see her & Alan preparing to be a mommie & daddy!

The ultrasound was so neat. We were all amazed to see how formed she is to be so young. I'm thrilled she is a girl...of course, I'm sure if it was a boy I'd be writing that I was thrilled it was a boy!

We did alot of shopping...I think we shopped everyday except maybe Friday when we sewed. Well, Tracy sewed, I was the consultant. See my "I'll always be Grandma's sweetie" outfit. Tracy is making her a quilt, crib skirt, valance & etc for her room. Lots of work to be done to get ready for their little sweetheart.

I saw Dusty a couple of times while I was there. He came and spent Sunday afternoon with us. Alan snuck in the picture. He wanted a hug too! Tracy & I drug Dusty shopping with us too! I know he was thrilled but he was a good sport about it. I think he is excited about being an Uncle.

Speaking of lots of work to be done.....What do you see that is wrong with these two pictures? In case you don't know the answer......Me washing dishes while everyone is WATCHing me!

We got back home last night after 1050 miles. Most of which were in the rain. At least Abby didn't smell bad on the way home!

I had a great time on my visit and can't hardly wait to see them again in August! I am blessed!

The Quilt

I've decided to make my grandbaby a quilt. I love quilts but do not have any real experience with them. The internet is a wonderful resource. I've been looking and looking at different EASY quilts I might could make. Looking at youtube I discovered with a special pressure foot you can machine quilt on a regular sewing machine. Can you believe my sewing machine is older than Tracy? I went to the Singer store to get the foot and they had quilts all over the store. It's gets even better! They are teaching the easiest quilt class this Saturday, so I signed up for the $40 class! Today, I went and picked out my fabric. It is gender neutral in baby pastels. Very sweet. Here is a sample picture of a baby girl rag quilt. I can't wait to get started!

I'm going to be a Grandmother!

I have a web cam at home that hasn't been hooked up in the past year. So Tracy has been nagging me to hook the camera up. A couple of weeks ago I told Kelly maybe Tracy wanted me to hook it up again because she was pregnant and wanted to see my face when she told me. Kelly blew me off and said I always thought Tracy was scheming so she could tell me. Anyway, I still had my "feeling" about it. So, I finally got it hooked up. Tracy & I chatted on it for a week or two and nothing...so I thought Kelly was right.

Wednesday afternoon I happened to be on the computer and Tracy came on the webcam. She is like "where's Andy". He was in the chair behind me, so I say to Tracy "Where's Alan?" Then Alan pops up from behind her like he was hiding. Weird but I just told her our men couldn't get far from either of us. haha.

Then she tells me that she put alittle video together of her & Alan. She says it kindof like the sweet one Angie made for her Daddy. Oh that's nice I'm thinking. So, I start watching the video and am thinking how sweet it is and then BAM! First I was in shock, then tears, then it was April Fools day. No, she wouldn't do that! Well, to say the least I am thrilled!

When I got off the computer I was still so excited I went straight to the mall to do what grandmothers do.....SHOP!

Blog a Month

One thing I've learned since blogging is that I am more boring than I realized! So, I'll just write and see where my thoughts take me.

As you know by now our country is in a recession. Many of you young mothers may have to scale back on your budgets. Your children can & will use their imaginations to entertain themselves should you decide to cut into the toy budget. This makes me think of the time Dusty was bored (& evidently not well supervised) when he was about 5 or 6. He had a geomatt (4 inch foam mattress) on the floor in the living room. Tracy came in from school and there he was with the geomatt soaking wet with water he had poured on it and he had the Dawn dishwashing liquid soaping it down to make it slippery! What fun...a slip & slide right in your own living room! Now, not every kid has that! Tracy made a beeline to wake his dad! I missed all the fun that day as I was at work. I wished someone had a grabbed the camera.

Then there was the time I was going save money buy taking Tracy & Dusty's "portrait". Tracy was 8 and Dusty was an baby. I put a sheet over the console TV and had Tracy and Dusty positioned just right. So what could go wrong with that lovely picture? Yep Dusty feel off the back of the TV! Yep, just spend the money and go to Olan Mills.

Well, I did take Tracy to the photographer when she was a baby. The photographer couldn't get her to smile. He was doing all his little tricks and nothing was working. So he put this goofy hat on her and gave her this big ball. She loved that! She wouldn't give the ball back. But at least we got that sweet smile!

Where has the time gone? Blink and your kids are grown!

I can breathe!

I went to see Dr. Jerles this morning. He took the stints out of my nose and wahlah, I can breathe! What a difference. I am so glad that Tracy nagged me into getting this surgery done!

Andy had been referred to see the ENT doctor also for his hoarse voice. He put a scope down his nose to look at his throat and voical cords. It was very irritated and red. He said he has bad reflux of acid and it has his throat irritated. Andy didn't even know he had reflux! He put him on Prevacid twice daily. We have to elevate the head of the bed 6 inches and make changes in the old diet. One hard change is that coffee is bad for reflux. We love our coffee! Back to the heathlier eating.

I talked to Mom just a bit ago and she is not feeling well. She is congested and coughing quite a bit. She also thinks she has a UTI but is drinking "cranberry juice".

Well enough about health concerns. Later.