Nothing Like a Newborn!

Baby Dub

We were able to visit our granddaughter when she was just five days old. It's been a long time since we have been around a newborn, and Baby Dub (BD) is a tiny one at around 4 1/2 pounds. Other than the fact that she is small, she is perfect in our eyes. To see your child hold his child is something to behold! 

We stayed with the new family for a week, taking over cooking, dishes, and washing the never-ending round of nursing and bottle paraphernalia. While the baby is being breastfed, they have to supplement some with formula and additional breast milk to try to get BD up to at least five pounds. I was truly able to use the title "Chief Cook and Bottle Washer"!

While we were there we also did a newborn photo shoot, with BD laying on the crocheted quilt that was made for my son by his great-grandmother. We also took pictures of the three of them. I must have taken over 200 photos of this sweet baby girl. If we lived in the same town, she would be the most photographed baby ever - haha!

We are looking forward to seeing them again in a few weeks. It will be so special to spend BD's first Christmas with her.

Granddaughter is here!

Our granddaughter was born Monday evening! She is little, but mighty. As I'm not sure how much the kids want me to share, I'll just say that we are thrilled that everyone is healthy. We can't wait to get our hands on that baby!

My Mohs surgery to remove my latest two basal cells has been scheduled for December 1st. I pray that Dr. Mu will be able to get clear margins after the first cuts. When she did my nose three years ago, it took five tries before she finally got it all. Hopefully that will not be the case this time.

The Mount Holly Lantern Parade took place last month, and our community won First Place in the Group Category for the second year in a row. We are two for two now, and that puts a lot of pressure on us for next year's entry. The theme was Written in the Stars, so we decided to up-cycle our minions from last year. We added space helmets, rockets and stars, and created a girl minion. We weren't sure if the judges would approve of us reusing lanterns, but I think we made enough changes that they could tell the amount of work we put into them.

2022 Mount Holly Lantern Parade

The theme for next year's parade is Heroes and Villains. We are already brainstorming on what we might like to do. Due to the large number of children in the audience, it's important to pick something readily recognizable to them, I think. The minions were a huge crowd pleaser, so we need something to generate that kind of enthusiasm from the crowd. We just had a wrap up celebration party with our team of volunteers. I made sure the minions had one last hurrah by bringing minion cupcakes.

minion cupcakes

More Skin Cancer

The dermatology office called to say that both of the biopsies taken last week are basal cell carcinomas. These are my 15th and 16th skin cancers. Ugh! We do not have a family history of basal or squamous cell carcinomas, and I was not out in the sun more than any other kids growing up in the 60s and 70s. I always say I wear my Irish heritage proudly with the red cast in my hair and my freckles, but it stinks that my skin has to suffer for it.

Now I have to wait for the scheduling office to call and see when they can get me in. With our granddaughter making her big debut next week, it will take some planning to coordinate when I want to have the surgeries done. Since these are very slow growing cancers, it won't be a huge rush. Celebrating my first time as a grandma is going to take precedence for sure!

Virginia is Definitely for Lovers

We took a long weekend trip up to Springfield to see the kids recently. Our son and daughter-in-law wanted to have a last visit with us before the baby comes, which is going to end up being sooner than anyone expected. Due to gestational hypertension, Megan will be induced at 37 weeks. Apparently that is considered full term, and the goal is to get Baby Dub to the magical five pound weight. At that weight very few newborns have to spend time in the NICU.

We had a nice visit, and were able to go out to a nice restaurant to celebrate my birthday as well as the upcoming birth. While the kids finished up a few honey-do baby tasks, we visited a nearby park for a hike and opportunity to see some nice fall color.

Fall in Virginia

Before heading home on Tuesday, I was able to accompany the mom-to-be to her visit at the Maternal Fetal Medicine practice. It was really interesting for me to be able to see the non-stress test and the sonogram. What a thrill to be able to hear my grandbaby's heartbeat and watch her move on the screen. 

The next time we see them they will be parents. And we'll be elevated to grandparents!