The joys of being a grandmom

Grandmother is the best job in the world. My first grandchild came to our family with my son in law when he married my daughter. In 2002 came Rachel in February and her cousin Katie in August. The thing is Kate was to be born in OCTOBER 2002! However, along she came in August, all two pounds 3 oz of her. She is our little miracle! She is fine as frogs hair and cute as a button, but boy it was scary for awhile. The NICUs (neonatal intensive care units) are amazing and people who care for these babies are heros. As scary as it was it was also a very special time for me. I had to drive 12 hours to get to NC from Harleysville. My 80 year old mother-in-law didn't want me to go alone so whe rode the whole way with me. She was a lovely woman and her calmness so helped Heather, Katie's mom. She and I stayed 3 days at Heather and Ken's home and Ken at a Ronald McDonald house. It was a two hour ride from their home in Jacksonville NC to Wilmington NC where they were. We had never been completely alone in each others company and it was a time I remember fondly. She was a lovely woman. This isn't to say we always have a perfect relationship; no relationship is perfect, but as a mother-in-law she was top drawer.

The reason I am getting so sentimental, something in which I usually don't indulge, it is because Katie's mom is getting ready to have her second little girl on Monday (she has to have c - sections) and I will be going down this weekend to be around when the new baby comes. This time Heather had a full nine months to carry the baby.

A sort of funny thing about the 12 hours trip down and back and the long trip each day. I did fine on the way down, and on the trips to and from the hospital, but on the way home I just kept getting sleepy while I drove and had to pull over to take little naps (mother had to be scared but she never let on), and I still cannot drive any long distances w/o having to stop and rest. Crazy right.