Irish Blessings

Before I throw the corned beef in my crock pot,  I thought I'd share a little piece of my Irish heritage with you.

I never knew my maternal grandfather, William Harlan. 

He died when my mother was just 13 years old.

He was born in Vermont and was full blooded Irish. 

He came to California after enlisting in the Army.

This is where he met a beautiful, feisty young girl named Esther.

I absolutely love this picture.  It was taken before they married. 

They are obviously very happy and quite smitten with each other.

They became a family and had three children. 

The little girl sitting in my grandmothers lap is my mother.

She is my very first blessing.

As we say here in Texas

Happy Saint Patrick's Day Y'all!

Wishing You Many Blessings!

A New Star In Texas

It's already the middle of July and I haven't posted in over 2 weeks. I think the whirlwind month of June took a lot out of me. It's been nice to just settle in our nest and take a breather! The heat here has been almost unbearable. We pretty much stay inside and become couch potatoes waiting for the sun to go down. This is when Tom and I talk about how nice it would be to have a summer home by the beach in San Diego where the temps are much cooler. Someday!

We forgot all about the heat (kind of) this week when my brother Steve, sis-in-law Judy and her sis Linda brought Kelly and Harper to town. Mom and I were crying before they even got in the front door. This is the first time we have seen Harper and it was quite an emotional experience. She almost got squished with hugs!

We had a very nice visit and it was great to see everyone. I never had my camera with me but that wasn't a problem. I think there were more cameras than people. It was a paparazzi event all the time! Here are a few pics and lots of smiles.

Steve, Harper and me.Steve and Judy
Molly and Jackson

Chris and Carrie

Chris, Kelly and Harper

Kelly and Linda
Me and Tom

Harper and her Great Grandma
A new star came to Texas and shined a little light on our lives.

Welcome to Texas Harper! Ya'll come back now real soon, ya hear!

Blankees or Whatever Works

My favorite time to blog is early mornings when everyone else is still asleep. Unfortunately I have become more of a reader instead of a writer. It's hard to be creative when you have a zillion other things on your mind. One of the things that has kept me so occupied is going through drawers, closets, shelves, etc., in my house. I tackled a big linen closet the other day and after pulling out a dozen old comforters and blankets, I came across Jackson's 2 blankets (I'll explain that in a minute) that I had put away years ago. My discovery along with Kelly's quest for Harper to find a special soothy, inspired me to write about blankets also known as softies, blankees, or bankies in my house. Both my children used theirs forever!

Molly's was more like a sheet. You have to look closely to see it because it resembles her PJ's. It is tucked underneath her chin in this picture.

Because it was cloth it became thin and tore easily after many washings. I painstakingly sewed each rip back together trying to keep it in one piece. Yes I still have it.

Jackson's was a soft white one. He was much more attached to his than Molly was to hers. It went everywhere he went. You can see in this picture that it's already about worn out.

Heading to Arkansas for a family visit I realized about an hour down the road that we had left Jackson's blanket at home. When we stopped for breakfast we broke the news to him. I will never forget the look on his face or his response. He looked at us like we were aliens from outer space and his nervous laugh was all we needed to know he was thinking "you had better be kidding me". I told him not to worry. There is a Walmart across the street and we are going to go buy you "Travel Blankee". It actually worked, but the minute we got home he grabbed his old one and travel blankee was never used again. Thus the 2 blankets in the closet.

Molly gave hers up when she was about 6 and Jackson's eventually disintegrated into a couple of balls of fuzzy yarn.

They were a comfort to us all while they lasted.

A Whole Lot Of Hands For Harper

Since the evening of January 16th until the morning of February 5th there were 11,691 comments on Kelly's blog and over "one million one hundred thirty two thousand" hits on her website.

Harper

Heavenly Father

Helping Hands

Healing Hands

Hands in Prayer

Hallelujah

Home

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary Steve and Judy!

My brother and my sister-in-law's wedding anniversary is today. The amount of years they have been married is on my calendar at home but I can tell you it's been a looooong time. They will be celebrating together in Tulsa and what a better way than watching their first grandchild improving by the minute. I pray Harper wakes up and sees her grandparents for the first time on this special day. Love you both.

Waiting On Harper and Baby Memories

My niece Kelly is due to have her baby girl any time now. My family and I think half the nation has been following this miracle unfold since last spring. We are all anxiously awaiting Harper's debut and I find myself checking her blog and facebook many times during the day to see if it's time! I think my brother Steve (her Dad) has been pacing the floor for a couple of weeks now.

This brought back memories of Molly and Jackson's births. I had an uneventful pregnancy with Molly. Nausea lasted one week and I was able to work up until a week before she was born. About 3 weeks before I had her I played in a member guest golf tournament with Tom, Mom and Dad. My doctor told me I could play golf as long as I could see to putt!

The picture is an old Polaroid. Since you can't make out the faces, I'm the one with the biggest belly!

I was in labor with Molly a very l-o-n-g time. My contractions started on a Wednesday evening. Thursday morning I went and got Tom a tee time at the club and then to the grocery store. I remember having a contraction in the store, my face turning red with the pain. Through out the day I had them off and on. I didn't eat dinner thinking we would be heading to the hospital soon. I took a pad of paper, pen and a flashlight to bed and wrote down the times of my contractions waiting for them to get 10 minutes apart. (My signal to go to the hospital) I look back now and think what a DORK I was. Finally about 2 am Friday morning I hit the 10 minute "it's time to go". Molly wasn't born until 4 pm that Friday. The Dr. preparing for a C-Section after such a long labor, decided to try forceps first. Out she came and I remember him saying "I knew that was a stubborn little girl!"

Molly's First Hospital Picture

Jackson took much more work to get here. At three months I started to dilate. The Dr. did a cerclage (sewed my cervix shut) and put me on bed rest for the rest of my pregnancy. I also developed gestational diabetes. Being on a diet when your pregnant stinks! Molly was 5 and if it hadn't have been for my mother I don't know what I would have done. She came everyday during the week to help around the house. She cleaned, cooked, looked after Molly and ME! I am truly lucky to have such a loving mother. On Father's Day, six weeks before his due date I started leaking water. I was put in the hospital. During the second night I went into labor. Even though I knew I was going to have a C-Section (he was breach) they let me go through labor all night long. I found out later that labor stimulates the babies lungs to develop. He spent almost 2 weeks in the neonatal ICU. He weighed 4lbs 13 ounces.

They took his first picture when he was almost 2 weeks old.

Notice the blankets are the same in both pictures? 5 1/2 years in between the kids! The doll is 8 inches tall. Gives you a better perspective on Jackson's size!

I have two grown, beautiful, healthy children now. You never forget the details of their births, the miracle of creation and the pure JOY you feel hearing their first cries. Looking into your babies eyes for the first time you know your life will never be the same again. It will be so unimaginably better!

A Visit With Chris and Carrie

Yesterday afternoon we went to visit Chris and Carrie and see their new home. It's in a lovely area situated in East Dallas near White Rock Lake. I just loved their house. They have it decorated so cute, it's ready for a magazine shoot! I wish I had taken more pictures but I got caught up in visiting with them and the photos didn't happen.

Chris and Carrie

Mom, Tom and Molly

We decided to go to Matt's for Mexican food. I have never been there and was anxious to try it especially after my sister-in-law Judy told me how wonderful the Bob Armstrong Dip is. I have to tell you she was absolutely right. It's a mixture of cheese, ground beef, pico de gallo, guacamole, sour cream, and the most divine mixture you will ever put on a corn chip! All of us enjoyed our meals from the grilled tacos, enchiladas to Chris's chicken fried steak. I'm giving them 5 stars!

It was a gorgeous sunny day and actually hit 84 degrees. Mother Nature has had us on a roller coaster ride this winter. Today the high is supposed to be in the 40's and we have a chance for freezing precipitation tomorrow. As we say in Texas, "If you don't like the weather, wait a few minutes. It'll change."

Through The Years With My Dad

Words have just been too hard for me but I wanted to post something new on my Blog. I just have to get those shoes out of sight! Here are some pictures through the years. My brother who is wonderful with words, has several touching tributes to my Dad on his blog. Go to http://fbcflippin.blogspot.com/.

New Jersey

Seattle, Washington

Cuba

Hawaii

Wedding Reception in Plano

Even though we look like an add for a TV sitcom, I love this picture taken of our family at a reunion a few years back.

Dad's 86th Birthday - June 2, 2008