Category: Amanda

And…here we go!

1. For the first time I saw Savannah smile at me!

2. Becoming a Grandmother is one of my best memories of the summer so far.

3. My recipe for Sauer Braten is one of my favorites because it makes me think of my own Grandmother.

4. I look forward to watching my daughter with her own daughter for years to come.

5. It starts with a smile and then you are truly, deeply, in love.

6. Allergies make it impossible for me to enjoy candles. So I have no fragrance I enjoy most in a candle.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to Staying cool with Hubby and the doggies, tomorrow my plans include staying cool and trying to keep the garden hydrated and Sunday, I want to read the newspaper, watch a movie or two and once again, stay cool!

Thursday night we went out to a great restaurant with Mandy, Matt & Savannah, called “The Homestead”. Great food, and rustic, New Hampshire decor. A great place to cool off, and unwind after a long hot day.

Savannah slept the entire time and didn’t make a peep! What a good baby. Mel and I shared a lobster roll and an order of asparagus. I wanted to order a “bad” meal (meaning non-Weight Watchers”), but I kept talking to myself telling my somewhat chubbier self, to knock it off and eat the way I should! Best of all, I did!

After dinner, Mel and I went back to our hotel, and climbed into our freshly made, delishly soft beds, with creamy white sheets! We watched a cooking show I think it was called “Chopped” where three cooks are given various things and must create a meal. It was quite interesting.

At 10 we shut down the TV and Mel fell asleep almost instantly. I, however, was bouncing off of walls! What could be wrong with me? Then it hit me. Hot day, two large iced latte’s and two regular iced teas. I was like a kid high on candy, only my problem was the caffeine!

In the morning Mel admonished me for my snoring. I did not know that I snored. Oh well,

We dressed and went down to have the hotel supplied breakfast. What a nice, wide variety of foods! We ate what we wanted and then about that time, Mandy called to let me know that they were up and to come on over.

This is what greeted us when we got there.

While Mandy took a quick shower, Mel and I took a gazillion pictures.

I was amazed that Savannah was so patient with us.

Here she is with her Mommy and me. So very proud of my daughter.

All too soon on Friday afternoon, it was time to go home for both Mel and me! So sad to say good bye to Mandy and Savannah. Hopefully, I’ll get back again very soon!

Usually I do Friday Fill-Ins, but my cousin in away and well, so am I. I’m visiting Mandy and Savannah and Matt and I was lucky enough to steal away my sister to have up here too. What a great time we have been having!

This is my sister Melodie, holding Savannah. She has not had the opportunity to spend time with her, so this was a real treat!

Here is Savannah with her Mommy! What a much loved child she is! Mandy really is a great Mom, and I am so proud of her!

She is doing great, is happy and healthy and we all feel so blessed. I promise there will be pictures of me with Savannah, but right now they are in Melodie’s camera! So for now I will say, more to come…

I’m skipping the Wednesday Hodgepodge this week, so I can tell you all about my visit with Mandy and Savannah Rose. It’s amazing how a baby changes so quickly. She is almost two weeks old and already she is more alert and interested in things around her.

I arrived early, as Mandy told me her best time of day was mid morning. She was wide awake, looking all around, and checking out the world.

Her eyes are a very light blue and her hair is auburn color, with beautiful highlights. I’m hoping for the blue eyes. Her Daddy has them and I think like her Daddy she would be so pretty with sparkling blue eyes!

I spent time taking pictures so Mandy could shower and dress. Did I mind? No way! What a thrill to have my granddaughter to cuddle and take pictures of!

Mandy took this picture of Savannah and me. I love it. At that moment it felt so right holding her tiny body!

We decided to go have lunch at Mandy’s favorite restaurant, as it was a really warm, sunny day. We dressed Savannah up in a dress that I’d worn as a baby! It was a little big on her, but she didn’t seem to mind!

I had trouble figuring out the car seat. Those buckles are amazingly difficult to open!

Mandy gave her a bottle as we sat at the restaurant. What a perfect day.

After her bottle I noticed her lips held the last drops of milk from her bottle.

And lastly, lest any of us forget, the tiny feet of this sweet baby. So small, so perfect!

It was a wonderful day and I really enjoyed sharing the time with Mandy. You see, she is a mother now, and I think that in some ways we can understand each other in ways we didn’t before.

I love you, Mandy & Savannah!!!

When you are reading this, I will be either on my way, or down with Mandy and Savannah Rose. Oh yeah, there is something about being a Grandma that makes you long for a visit when you can snuggle the baby, and even change a diaper or two! Or just look at her perfect little face!

It’s funny, but I used to hear people talk about being a Grandma, and this overwhelming love for their grand-kids, and I never truly knew what it was like. Then their was Savannah Rose. l remember when Mandy was pregnant and I realized I already loved that baby inside her, and then I saw this perfect baby and my heart melted and I was hers!

How does this happen? How does seeing your grandchild born and grown alter your life like nothing else ever could?

I’m not sure, but I think that God must have a hand in it. For nothing this pure and this good could come from any place else!

More pictures tomorrow!

1. I never thought anything could possibly come close to being as amazing as having my own children, until, I saw my daughter with her daughter!
2. Amanda is a natural mother. Watching her with Savannah, warms my heart.
3. I wish she could have had a regular birth, because the c-section has taken a lot out of her.
4. However, I have to say, she hardly ever complains!
5. It was so hard to leave and come home.
6. But my doggies and Hubby were so happy to see me.
7. I spent the first day home trying to catch up with laundry and cleaning.
8. I’m still hopelessly behind!
9. Lost 1 and a half pounds at Weight Watchers. Finally getting back on track!
10. I had to replant some cucumbers and tomatoes out in the garden, as the little chipmunks have eaten almost all of my plants!
11. I may have to get more cucumber plants.
12. I did get more Basil and planted that.
13. So far, the garden is doing really badly, but the patio potted plants are doing great!

1. How many students were in your high school graduating class? Did you know most, if not all of them?

Two hundred something and yes, I knew almost all. Not on a really personal level, but I knew names and faces.

2. What was the last thing you photographed?

My granddaughter, Savannah Rose and her Mom, my daughter, Amanda!

3. Pickles-love ’em or loathe ’em? If its love what’s something you eat that needs a pickle?

Like ’em. I do like a nice kosher dill, but I am not a big pickle person. This is strange because I make pickles!

4. What’s a stereotype you seem to perpetuate without meaning to?

Not really sure. If I was blond, then it would be the dumb blond thing, but honestly, I can’t think of anything.

5. Ever been horse back riding? If so is it something you enjoy? If not, do you have any interest? Did you watch the Kentucky Derby? Will you be watching the last leg of the Triple Crown this weekend?

I love to watch the races and I have been riding, back when I was a child. I’ve always loved horses!

6. What’s your favorite ‘wedding’ movie?

“27 Dresses”! I loved that. I thought it was very funny. “Bridesmaids” was funny too, but a little too dark for me.

7. What is one ‘tourist attraction’ in the USA that you’d like to see in person?

Waikiki Beach, Oahu, Hawaii. I am fortunate enough to have visited many other of the USA’s tourist attractions! But look forward to this…Someday!

8. Insert your own random thought here.

This has been such a wonderful week for me. Watching my daughter become a mother was absolutely the best thing ever. I remember the day she was born, and it doesn’t seem so long ago. Now here she is, a new mother, herself. How wonderful this is! I was looking at pictures and I noticed that Mandy and her daughter look very much alike. It just made me smile. What do you think?

Mandy and me on the left and Miss Savannah Rose on the right.

Our host is Gattina. Come join us and tell us what YOU did this past weekend! After all, you never know when you will need an alibi!

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The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even for ever more.

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My weekend was full with a wide variety of things both marvelously happy and heartbreakingly sad.

With the birth of dearest Savannah, our world is now full of a sweet bright light! She is a gentle soul, a good sleeper, and the apple of her parent’s eyes, as well as her grandparent’s! Mandy is a natural mother and so good and calm with the baby. Matt is a good Papa Bear and very protective. I think the most heart warming thing was watching Mandy’s grandmother hold her only great-grandchild in her arms! That was true beauty!

Everyone is so happy to see her that we have banded together to fill her world with love! It’s a wonderful thing!

But just as our Savannah entered the world, our friends called to let us know that their 48 year old daughter has died from ovarian cancer. A wonderful young woman, with two small children, and a church filled with loving family and friends to say farewell.

I saw the face of her mother, my friend, and my heart broke for her. Her father, also looked terribly stricken as he tried to keep the family together, and my heart ached for him as well.

You see, this week and weekend was the best of times and some quite sad times too.