Things Remembered: February 2012

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Tuesdays with MeMe

watching TV and studying

JB3 on his computer

Cooper watching JB3

experiment........they had to finish all the coke in the last bottle to be able to do the experiment....what a sacrifice for a science experiment!

Conversations in the MeMe Mobile

John Brady was telling me, as we were on our way to pick up the girls, that they were going on a trip. He mentioned that he might turn blue......HUH????? But I did not question him. We got the girls and were headed home and Emma started telling me about the trip their family was going to take....when John Brady piped up and said that the water at the hotel would turn blue. Emma......what???? John Brady......well, Mama said if we got in the water at Amelia Island that we would turn blue......so if I turn blue then the water in the tub will turn blue when I take a bath! SO....there you go!!

Monday, February 27, 2012

You Decide

Who does she look like? I think she looks like her brother except that she has hair.

Lawson and Lily coming home

Lawson and Lily at the same age

Courtney in the dress that Lily wore home

Brady and Courtney on the day she came home

Sunday, February 26, 2012

BUNCO BUNCO BUNCO

Yes, and 2 buncos won me all these prizes. I came home from Birmingham ,Thursday, just in time to zoom into the driveway for our bunco group night. We are a new group and I can tell we will be around for a while. We have so much fun! Our group just seems to click. Here is the funny.......I walked in with my prize for the month (Easter decoration) and put it down while admiring all the other pretty decorations brought by members. I made the comment that I wouldn't ever win.....I never win anything. NOW.....I am not complaining....I am just not lucky......but I would not say that I am unlucky...as I have said before I tend to lead a very boring life....I love my boring life....but that includes not winning! Well, maybe my luck is changing because I won.....yes, I won all these beautiful Easter decorations! I can't wait to start decorating for Easter......BUT.....as I said when I was kidding about not ever winning....I go for the FRIENDSHIP and FELLOWSHIP and we have plenty of that!

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Roundball

Berry Lady Wildcats and Coach Vic Herren

CONGRATULATIONS on a job well done!

Tuesday, I left Oak Mountain and headed to Wallace State Hanceville to see the Berry Lady Wildcats play in the State Regional Playoffs. It took something special to get me to leave my new granddaughter but you know us Lawsons......we love us some basketball and football! I miss those days. Of course, Josh is still very much involved in football but he is a little far away. He is probably glad.....John and I would be in the stands watching practice! I have soooo enjoyed watching these girls play. They played RA Hubbard in this last game. RA Hubbard won the state last year and did not lose any players. Berry actually starts a 8th grader.....and she is good.....watch out ...we will be around for a while! Anyway, back to me leaving Oak Mountain.....when Brady played basketball they did things different...you only came together for the final 4....Josh's bball team went to Hanceville 2 times and we have gone to Hanceville to watch the other basketball teams from Berry that have gone over the years.....but I have never made the trip from Birmingham. What an easy drive. The drive to Hanceville from Berry is like being on a roller coaster at times. I went straight up 65 and turned at the Blount exit which took me straight into Hanceville and to Wallace State. A very pretty drive. The girls lost.....and I still remember that feeling...it takes a week or so to be able to smile and say ...WE HAD A GREAT SEASON....so since it has only been 5 days I will say it for you! SO PROUD OF YOU. It has been fun watching you play and can't wait for next year!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

This Little Light of Mine

I'm gona let it shine

This little light of mine

I'm gona let it shine

Let it shine, all the time, let it shine

Last week was quite a week in the Lawson family. We celebrated the 11th birthday of our first Grandchild and celebrated the birth of a Grandchild. On February 10th I had my whole family together in one small hospital room and everybody had a smile on their face.The circle of life just keeps rolling and yet it is always new and exciting. Of course, we know that the circle of life keeps rolling and brings sad days and unhappy events but we all still want to be alive, to breathe in the sweet air, to laugh another day and feel like no one else could be as loved.

Last Saturday I was standing on the street trying to get pictures of my Grandchildren, that were participating in The Mercedes Kids Marathon, and JB3 ran past me with a big smile on his face. I ran behind him, on the sidewalk, to try and capture him as he crossed the finish line. As I turned the corner to the finish line the loud speakers were playing the song "This Little Light of Mine".....and it nearly brought me to my knees .....right there...right then!!! As the song played I stopped in my tracks and thanked the Lord for my many blessings and especially for the health and happiness of my Grandchildren. As I walked on I tried to make it look like my eyes were just watering from the cold wind.....but we know that wasn't true!

Thank you, Jesus for....John, Brady, Kim, Emma, Abby, John Brady, Courtney, Dave, Lawson, Lily, Josh and Meredith. May I never forget to be thankful and to let my light shine!

The things a four year old says

it may be the things MeMe says

I was changing Lily's diaper and Lawson was watching. Miss Lily Pie was not impressed with the diaper change...she was ready for her Mommy's Lily feeders! She eats much better if she is wide awake, so......we don't necessarily try to get her to quit crying if she gets upset during her, very quick, diaper change. Well, Lawson did not like it, one bit, that his baby was crying. I told him that it did not hurt a baby to cry just a little bit........that in fact, it was good for their lungs!

So, yesterday, when Courtney was changing Lily's diaper and Lily started crying.....Lawson looked at his Mom and said....."It's okay if she cries, Mom........it irritates her bones! How did he get irritates her bones from good for their lungs. I guess it could be me!

Lawson was laying in bed with me and Lily was between us. He was gently rubbing her cheek when he looked at me and said.....she is going to be a queen when she grows up. MeMe...really? Lawson....yes, but I won't live with her. MeMe...why? Lawson...exasperated with me...because she will live in a castle with a king.....and before MeMe could comment Lawson said.....and I will live in Florida...so there you go.....guess you better hang around me so we can all go to the castle and then run down to Florida for a while!!!!

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Lily's Birth

Wow.....how do you tell this story!

I think I will begin with how it was supposed to be.

We all made such plans. Dave, me, Ellen (Dave's Mom) and Kim Lawson were supposed to be in the room for the delivery. We all had made plans. Kim did not take appointments for pics for the first half of February, Kim, Courtney and I had made plans on how to keep the kids entertained while they were with the men in the waiting room. Dave brought their Wii and I brought our smallest flat screen, Kim was getting movies from Red Box, Pops iced down koolaid in an ice chest and I packed a blanket in case the waiting room was cold.....I even stuck the blow up mattress in the trunk in case we were there too late for the kids! We all had cameras. We were all ready and excited!

OH, the best laid plans of men

Here is how it really went....

you can read the post from the actual person in labor over at Courtney's blog http://www.longsatleggloft.blogspot.com/ and also see Kim's post about the baby at www.lawsonpartyoffive.blogspot.com

Courtney called me about 8 am and told me she thought this would be the day. She said her pains were light but consistent and she thought they would get harder as the day went on but that it would take all day. I packed the car, called John and told him if I was gone when he got home from work to just load up and come on to the hospital but I thought he could go ahead and work. He gets home around 12 or 1. John Brady had Grandparent's Day and I went on to it thinking that I would go on to Birmingham from there....I thought her pains would be getting harder and closer by then. Well, when I got back in the car after eating lunch with JB3 and called Courtney...guess what...the pains had not gotten any worse. She told me she had called the nurse at her Dr's office and she told her that it didn't sound like she would have the baby today and it might be 3 days to 2 weeks. I could tell that Courtney was disappointed and I suggested that she walk around the block. She thought that was a good idea. So, I headed back to Berry.....plenty of time to go back to Berry and get John so we could go together.....if she even went!!!

I called Courtney after I got back to Berry and she along with Law and Dave were walking around the block. She said her pains had slowed down and just maybe it wasn't going to be today. Josh was already on the road....he decided to come on. John showered and I went to the post office. As I pulled back up to the house my iPhone dinged. Dave said they were leaving for the hospital. I was excited...not worried...after all, her pains had almost quit just 2 hours before. but we were anxious to get there. You know we have to go through a lot of places where cell phones do not work....still wasn't worried...until I got a text from Kim asking where we were. Then I got a text from Dave (they were all coming through at once since we had been where we didn't have service). Read the texts in the pictures above and notice the time line. We had just got onto Corridor X and I was pushing John to go faster the whole time thinking....no way...no way can that baby be going to be born that quick and as we hit I-20 my stomach started getting that tight feeling that says we are not in control. I prayed a silent prayer for the safety of my baby girl and her baby girl and resigned myself to not being there. Then the text came....she was here. I really couldn't believe it...I cried...happy tears and told John to HURRY. As we pulled into the parking deck we were about the fifth car in line to go in so I jumped out and RAN. Some of you may know that I had surgery on my hip and leg about a year ago and I am still bothered with a limp.....Pops said when I jumped out and ran that he didn't see a limp anywhere!

I made it to the 3rd floor and began running down the hall...nobody said anything...I think there had been so much running going on because of her fast delivery that nobody noticed. I knocked and then ran into the room. I saw Courtney on the bed and it seemed tense......a nurse said to come to the bed that they could use my help. As I ran to the bed I glanced at the baby and I remember saying...oh, she has hair! They were having a hard time getting the placenta delivered and Courtney was in PAIN! I got at her head and started giving her ice chips. the first thing the nurse next to me said was that nobody could ever say that (at this point she asked her name) Courtney wasn't tough. She told me that she had the baby totally natural...there wasn't time for anything...not even a gown. Another nurse told me that she was in the room computer as Jane Doe and another nurse told me that when she checked her for dilation that she starting yelling for help! Courtney finally delivered the placenta, they put in an IV and gave her some pain medicine so they could stitch up a few tears inside. Then all the nurses started telling tales. One nurse said she say Lawson standing in the hall and knew that something wild was going on! Courtney told me that she asked Dave to take Lawson out...luckily Dave's Mom and Dad walked up almost immediately and Dave was able to be in the room for the delivery. No cameras were out.....no time for any of the things you think about during a delivery...but she was here safe and sound and we all made it soon after.

Kim showing Lawson his baby sister.

MeMe and Lily

And finally.....here is the rest of the story.....they weighed Lily in at 6 pounds and 12 ounces. The next morning the pediatrician came by and said that the scales must have been wrong when they weighed her. Of course, there was not any machines in the room when she started having the baby. Anyway, they had weighed her several times the next morning and she weighed 7 pounds and 2 ounces and the Dr. said that babies don't gain weight immediately.....they lose weight. So, Miss Lily weighed somewhere in the bottom of seven pounds but the official weight will remain 6-12. She weighed 6 pounds 14 ounces when she left the hospital.

Thank you God for the safe delivery of Lily and the health of my daughter!

2012 Mercedes Marathon

Downtown Birmingham is hopping during the Mercedes Marathon weekend and especially Saturday morning when they do the Mercedes Kids Marathon. My 3 oldest have participated in this for years. I look forward to it every year. Of course, I just stand on the sidelines and cheer them on....but it is fun to feel a part of something so GOOD!!!