Meeting Caleb

We have just returned from our first visit with our new Grandson, Caleb. He is just the most precious, tiny and a bit of a breath that you have ever seen. Here are some initial pictures of us meeting him and a few family poses.
Daddy and Caleb met us at the door when we arrived on Thursday. (this is actually Saturday's picture but we were so excited, we didn't have the camera ready at first.).

Mimi's first visit with her new little bundle.

Gram, or Great-Busia - Americanized Polish saying for Grandmother - get's her turn with her 20th great grandchild.

Pipi's turn.

Uncle Kevin came on Saturday and had his first talking to Caleb.

He was paying attention when Uncle Greg held him for the first time.

First Family Photo with Mom and Dad

First Family Photo with his Mimi, Pipi and Uncles. We missed Aunt Kerry - wish she could have been there with us to meet Caleb too.

Gram in the photo this time.

Gram with her grandchildren. We were so very glad that she could spend three days with us getting to know Caleb.

The LaVoy men. Aren't they handsome!!!!

Mimi, Mom, Caleb, Dad, Pipi - what a wonderful looking family. More pictures to come in another posting on our blog. Hope you enjoyed them.

BTW - didn't I tell you he is ssssooooo handsome!!! :-)

Class at Andi's

Yesterday I went to my friend Andi's house to teach her sewing friends to make scrap bags for their sewing tables. Andi lives up the mountain just back from Hwy 26. When I got there, I could hear the rushing water and smell the pines. She took me out back and these are a couple of views from her back yard.
I could have stayed out there all day, just listening to the water flowing down the hill. A great place for reading a good book wrapped up in a quilt.

But the girls were going to be there soon so we had to prepare for them. Andi served us a wonderful lunch with corn beef, cole slaw, rolls, fruit and cream puffs. Yummy.

The gals - whom I cannot remember their names, even though there was a test - were eager to get started. Three were in one room busy putting together their scrap bags, enjoying the banter and fun of mixing their fabrics to get just what they needed.

The other five, were in the other room doing the same thing - laughing and having a great time. Most of them had Singer featherweight machines and it was so fun listening to that hum. There were no stitching or fabric police allowed and the only ripping out was when we had to open a seam to insert the strapping.

Andi's mom, Marion, joined us although she didn't participate in the class.

Here are the gals with their finished projects. As you can see, they have a great time.

Teacher (that be me :-)) had to have my pic taken with their scrap bags. What a great group of ladies who love life and enjoy each other each month. So glad to have met all of you. Thank you ladies for letting me join you, I had a wonderful day.

Caleb has arrived!!

As many of you know, our Grandson, Caleb Michael LaVoy, arrived ahead of schedule. This is a picture of Dad Nick; Mom Julie and a 30 minute old Caleb. Ahhh... he is so handsome!!
Caleb's arrival took everyone by surprise. He was due to enter into this world on or about May 2. Julie and Nick had been out to dinner when she felt something. After last week's braxton hicks contractions, they decided to go to the hospital to get checked out. Sure enough, her water had broken so they admitted her.

But he was not entering into this world quickly. He was obviously not quite as ready as he thought he should be. We think he stretched and "popped his bubble" with a hand, foot, elbow, finger????? Unsure but that didn't make any difference because it was a long night, long day and another long night until Caleb came into this world. 36 hours later, the exhausted parents and a sweet, little guy posed for this picture.

Caleb was born on Monday, April 5 at 5:38 am at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, Michigan. He weighted 5 lbs, 5 ozs and stretched out to 19 inches long. Because he was 4 weeks early, they had a NICU doctor check him out in the delivery room, Mom got to hold him and then he was whisked away to be thoroughly evaluated. His breathing was a little labored and his heart rate elevated, but not at all unusual for a little guy who is premature, so said the doctors. (full term is 37-41 weeks). He spent Monday in an incubator, with oxygen and some antibiotics running through him.

Meanwhile here in Oregon, we were impatiently waiting through Easter Vigil Mass to hear from MI. Then we wait all Sunday, checking with Greg (who was able to be there) for any and all updates. He said at one point "Mom, they are in a holding pattern. Things are moving along very slowly." Then another conversation was "Mrs. Chamberlain (Julie's Mom) just came back from checking on them and they are sleeping. How can they sleep through labor??"

We went to our friend's house for dinner and everyone got in on the excitement. We kept checking with Greg - now every two hours - this Mimi and Pipi were getting impatient. We returned home at 9 pm (12 am MI time) and let Greg know we were home and would have the phone by our bedside. He said he would call when he knew anything, he was at Nick & Julie's apartment resting. At 2:45 am (5:45 am MI time) we received a call saying "My phone is about to die but Caleb is here and screaming" . Then came the dial tone. Needless to say, we were ecstatic.

Nick then called us at 3:49 am to fill us in on all the news. He was so happy, Julie was fine, Caleb was good and they were all exhausted. One thing I did notice when talking to Julie for a brief few minutes, the smile and radiance of a new mom shown through her voice. I could just imagine how happy they were, how tired they felt and yet how in awe of what they had just gone through. They were now parents - WOW!!! A new experience in their lives. The Nick LaVoy household is now three.

So, Caleb is now about 36 hours old and is resting comfortably in the nursery. He is weaned off the oxygen although his breathing is still a little concern. He is on an iv of fluids and nutrition and still in the incubator. But, Mom and Dad are able to hold him more and he is getting stronger every day. Thank God for all of that.

So, our adventure begins as grandparents. We leave soon to visit our wee one and his parents. It has been an exciting time for us thus far. I hear many people say "you're lives will never be the same". I can almost imagine that and it has only been a few days. What the Lord has in store for us we may not know now, but I am sure that Caleb was brought into our lives to teach us something - probably patience for a start. Can't wait to find out. Can't wait to see him and hold him in my arms. Can't wait to hug Julie and express my love for her patience and all the work she has done so far. She is going to be a wonderful mother. Can't wait to see Nick, give him a big hug and share how proud of him we are. He is going to be a great dad. And Phil and I will be the best Pipi and Mimi we can be.

P.S. To my brother, John, Caleb is the most handsomest grandson in the world. :-)

Clamming Again!!!!!

I returned to Oregon on Tuesday the 23rd of March. Phil was out of clean t-shirts and I needed clean jeans so it was a good thing. After an afternoon of laundry, a great couple of nights rest, two days of quilting, we were off to clamming again. Phil is really hooked and I could rest at the beach.
Getting ready to get the clam guns out to hit the beach.

Actually, the reason we go is so that Bill and Becky have a partner to share the experience with. Bill and Phil go out into the water and Becky and I stay a little closer to dry land while clamming. It was ok, but the tide was not cooperating.

We did ok on Saturday's clam digging day. The waves were ok, the weather sunny but the clams were just stubborn and didn't show.

On Sunday evening, it was nasty - high waves, really windy and rain coming down in sheets. We only got 27 clams and two sand dollars between all four of us. But, these two pictures show the waves on Monday afternoon. We had set our clock to awaken early to hit the beach two hours before low tide at 6:30 am. The electricity was out and Phil woke up at 6:20 ... decision made to forget it as the wind was blowing, rain was coming down and the tide was at it's lowest at that time. We found out later that there really wasn't a low tide as the waves were rolling in, the wind relentless and clamming near impossible. Glad we stayed in and went back to sleep.

This sure was a pretty site at 2:30 pm but there wasn't much shore between us and the waves. Still had a great time though... always when at the beach. Thanks Bill and Becky for a fun clamming weekend.

Caught up in my blogging. Hope you enjoy visiting with us via the internet. See you soon. :-)

Visits with family and friends

While in Michigan I had a chance to visit with Greg and Caravaggio. He is settled into his apartment which is really nice. Here Carr decides that he needs to be fed and is trying to get Greg to give him some viddles.
His kitchen is small but just the right size for him and the cat.

This is part of his living room, looking toward stairs, closet and office. His bedroom is to the right of the office and the bathroom and laundry room are behind the wall at the right. Nicely planned.

He took me back to my Mom's for the rest of my visit with her in his new car, a 2010 Ford Fusion. He loves it - nice ride.

On Tuesday morning I went to the bowling alley to watch my Mom bowl. When she is done throwing her ball, she holds her head to make sure the ball stays on the alley.

She had a spare on this one but then I was told to put my camera away as her highest game was the first one when the camera was in the case. Oh well, she had a fun time anyway.

Here are her team mates.

After bowling we went to lunch at my sister, Ginny and brother-in-law Tom's house. Shell and Benjamin were there so we got to visit with them as well. Ben is a pretty happy baby, he was just laughing and talking away with all of us. He did put his hand in his mouth though as he is teething. Choking on his fingers was a new experience for him. What a funny kid.

He loves Gram. Although he wiggles alot, he was always good in her arms. What a sweet picture this makes.

Ginny and Shell had their machines out and were doing their last block before putting the quilt top together.

I missed sewing but had a fun time playing with Ben instead.

It was time for them to go home so Gram got a slobbery kiss goodbye from the little guy.

Wednesday I took off from my Mom's house and headed to Lansing to stay with Nick and Julie for a couple of evenings. I had the crib in the back of the vehicle and onward to Lansing I went. I stopped in South Lyon to visit a favorite shop, Lake Street Mercantile. They are a quilt store in an old bank with the sale fabric in the vault. They added a room for wool and one for just kits. A worthwhile stop for sure.

I then met up with my friend, JR, who shared some of her projects with me. This is a multi-block shawl that she is knitting.

Here is her latest finished quilt (except for border triangles and binding). A unique design and fun quilting on it. Of course, we stopped into the local quilt store and had a great time going through the fabric.

But I had to go to JoAnns to get a book for my friend back in OR so we had the sales clerk take a picture of us as memories of our day. Miss you, JR. Looking forward to seeing you again soon.

40 year anniversary

My sister, Mary Ann and her husband, Jerome, celebrated 40 years together at a Mass in St. Joseph's church and then a brunch at their son, Drew's house. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of all of them - the kids were having too much fun playing hosts and probably wouldn't have sat still anyway. But here is the brunch pictures anyway.
Drew, Mary Ann and John were able to pose for a great picture.

Jerome's Mom, Frances, and my Mom, Veronica, had lots to talk about.

John, Shelley & Lance; Drew, Becky, Garek and Cooper gave them a booklet deplicting their lives. What a great honor to them to share these memories.

I finished my Thimbleberries quilt and renamed it "Blaszak's Flower Garden" and gave it to them. My friend, Donna, did a wonderful job of quilting it for me.

They received a beautiful set of sheets from others there.

JT's creation was a yummy treat for all of us. Happy Anniversary, Mary Ann and Jerome. May God bless you with many more years together. Love you both. :-)

Chicago Visit

After my trip to MI for the shower and other things, I went to Chicago to visit Kevin, Kerry and the pups. It was a great four days with them, just resting and relaxing, having a fun time with the dogs.
Bill McGill and Patterson are enthralled by my camera case and the pillow I use on the airplane. Had to hide that so that it wouldn't split open from their thinking it was a toy to pull on.

Kerry and I went to a quilt store called The Needle Shop where she has a wonderful array of rolled fabric on her walls. Yes, I purchased a 1/2 yard of some neat orange fabric for my spring applique wallhanging. We also went to the knitting shop and bead&button store nearby before heading home.

While there the college basketball games were on and both Kevin and Kerry are in pools so we watched a number of games. Our constant companions on the couch were the dogs.

I woke up Saturday morning to snow. It snowed all day but didn't stick around as on Sunday the sun shown and although brisk, was a great day for a walk with the dogs.

Kevin bottled one of his home brews. I had to help - well actually, I was faking my helping as I "don't drive that tractor".

All done, waiting for the bottles to dry off so they can be put in the box and in the closet.

Kevin and Kerry went to work on Monday so it was just me and the dogs. After I vacuumed and took a shower, I came into the living room to find both dogs resting. Actually, that is all they did the whole day...until Kerry returned home. Then they went wild with getting their toys out and running around, excited to see them return home.

Kerry loves to knit and here she is working on a sweater with Patterson making sure all is ok.

Kevin and Bill are just hanging out while the basketball game progresses.

I had a wonderful visit with them. Thanks, Bill and Patterson, for taking care of me while in Chicago.