Great-Grandma, Great Pumpkins, and a Vibrating Chicken

Pooped Pumpkin

We had a very special visitor this weekend.  Great-Grandma flew all the way from New Jersey to meet our little Sarah Beth in person.  It was such a wonderful moment to have 4 generations of women all together on one couch soaking in the joy that is our baby.

Great-Grandma is one impressive lady.  Dealing with Newark Airport at any age is a major headache, but it's a really big ordeal for Great-Grandma.  We're so thankful that made the trip.  One should never reveal a woman's age, but I will say that she is over 85 and has more energy that anyone even half her age.  She bought Sarah Beth a play gym and got down on the floor with her.  Are you kidding me?  She also looks great.  I mean hair done always put together in a nice coordinating outfit kind of great.  I hope I inherited some of her spunk and style. 

Pretty Ladies!

As I mentioned, Great Grandma got a little jungle play gym whoosywhatsit for SB.  This thing is crazy -  a colorful play mat to lay on while gazing above at a crisscross of dangling animals, mirrors, music and lights.  It's like a baby disco.  Wow.  A little overstimulating for me but SB really likes it.  She played for over 20 minutes before getting bored and that is like 7 hours in baby time.

Check this out

Grandma brought her a new toy too.  A yellow chicken that has a clear plastic bubble in it's belly with confetti in it that vibrates when you pull the string.  Who comes up with this stuff anyway?  What are they smoking to arrive at "Vibrating-Chicken-Confetti-Belly Toy" idea?  Whoever they are, I would like to thank them because Sarah Beth loves that dang chicken.  Who knew?

Baby and Chicken

We had a really nice visit with the Grandmas.  They oohed and aaaahed over our munchkin as only Grandmas can.  We started talking about Great-Grandma's father (that would be Great-Great Grandpa) and how he came over to this country from Ireland by himself when he was only 10 to live with relatives after his parents died.  Went through Ellis Island and everything.  My dad's father Raymond had a similar story of being passed to relatives when his mother died.  His father turned 2 of the 4 brothers over to family in Massachusetts and then took the other two, Raymond and Jimmy, on the train to drop them off with diffferent relatives in NJ. They missed the stop where Raymie was supposed to end up, so the family that took Jimmy ended up raising both of them.  Fascinating to think about our roots and how mistakes like missed train stops changed the course of our lives and as a result we end up with wonderful creations like Sarah Beth here.  I have got to write down all the family stories I have heard over the years to pass down to our daughter.  The ones my Dad tells of being a police officer in a small NJ town in the fifties are laugh out loud funny.  A grittier version of Andy Griffith if you will.  If you ever run into my Dad, be sure to ask him about the time he and his partner jumped out of a moving police cruiser due to loose raccoon in the back, or the time he got shot during a traffic stop but then saw the perp later that same night and caught him.  Thankfully the guy had bad aim and my Dad had good reflexes or I would not be sitting here typing this blog.

Notice how I'm not talking about going back to w-o-r-k tomorrow?  I'm in denial, I think.  Surely divine intervention will strike and I will be able to sit at home with SB and watch the Sprout channel while we sing songs and make funny faces at each other.  If I believe hard enough it will happen...I believe I believe I believe.  Say it with me people.  If believing in fairies can bring Tinkerbell back to life than surely believing I can stay home forever will make this little tiny miracle occur. 

At any rate, work or no work we are planning a fun filled Saturday trip to see Aunt Weedie and Uncle Greggie in Pilot Mountain.  Yes we are traveling up to Mayberry territory to attend the Linkous Pumpkin Carving and Halloween Extravaganza. (Hmmm...2 references to Andy Griffith in the same post?  How weird.  I don't even like Andy Grifitth.  Or Matlock for that matter.)  Now this is a very important occasion because not only will it give us an opportunity to dress SB up in her monkey costume, but we will also be introducing her to Mr. Avery, her future husband.  Now Avery was born in February so he is much older and wiser than our little girl, but we think he will be charmed by her good looks and sparkling personality, and they will hit it off immediately.  We took baby to the pumpkin patch around the corner yesterday to pick out her very own pumpkin.  It was cold.  She's never experienced cold weather so I think she was a little unhappy about the whole experience.  Mom and Dad dressed her up in the warmest thing she has, a fleece pram with teddy bear ears.  Not sure how she felt about that either, but she looked awful cute and only a little annoyed, don't cha think?