Seasons.....

Spent most of today doing our "summer is over" thing in the yard.  A beautiful sunny day... warm enough that I shed my jacket within a few minutes. 

Looking south  - trees still have lots of leaves left!

Such a pretty day! 
Interesting that the one birch on the left and the one behind the weeping birch are still green!

Here is a "before" shot, taken on the walkway to our back door, the end of June.



Here is the "after" shot - four months later - as I load the cart on the right
with the frosted and dying plants from the containers.



Empty and ready to wait through the winter to be replanted.

Nice.

Cousins...

I LOVE these pictures....what fun times are ahead!

Gra-a-a-ndpa.... Let me play with her!

Look... I can pat her head!

Hmmm.... she is still pretty little .... I wonder when we can play?

Sweet sweet grandbaby has arrived!

Has been a rocky few weeks for me, and I am just the grandma! 

Daughter M's high risk pregnancy ended with her spending 2 1/2 weeks on bed rest in the hospital, battling high blood pressure and a number of health issues, all related to her pregnancy.  Docs were stymied more than once....not a comfortable feeling!

She was a rock star, and went into labor just shy of 37 weeks. Baby A was born healthy and much faster than expected, and with no anesthetic for mom, which was M's desire. 

We were on our way over to the west side, expecting the "several days" of labor that had been predicted.  What a SURPRISE to get a text message and picture - "Meet your granddaugher!"

Then the drama picked up, as mama lost a LOT of blood, and was hustled off to surgery for an hour and a half. 

The PROUD new daddy bonded with baby A, holding her skin-to-skin against his bare chest, and making phone calls to let family know what was happening. 



Brand new!



Little A is a doll.... big enough and healthy enough to not need any special care. 



One week old already!



Recovery continues to be difficult for mama... as the pre-pregnancy health concerns are lingering longer than expected.  Add in some hormones, and little sleep.....yikes. 

Eventually they willl look back on this time... and realize they survived.  Baby A will be bigger, smiling at them, and capturing their hearts even more.

I am one proud, happy grandma!