the power of a child

on thursday we were very lucky to have dieter and kate come by for a visit with their 3 week old baby girl, zoe. i held her in my arms for an hour and loved every second. you so easily forget what it feels like to hold a newborn when you have a 25lb wild man to chase after and carry. zoe is beautiful and so so sweet. see for yourself:

after the wagner's visited bux and i headed out to meet jenn and wynn in belmont for dinner. bob was able to join us too and we had a great dinner at the old stone steakhouse. even though these pictures don't make it seem like the kids enjoyed each other's company, they really did. wynnie is saying "buxton" all the time and it's too cute. she even says "kistin" and you know i love that. the best was when buxton hand fed wynnie some of his dinner and she opened wide and loved his attention.

i was trying to get a cut pic with a fun old yellow chair but instead they turned out kind of funny.

here wynn is trying to discreetly eat her raisins so buxton doesn't try to take them. lucky for her bux is busy watching some guy with a blower.

and here buxton is planning his move for either putting his arm around her or trying to steal the raisins. wynnie just wants to be in her own chair.

friday was a big day because my grandma was flown in from florida for medical treatment, since the rehab center she had been in for a month, after 2 weeks in ICU, was literally about to kill her. i have no idea what those "doctors" were doing there but it was anything but taking care of my grandma. grandma is blessed to have a younger brother with access to private jets, and even more blessed that he would do anything to help her, so mom, grandma, and grandma's husband, jimmy, hopped on a 16 passenger jet on friday after only making plans to leave FL 2 days prior. grandma was admitted to CMC by friday night and already feeling better. when i saw her when i met them at the plane i was shocked and saddened. but today was a different story and i think she will definitely improve enough to go home and have more time living her 91 year old life socializing with friends, listening to jimmy talk about his golf game (he is REALLY good, and close to 90), and enjoying cocktail hour. well we hope cocktail hour gets enjoyed less and less but i'm not putting $ on it.

today when i visited the hospital i was able to take buxton. he was asleep as we walked in since his swimming lesson totally wore him out today (this is b/c he was a rockstar jumping off the side to me and loving every second) and grandma was asleep too. but after they both woke up and figured out what was going on my grandma was overjoyed to have buxton sitting there with her, eating lunch together (he was eating her grapes) and just smiling at each other. i don't think she has smiled like that in 2 months.

great grandparents are a rare gift. you are lucky if you met yours and even luckier if they lived long enough for you to remember. and one of the best things about them is that just being in the presence of their great grandchild is enough to make their day, even their week. there is so much beauty in being able to cherish what really matters in life. even when laying in a hospital bed, unable to walk and barely eating, i can learn a lot from my dear 91 year old grandma.

i've only lost 1 biological grandparent so far, but i have a few close friends that have had to experience this recently. these losses have helped me to realize the importance of treasuring the time we have now, which i know we should do with everyone in our life, but with older people the end is a little more guaranteed. grandma betty, grandma rose and mama b were deeply loved by their grandchildren and even got to meet their great grandchildren (well not the one in julie's belly....boo), and i imagine that the treasures they took with them to heaven because of this were pretty impressive.