Fresh From Heaven

We welcomed a new little grandbaby to the Gale Family:

Mabel Sienna was born to Seth and Taylor

last Saturday morning.

She weighed 6 lb. 4 oz.

Mama Taylor had a short labor and delivery and the 

proud parents were holding their sweet daughter seven hours

after Taylor's water broke in the wee hours of Saturday morn--

So Precious! And look at that hair!

Mother and daughter

Aunt Siara stopped by to visit.

Here's a blurry, pixelated picture of Seth as a newborn--

just to make note of the hair similarity...

...it was cropped from this awesome picture of Seth being

welcomed by his older siblings. 

I have to wait a couple of weeks to welcome this newest little one in person--her early arrival caught us all a little off guard. I am dying to get her in my arms and start the Nana spoiling!

Another Vacation Highlight

During our week of Disney, I spent a fun day with our granddaughters chilling at the hotel.

I wanted to give their parents a day to play child-free.

We did the laundry and you know, riding in the elevator,

putting quarters in the washer and dryer and 

watching the clothes spin around

proved to be great fun!

I enjoyed the air conditioned comfort and the girls enjoyed

hotel furniture gymnastics.

We went down to the pool grill for lunch and enjoyed some

On Site

"DINNING"

(This made me a little crazy--you know how I am about grammar and spelling)

Technically, it was On Site Dinning when 

baby June wanted a drink of Norah's smoothie,

there was some very loud protesting...

And then Norah kindly shared with her by accidentally dumping it in her lap.

But, since we were just an elevator ride away from a bathtub,

not a problem!

After naptime and an afternoon snack, we met up with the rest of our gang for dinner. 

The next morning when Nicole got the girls up for another day of The Magic Kingdom,

 she told me they asked,

 "Can we stay here with Nana again? That was fun!"

So when it comes to entertainment, Nana's right up there with Disney.

Memorial Day

Gracious me! Where has the time gone?! I have an ongoing swirl of blog posts swimming in my head and then I realize I haven't actually sat down and written any of them. So in an attempt to update here, I checked my camera to see what I have been up to lately and this is what I found:

That's me with my awesome daughter-in-law and the ever adorable

Bailey and Norah.

Picnicking on the back lawn over Memorial Day weekend.

It was a spontaneous get-together made possible by

our living close enough that they can jump in the car and be here

in about two hours. I am a lucky Mom--and Nana!

Spencer and Adrianna came with them and we all had a good time.

These pictures are courtesy of Scott--I usually avoid being in pictures by being the

one behind the camera but in another spontaneous gesture, he grabbed the

camera and started snapping away.

 So here we are for posterity...

Sitting in the grass in Connecticut warmed by the sunshine and  the love of family.

A Post Christmas Post Postponing Posting

Gentle Reader,
So much to catch up on--so little time. Or energy. Our house runneth over and that means late nights with older kids and early mornings with grandkids--and that means Nana has been burning the candle at both ends! But here's a little something I didn't want to forget:

Bailey and Norah got a new baby sister a few days after Christmas (yes--that's another post in the que!) so we had them here with us for a few days. We took them to church with us last Sunday and the Sacrament hymn was "I Stand All Amazed". I had four-year-old Bailey on my lap and quickly realized that she was singing along beautifully and clearly and knew every word to that hymn. After she belted out the chorus of
               "Oh, it is wonderful, that He should care for me, enough to die for me.
                 Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me."
She said, "I know this song because my Dad taught it to me."

I thought my heart would burst.
             

Sisters

We enjoyed several weeks here with the always adorable Gale Sisters: the next generation.

Nicole and Bailey and Norah hung out with us here while their house in Texas was packed up and the new place closed. It is always a joy to have the energy and enthusiasm of those two little girls. And their Mama is pretty awesome too--we enjoyed a lot of girl time which was nice for me.

 What with me being all outnumbered around here nowadays. 

Even the dog is a boy.

 There is a fine line between sweet, happy togetherness and "she's all up in my space" togetherness. These two cross that line from time to time--but the sweet happy stuff is SOOO adorable.

On this morning, Bailey decided it was Norah's Birthday and she wanted to make her a cake.

So she made it out of Norah's breakfast of blueberries and yogurt.

This is a pictorial of Bailey mopping the floor...

she is a hard worker.

She was really serious about getting the floor clean...

even though the mop is taller than she is.

She was also a happy helper putting the silverware away:

Norah was a natural alpha with Gunner (I don't have any pictures of her with him--I was usually hanging out with Bailey while Norah was sleeping in in the morning or napping)

She would follow him around and say:

"Hey Gunna! Hey boy!"

and then hold her arms out and say

"Gimme a hug."

We still say "Hey Gunna! Hey Boy!" at least a dozen times a day to him.

Bailey was a little more wary of the dog. She did warm up to him eventually and he basked in the glory of the many chocolate Cheerios she tossed his way. She was always very careful to stay up higher than the dog with her arms and legs out of reach.

She is a wisely cautious little girl.

Bailey loved to help with the cooking. We had a lot of fun together in the kitchen.

Bailey's imagination is another source of entertainment. She came with her Cinderella doll and I found her a pioneer Barbie in a box of Aunt Siara and Shanna's old Barbies.Yes, there were pioneer Barbies. They were in a sale bin at Fred Meyer years ago. 

Clearly I was the only mom who was excited to find a modestly dressed Barbie. 

They were not a big seller.

 Bailey called her Apple Girl and she and Cinderella had many adventures along with the other odd Barbie we dug out of the box of toy relics. 

This is Cinderella getting a check-up. Bailey put the stethoscope around her waist instead of in her ears.

All tuckered out after a walk. Norah was asleep on the other side 

but she was up running around by the time I got the camera.

I got to do Bailey's bedtime routine with her each night. We would agree on the number of books that would be read on the couch and then up in bed. She reminds me of her Dad--a shrewd negotiator. One night I told her we had read the allotted number of books and she should go to sleep.

She asked if she could just look at a book. That seemed reasonable. Pretty soon she was saying, "What is this word Nana?" and I would tell her. And then another word and another until I realized we had read the whole book.

 But when she snuggled up and said

 "Nana I feel so comfortable because I love you so much!"

I was willing to read her a hundred books.

We enjoyed our time with those precious granddaughters. And now they live close enough that we will get more of those good times. 

And there is another sweet girl on the way. 

She will be joining her sisters around Christmastime.

Wherein I Boast Shamelessly About My Adorable Grandchildren

We are now the proud grandparents of two precious little girls! I'm not going to beat around the bush here--it's awesome! I love my kids like nobody's business but they were work--grandchildren are all play. It really is payback time.

I was lucky enough to spend some very happy days with our little Bailey last week. Mama went to the "hopistal" to have "Baby Sister" and Bailey hung out with me at their house. I took her to Costco where they happened to be serving free samples (can you believe it?) of strawberry smoothies. Bailey enjoyed her free sample and sweetly asked for another. Normally I would never think of going back for a second OR allowing one of my offspring to do so. But you know I turned the cart around and went back TWO more times for Bailey to have some more. Even when she spilled one. Why? Look at those big blue eyes and imagine her saying

 "More please, Nana."

She enjoyed coloring.

She is a happy little helper--no slacker here! She ran to get the broom

and got right to cleaning when she saw some crumbs on the floor.

Mac and Cheese is a favorite.

 She needs a spoon AND a fork and savors every bite!

She's not quite two but she knows her left foot from her right.

(She also knows all the letters and sounds of the alphabet and

any color or shape. And that's not all! She also knows

her geography: she points to the states on the map and names them...as well as the

people she loves who live in that state. )

She can put her shoes on like a pro.

She has amazing hair and she even let me french braid it one day.

Maybe it was because I let her play with the DVDs and

that kept her still long enough to do the job.

Shhhh, don't tell "Daddo"



Bailey with Daddo and Norah



Bailey was so excited to see her Baby Sister...as we drove to the"hopistal" she told me:

"I want to see Baby Sister! I need to talk to Baby Sister."

I'm sure they will have plenty to talk about.

Calm, serene, happy little Norah

Ten Perfect little toes...

She got her fair share of hair.

I think this will do for my Quarterly Grandchild Adoration Blog.

But since there are two now I believe I can double the bragging.

I'll have to check on that.