Life Stages.....Do or Die!

We had a lovely party Saturday for Drennon Platt and Will McMurray who will be married in June. Drennon has been like part of our family for many years and we are thrilled she has found someone worthy of her. Will seems to be a wonderful, caring young man and we really like him. Drennon and Will seem a perfect match. They are in the blissful stage of love and are ready for the wedding to be over so they can get on with the rest of their lives. This is what I call Life Stage of Bliss and it can last for a year or more depending on the couple. Beth and Ben have passed that stage and Life Stage of Comfort. They are now in Life Stage of Expectant Parents, getting ready to have a baby and learning everything they can to help them in the process. Beth has read all the pregnancy books and being an RN gives her an advantage. And Ben has read "the book" for expectant fathers and being an EMT also has advantages. Beth is starting her 3rd trimester which, in my opinion, is the most exhausting until labor and delivery. Ben is being so thoughtful of Beth and making sure she's not doing anything she shouldn't and has everything she needs. He's read "the book" that tells him to be kind and loving to your pregnant wife or she could bite your head off in a second!! Hormones is the key word at the moment and it can make a pregnant woman do or say anything that is not normally in her nature. Ben has done well so far in handling Beth's mood swings, although I'm sure he has had moments where he would really like to say something he shouldn't! Most men do have those moments in dealing with HORMONES raging. They are coming into the next phase of this stage in which they will take the classes at the hospital to learn what to expect of the labor and delivery. Beth and Ben both could deliver a baby if they had to because of their training. But when it's YOU, all knowledge and rationality go out the window. I know for a fact Beth has told Ben if she asks for her mother during labor or delivery, that means he is to get me to the labor room pronto, no questions asked. Even though it could be awkward for Ben and myself to both be in the delivery room with Beth, if she asks for it, he better deliver!! :) Then again, Beth may make it just fine without me. Either way is fine with me. Ben will be given expert advice in the classes at the hospital so hopefully he will be prepared for what his wife could turn into during labor and delivery. Please God let the epidurial work, for Beth's sake as well as Ben's!!
Now back to the Life Stages...........Clay and Leslie are supposed to still be in the Life Stage of Bliss, but God decided it's time to leave that stage and pass the Life Stage of Comfort and go directly to Life Stage of Expectant Parents. Unfortunately for Clay (and Leslie), he has not read "the book" for expectant fathers yet because I just gave it to him yesterday. Now is the time for him to learn to SPEED READ if he wants to be alive when his child is born. I found out that Clay does not understand pregnancy hormones yet. In his normal kidding manner he made a comment to Leslie about her body the other day. This is the part of his DNA he gets from his Dad and Leslie is usually a very good sport about Clay's kidding. But when you're pregnant, the last thing you want to hear is a comment about your body that does not include the words beautiful, lovely or glowing in it. And to add insult to injury, Clay added the words "just kidding" to the end of his MISTAKE. I'm not exactly sure what Leslie said to him but I'm sure she got her message across. I told her if Clay says anything like that again, she should punch him in the face! That would get his attention. John has tried to explain a few things to Clay about how he should act and react while Leslie is pregnant. I'm not sure it's worked yet. So, I had a small talk with Clay when he came by the house today. I told him he better read the expectant father book I gave him sooner than later. And that he should be loving and kind to Leslie no matter what mood she's in. If Clay has not gotten the meaning of the words PREGNANCY HORMONES yet, he will and it could come in the form of a fist to the face, emotional crying or a night on the couch! I think Ben is going to "tutor" Clay in the fine art of keeping his mouth shut unless he has something to say with the words beautiful, lovely or glowing in it. Clay will learn, as well as Ben, that you don't mess with a pregnant woman. And for heaven sakes, don't ever tell her you feel her pain. Or you may actually experience it when she pulls your lip over your head or kicks you between the legs! I'm sure Kyle is standing back laughing his head off at what Clay and Ben are going through right now. But his day will come (hopefully) and Kyle will join the club of men who will have to read "the book" of what to expect when you are expecting. And Ben and Clay will be able to give first hand advice to Kyle.
Until next time, enjoy God's beautiful world and give Him praise.

Render Me Speechless!

This is a beautiful picture of mother-t0-be Beth and mother-to-be Leslie..........ok, you can close your mouth now! Yes, you read that correctly. Clay and Leslie are expecting our 2nd grandchild December 8!! I was given the go ahead tonight that I could announce the happy, surprising news. So here's the story of how we found out.
About 3 weeks ago, Clay was mowing our grass and came inside as usual to see what there was to eat. Clay said he and Leslie were going to come by that night. The first thing I asked was, "For what?" I usually ask him when he and Leslie are coming over for a visit and I get, "Come all the way over there? For what?" So this time I turned the tables on him. He said Leslie missed seeing us and wanted to stop by to catch up on things. I told him that would be wonderful and I'd have ice cream and chocolate sauce for them. Around 7 that night they came in, took their usual place on the couch and we started visiting. After a few minutes Clay got up and left the room, coming back with something in his hands. He hands it to me and I look at a nice picture frame with 3 picture openings. At first I see an ultrasound picture and I'm thinking they gave us the frame to put Elliotte's latest picture in. I say, "Isn't this nice!" Then I look at the 2nd opening, without my glasses on, and I see what I think is the word "Surprise." I put on my glasses to make sure I'm reading it correctly. It says, "Surprise, grandbaby #2 due to arrive December 8." I look back at the ultrasound picture and see the name Leslie Robinson. My mouth drops open. In the meantime, John has read what the frame says and is congratulating Clay and Leslie and everyone is hugging except for me. I'm still sitting in my chair with my mouth wide open unable to speak. I have been rendered speechless........a rarity! I finally gather my thoughts and ask Clay if he's joking about this. He smiles and says "No, it's as much as a surprise to us as it is to you." Now there is some background here that I won't go into because it's their business. But it really wasn't supposed to happen for a while. So when it finally hits me what's going on I'm hugging, laughing and congratulating. Leslie says she's feeling good so far and is excited once the shock wore off. I think Clay is still in shock especially when he thinks about how much this little being is going to cost him!! This was one thing that wasn't in his plans for now. God has a way of surprising us when we least expect it. When they got ready to leave that night, I asked Clay if he thought he was mature enough to be a dad. His answer was, "No, that's why I married Leslie. She's the responsible one." No truer words were spoken.
John and I are thrilled that we will be the grandparents of 2 little ones, 3 1/2 months apart!! Oh, I forgot to tell you that Clay and Leslie were scared to death to tell Beth and Ben. Since Beth and Ben had trouble getting pregnant, Clay and Leslie didn't want B&B thinking they were trying to steal the attention away from them. But, Beth and Ben are as thrilled as we are and are excited both babies will be so close in age. Kyle was the first one Clay told (isn't that surprising) so I was afraid he might feel a little down about all this baby business. But he is excited for Clay and Leslie. Kyle told me that it looks like he's a little behind now. To which I replied, "There is no hurry to catch up!!" So, if you see me out and I look like I'm off in space somewhere, I'm having "deja vu." I will be keeping 2 babies while their mommies are working. I'm having flashbacks where I'm seeing myself doing this sort of thing before. Some of the memories are a little cloudy but I clearly see 2 babies. Oh wait, now I see a toddler in the picture as well. Yes, I believe I'm starting to remember...........a 14 month old and 2 babies. Did I really live through that?? Why I can take care of 2 little grandchildren with one hand tied behind my back! Oh wait, I'm not 25 anymore...........Oh My Goodness!!! GOD IS GOOD! God bless you all.

Proms............Mom and All

I was watching Midday (Ch. 4) at noon when a lady from Opryland Hotel came on to tell about their weekend special coming up Mother's Day. They are having a "Mom Prom" for mothers and sons. Now this is mainly for families with children up to 12 years old. Can you see Kyle or Clay taking me to a "Mom Prom" at age 11 or 12? I could see John making them do it for my sake but being so embarrassed they would NEVER get out on the dance floor with me, much less acknowledge they were mine! Besides, would I want to put myself through trying to fit into a "prom" dress? I think not. Today's dresses show way too much skin. And I had/have A LOT more skin then/now than I did in high school which is NOT (to borrow from Martha Stewart) a "good thing." I didn't want to show my skin in high school and I certainly wouldn't do it now, accept for the fact it would totally embarrass my kids which sometimes is worth the risk! Can you see me in a backless, strapless, sequined number? I would have back fat, front fat, arm fat, belly fat spilling out all over the place. Instead of people saying, "doesn't she look sweet", they would be saying, "those poor boys, they should get their mom a full body Spanx for Mother's Day!" Opryland Hotel will also be adding to the experience by having corsages for you to buy for the mother and boutonnieres for the sons. Yeah, all I need is a wrist corsage to bring more attention to the arm fat! And forget about the dance floor............no way Jose!! I would not have gotten on the dance floor to "shake what the good Lord gave me" because it would take a minute or two for it to stop shaking after I stopped dancing. I can see now how it might have traumatized my boys. So much so, they might not have attended their prom, excuse me, their banquet because of the memories they might have. I couldn't put them through that. :-)


I do have to say though, that my prom experiences were great! Of course that was years and years ago. I was fortunate to attend 3 proms...................all with John. The first one was his senior year at Donelson. I was a sophomore at Two Rivers, the rival high school, and we had been dating a few months. I was so excited to be going to the prom as a sophomore dating a senior. I thought I had finally arrived, so I had to look fabulous! Never mind the fact that I had braces, was a sophomore from Two Rivers and John's friends didn't really like me in the first place. You see, John broke up with another girl (a SENIOR at Donelson) to date me. Yeah, his friends thought he was crazy, but I had his senior ring................in your face J. H.!! (Was that too harsh?) Anyway, my mother made my dress, which was very beautiful. It was a pale pink dress with an overlay of white eyelet, high neckline and short eyelet sleeves. My hair was long which I rolled on big rollers (think juice can size) and sat under the "helmet" dryer (mine was blue) to set what little curl I would get. Then I rolled my side curls with pink foam rollers. After it was combed out, I set my hair, especially my side curls, with enough "AquaNet" to take down multiple ozone layers! The more, the better. My side curls didn't move all night. I was sooo proud! I held my hair back with a pale pink ribbon. My prom dress was complimented by white wrist length gloves (very proper) and the daisy bouquet with pink ribbons that John gave me. Bouquets were the "IN" thing in the 70's for prom. Although you had to find a place to lay them down when you danced. John wore a black double-breasted tux, white shirt with black trimmed ruffles and black bowtie. I gave him a boutonniere of a white carnation tipped in black to match his tux shirt. Very cute!! The theme of the 1970 Donelson Prom was "Springtime in the South" which my dress was perfect for. The evening was fun and unforgetable. I remember when we got our pictures back. I thought my arms looked fat and the dress made my hips look big and I had the "metal mouth" look. Today, looking at that picture, I can't believe I was ever that young, that skinny, my hair was that shiny or my face that smooth. But I do remember feeling like Scarlett O'Hara coming straight from Tara, minus the curtain tassles! I'll never forget my first prom experience with my future husband. (Take that, all John's friends who said it would "never last!")



Well, fiddle tee dee, good people. I must go do laundry now. Or just maybe......................I'll think about that tomorrow. God bless!