Two Lucky Grandbabies

Madison and Caden have another thing in common and it is a big blessing for them, even though they don't even realize it.

Both children get to stay with their mothers all day--every day. Brandy, Madison's mama doesn't work outside the home at all(but she works plenty inside the home!). She chose to be a stay-at-home mother, and gave up her job filing insurance claims at a local hospital. Christina, Caden's mama, went from working full time with a company handling international sales, to working part-time with her sister's daycare so she could keep Caden with her all of the time.

The down side of this blessing is that the need of MiMi's babysitting services is limited. Madison is a frequent visitor because she lives next-door, but she likes to keep her mama by her side most of the time. She has spent a few nights with me on occasion. Caden lives about a quarter of a mile down the road from us, but is still breast feeding which keeps him close to his mother, also. Cade usually comes for a couple of 2 hour visits each week and we enjoy each other's company. Madison loves to come over after my husband gets home from work because he spoils her with M&M's and such. He's such a pushover! He's always ready and willing to play ball, Barbies, or whatever she wants him to do.

Anyway, I am proud of my grandchildren's mothers for making the sacrifices that they do for their children and for doing such a fine job doing the most important job that they will ever do. Good job, girls!

A common thread...

Madison's Winnie the Pooh Nursery

Chest(was her MiMi's)/armoire

Bookshelf/changing table

Madison's crib/toy chest(formerly her mama's)



Caden's Monkey Themed Nursery

Hamper and armoire

chest with monkey knobs/changing table

Cade's crib/rocking chair

Madison and Cade have something in common that not many cousins have. They have both lived in the same home and slept in the same nursery!

Within eighteen months, our whole family played musical houses and moved all around. My husband, Ed, and I built a new home next-door to our existing home and moved into it. Our daughter, Madison's mother, decided that she would like to remodel and live in our previous home(the home that she grew up in). Brett, as mentioned in an older post, was anxious to move back to Gooseneck, so he decided to buy Brandy and Clint's mobile home, and later build or buy a larger home.

Madison's nursery was decorated in "Winnie the Pooh", while Cade's nursery is decorated in "monkeys". The bedroom is very pretty and both themes complimented it quite well and make the room look totally different in the process! If Madison's nursery seems quite full of Winnie the Pooh, it's probably due to the fact that her MiMi was totally addicted to ebay at the time...it's not shown, but even the ceiling fan was Winnie the Pooh!

It was a little confusing for Madison immediately after the move. She still remembered living there and would toddle down to where her nursery used to be...Everyone has settled in nicely now, and Madison now has a big girl bed with lots of Dora stuff in it, because for about a year she was crazy about Dora!

Cade seems to be happy in his nursery jungle with all of his monkeys scattered about. It's a calm, peaceful atmosphere, which is Cade's personality right now. I can't help but wonder what character he will like when he grows older--Mickey Mouse, Handy Manny, Bob the Builder, perhaps Diego? I guess I will just have to wait and see...

Welcome to Gooseneck Cade...

Caden's daddy, my son, had lived in our little community of Gooseneck all of his life--until he got married. When he got married he and his wife rented a tiny apartment in town. Brett never really liked living in town and dreamed of the day he could move back to Gooseneck. Eventually that day came for him...

Cade and family spent several days in the hospital recovering from a c-section, so we were all excited on the day that they finally got to come home--to Gooseneck.

We repainted the stork with a blue bundle and put him in the yard. We also decorated the mailbox with a blue bow. Christina's sister put balloons on the mailbox, decorated the porch with streamers and her daycare kids made a cute sign which she hung on the porch.

It was just a few days before Christmas, and Brett and Christina hadn't put up a Christmas tree. Being the MiMi that I am, I couldn't stand the thought of Caden not having a Christmas tree. I bought a tiny 2 foot tree and decorated it with tiny blue, white, and silver baby ornaments. Caden didn't notice it of course, but it made me feel better knowing that my new grandson had a Christmas tree on his first Christmas!

Cade arrived in Gooseneck looking like a little angel in his baby blue outfit with monkeys all over it. Now what had been a family of two, has expanded to a family of three. What a nice looking family they are, don't you think? Of course I could be a little biased...

Oh Happy Day, Madison Comes Home!

I must admit it was one happy day when Madison and her parents finally got to come home. After all, they had been at the hospital for nine l-o-n-g days. Five of the days were spent waiting for Madison to be born, four of them were spent recovering from the emergency c-section.

This beautiful stork pictured was made by Madison's great-aunt Patti and Patti's family. They put in a lot of hard work on it and did a fabulous job.

There were also pink balloons flying from the stork, as well as pink balloons decorating the mailbox. Everyone who passed by couldn't help but notice that a new person had arrived in the neighborhood!

And then came Caden...

I'll never forget the day my son, Brett, and his wife, Christina drove into the yard and handed me a picture. It was a sonogram picture and it was framed. I looked at it, not realizing at first what it was. Then I saw that it said "what's in my tummy?" A few moments later, it finally dawned on me that I was going to be grandma! I was totally caught off guard, but totally thrilled! Ed was already in on the surprise since they'd had the sonogram done earlier that day at the hospital where he works.

I was a little apprehensive for Christina after the experience that I'd seen Brandy go through. However, Christina sailed through her pregnancy with no problems. She was sick very little and was able to work right up until the baby was due. I missed getting to share a large portion of Christina's pregnancy due to some family problems, but thankfully I was able to share in the final weeks.

Christina's only problem came at the end of her pregnancy when the baby stayed turned the wrong way. He didn't seem to want to get in the head down position. The doctor talked of doing a c-section early, but Christina wanted to hold out for a traditional birth. Finally, on December 12, it became apparent that the baby wasn't going to fully turn and he was showing signs of distress. Christina was admitted to the hospital for a c-section that same day.

I was a Ed's Christmas party at work when the call came. I wasn't expecting the call that day and of course I didn't have my cell phone on. Fortunately, Brett found me. Brandy, my daughter, and I hopped in the car and headed for the hospital. We arrived with some time to spare before the c-section. We waited with Christina's sister and mother, while Caden was being born.

Once again, God was good to us and blessed us with a healthy baby boy. The cord had been wrapped around the neck, which was causing the problems. Little Caden Wesley was born weighing just under 7 pounds and he was a cutie! The main thing that I remember about him on that day was that his feet looked just like Christina's!

I'll never forget when they rolled little Caden into the nursery. They let us go in and touch him and make pictures. I remember watching Brett stand there in the nursery looking at Caden in amazement, and then I saw Brett begin to cry. I've often wondered what he was thinking and feeling in those moments... I was witnessing my firstborn son experience his first step into fatherhood. It was a beautiful moment, one that I won't ever forget...

In the beginning...there was Madison

My daughter, Brandy, decided she was ready to take the plunge and be a mother somewhere between years 4 and 5 of her marriage. We have our plans and God has His...God's plan wasn't for Brandy to become a mother--just yet. After trying for a while without any success, Brandy agreed to take a fertility drug. She took the drug for 3 months, then went back to Dr. B for a checkup. She had a pregnancy test which was negative. Dr. B told her that he was out of options and referred her to a fertility specialist. This was one of the darkest days of our lives...

Within a few days of that last checkup with Dr. B, Brandy began to experience strange symptoms. I did a little internet research, but kept my findings to myself. These symptoms went on for several days. One morning while I was getting dressed for work the phone rang. It was Brandy. She was distraught about the way that she had been feeling and wanted to know what I thought she should do. I confided in her that I suspected that she might be pregnant and that I thought she should go and get a pregnancy test. Call it Mama's intuition or just plain luck, but the next time Brandy called me she was crying saying that the test was positive!

Thus began a nine month roller coaster ride that none of the family had any idea was ahead of us...It was a complicated pregnancy. Brandy had things going on with her body that Dr. B couldn't figure out or explain. She had to give up her job and spent almost the entire pregnancy on bedrest, had to be hospitalized in July(on her wedding anniversary) for what we thought was amniotic fluid leakage, but never really figured out what it was..., and she and her husband had to move in with Ed and me from July until September so she could stay on complete bedrest. Then came the day a couple of weeks before Madison was due when Brandy went for a check up and ended up getting admitted to labor and delivery for an emergency c-section!

Oh, but nothing was easy with this pregnancy! After sending Brandy over to labor and delivery the doctor filling in for Dr. B changed his mind about doing the c-section because the baby's heart rate got better all of the sudden...Substitute Dr. thought that he was going to send Brandy home the following morning until he encountered me! I reminded him that I would personally hold him responsible if anything should happen to Brandy or her baby, so he decided to keep her in the hospital until Dr. B returned from his dad's funeral.

A lot of things happened during those days in the hospital while waiting for Dr. B to return. I spent 5 nights sleeping on the hospital floor (because they wouldn't give us another recliner), while some of the nurses seemed to find this amusing. Brandy was given the option to have an amniocentisis done to see if baby's lungs were developed, in which case Substitute Dr. would agree to do the c-section. She had the amnio done after agonizing a whole day over it, then the results showed the lungs were not mature and the c-section was canceled! Steroid shots were given to help the lungs. The baby's heart rate continued to go up and down the rest of the week. Finally, after a long and stressful day, on Monday, October 23,(Dr. B's first day back at work) Madison Elizabeth was delivered via emergency c-section that evening! I've never been so relieved to see a baby born in my entire life--all seven pounds of her--and she was healthy and perfect! The cord had been wrapped around her neck, causing the up and down heart rate. The amnio test was apparently wrong, because her lungs were developed and fine. All is well that ends well, thank you God for our precious Madison...

Why I started this blog...

I've always dreamed of becoming a grandparent. Since my husband and I started having our family a little later than most of our friends, we were among the last to become grandparents. For years I hoped and dreamed. I started a little "grandchild" hope chest and put books, toys, and other things in it. Since I have chronic health problems, I was beginning to fear that I may not live long enough to enjoy grandchildren... Finally, in October of 2006, my dream came true when little Madison Elizabeth Dasher was born. Two years later, in December 2008, another dream came true when little Caden Wesley Bacon was born.
I love these two blessings from God dearly, and have always been very grateful to have them. Lately, I have discovered many new friends through blogging. I have also discovered many people who have not been blessed with healthy children. This has made me even more grateful than I ever was before.
Madison and Caden, this blog is for you. I hope that one day, when I am long gone from my earthly home, you will read this and know that you were very much loved and appreciated by your MiMi. I will try to record some of our best times together so you can read about what you may not remember. Who knows, the day may come when I will have to read about the times that I can no longer remember--this blog may come in handy!