I will lift up my eyes to the hills

Psalm 121:1-8

     "I will lift up my eyes to the hills- From whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord. Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper The Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore."

     This is my encouragement when times get really tough in my life I do look up to heaven and the hills that remind me, " No matter how tough it seems climbing up the hills to recovery-remember at the top there is a wind, a breath of fresh air and a way to come back down." Family is all about climbing to the top, it's about running a race and being determined to reach that finish line. I think-- just push me through, here I come dehydrated, crawling, can't catch my breath but I will bust through that finish line! As my children have grown there are many new challenges in raising adult children. And yes you are never done because a parent will always be a parent no matter how old you become.

     When my children were infants there was the exhaustion of trying to keep up with this infant who was born into a world that was so not familiar to it. Many nights of helping this frightened infant adjust into its new world called life we melted down bottles. Than it became a toddler that has developed lots of trust, confidence and boldness. It now can communicate much more effectively as it screams in front of large crowds without hesitation or consideration,it runs through isles pulling down mountains of clothes and at church it is for certain that even God himself knows this child is in the house! At the market place is where this child makes sure that you develop nothing less than enemies. This toddler is so bold it will yell at anyone or anything that gets in its way from being in dependant.

     As we guide our young children in their developing years we have our challenges but we also have the authoritative control over these little creatures that we birth into this life called "Family". We are privileged to be their number one teachers, influencer's and the assignment in molding them into functional individuals in society. Your hope is that they will love without judgement, love with forgiveness and love their own family towards that finish line.

     The climb upwards means now leading and guiding our adult children where there will be struggles as you welcome new territory into your comfort zone. This will mean our human nature of jealousy will set it, our comfort to keep the old will be challenged to change, and the walls of the past will need to be expanded for renovation and improvements. I have four amazing boys, two girls that are my daughter-in-laws-to-be, one Royal Princess (my granddaughter)and my Royal Prince is currently baking in mommy's toasty oven. This is are expanded renovation that is adding new beauty and value to our family. There is a saying that goes like this,

"    My son's children are uncertain to be my grandchildren but my daughters children are certain to be called as my very own." I do not like this and refuse to let it trouble the walls of my home. I love and appreciate dearly the mothers that have carried and birth my grandbabies into my arms as a grandmother. I love singing, dancing and being called grandma. I refuse to allow life's bad moments to keep me an enemy of my future. It is my faith in my God whom I indeed look up too, as the verse above states, he is my refuge, my builder and my eternal hope that will get me to reach that finish line. Yes new territory is not always easy, it comes with many challenges and opportunities to grow. Climbing that hill means Iron sharpening Iron as we all can sharpen one another. It is not by my own strength or power but it is the Lord that builds my home and that I know is guaranteed. Since God allowed me to birth all boys he knew what was coming next---All the women in my life! Merry Christmas to you all and may he continue to bless your families as you climb the mountain tops....

New Parents, a brand new princess arrives!

On February 10th, "The Due Date," Mommy was admitted at three centimeters. It was only 11:15am and labor pains were still a walk in the park. At 3:30pm I received the news and was flabbergasted on meeting my first grandbaby who was my first girl after having and raising four boys. At 10:pm my boys and I arrived at the hospital and still no baby but the labor pains were now unbearable and one on top of the other( which I thought was a good sign for the cervix to open more) but mommy called out for her lifesaver, that good old epidural! This seemed to slow down the process as the monitored showed that the contractions had decreased and fell far behind! But hey it put a smile on mommy's face even though labor went on for a total of twenty four hours and a half hour of hard forced pushing.
Finally baby arrived and we were all so over-joyed but mommy was left exhausted. In my opinion this anesthesia prolonged mommy's labor and caused her to go into distress during pushing. There was Lot's of vomiting and exhaustion. I would have rathered allowed the hard labor pains that would play a role in opening up the cervix quicker as it did with my last child. I was a victim of this drug and the side effects were a lasting memory. I had horrendous headaches, could not bond with baby due to my reactions and fatigue. I would not recommend this at all after my experience and witnessing this prolonged labor that could have ended much sooner. I know every labor drives us women into mental breakdowns but to have after effects that prevent one from caring for baby is even worse!
It was finally over and I have had the privilege of finally holding my new granddaughter. She is just so amazingly adorable! I have also been able to observe my son at becoming a father and the look in his face locked into a mother's heart forever! My son was amazing with his partner, he was so supportive, loving, and most attentive--all the nurses complimented his fine and charming work.
Today we are dealing with the breastfeeding! It has been a challenge trying to separate my grandmother role from my parent educator role! As a grandmother I wanted to just role all my knowledge that I have studied over the years for this moment! A moment to pass on to my next generation but as a Parent educator I had to take a breath, sit back and allow mommy to gain some experience in order to use for observation later on. I loved the way she made eye contact immidiatly with her newborn and her soft spoken voice that assured my granddaughter mommy was here. It was most challenging but I allowed for mommy to be mommy and her mommy to support what they new thus far. I went over to model some healthy cooking with my son ( daddy) so that mommy can gain energy, nutrition, brain food and drop the weight she put on ( like most mommy's). I herd my granddaughter becoming very frustrated and crying with anxiety for over fifteen minutes. I walk in to see that the new mommy was really trying to force feed her on the other breast after she had just completed fifteen minutes on one breast and had a bowel movement. Grandmother ( the other) was saying it's normal for them to cry just let them get tiered enough so that she would finally latch on! But I was reading the cues that were saying, "I'm full and done-no more please!"
I finally was able to calm baby down during changing her diaper than needed to let mommy be mommy and left for class. This was so hard holding back what I new but having to be sensitive to mommy gaining the experience she needed for later. I have since than refreshed myself and given the new parents the evidence based studies on proper breast feeding! The problem was first the nurses telling mommy to make certain that she feed for fifteen minutes on each side but failed to explain, the length of feeding time at no amount of rushing or forcing! Mommy was terrified that baby was loosing weight ( which is normal) and thought she had to rush the two breast into our princess mouth immediately one right after the other. So tell me dear followers did I do right in refraining my info to mommy or should have just intruded! What is your input on breastfeeding experiences! Please share.. Thanks!

A Treasure Found in The Secret Place!

In the Fall I have a memory of falling leaves in our home on Warwick St! The Sycamore trees were full at once and all of a sudden there was only branches left. On a walk we would go along with the wind following my boys and their little feet's with world winds that circled them with the falling leaves of the trees. Another day there would be mountains of leaves that my boys jumped into, tumbled and threw leaves everywhere! This was it! The secret that was in a child's heart. Not one dollar was spent, not one trip to a toy store, not one mess that urgently needed to be cleaned up. It was in their natural environment that their very own nature came to explore. What was the secret? It was the nature of a child's heart provided with an opportunity to explore and provoke that window of opportunity.
There are thousands and billions of neurons in a child's brain waiting to be stimulating in order to continue to build connections in the development of children every day. Are we providing them with these opportunities to make such connections if not why? If so please share how you are doing this? Tell a story of your child's secret treasure please. My boys were only young once and I indeed cherished every moment.
Every fall we explored with the fallen leaves, pine cones, sticky balls and more. Mommy handed them lunch bags to gather all the pine cones and sticky balls. They than lined up in a row and competed on who could throw the farthest sticky ball across the grass field, exploring with pine cones. The question was asked are they alive? What happens when we wet a pine cone? The secret place of a child's wonder was at work! These moments did not cost anything more than what children want most -that is our time! Nothing can be more productive for children especially when they have such great secrets to share in those treasured moments. I found laughter, dirty faces, muddy laces but lots of satisfied hearts at the end of my days and my pillow never felt so good!