I got an award!

My friend RoyalT Lady was kind enough to give me this "Gorgeous Blogger Award"! She has an awesome blog so please stop by and say hi. It took me a few days to get over and get it but I am glad I did. I am supposed to tell you six things about myself that you don't know and then ask six other lovely ladies to join me but since I have been out of the blogging world for a bit I will just leave this open to anyone who would like to join in the fun.

1. I will be married for 25 years next Tuesday, December 1st!

2. I am a grandmother at the age of 46 and I am really getting into the role and I just love it. I wasn't sure how I would feel about it at first but when she looks at me and smiles my heart just melts.

3. My husband and I commute to work together, each lunch together everyday. We enjoy each others company and now that the kids are gone we are rediscovering each other and enjoying being grandparents.

4. My favorite food is Italian, I'll do anything for a glass of wine and some garlic bread lol

5. I love to go motorcycle riding up in Gods country which to me is the mountains and country roads.

6. Last but not least....I love a good romance novel.

The baby girls...and other news

A while back I told you about my husband bringing home a wiener dog named Harley. Well, Harley is still here and she has taken a fancy to Audrina. We found out that this dog is a cross between a Chihauhau and a wiener dog. The REAL official name of the breed is.......drum roll please.......Chaweinie! Yes, you heard me right.

Well when Audrina is in her favorite napping position, Harley decides it's time to nap too!

I have been doing alot of babysitting so to speak and I just love it. As a matter of fact Audrina is in my arms right now as I type this post! I have had a lot of relearning to do. Such as how to prepare formula, change a diaper, OMGosh the cost of these two items can send young parents into bankruptcy no doubt. Yesterday at Target I bought one can of 28oz powder formula and one box of 192 size 1 diapers to keep at my house and with out the $5 coupon I had it would have cost $55. Outrageous I tell you. Back then we used to tell our kids it was very expensive to raise kids, well NOW IT IS NO JOKE!

OH, OH, OH, BIG NEWS, Audrina spend the night last night and I fed her at 9pm and she slept until 7am!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, that is right, she slept through the night and I got it first!!!! (I also got the poopiest diaper ever as a reward) hahahahaha. She is only about a month and a half too.

THE WEDDING is officially 4 weeks away and we have a few things to do: Buy the candy for the favors, stuff the favors, buy the toasting champagne and when we are all done....drink a glass of wine. We will do that next weekend. This weekend Jackie and the girls are in San Francisco doing the Bachelorette thing. I am getting excited. Yesterday, Jackie went to get her hair and makeup done for a trial before the wedding and she hated it. What a shame..Hope fully she can find someone who will be able to give her the look she wants although she does a pretty good job herself I might add. She is great with her own hair and makeup but I understand.

Well, I am off to finish my coffee before the rest of the world wakes up. Have a beautiful Sunday. :)

Glimpses of my busy life

Hello friends. I have been quite busy these days and I would like to ask forgiveness from all that I am behind on visiting your interesting posts. I plan to get to that this weekend. I thought I would put together a small collage of sorts of the happenings of my life these days.

First, meet Harley, the wiener dog puppy. First let me mention that we already have a dog, Buster and a cat, Tigger. This is very important to the story. So, I am with our daughter Jackie last Saturday up in Elk Grove and she decides to check her emails on her iPhone. What does she get from Dad?? A "Meet Harley" photo. Now, I don't know how to make a long story short on this one so bare with me. My husband works on Saturday mornings at a small scale Mexican flea market as an Armed Patrol Guard. EVERY stinking Saturday he manages to bring something home. I told him he was not allowed to work this detail any more. He didn't listen. Anyway, I told her to reply "Harley better be visiting". Now, the reason I say this is because just the DAY BEFORE we had this long conversation about NOT bringing any more animals into the house. We would NOT replace our animals after they died etc...we are tired of dog and cat hair etc. Our animals are self sufficient, and can take care of themselves. Life is good right? WRONG. He tells our daughter that it is a gift for me and if I don't want it our son Nick will take it. So, what did I do? I got pissed, really, really pissed. I called Nick and told him he could have the dog as we don't need another animal. Life was good again.....

Until Sunday...., hubby and I go to visit the baby and since Nick was "dog" sitting too, Harley. Nick lives with Alicia and her mother. First thing her mother said to me was, "you ARE taking the dog back home with you right?" Sure thing I told her, arrrrrrrrgh. Not a problem, totally understand your not wanting TWO dogs. All this with a big bright smile on my face.

So I told Gerry that this would be a trial and that it was HIS dog and HE had to do EVERYTHING since he did not discuss this with me first. People don't bring animals into the home without talking about it first. I had explicitly said the day before that I did not want another animal . So for the week he has been cleaning up, feeding, you name it he does it and I only play with her. Forgive me if it sounds mean but puppies are like babies and they need lots of attention and care and he just thinks she is so cute. Well cute grows up and gets bigger! Like the chickens, ducks, mice and other things he has brought home for the kids because they were so small and cute. Jury is still out as to if we keep her or not.

This is baby Audrina, 1.5 weeks old, isn't she beautiful? She is wearing Jackie's favorite colors and sleeping on a quilt that Auntie Jackie made!

Nick and I having a "moment"

Nick giving Audrina her first bottle. Hal mark moment.

Jackie and her fiance Brian captured in a relaxing moment. The wedding is two months away! And, Jackie got word today she is going to Guam in September for a week for her job. What a lucky dog she is.

Nick, Alicia and their daughter Audrina. First family photo.

Thank you for stopping by and sharing in my busy life. :)

A New Baby is Born!

Today at 7:30am we welcomed our new granddaughter Audrina Faith into the world. She was due this Saturday but she couldn't wait that long she wanted to join the family early. She weighed 6lb 13oz, 19 in long and has brown hair. Her mother Alicia was such a trooper. We made two trips to the hospital yesterday, 7am and 4pm dilated to 2cm before we came back at 10pm for good. Some of you may not know this but we have a pizza parlor in Antioch called Skipolinis Pizza. They have a "Prego" pizza and if you eat this pizza you may go into labor within 24 hours. It is very famous for this and even the nurses and doctors say to stop by there for dinner, lol. Well, we all went there yesterday at 6pm and she had 2-3 pieces and was admitted at 10pm and by 1am she was 5cm. This girl pushed this baby out in 20 minutes flat! and the rest is history.

I am soooooooooo tired. I am not used to being up for more than 24 hours so now I am going to sleep.

Please look at our beautiful granddaughter just moments old, they are not in any particular order.

Nicks room

Hello ladies, well my youngest son moved out on Tuesday......He is now with Alicia awaiting the birth of their daughter due August 8th but I swear it can be any day. She went to the doctor on Wed of last week and he said she was 75% thinned and baby was about 6.5 to 7 pounds already. She is so tiny I hope that baby doesn't gain any more weight!

Anyway, hubby and I went to Kmart to get some dog and cat food and I just HAPPENED to go past the housewares section and what did I see??? Bed-in-a bag! Imagine that.. What a nifty idea. It comes with sheets, 2 pillow cases, 2 pillow shams, comforter and a bed skirt. What a deal! We picked one out and then I also picked out a mattress protector and two inexpensive wooden utility carts on wheels that can be used also as night stands. I was getting so excited that I just wanted to buy everything but that is bad shopping. I don't know what got over me!

So anyway, we pull up to the house and nobody is there. I am thinking great.... he didn't move out (he had been dragging his feet for a week already) or my house is going to be a mess because you should have seen his room. He would have had to drag half the stuff out into the hall and family room to even see what he had. You couldn't even see the floor and the whole room hadn't been painted but maybe once in the 20 years he and his brother shared it. Really, I was dreading coming in the door. But when we came in I saw three garbage bags full of garbage lined up in the front room, most of the items he had had out there were gone also. We ventured down the hall and opened the door and what did we find?? NOTHING, I mean absolutely NOTHING! We were dumb struck. He had stripped the room bare and he even vacuumed the carpet! First thing out of my mouth was, HE TOOK THE FRICKING BED??? First thing going through my mind was, I JUST BOUGHT A BED IN A BAG AND HE TOOK THE FRICKING BED!!! Gone was the bed, dresser, computer stand and TV and lamp stand. Since Alicia has a fully furnished room for two I couldn't imagine where he was going to put all this stuff. Then I got pissed off because that was MY TV, I bought and just let him borrow. I frantically ran to the patio and low and behold what do I see???? The bed and frame is propped up against the deck and the dresser is out on the cement patio. Upon further inspection, I found the computer stand and TV in the closet. Whew! I couldn't believe it. I poured myself a glass of wine.

After one ok maybe two glasses of wine, I called him and told him I was impressed with the way he cleared out the room and he said he knew I wanted to paint and shampoo the carpet so he thought he would help me out. I am thinking what alien took over my son as the OLD son would have left the garbage etc.. for us to clean out. lol

He asked me what I was going to do with the room and I told him I was going to make it a spare bedroom. He asked why, no one is going to sleep in it anymore. I said, sure they will, Jackie comes down once in a while etc...PLUS, in the back of my mind I have to think of his relationship not working out and him possibly coming back for a spell so I am not going to do anything major in the redecorating dept. just yet. But I am not going to tell him that.

I am going to put up some of the baby things in the room too so that when they come to visit things will already be set.

I have already painted the room as of last night and this morning so next weekend I will be shampooing the carpet. When I get the room all fixed up I will show you some before and after pics.

On a side note, I went to visit them last night and to bring a few items he had left. He had just got home from work and she had a hamburger prepared for him on the table. I thought, wow, okay..... Then she showed me the room. The bedroom is all fixed up with the baby items, as she has a master suite bedroom big enough for a portion to be used as a baby area. She was so excited to show me the closet/drawer set that is Nicks now. All the clothes were folded and even his underwear was folded, lololol I just looked at her with that mom look and she said, I am working on him to keep his clothes folded. I stifled a laugh because if I couldn't do it how the hell is she going to do it. lolol His shoes are in their own little cubby holes, the whole thing just cracked me up. Well, we can only hope for the best and pray.

Follow up blog will come with pictures of the transformed room!

Baby Shower

Please meet Alicia, momma to be of Audrina Faith Carter, my first grandchild. Audrina is due August 8th but the doctors say she can come at any time now. The baby shower was last Sunday and here are some pictures I'd like to share with you all.....

This girl did not wear ONE piece of maternity clothing this whole pregnancy. Makes me sick. lol

My niece Isabella standing over the indoor pond, do you see the fish? You can't see but it goes underneath both sides of the walkway.

These are the cutest hand towels

Alicia's girlfriends mom made this cake. It was so delicious, look at the little onesie.

Just look at these "onesie" cookie favors, aren't they just adorable?

I made these pacifier candies from life savors and jelly bellies!

Portrait of Alicia

Picture of Nick (daddy to be) 6 months I believe

It was a VERY hot day, so most of us stayed indoors but the view from the deck was great.

Can you see the deck pool down below? Is that cool or what!

The colors of this display were so vibrant I loved it. She put the dips in the pepper shells!

Here are the Great Grandmas

Jackie left a comment on this photo that I seemed to be the only one who knew this picture was being taken. hahaha

Alicia's mom Carolyn on left and her cousin

This lovely bassinet belonged to Alicia when she was a baby and was restored and adorned with gifts from Alicia's grandmother and Aunt Audrey.

Gifts, gifts and more gifts.... The array of colors are wonderful aren't they?

Lovely blanket and pillow hand made by her grandma in Montana.

These are the prize gifts because they are "Carter's" bags, (our last name)lol

Jackie thought the baby needed a bear so she went to Build A Bear and made one! Isn't it just the cutest!

She was saying she need more lap because the gifts kept falling off. lol

This one of my favorites. It says, "Daddy's Bling Bling".

Another hand made quilt, just lovely colors.

Have you ever seen a baby spa and shower? What will they think of next?

There were four of these at the start of the party........Some one was having a good time and it wasn't me.....I had to drive. Bummer.

Thank you all for stopping by and visiting this post. My next post will be of Audrina herself so please stay tuned....and have a wonderful rest of the weekend.