He shares a birthday with Mick Jagger and Sandra Bullock

Things have been busy around here! Our second grandchild arrived into the world on July 26^th after keeping his mom, dad and grandparents up all night at the hospital.  At the end his O2 level fell and he was born quickly by c-section. It was scary for everyone, but little Maverick Stephen is a beautiful healthy little guy and much loved by his extended family. His mom E#1 did a heck of a job and is recovering from the surgery and an infection and is so happy to be out of the hospital after a six day stay.

I was curious as to who little Mav shares a birthday with so I Googled it and found this site that seems to have the most complete listing of historical figures and present day celebrities. Click on the link to read the long list, many of whom I’ve never heard of.

http://holidayyear.com/birthdays-July-26.php

Some that stick out the most to me are actresses like Helen Mirren, Sandra Bullock and Bette Davis and creative musicians/composers like Wolfgang Mozart, Keiko Matsui and Mick Jagger. There is the groundbreaking film director Stanley Kubrick who directed “2001 A Space Odyssey.” There is also Aldous Huxley who wrote “Brave New World” a pessimistic portrayal of the future that was required reading at my high school. A couple more interesting people who share this birthday are the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung who wrote about dream analysis and George Bernard Shaw an Irish writer who was famous a humanist and thinker in his day.

Quite a diverse list! Welcome to the world little Maverick, may you grow strong and healthy and be exactly what God intends for you to be and discover and use the skills and abilities He has given you.

Love always,

Grandma Lou

Flowers For The Birthday Girls

My very first grandchild was born today April 28, 2011 at 9:36 A.M.  She weighs 7lbs. and 14 oz and is 20 inches long. She has a little bit of brown hair and is “just perfect” according to my son. Her name is Caroline Faith VC and can be called Callie. Her mom coincidentally has a very good friend named Callie. We are thrilled and cannot wait to go to Kansas to meet her in person although we will have a Skype date later today. We are blessed on this beautiful spring day. The tulips just opened up for the first time today.

Birthday girl number two is my dear sister in law Jill married to my only brother.  I didn’t realize today was her birthday as well until I called to give my parents the good news about baby Caroline. It is good to have other people you love to share a birthday with.

Birthday girl number three is Dayana in Guatemala. We started sponsoring her last fall when we learned our grandchild was to be born in late April. I chose Dayana because her birthday was April 28^th but didn’t really think our granddaughter would actually be born that day. Dayana is eight years old today and is a Compassion ministry child. She lives in a very impoverished area but gets extra help with food and clothing through the local ministry team and also receives Bible teaching. I had to send her birthday card out (in Spanish) weeks ago.

What a happy day for us. I love all the birthday girls.

Lou       

Twelve reasons why my children will be great parents

1. They are not sixteen years old. Having gone through the college years and lived as self-supporting adults they have maturity and experience in their favor.

2. They are married (well except for E#2 and she is not contemplating parenthood yet). Having the legal protections of the state where they live is in their favor.

3. They are not criminals. Having no arrest warrants outstanding and no stints in prison is in their favor.

4. They have faith in a higher power. Having a sense of humility and believing that there is One greater than oneself is in their favor.

5. They have a sense of humor. Having the ability to laugh at the absurdities of life and just for the pleasure of laughing is in their favor. Did you see the YouTube video of the baby laughing hysterically while his dad tore up a sheet of paper?

6. They have a support system. Having parents, grandparents, siblings, friends, coworkers and a church family to talk with and to pray with and for encouragement is in their favor.

7. They have a roof over their heads. Having a home and a yard for a child to play in is in their favor.

8. They babysat for others a time or two. Having been paid to be responsible for children is in their favor.

9. They have owned pets. Having to be responsible for feeding and caring for another living creature is in their favor.

10. They have jobs. Having to be accountable to an employer and to be to work on a certain schedule is in their favor.

11. Billions of other humans have done this successfully. Having a long human history of parenthood behind them is in their favor.

12. There are two of them and only one child per expecting couple. Having the baby outnumbered is in their favor. Think of the poor Octomom and her brood.

Dad and I have complete confidence in you (both couples)! Do not fear. Pray. Take advice from experts with a grain of salt. Relax and enjoy the ride, don’t over think it. My list is a bit tongue -in- cheek to show you that you have everything going for you. Not that it will be a cakewalk, but that you can do this and do it well. We can’t wait!

Lou

So There E#2!

Hello,

This blog space is a gift to me from my daughter E#2 and sort of a dare I think to actually write something. I am a reader of blogs of all kinds and not much of a writer, but I’ll go ahead and take a stab at it. She named it after the movie title “Eat Pray Love” which is also a book title I guess, neither of which I know anything about. Julia Roberts stars in the movie.

The blog title Hike Pray Quilt is as apt as anything I guess as I do love to hike, having discovered this in my late forties and early fifties and am now wishing I had hiked much more when I had the knees for it. I also quilt some but am still very much a novice. My best work so far is the queen size quilt on our bed from a Thimbleberries pattern. The praying part has been a necessary part of my life since my early twenties when I came back to God and rededicated my life to Him. I have no regrets there, but my need to pray is as great as ever. In fact I just started attending a new group study based on a book by Philip Yancey called “Prayer Does It Make Any Difference?"

My three children are all grown and two are now married. P the oldest, turned 30 this year, yikes! He is a manager/trader at a large grain handling facility in the Midwest. He is married to the lovely K who brings fun and laughter into the family. E#1 is 26 and is a hard working professional in diagnostic imaging and a kind and loving person. She is married to the unique and wonderful C who likes to tinker on cars and trucks and is working on his college degree after six years in the military. They live the closest to us in Colorado. E#2 who gave me the blog as a birthday gift and is almost 24, is in graduate school in Nebraska and who knows where life will be taking her in the future. S is my husband of 33 years, I don’t know how he has put up with me all these years. We are beginning to contemplate his/our retirement years. We are also expecting our first grandchild in 2011! P and K are taking the plunge into parenthood and we couldn’t be happier.

I had a career that spanned about twenty years in physical therapy that I enjoyed for the most part except for the charting and paperwork that took a chunk of time away from the therapy with the rehab patients that I always enjoyed the most. I worked with a wonderful rehab team at my final job and still get together with them every few months to stay in touch. They include two occupational therapists, a physical therapist and a speech and language pathologist. Wonderful, bright, inspiring women all. In 1988 I suffered a fall on our driveway at home and fractured my left hip requiring a surgical repair. Even after muscle strengthening exercises I never felt fully confident in transferring patients again from a bed to wheelchair etc. I was afraid that the leg might give way and I would drop a patient. That is part of the reason I eventually stopped working part time. I also thought the kids needed someone there when they got home from school. I still maintain my license though for some reason and have been unable to let it just lapse.

That is plenty enough for a first post. Maybe in the future I’ll figure out how to link to some great stuff I’ve found out on the internet and add some words of wisdom (cough) or advice(cough) for my children from time to time. They’ll love that.

Lou