Why Do They Say, "Sleep Like a Baby"?!

Remember how I once mentioned that I could only play nine holes of golf before folding up like a cheap suitcase?  Well, with keeping babies overnight it appears my limit is two nights.  Three days of keeping up with their (and my) daily routine and two nights of feedings.  Waking up in the middle of the night was always the worse thing to do when I had my babies in my twenties.  Unfortunately,  I must report that it is still just as terrible in my fifties.  Just this week I have been keeping our youngest grand, Grayson,  who is seven months old.  He still wakes up once in the middle of the night.  Night one I was all over it, jumping up the minute I heard the first whimper.  Hubby actually said I had not lost my "middle of the night barking orders skills" over the years.  I told him to get the bottle ready while I grabbed the baby and changed his diaper.  He said he stood at attention and said, "Yes mam!!"  Night two I never heard the baby cry and when Hubby finally awakened me to go get him,  I was like, "Huh?  What baby?"

Whenever Hubby came in at 5 O'Clock today he found me wrapped up in a blanket on my bed sound asleep.    I heard him calling my name and when I finally came to,  he asked if there was something wrong with me?  "What?  What are you talking about?", I said.  Well, he was wondering why I was in bed asleep at 5 O'Clock.  Hmmm...Let's see; I would have given him an eye roll but my eyes were WAY too tired to make that motion.  That question reminded me of another one I was asked by my mother when I was about 27 years old.  She looked at me one day and said, "You sure do look tired."  The bubble over my head said, "No crap.  I have 4 children ages 6 and under.  I can't imagine WHY in the world I would look tired.  Oh yea...It's probably because I AM tired...(sigh)".

And so, I do understand the need for routine and nap times where babies are concerned.  For mere survival.  Of the parent.  But then for me,  the dilemma becomes:  What will I do while they nap?  Will I catch up on all the laundry and dishes or perhaps even wash my face and brush my teeth?  Or will I attempt to catch a few Z's while they do the same?  Inevitably, I always end up trying to catch up on house work.  And that, my friend, is exactly why I find myself dragging throughout the day and longing for the moment the last feeding is finished so I can collapse into my bed.

Mamas, I'm just going to put it out there.  There are many things that you will miss whenever your child begins to grow up.  However, getting up in the middle of the night is not one of them.  I always forget how difficult this stage is until I have an overnighter with one of the babies and then I remember how much I love my sleep.  I know, I may be sad, sad woman but that's just the truth of the matter.  And by the way...Where did the saying "I'm gonna sleep like a baby" even come from anyway?  It should be I'm NOT gonna sleep like a baby!

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Maria's Field of Hope

After getting up at 4 am Wednesday morning and spending most of my day in airports I arrived in Cleveland sound 2:30. Exhausted. I mean I was ready to jump in bed by 6 o'clock. But that really wasn't an option. Holli had been anxiously awaiting my arrival for days and I needed to be in YaYa mode!  We decided to run pick up dinner and while we were out Caitlin asked if I would like to go to Maria's Field of Hope. Of course I wanted to visit this sunflower patch that I had only heard about and missed viewing last summer. However, I was not quite prepared for the emotional impact this field would have on me. 
                                   
   In April 2006, 6 year old Maria McNamara was diagnosed with a diffused intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), a terminal brain tumor that would take her life in the course of 14 months. Maria's parents founded www.prayersfrommaria that has awarded hundreds of thousand of dollars in research grants to fund the most promising childhood brain cancer studies. Maria's Field of Hope, was planted in 2014 to draw attention to the lack of funding for childhood cancer. The field was inspired by the spirit and memory of Maria McNamara, planted as a way to love and honor the courageous children who are battling cancer and those who were lost. 
                                   
    4.5 acres of both Russian Mammoth and Thunderbird sunflowers cover Maria's Field of Hope. 
                                 

                                 

                                 

                                
Throughout the field notes could be found tied to the sunflowers. Notes from family members in memory of children whose lives had been lost to cancer and also prayers for children suffering from this terrible disease. I was totally in awe at the number of notes I saw there. It broke my heart for all of those children battling cancer and for their families who were praying for their healing. And for those lost. As I turned around and around I saw so many notes. That represented so many children. My heart was heavy. I told Holli that these were for the sick children who were in the hospital and not able to get outside and play. We talked about how she needed to pray for them when she said her prayers each night. We continued to walk through the field and take some photos.

                     

                     

                     

                    

                   

                  
In August 2016 the city of Avon declared the Sunflower to be the Official Flower of the city in honor of Maria McNamara and the Sunflower Field she inspired. 

                  If you would like to make a donation, go to www.PrayersFromMaria.org or text    
                  "SUNFLOWER" to 91999. 
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The Last Weekend of Summer

Labor Day Weekend. The last weekend of summer. Or so they say. It still feels pretty hot here in the south and most likely will for at least another month. But because it was the last weekend of summer and the first weekend of college football season we decided to escape to the lake house for this long weekend. 

I was still attempting to recover from our Colorado trip. It was a wonderful getaway but there were planes delays, as usual, on our return trip and then all that catching up to do after being away for a week. And to top all of that off a flare-up with my stomach that left me reeling for days. I needed to just rest. To relax and recoup. And the lake house was the best place to achieve all of those goals. 

There really wasn't much of a plan for the weekend except to walk around town for a bit on Saturday morning and watch a little football that afternoon. Oh, and any trip to the lake wouldn't be complete without a couple of boat rides. 
                       
                    If you're gonna get on a boat, you may as well take a fishing pole with you...
                                       

                                       
                                                                  Boat riding was fun!
                                       
And the start of football season...well, the Tigers did start off very well. But Livie sure did look cute in her Game Day colors!


I needed this long weekend and really began to feel better by Sunday.  I slept in, ate light and piddled around. It was nice to have a few "do nothing days". But now Hubby and I are getting ready to both head out again, each going in separate directions for a week and a half. He, on an annual hunting/camping trip to Colorado and I to Cleveland to see Caitlin and the kiddos. I know, I know...Only home long enough to catch our breath buy hey, there are places to go and things to do and see.  And we, gypsies, don't want to miss one second of it!  So, off we go again in a couple of days. Hoping that by the time we return,  things might have cooled down a bit here. But we've lived here our entire lives and know that a small cool breeze in early fall is only a tease here in Louisiana. I'm sure we will still be running our air conditioners for Thanksgiving. But we will take what we can get. Even if it is only a small glimpse of what the rest of the country calls autumn. 
                      
                                                               Good-bye, Summer...
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