A year Ends, A Year Begins

As the year 2007 wraps up, I reminisce about all that occurred on the last days of December. Our family gathering after Christmas was held here. It seemed the right place to be, collecting all the children, and grandchildren together with the parents, listening to the laugher, the excitement of opening presents, the sharing of food and lives, the connectedness we feel of family. For some it is brief, for others, lingering as the day ends. I love it all.
So my resolve for the New Year is to keep this family of ours connected, and receptive to each others needs, and wants, and mostly, love, laughter, and life.
I spent the last day of the year, helping a new mom bring her baby into this world. Always, such joy! And then, getting a phone call early New Year's day from my son, telling me he became a Daddy for the first time @ 11 pm on N.Y. eve, and welcomed Luci Belle into the world and this family. Tremendous Joy! All is well, and Mama Maja is overwhelming joyful.
With one day to get ready, I took down the Christmas tree, ran to the store to get some groceries, order a plant for a dear friend who's father had died, bought a sweater and hat, and baby Levi set for Luci, packed, and awoke @ 5am the next day to catch a plane to Spokane.
So good to see you, son, as we drove to his apartment, and he filled me in on the details of Maja's labor,and Luci's birth. We spent the night at the apartment, met Milly, the cat, and cuddled baby Luci. What a little doll. Who does she look like? I see Adam, and Maja both, but am partial to Adam's looks in the eyes, and mouth.
She's a nightowl, so not much sleep was had by the parents, and the reason he had no showers, so the next day, after visiting the Pediatrician for a check-up(She weighed 7lbs.1oz, almost back to her birth weight of 7lbs.3ozs.), we headed over to her parents home to live for the rest of my stay. Her family is great, met both brothers, and sis, Robin, Mom, and Dad. They had a guest room for me, and room for the new family, too. It felt awkward, at first, being their guest, but as I talked to Priscilla(Maja's mom) we became very comfortable with each other, and hopefully, will remain friends always. She has such a good heart, and takes in many of her family members,and friends, cooking great meals, and making you feel at home. We shared the baby, and advice, and meals. Putting our heads together, we plotted out our children's lives. We even toured the city, and went to church together.
Alas, time came for me to leave, gathering up my photos, and bags, hugs and kisses all around, and sadly, saying good-bye to all, gosh, it's hard to leave, not seeing the baby again, for a while. Better post new pictures soon!
Spokane is a beautiful city, with ponderosa pines, mountain views, beautiful lakes, hotels, and snowy weather. Maybe I'll see more this summer when the wedding plans are formalized in August.
Since i've been back home, it's been work, work, work. Except, when I went with my hubby to St. Cloud on Friday to see the VA Dr. about his high blood pressure, and dizzy spells. When I told them about his sleep disturbances, the Dr. thinks it could be sleep apnea that's causing his problems. They now have a home testing for it, having him wear a glove, which measures the adrenaline levels, to see how severe it is. If high, he will be fitted for a C-Pap mask. Actually, he was relieved it wasn't his heart causing the inc. BP. Maybe this will help his tiredness, too.