Rose by any other name…

I got to play Grandma this weekend! It was wonderful!!

A new dilemma has presented itself. What shall my "Grandma" name be??

I grew up old school. I did not have a "Mi-Mi," or a "Me-Maw" or any deviation thereof. I had a Grandma Watson and a Grandma Kirby. Our girls grew up with a Grandma Joyce and… Oh Lord, you won't believe what my mom's name turned into….Grandma Bada!

You have got to hear the story of the evolution of my mom's name. My mother's given name is LuVada. The first round of her grandchildren called her Grandma… plain and simple. Well, when Katie came around she started referring to her as Grandma Bada….possibly my mom tried to get her to say "Vada" and being a little tyke it came out "Bada." I'm not sure when it happened it just happened, and it stuck! My mom started referring to herself as "Grandma Bada" and even called my dad "Papa Bada." Crazy, huh?? Grandma Bada is, well, Grandma Bada to this day, 20 some years later!!

Katie had put much thought into what I would be called when she finally blessed with a grandchild and she came up with "Marmie." In case you do not recognize the name, Marmie is what the sisters in the book Little Women called their mother. The girls and I loved watching Little Women together and reading the books. We love all versions- the black n white one with Elizabeth Taylor and the modern remakes. I would ask the girls, "Why can't you be nice and sweet like those sisters?" Anyway, Marmie it was to be!

Marmie is a mouthful to say and it is very close to sounding like mommy. I don't' know if it will stick. This weekend we tried out a bunch of names. Down here in the South they have me-maws and maw-maws and mi-mi's…oh my! I do not like Maw-maw or me-maw. I love all things southern but not that!!

We tried on Gee-Gee, it was okay. The bottom line is Cole will decide what he wants to call me and whatever it is I will gladly answer to whatever that may be. With one exception I WILL NOT answer to the name Kenny suggested…..BIG MOMMA!! If I hear that name someone gonna die!!

Attention Please

I have started my own blog spot.  You can check it out at: http://tammyflaming-diva.blogspot.com/
I hope it makes you laugh a little, think a little and be happy your not as crazy as those  people in the Flaming family!

It’s a Hoover kind of week

Some things in life just suck…they suck like a big giant Hoover Canister Vacuum! They suck like the vacuum on the sit-com that sucks up the hamster or the parakeet. They suck like the time I sucked up the frayed end of a throw carpet and unraveled half the carpet before I could get the vacuum turned off. Things, people, circumstances they can suck the joy and peace right out of lives! Right now I can feel the tug of the vacuum cleaner nozzle on the back of my neck!

Here is my list of sucky things…

Snotty teenagers that keep making stupid decisions or worse can't make a decision

Waiting….I don't care what you're waiting for, waiting sucks

Being separated from those we love

Broken relationships

Cars that keep breaking down

Being overweight- nobody likes being the fat chick; I don't care how old you are

Being in a rut

Not having a maid

Being the victim of someone else's stupidity

This is not a complete list. My list varies from day to day. It's been a long week. I am not typically a negative person. Am I allowed as a Christian to say out loud that things suck? Am I exhibiting lack of faith or a lack of spirituality to acknowledge there are things in my life that get me down? I don't think so. I believe God knows and understands the suckiness of life. Jesus tells us "Come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest." (Matt. 11:28) Jesus is talking of our spiritual condition- being burdened by our sin and separation from God but I know we can also go to Jesus to find peace in the midst of the sucky things of life. My flesh wants to wallow in self pity and doubt that things will ever get better. The cruel reality is that some things don't ever get better. BUT I don't walk in separation from God I walk as a child of God. I do have peace and rest available to me. So I sit here feeling the tug of the worries of life but I have assurance that I'm not that hamster it will not kill me!

 

Catching Up

I have not been on here sense Cole has been born so let me quickly catch you up on the last three months.

1. Cole is perfect!
2. Katie and Jake are awesome parents
3. Cole prefers his papaw Kenny over me- but not for long

Katie and Jake are very attentive parents and it is sweet to see Jake help Katie as much as he does with Cole. Cole is a very happy baby and there is never a shortage of willing arms to hold the little guy.
As you may know my #2 daughter, Rebekah was married in June. The wedding was held in Ellendale, North Dakota. Katie, Cole, Kendra, Rachel and I all rode the Amtrak from Hammond, Louisiana to Fargo North Dakota- that was a 31 hour train trip!! Kenny flew to the wedding- I still don't know how he dodged the bullet on that one! Anyway, it was great fun…for the first 4 hours, and then it was just a beating! The whining, crying and fussing was just more than I could stand! We will never take Rachel on another train trip ever! HA, HA
Cole was a perfect angel it was the others that were the problem. Katie immediately got extra mommy points for making that trip. You can only imagine what it was like to pack and plan for all the needs of a 6 week old baby. We did manage to have a lot of laughs and you must hear Katie's "Nodak" accent.
Cole was able to meet Great Grandma Joyce, Grandpa Charles and "The Aunts" and a few cousins on the trip also. Being with Cole for 24/7 for 8 days forced my mommy instincts to kick in. Up to then it was a little strange and awkward holding him and I felt like I was going to break him. However, after, oh let's say 10 hours on the train it all came back to me and felt just as right as rain to hold him and feed him and juggle him around. Katie is a good sport and keeps an ever alert eye on the baby but is not soo over protective that she freaks out over every little thing. She does have to remind her sisters that he IS NOT A TOY and to be careful! When we returned to Louisiana and got off the train and we all still loved each other but we agreed that we had had enough family time together!
Cole just adores Kenny!! Kenny can get Cole to laugh and smile and coo like nobody's business!! I on the other hand get barely a response! Oh, yeah he smiles up at me while I'm feeding him his bottle – but that doesn't count he would smile at anyone that was feeding him!! Just the sound of Papaws voice makes Cole go crazy! What is up with that?? I pretend like it bothers me but it really does not! I know I will win Cole over; I'm just letting Papaw have his little moment in the sun. I know the way to a child's heart is thru play dough, tent forts and ice-cream…I'll win him over!!
Katie has quite work and is taking a few college classes this fall. I'm glad she is able to stay home and not have to put Cole in day care. It will not be easy but she and Jake can do it!
Kenny, Rachel and I drove over to Lafayette Sunday afternoon and enjoyed spending the day with them. I did make a few observations. When Katie put the nursery together she hung every little outfit on a hanger- yes every little footed sleeper, everything but plain onesies. I made a comment about how that was not practical- she argued that she liked it that way! Well, I chuckled to myself Sunday when I noticed that all of his little outfits were now in a basket and not on hangers!! My first "told ya so!!"
This  Grandma thing is going to be fun!!

The doctor said the “F” word … formula

The doctor said the "F" word … formula
After 26 hours of Cole not having a BM or soiled diaper I knew I needed to take him to the doctor….
We weighed once we got there and he indeed had lost over a pound in weight and he was only five days old. The doctor listened quietly to my story of how I have been feeding Cole every hour to 2 hours and he seemed to be frustrated. She quietly looked at the scale and then said "I believe you're not producing enough milk and I think you need to supplement with formula." It was like a slap to the face…..I was not enough for my baby? The doctor might as well have said "Katie your inadequate. "
It took three days and a lot of soul searching to not cringe when I feed Cole the bottle.
I can't be everything for Cole.  He will one day be his own little person ….I was being selfish and it was my ego swelling up and wanting to get in the way.  Would I starve Cole just so that my ego wouldn't be bruised? Why did I feel like I had to be completely perfect and be everything for Cole? One day he will want to use the potty on his own, he will one day eat solid foods, or maybe, gosh... one day want to be with his dad over me.  How far would I let my ego flair out of control? Well, it's going to stop here!
"It's not about me."
My husband and I are merely our child's custodians. We are his shapers, but not his maker. That part was done elsewhere. His behavior in a restaurant  reflects on our abilities as parents, but their genius does not. We might encourage and direct their particular talents but we do not bestow them. That too, was done
elsewhere.
No matter what happens with blood tests, feeding or anything that may come up I know that its time to remain humble and have faith  and remember that it's not about me.
Cole still loves me, he still needs me, I am adequate ……..

He’s Here!!

Cole has arrived!

April 19, 2010

8:31 PM

8 pounds, 12 ounces

21 inches long

I can't wait for Katie to write about her birth experience.

You know Katie will describe it only as she can!!

You know your Nine months pregnant when….

You know you are nine months pregnant when….

 

 

You can't get out of the bath tub without your husband's help…true story.

 

You drop something and you look at it and think "do I really want to pick that up?"

 

Getting in and out of the car is such a chore that you would just rather not run errands.

 

You don't get too offended when your sister says you are the size of a baby hippo….you actually think "wow only a baby hippo"? I was thinking a full grown adult hippo pregnant with twins…

NOBODY mistakes you for just being fat … everyone now looks at you with a "aaawww getting close to the end" pity looks on their faces…

 

You start dreaming about sleeping on your stomach…

 

Sex would be awesome but you can't shake the thoughts of "I'm a size of a hippo" out of your head…

 

You spill something and cry because it's the fourth time you spilled something that day….

 

You can shave up to your knees but anything past that you're going in blind…

 

You wake up in the middle of the night and the entire left side of your body is asleep and the thought of rolling over is such a chore that you think "ok take your time, build up

momentum, you can do it"…..

 

You realize that the only shoes you have worn in the last two weeks are your husband slippers or the flip flops you bought last summer by mistake that are two sizes larger than normal….

When you sweep your floors but leave the piles for your husband to get because that requires bending over…

 

You now know what the restroom in every store in your town looks like …..

 

You get sad when you have Braxton hicks contractions…you secretly hope every time that they would be the "real" thing..

 

Every day you think … I cannot make it anymore.. He has to come today.. He just has to….