Wednesday, November 07, 2007, 20:13
Alexander Matthew
I'm a great-aunt again! His name is Alexander Matthew, and he is the son of my niece, Karn, and her husband, Matt.
Alex was born October 6. The court hearing that officially made him a part of our family took place on October 30.
Randy and I went to Karn and Matt's house on Sunday to see the little feller.
What a cutie-pie. He had a bit of trouble with the nipple and bottle combination his first few days at home, causing him to swallow too much formula too quickly so that he was spitting up.
Alex's dad said it was worse for them than it was for Alex because the little guy's tummy would get upset, he would spit up all over himself and his blanket and the bassinet. Then, while Mom and Dad got Alex changed and the bassinet cleaned up and a fresh blanket ready, Alex would go back to sleep.
By Sunday, the tummy problems had settled down. He was an extremely tired little boy and slept most of the afternoon. When he finally woke up and needed another bottle, we were able to get pictures.
Grandma (also known as my big sister, Loretta) held him for a while and cooed at him. Alex, for his part, looked up at his grandma and wondered, I think, what it was all about.
Randy held him, too. And when Alex was ready to eat, Randy fed him the first part of his bottle.
I got to feed him the last of his bottle. And when his tummy was full and he was ready to go to sleep, he curled up my shoulder. His tiny hand scritched open and closed -- open and closed -- against my sweater. I think he thought it felt soft under his hand.
When Alex was ready to go sound asleep again, his daddy wrapped him up (swaddled him) in his baby blanket and put him down for some rest. Alex likes to sleep with one hand pulled out of the blanket and flung up over his head.
Karn and Matt waited on the adoption list for more than two years before Alexander Matthew arrived. I think they would agree now that he was well worth the wait!
As far as I'm concerned, Alex's birth-mom, who will be invited to his baptism, will be on my prayer list forever. I'm hoping that she will come to the baptism and that when I meet her, she will let me give her a hug. Because to my knowledge, I've never hugged an angel before. . .
LeAnn R. Ralph
Wednesday, November 07, 2007, 07:07
Snow Showers
Monday was a really wild day around here. The wind was blowing at 30 to 40 mph out of the north/northwest. The sky was cloudy, for the most part. But it was not a "steady" cloudy. It was a "moving" cloudy. New clouds were moving through every little while, and the wind brought rain squalls and snow showers. A dark blue-black cloud would appear to the southwest, and then I knew another few minutes of precipitation was moving through.
For a while, it looked like a blizzard around here. In the morning when I took our Springer Spaniel, Charlie, for a walk around the hayfield, one of the show showers moved through. The wind was whipping the snow around and it was downright nasty and cold. Charlie didn't seem to mind the snow as long as he could be snooping around the hayfield. Our little Sheltie, Pixie, didn't seem to mind it, either. Of course, when I went in the house, Pixie wanted to come in. She didn't mind the snow. But she wasn't going to stay outside if I wasn't going to stay outside!
Tuesday was a nicer day with less wind, although it still felt unusually raw and cold outside. I guess we were getting spoiled with the mild weather we've been having lately.
It hasn't rained now for a couple of weeks so Isabelle's pasture and Kajun's pasture have finally gotten a chance to dry out.
The warm weather and the rain we have gotten this fall have convinced the chives that they should bloom again (instead of waiting until next spring). Some of my daylilies have got new flower stalks, too. Very strange indeed.
LeAnn R. Ralph
