Four Generations Meet!

Last week my Grandmother came to visit Ella. I have been looking forward to her meeting her Great Granddaughter for weeks. I never met my Great Grandparents, and after losing both Grandfathers and my Grandma Rita this meeting means so much. Being able to share the women in our family is so important, and I also love and look up to my Grandma so much that I feel blessed that Ella will be able to get to know her too.

You never know how long you will have the people you love in your life, and since I never met my Great Grandparents the memories of my parents is all that I have of these special people. In honor of that, I want to share 10 of my favorite memories of my Grandma Pat:

1. When I was little I would spend a long time in her bathroom going through her beauty products. She has this soapy smell that is a combination of her lotions, perfumes, and make up that I can smell even now that she isn't next to me. I would open her bottles and spray her perfumes and then try on all of her jewelry that she had in her jewelry box. As I got older her rings got tighter and her necklaces could no longer just slip on my little head. Now when I go to her house I still do this. I close the door and see what new things she has, try on her jewelry, and just smell her.

2. At the lake my Grandma always has Lubriderm lotion on her nightstand. I always use it because when I was little we had Suave (aka the cheap lotion). Her "expensive" lotion was a treat that I left was one of the finer things in life, and it always smelled so good. Now that I am a grownup I have my own bottle on my nightstand and use it every night.

3. My Grandparents would always take us to Skippers (seafood restaurant) when we would stay with them. My brother would get fish and chips, I would get clams because that is what Grandma would get and it seemed so grownup. I love friend clams now and order them often. She knows good food!

4. At Christmas time my Grandma would make hundreds of cookies. Sugar cookies, date filled cookies, thumb print, Russian tea cookies...all different kinds. She always makes me my favorite refrigerator cookies. They are brown sugary and crispy and yummy. She has two card tables that she sets up with boxes and boxes of cookies and candies and she lets you fill up a container with whatever kinds you want, as long as everyone leaves enough of the refrigerator cookies for me take home!

5. When I graduated from college I moved into an apartment without a washer or dryer. She would let me drop off my laundry and she would do it for me. She was always making comments about how my underwear was too small (thongs are a new thing for that generation I guess) and that I needed to unroll my socks, not just throw them into the bin in balls after I take them off. I still can't believe she would do my laundry...she even folded it! I would come and pick it up at the end of the day. I was so spoiled!

6. My Grandmother had the most beautiful Christmas tree I have ever seen. They would get it flocked in white and put blue lights and blue bulbs on it. The white tree with a blue glow is still to this day the prettiest Christmas thing I have ever seen. She stopped doing this a long time ago...getting a tree flocked is no longer a thing to do and she has a fake tree. I miss those giant white and blue trees. I miss them so much.

7. When I stayed with my Grandma when I was little we would watch Walker Texas Ranger every night. She would call it Walker. I loved that show so much, and would look forward to when we would finish dinner and I would sit on the couch, her in her chair, and watched our Walker on her big TV in the cabinet.

8. My Grandma would go to bed late and sleep in. This was a big deal as a kid because that means she was THE COOLEST OLD PERSON IN THE WORLD. Most "old people" would go to bed early and be up early, but my Grandma would stay up late and watch TV. It was so cool. She is still cool in this way. She will go and play bingo until 2am and won't schedule anything until later in the day the next day.

9. When I got married my Grandma let me pick out a pin from her jewelry that I could put on my bouquet. Going through her jewelry with her was so exciting, mostly because I would go through it when she didn't know because she has cool jewelry. She would pull something out and hold it in her hands and say "Oh Granddad gave this to me for Christmas." It was special and lovely and I actually never gave back the pin I used because it meant so much she let me use it...I don't think she knows this, hopefully she doesn't remember.

10. When she met my daughter she was so happy and immediately started smiling from ear to ear and talking to her as if she knew her her whole life. She held her and Ella smiled and seeing my Grandma play with her and talk to her made me realize how much my family means to me. Ella smiled and cooed at her, not even knowing what a special moment this was. A moment that I will tell her when she is older, and show her the photos of when she met one of the most special ladies I have ever known.

I hope everyone holds their Grandparents close if you still have them, and also hold in your hearts those who are no longer with us.

Here is a photo of me with my two Grandmas:

Monster Baby vs Monster Mom

Sometimes baby is the sweetest little soul on the planet. Other times she is Monster Baby - screaming, red faced, kicking, punching, and all out evil. I love her, but sometimes Monster Baby meets Monster Mom and BAM all the world falls apart. This has happened on several occasions. The crying baby causes mommy to cry and we both are helpless together. Seriously. Helpless.

 Happy Baby                                       Monster Baby

I did research constantly. Blogs, old wives tales, mom classes, popular books, you name it I was on there trying to combat Monster Baby with a much more calm Monster Mom. Well I found it! The Happiest Baby on the Block is by far the Monster Mom's toolkit to fend off Monster Baby. I love it and actually feel powerful when baby is melting down. Sure it doesn't work all the time. Monster Baby usually erupts in the evening and we have to dance the pasodoble around the bedroom - me loudly shooshing in her ear while lightly bouncing her and she screaming her head off only for Monster Mom to ultimately win when baby stops her fit and gently relaxes her body. It is empowering and exciting.

Image from Amazon.com

I love my Monster Baby so much, but as a mom it is hard to watch her so upset. When I'm going through my 5S's with her I only think that I wish I could swaddle her, side hold her, shoosh her, swing her, and give her a pacifier to suck when all of the world's troubles find her in her life. The first time another child hurts her feelings, her first heartbreak, the first time she fails at something...if only it were that simple. I know that my time being helpless is only beginning in terms of her life, and there won't always be a book to help me find out how to turn my Monster into an angel, or how to turn Monster Mom into Super Mom able to fix all problems in a matter of minutes. That scares me and worries me and sometimes when I'm holding my sleeping child in my arms I can't help but wish she would stay small and simple forever. Slowly she will grow and change and slowly the outside world will enter into her safely guarded world that right now is made up of me and daddy.

So for right now, Monster Baby vs Monster Mom is working out nicely. We are able to overcome what makes her cry and build on what makes her happy. We are a team now, and the more she grows I am hoping we can stay a team against whatever comes down the road.

Visitors!

Ella had a pretty busy week last week - we took her to our works to show her off to our coworkers and also we had a fun visit from Uncle Danny, Auntie Melody, and Grandma Connie. Her busy week also resulted in cranky baby and cranky mommy because mommy did not get a good nap in! Mommy needs her naps!

Here are some great photos from our visits:

Work Peeps - Jessica, Tina, Erin, and the gang all together!

Uncle Daddy and Auntie Melody Visit!

Ella's First Few Weeks Home

Ella is now two weeks and four days old. Having a baby is not easy...not that anyone ever tells you it will be, but you think something so small would never be able to cause so much havoc as she has. Being a mother is wonderful and terrifying all at once. You worry about everything. I was worried to dress her because she screams. Worried to feed her because what if she didn't eat enough. Worried to let her sleep because what if she stops breathing! I don't think the worrying will ever get easier, but the worry also is this extreme sense of love that you can't describe. I want to just spend hours staring at her. I made her! She came from me and is mine forever. Amazing.

The first few weeks were a whirlwind. I haven't left the house much, mainly because the doctor told me to limit walking and activity, also because I am totally freaked out about taking her out into the big bad world! Star and I took a walk with Ella around the block in her stroller. We made it half way before she started screaming. At that point Star got frustrated and started to walk erratically and wanted to get home fast. Fast and first time mommy with baby in stroller don't really go together...sorry Star. We did get out to go to Frost Donuts and Fred Meyer. We are planning an outing to Sears to look for appliances this afternoon. We are both a little worried...

As far as sleeping...Ella sleeps extremely well...when Ella wants to sleep. Diva! Sometimes she sleeps well at night, sometimes not. It is always hard to tell what the night will bring - wonderful dreams and sweet cuddles, or frustrated and blurry tears mixed with screams. Ella also likes to growl. She growls at night when she is semi-asleep. We don't want to wake her, so often I'll just sit and stare at her as she throws her arms and legs in the air and growls. It is adorable unless you have been listening to the monster baby growl for hours on end. Then it is not so adorable. We are hoping she gets better and the monster baby growl will stop. Or maybe when she moves to her own room the growling will be less pronounced through the monitor. Sleepovers with friends may be very awkward when she is older...hee hee. Here is my sweet sleeping child, if only she looked like this at all times.

We have been blessed to have all Grandparents welcome Ella in the past two weeks, and are looking forward to Uncle Danny and Auntie Melody to come this weekend. Here are some pictures from the visits as well as a picture of Auntie Erin. Very important to have an Auntie close, even if she is our adopted Auntie! I am extremely lucky to have such a great friend, plus she brought us dinners from the cooking club ladies and sushi...oh how I missed sushi!

 Grandpa Dave come to visit with Brenda - LOVE!

 Grandma Connie with Ella hours after birth.

 Grandpa George and Grandma Nancy hours after birth.

 Auntie Erin visiting - wide awake little Ella!

Gotta include my first sushi since November - yummers!

Introducing Elizabeth (Ella) Rita

September 2, 2011 was a day that I will never forget. It was the day that I became a mother. At 12:24am my beautiful daughter, Elizabeth Rita, came into our lives and things have never been the same. We feel so lucky and at the same time challenged like we never could have imagined. I want to share her birth story here so it is forever documented and so that I can share this great event with everyone!

Ella's Entrance Into Our Lives:

I had been waiting for a week for my daughter to come. I was doing everything to go into labor - spicy food, yoga, exercise ball, long walks. Nothing was working and I would sit in the baby room and cry thinking I would never have my little one to hold. I was exactly one week overdue and we had just finished dinner when I was cleaning up the kitchen and had a sudden pain. I stopped and it went away quickly. Probably nothing, so I sat down on the couch to watch the Mariners. Minutes later I had a contraction. I looked at Brad and said "Um...that was a contraction!" before I knew it another came, then another. Brad decided to go and pack his bag just in case. I asked him how many back to back we needed to have before calling the hospital. He couldn't remember and neither could I so I got out the paperwork from our class. That's when I freaked out because it said to call when you have 5-6 contractions in an hour. I had that many in 20 mins. He came down and I told him to call the hospital. The nurse told us to come on in and they would check me. We hurried to get the dog put in her kennel and get everything in the car. I also made sure to floss my teeth, since apparently that was very important at the time.

On the way to the hospital at about 8:30pm I started to feel sick. I asked Brad to pull over, but he couldn't in time so I rolled down the window and at 60 miles an hour his car needed to be washed. I asked him to still pull over and then threw up again on the side of the road.

We finally got to the hospital and went to check in. They waiting room was full of people and they all stared at me as I was in so much pain I was doubled over. The lady told us to have a seat. Not something a woman in labor wants to hear. They told us to wait by the vending machines. I was on my hands and knees in pain when the nurse came in and asked if I was okay. No. I was not okay. She took me into a shared room and asked me to take some tests and was asking all sorts of questions. I could barely answer and was not in the chatty mood.  She checked me and said I was at 7cms and we were staying. Thank god!

They then made me walk to the delivery room that was down the hall. I walked and crawled into the bed where they asked me a ton of questions and made me sign paperwork. I may have sold my kidney on those papers but I could have cared less. They tried to get an IV in for fluids, but had trouble. As I was sitting there Brad rushed to the car to get our things and call our parents. When he came back I asked if I could get in the whirlpool tub. They said yes, pulled off these stupid socks they had forced on to my feet and BAM I was in the tub. It felt wonderful and as Brad says my eyes glassed over and I looked in heaven.

They told me to let them know when I felt I needed to push, which I said I did right away so they made me get out to check me. I was at 9, but they told me I needed to wait a little before pushing. I immediately asked to get back in the tub, so I rushed back in. The midwife came and was an angel. She was so calm and caring, I just feel so blessed to have her!

What seemed like no time, she checked and I was ready to push. I got out and after an hour of pushing little Elizabeth Rita Beeman made her crying and perfect appearance. I had no drugs or interventions, and immediately felt amazing because my little one was on my chest and we could fall in love. She came out with all of the tests showing she was perfect and I was in no pain at that point.

She was 7lbs 12 oz, 20 inches long born at 12:24am on September 2, 2011. She has a full head of brown hair and her daddy's long toes. We love her!

We decided to name her after her two Great Grandmothers that are no longer with us - Great Grandma Betty and Great Grandma Rita. We are calling her Ella for short. We waited to tell everyone her name, and also to pick her name! We were still deciding a few days before she was born, but once we saw her we knew that she was a blessing and deserving of these two special names.

More to come as this new adventure is unfolding...

Edinburgh June 10th - 11th

Our Trip to Edinburgh, Scotland was very fast - only about one and a half days. I think I could have stayed there all two weeks though! Scotland is very beautiful, and the people are extremely friendly and full of life.

We visited the Edinburgh castle, the Royal Mile, and took a Scotch Tour. The weather was still rainy but we had a few sun breaks which was very nice! We had a beautiful hotel at the Royal Scots Club, nice bed and we actually had a bathroom bigger than my closet! Thank god! Just walking around Edinburgh you were able to see some of the most beautiful and interesting buildings. Most are very old, with the oldest buildings up on the top of the large hill. We were able to see a lot of great things and learn a little history by taking a Hop on Hop Off bus tour. This way you can see everything from the top of vintage buses and don't have to walk the crazy hill!

The next day we walked up to the Royal Mile. The Royal Mile is a great shopping district that starts at the Castle and goes down for a mile...imagine that! They have all sorts of great Scottish trinkets like kilts, thistles, and history of Scottish family names. It is tempting to want to clad yourself in plaid and play the bagpipes, but then again that look isn't really popular in the States! It was really fun to forget about everything and experience the funny parts of being a tourist, like trying on hats and seeing different types of Scotch. The end of the Royal Mile is the Queen's palace for when she visits. She wasn't in town, but through the bars you can see a very nice grounds that must be a nice place for her to vacation...from her other palaces all the UK...man I wish I were Queen!

We then went to the Edinburgh Castle where the Scottish Crown Jewels (must less exciting than the Queen's Jewels) and also experienced a real castle. I was a little disappointed that it wasn't exactly what I thought it would be - think Sleeping Beauty. It was very rustic but pretty amazing considering how old it was and how when it was built there weren't cranes or cars to move the large stones around. It was really neat as they had set up several different areas to go into the building like a military museum, Mary Queen of Scot's bedroom, and of course the Crown Jewels. you can see the entire city from the top of the castle - pretty impressive if you think of how the view would have looked hundred of years ago. You really could have seen your enemies approaching not to mention an entire army of your enemies approaching from England. they do seem pretty bitter about the whole English rule thing, especially since it was a very brutal and bloody part of their history. The Scottish Pounds are actually different from the English Pounds, showing more Scottish heroes that the Royalty. Interesting...

After the Castle tour we decided to taste some Scotch Whiskey. I have never been a fan of Whiskey, but hey when in Scotland! The Scotch Whiskey Experience as it is called is a ride in a whiskey barrel through the Scotch Whiskey making process. It is actually pretty entertaining, and after walking all over the Castle a welcome sitting and low energy ride! After the Disney-like whiskey making process you go to a room where you are

introduced to the different types of Scotch from the different regions. They have a fruity, floral, sweet, and smokey flavors all based on different regions and made slightly different based on peat and water types. Way more that I ever thought I would need to know. You smell the different types and then make your choice of what to sample. I chose the sweet and Brad chose the fruity (I think....). Either way, they tasted nothing like you thought they would. They just tasted like alcohol and burning. We learned how to add water to bring out more flavors (if there were more flavors other than alcohol and burning) and then saw the world's largest Whiskey collection. All in all very interesting and one little tasting was enough for both of us! We bought Dan a little sample since he is the only Whiskey drinker we know. Hopefully he enjoys it!

After the Whiskey Experience we decided to enjoy a few pints...a little more our taste. We went to a very old pub where we tasted Scotland's finest brews and listened to several locals talk - their brawls were so beautiful you find yourself just wanting them to talk!

That was our time in Scotland - much too short for me! We had an early flight to Germany in the morning to Frankfurt to meet our friend Steve who would be driving us to Heidelberg.

London Cont.

London blog post 2 (for Uncle Eddie) will include our exciting ride on the London Eye, the National Gallery, British Museum, Tower of London, and of course Chelsea Football.

The London Eye was first built for the new Millennium, and the futuristic Ferris wheel dominates the London skyline - a bit controversial for some, but hey so was the Eiffel Tower in its time! Normally the lines for this "ride" wrap around the block, but we chose to go a little later in the day and when the weather was a little drizzly. Not to say that anytime in London the weather is anything but drizzle...but apparently tourists like to avoid the Eye in the rain. There is a very "exciting" 3D video you watch and then up you go! On our ride we had a child that was a little whiny, but other than that it was really amazing! The view was great, even if there were a few raindrops on the windows. If you are into seeing skylines from above this is a must, but not really worth waiting for hours to get on if you ask my opinion. We were lucky to be able to walk right on, and I would have loved to see it at night since it is open late for those city light seekers! Here are a few amazing photos of the skyline!

Next we visited two museums - the National Gallery and the British Museum. The National Gallery is extremely overwhelming when you first enter as there are thousands upon thousands of paintings lining hundreds of rooms, but we opted to download Rick Steves' podcast on the National Museum. He walks you through each room and directs you to the more famous or most interesting photos and explains each one. It was sort of like having a tour guide, but one with a great sense of humor and knowledge about not just art but history. I highly recommend that if you want to see a museum but want to do it in an hour - Rick Steves' tours are free and easy to follow. We also used Rick's British Museum tour for the first part of our British Museum experience. The British Museum is very big and overwhelming. I'm not much for Museums...and this is the ULTIMATE MUSEUM. Rick's tour takes you through Ancient Egypt, Rome, and a little of Ancient Asia. Again, Rick is a funny guy, so this was a great way to say I went to a museum without having to actually read the little descriptions or pay for the audio guide. We went back the next day to do our own tour, but really Rick's was pretty awesome so we didn't spend too much time there. What more could you ask for - a free and entertaining tour that gets you in and out in about two hours!

The London Tower was my one MUST DO experience in London. I have a love for Royal History, and the London Tower is crawling with history and of course the crown jewels! The fortress is still standing and though it has had a few changes over the years, it still maintains some of the historical pieces that make it absolutely stunning! After watching The Tudors on Showtime I was excited to see where Anne Boleyn spent her last hours, where the traitors were brought in by boat, and also where the executions took place right out in public! Over flowing with French School children that like to push and shove their way past you, it was hard to really take it all in, but again once the London skies opened up we had the place pretty much to ourselves and everyone darted for the refreshments.

The Crown Jewels were amazing. Amazing. The way they showcased them with showing Queen Elizabeth's coronation and outlining the line of Royals in the entrance, you really start to appreciate the ceremony involved in just a few pieces of jewelry. Most people pushed past us to get to see the jewels, but we took our time to watch the presentations and it really is worth it! There is no photography, so sorry no photos, which means everyone needs to go themselves! The crowns are very large covered in diamonds and precious jewels that have been handed down through each Royal Family. You ride a conveyor belt past them, most people gawking and then leaving, but we rode it twice, going on each side. I only wish I could have tried them on...I'm sure the Queen wouldn't mind! It is exciting to think that when Charles or William get crowned they will be using these jewels - and I saw them!

The Tower of London also have a pretty impressive collection of armory in the White Tower. You can see how the armor has changed over the years, and also the size of the royals! Henry the XII was a pretty big guy who also really liked to show off his "family jewels". I have a few photos, but it is really impressive in person!

We were unable to go and see where Anne was buried as you have to be on the Beefeaters tour, which we didn't take since there wasn't one happening when we first arrived. The Beefeaters apparently live in the Tower, and from a few of the buildings you can see the lives of today mixed with the buildings of yesterday. Very strange as we would never have people living in our national monuments like this...well other than the White House of course! There is also a raven keeper that takes care of the ravens. There is an old tale that London would fall if there weren't ravens at the Tower, so there are of course ravens. There are a lot of stories of the ravens, and apparently they are very intelligent. They like to steal things from the visitors and also can mock different sounds like dogs or machinery which they like to taunt people with. We didn't see any of this...but they are very pretty!

Though the Tower is beautiful, it does have a very frightening past with several prisoners and executions in the main lawn. They actually have the "chopping block" in the museum which you can see had been well used...pretty crazy! They now have a memorial on the site of where most executions happened, so you can literally see where many lost their lives We also got to visit the tower where many were kept before their executions. This of course had a wonderful view of the chopping block! The Tower was very fun and a great glimpse into life before the USA was even thought of - and I highly recommend it!

After the Tower, we decided to do something a little different - visit a Football Club. We rode the subway to Chelsea to see the Chelsea Football Club. It was a neat little ride as most people on the train were locals since we got away from the touristy sections of London. A short walk to the stadium and you can see just how much Football means to Europeans. They have some exciting photo ops outside...which we were excited to use! They really should have more photo sites like this in Europe...maybe places you can stick your head through so it looks like you are wearing the crown jewels or something...anyway....

The tour of Chelsea was very inexpensive but very informative! They took us through the entire stadium including the players locker rooms and the pitch. They had a museum with Seattle Sounders scarves since the Sounders played Chelsea last year. It was fun to see - a little taste of home! We have some great photos of the experience, and I highly recommend it!

From London we caught a flight up to Edinburgh, Scotland. More to come on the beautiful and amazing Scotland!