Nakey Baby

• We never slept through the night this last week.
• There was extra laundry to do.
• Going to the bathroom or taking a shower was more of a "community" event rather than a solo adventure.
• Cleaning and cooking just DIDN'T happen.

This could only mean one thing.

Our 1-year-old grandbaby blessed us with her presence for a week. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I had forgotten a lot of things about having an itty bitty one in my home round the clock. BUT, I did quickly re-learn what had been stored in the recessses of my mind. Things like ...

No matter how cute the baby is when she's "nakey", it's best to not let her run around and play that way. Nakey babies tend to pee pee on the carpet. Once the carpet has been baby-sprinkled, she won't be very happy when you take away her freedom and insist on her wearing a diaper. Your next act will be to be scrub the carpet with carpet cleaner while simultaneously trying to comfort a very unhappy, now-diapered little one.

She'll ACT like she's okay with drinking from her sippy cup, but she's just biding her time. Once you relax, the sippy cup will be thrown to the floor, the baby will be lying on the floor screaming, and you'll be frantically scrambling to find the bottle. Honestly, what the baby wants, the baby needs, right?!? At least, that's the case at Nammy's house.

Sleeping with a small child is like trying to sleep with a windmill ... or an octopus ... or in the midst of a tornado ... or next to an Olympic prize fighter.  And, the littler the baby, the more space she'll take up in the bed. Also, babies sweat while they're sleeping... a LOT. Since the baby is sleeping on you, you'll wind up sweating as well. But since there's nothing more precious and adorable than a sleeping baby who wants to cuddle with you, you'll put up with being punched and crawled on and sweated on during the night.

And you know what? It was all wonderful ... and great ... and I wanna do it again. I liked having a baby around our house. Every single nook and cranny was filled with the sweet smells of a baby freshly out of the bathtub ... her infectious giggles ... her mimicking us of brushing our hair ... her little hands patting my arm and shoulders as I rock her to sleep. I loved every single moment with our dimpled grandbaby, and I'm grateful that she was patient enough to teach me while her Nammy re-learned living with a little one. I've got news for you. There's nothing better!!

Do - Be - Do - Be - Do!

I just can't help it. I have to talk about my grandbabies today. We have two granddaughters ... and they're gorgeous ... and precious ... and intelligent ... and adorable ... and everything else wonderful that you can think of. Seriously, they're probably two of the cutest little girls you'll ever have the privilege of seeing. Of course, I just happen to have pictures to prove that fact, and I'm only tooooo happy to share the proof with you. Add to all of the above qualities of our sweet girls that they think their Nammy is absolutely one of the best things in the world, and well -- they're pretty close to perfect. I'd like to take full credit for the incredible genes that went in to developing these little girls, but one look at them and you'd realize that's not entirely true. But, they ARE blessings like you would not believe. Yep, a day with them will brighten even the darkest day ... guaranteed!


I've always loved children. When I was a little girl, I wanted nothing more to grow up and become a wife and a mommy ... and I was granted that special request. God blessed us with three boys and a girl. We learned really quickly that there's nothing quite like being a parent. Three o-clock feedings ... stroller rides in the park ... watching little boys play with the dirt in the outfield at t-ball games ... standing next to a little one as she rides the merry-go-round for the first time ... trying to sleep while sharing a bed with dogs, a husband, and four children ... regularly cooking a dinner for 10 because of all of the extra kids that were around ... going to sporting events ... lying in bed listening for the door to open as curfew nears ... watching our child walk across the stage to receive a high school diploma ... planning a wedding ... sitting with our child as he holds his baby. What incredible memories we've been given. What a fantastic life we've shared!


And these grandbabies?  Like I said, we LOVE our children and loved the time with them in our home. But so often we were caught up in appearances as parents. We didn't want the boys to wrestle around with each other in public. The kids always needed to be clean, in unwrinkled clothes, polite, well-behaved, and perfect. If they competed, we wanted them to win or be the best. Our expectations were high. Looking back, I can see that I could have relaxed so much more and just enjoyed them. I was a mom ... and I wanted to "do" my job well, which meant that my kids needed to "do" their jobs well, too. With my granddaughters, I've learned that I don't want to "do" a job -- I just want to "be" their Nammy. It's not that we don't have expectations of being polite, or doing the right thing, but at the same time, we have relaxed and just enjoying the act of "being" with our precious little girls.

I've learned the same lesson with my Father in Heaven. I've always wanted to "do" for Him ... for many reasons. One is because I'm sooooo aware of the sacrifice He made for me, and I want to show my appreciation and love. But secondly, and unfortunately probably the primary reason, is because I am a "do-er". I tend to prefer to "do" things. If I'm "doing", then I'm trying to be in control, and control is a favorite thing of mine. God keeps reminding me that with Him, I just need to "be". I need to "be" in a relationship with Him, I just need to "be" watching for His leading and direction, I just need to "be". And, as much as I delight in these two little girls that light up my world, God delights even more in me. Actually, that's really kind of hard for me to believe, but it's true.

So, as I pray for me, I pray also for you -- that we'll learn to just "be" with God: that we'll treasure the time that we spend with Him, that we'll draw closer in this love relationship we've been allowed to have, and that we'll let go of the "doing" and control. As absolutely perfect and incredible as our sweet children or grandbabies are, the relationship with our Heavenly Father can be so much more.