Well, I guess that didn't work. I have been far to busy to update. Yes, my grandson is now 3 1/2 years old. Granddaughter is 2 1/3 years old.



I no longer live in Texas, though I do not care to speak of it yet.


This holiday season is horribly depressing. I miss my life. I miss me. I miss everything. And yet, life has made it necessary to move on.



I'll keep trying....

Oh, so much has changed. Grandson is going to be 3 next month. Granddaughter will be 2 in August. Life has changed so much. ...and yet some things remain the same. As always.

I will do my best in the next couple of weeks or so to update this blog and begin again. I've missed writing. I've missed being creative. Granted, I do appreciate being 'instant' as I am on Facebook, but sometimes you just need to get things out without posting 12 consecutive times on FB or creating a 'note'. And goodness knows that not everyone I know on FB will be interested in what's going on with my life anyway! This blog is for me. ...and for a few of you diehards! ;D

...and on we go!

Damn... I've heard the phrase before. I've even experienced it to a degree. "Add insult to injury." I've never experience it (as far as I remember) as I have today. After all the disgusting scenarious we had to deal with at the mediation hearing the other day, I had to text this woman (I surely didn't want to talk to her!), and ask for a time to see my grandson. It kills me that I have to ask her permission. She agreed, but also said it would be exactly one hour and to meet at such and such time. Son's lawyer talked of more visits, longer hours, and more rights. And here we are stuck at even less time this week. It tears me up... It breaks my heart. And her last sentence was, "and leave your camera at home."

Wait.... We only get to see him one hour a week anyway, so we take every opportunity to take as many pictures as possible. And now she says we can't take pictures!! I called son. I told him to call the CPS worker to see if this was legal. Her first response was that it was all crap! But she said she had to check with her supervisor to make sure. She called back 20 minutes later and said her hands were tied. She could do nothing. This evil witch was his guardian and what she said went and we had to abide by it. Please say you are kidding. No, she wasn't. There was nothing she could do and she wasn't happy about it. We have very little rights, it seems. This woman who deserves nothing has all the power. She started this. She casued this mess, and now she has all the power. How can this be? How can this little innocent life be put in such a precarious place? But it is. And it makes me physically ill.

And she cut his hair, too. She promised me she would wait until he was 18 months old. It was such a sweet look. And yet he came in with his hair cut today. It made me sad. But what could I expect from her?

On a more positive note, our one hour visit brought me some wonderful memories today. As soon as she walked in, I took him from her. I took him to our table and sat him on it. He looked at me and smiled, reached out both his little arms, and dove into my arms! He held on to me and put his little head on my shoulder. Such a wonderful feeling... I held on to him for a minute or two and sat his tiny little backside on the table again. Then he did it again. He reached out for me, and dove into my arms. Sweet little munchkin...

He's worth it. He's worth it all. That sweet little face and sweet little soul deserves SO much more than her. So much more than being brought up like that.

So we continue on to fight the good fight. ...to remember why we fight as hard as we do. He is our motivation. And he's worth everything.

Wow... It's been a very long time since I've been here. Probably no one reading at this point, but I'm glad it's still here so I can vent a bit...

As most know now, my precious granddaughter, Skye, was born last Saturday! She is so beautiful and amazing. I'll be going to see her tomorrow. Lots of pics to follow!

Grandson turned 14 months yesterday. Son turned 24. At the same time, we had another Mediation Hearing yesterday. We were so nervous, and yet excited about it all. Son had done everything CPS had asked of him. ...EVERYTHING. Classes... done. Drug tests (planned and unplanned)... done. Counseling.... done. Home visits... done. Weeks and months of demands.... done! We go to mediation to determine when he'll get him back. Not so simple.

We met with his lawyer. We talked for awhile, then walked across the street to the court house. We waited in the hall for a couple of hours before they finished meeting and asked us to go to our separate rooms. (We were in one room with his lawyer, she with her lawyer in a room, and other grandmother in another room, while D.A., mediator, Guardian Ad Litem, and CPS worker were in another room.) The mediator walked back and forth to rooms asking if we/they would agree to these conditions. I swear if felt more like buying a car than determing the life of an innocent child. The process is ridiculous.

When we walked in, CPS asked that he give full custody to that wicked witch of a grandmother that grandson lives with now. We were shocked. Could have knocked all three of us over with a feather. He said, "HELL, no!" I've done what you asked, now I want my son back. I'm his father. He is my family. I want him back with us all -- including his new baby sister."

We spoke with the guardian ad litem, who smirked the whole time. She reminded me greatly of an evil cartoon character. (You know the one... The wicked witch that tried to capture Ariel... The octupus lady....) She looked straight at my son, smirked and said, "You didn't actually think you were going to walk in here today and get your son, did you?!! HA!!" Then she laughed.

They walked out, came back in, asked that hubby and I leave the room (disbanding us, I'm sure. We strengthen one another. We've always been a strong family unit.) Then, as son told us later, they asked if he'd agree to every other weekend and holidays, still giving her full custody. He said no. Then they walked out again and came in some time later with the request that they have joint custody. He'd have him for a week at a time, but she'd still be the main conservator -- making all the decisions for him. He said 'no' again. Even his lawyer commended him on his strength to stand by his decisions and work toward gaining full custody of his son. So they called it a day and said we'd have to come back another day. They seemed angry that he wouldn't do what they asked, so I swear it seemed to me like they were going to intentionally make it harder for him.

When he asked his lawyer why they were looking to give her full custody and not him, he left the room to ask. He said that CPS had too many cases on the books. They were looking to close as many cases as possible. He's been with her a year now, so the easiest thing to do is give him to her. That looks clean on their report, and then they can close it. That is the sickest reason I've heard yet for giving a child to someone!

She's broken nearly every rule they have!!! Her daughter is not allowed unsupervised visits, and yet she leaves him alone with her! He is supposed to be in his own bed, he still sleeps with her (yes, that's a CPS rule). He still eats 6-9 month stage baby food, even though he's 14 months old! He has barely learned to walk and only because of daycare! He still wears clothes way too small. We've bought clothes for him, but she sells them!!! He has 7 baby teeth, and 3 cavities!!! (I took them to the dentist a couple of weeks ago.) He's still on a bottle, which isn't horrible, but he doesn't know what to do with a sippy cup. He cries for soda because she gives it to him. He's taken more antibiotics in his short life than I have my whole life! And it goes on and on and on....

That proves just how crazy this whole process is. At least in my mind.

And now, after yesterday, she's so mad at us she could spit. She knows we've told on her. She's infuriated! So when I texted her today about a visit, she was short and sweet... 'Exactly one hour and don't bring your camera.' That's just wrong. His lawyer talked about more visitation, and now she's trying to make it less...

You can bet CPS and son's lawyer will get a call on Monday!

But as I said, I'm venting... Now I need to get back to more positive things.

More to come --- including Skye's birth story. QUITE scary. ...and I was there. I'll blog on that soon.

We are going to see baby Skye tomorrow and celebrate son's birthday, and then Monday we go visit grandson. I'll get as many pics as I can!

And onward we go....

In case you can't read the quote on the pic...

"On this Independence Day, let us remember the sacrifices that have been made for our freedom. Let us also remember that America is not defined by the politicians who run it, but the people who love it.

Noel Jameson"

May you have a safe and happy day with family and friends!

Be safe and be well.

Here is my precious grandson!! A couple of pics are from his birthday party, and a couple are from the pics we had done today to mark his one year anniversary on this planet! Here he is at one year old...

There's a chance, a slight chance, that I may have a biological sister out there... If what I've learned is true, she is just a year younger than I. That's not unusual for adopted children. Sometimes birthparents feel such guilt that they have another child to replace the one they gave away. And if it is true, the next baby was also a girl... And her middle name is exactly the same as mine now. But I still don't even know that this is for a fact the truth.

Thanks, friends, for hanging in there with me. I mostly reside on Facebook these days. Feel free to visit me if you aren't already there!!! ;)

Future daughter-in-law is either 29 or 30 weeks right now! (She says they pushed her due date back by a week because Skye is so big.) I can't wait to meet my granddaughter!!!

Son is doing so well!! He is continuing to go to his classes. He is in counseling. He told me that he and f-d-i-l are also going to marriage counseling. They are truly serious about making this work!! I'm so impressed! She is so ready to raise grandson, as well as the new baby. We will help in any and all ways that we can. And it isn't just us!! After hearing of the situation, her parents are all for helping them in any way they can! They want to see them be a family, as well! I really enjoy her family! So I think I said the other day... As of the end of June, beginning of July, I will not only have a new daughter, I will have 4 grandkids! F-D-I-L's brother also likes us. He even signed the Mother's Day card they brought me last week!! (He's her older brother. He's 27.) ...a whole new family. I love it!

Son finally got his future ex-wife to sign the papers at the end of April. It took something like 9 months to get her to finally sign! Now she's regretting it to an extent. She wants to remain a part of this family. She actually said once that she wished _I_ had been her mom. I took her to lunch this week. She spoke candidly with me. I do feel sorry for her, but not in a condescending way. She's been through a lot in her young life, as well. I don't want her to be a legal part of my family, and yet as my grandson's mother, she will be her for the rest of our lives. It will be okay.

And lastly, but certainly not least (!!!!!), grandson is 11 months old today!!!! Oh, my goodness!!! Has it been 11 months since that precious bundle came into our lives?!! I love him so, so much! I've bonded with him so much since he's been here. The proof in the pudding was when I went to visit him the other day. His mother walked outside to meet me as I got out of the car. She nearly dropped him as he let go of her and reached out with both arms, high in the air, reaching for me. I ran to him and took him in my arms and just held him. What a precious little one. There is just no love like the unconditional love of babies and small children. How blessed am I? I can't even begin to explain it. I love you, precious little Puffalump!! He's growing up FAR too fast!!!

Newborn (1 minute old!)

2 weeks

2 months

4.5 months

6 months

7.5 months

9.5 months

11 months

A friend of mine sent me the link to this... Watch it through till the end.

I really like it. Having raised a teenager and working with them on a daily basis, this is encouraging.

I sometimes think it's about time to close down the blog. I don't write here much, and not many people come by as often... What are your thoughts?

Wow... It has taken me until Wednesday to catch up to writing about my weekend! It has really been an absolutely, outrageously, wickedly crazy busy few weeks! I'm not sure I've caught up since I got home from Indiana!!

Let's see. All is the same on the home front with grandson. Still fighting. Still doing what we can. We visit him at least once a week, but most of the time, we are back up to twice a week. The CPS worker has gotten on to the other grandmother about her restrictive schedule, so at least that has changed!

Granddaughter is coming along nicely. Good doctor visits so far. She's very healthy.

We spent our Saturday meeting future daughter-in-law's parents, and just 'hanging out' and shopping with the kids. It went very well. We had a nice time meeting them and spending time with the kids.

Sunday, son and hubby went to play poker, while future d-i-l went shopping (for baby things and wedding things) and out for lunch. I cannot even begin to tell you how much fun we had!! We found shoes she wanted for the wedding. She's had a difficult time finding them, but we were successful! I hadn't bought anything yet for Skye, but sure made up for it on Sunday!! She is set as far as clothes and things go for quite some time!! ;)

I started getting a migraine on Sunday afternoon - which lasted all the rest of the day and all of Monday. That was okay, though. It couldn't dampen the wonderful mood I was in from my wonderful weekend!! I can't wait until they are really our family. It's so nice to have what feels like a 'normal' family! We all have similar interests and such.

Which reminds me, this weekend we are going to Scarborough Faire!!! I LOVE Scarborough Faire (as many of you already know!! ;P ) And now I have a few other people to share it with!

Working on getting everything else in our crazy lives worked out... It's difficult to not be positive sometimes -- as well as fighting off the negativity -- about what we have yet to face. We just live one day at a time now, though, and hope and pray for the best. That's really all you can do...

Skye Lynn

I know that all my blog posts have been mostly about the grandchildren lately. It's taken over my life more than I realized. I love my son with all my heart, but I can't even explain to you what's it's like being a grandmother. The love is amazing. Those sweet smiling faces make your heart swell so many times over! I'm sorry, but I said faces (plural). I've only seen one face so far, but I'm so eager to see the other. Then of course, once they are married, I'll have two more precious children to add to my brood. I know it sounds strange, but I already feel like they are part of our family -- and I like that. It never hurts to have as many people as possible to care for the children. There's no such thing as TOO much love. (OK, spoling is one thing, but love and caring is something totally different.)

ANYWAY...!! ;D

My Spring Break went very well. I spent the week resting and relaxing with my family. As usual, we sat around in our pajamas most of the day and talked and laughed and watched movies. My sister and I had long talks into the night. Quite a learning experience of life since I married and moved away from home. All in all a very restful 'vacation.' I know that it must sound totally boring to some. I know that doesn't sound like much of a sun-filled, amusement park, walking on the beach kind of vacation that some go on about, but to me, it is totally priceless. Sometimes my life is so stress ridden for reasons I won't go into now that it's wonderful to sit back, relax, and worry about nothing!

I cooked several nights. I LOVE cooking for them because they all believe I'm so good at it! :P I cook things they love but don't know how to make. I did teach my sister a lot about some of that while I was there, though. I know she will continue on and try them herself once I am gone. What a compliment! (Even my mom asked for my liver recipe and she can't stand to touch the stuff, but my dad loves it!)

Now it's back to the daily grind and and all that good stuff! :D

I'll try to put up a couple of pictures in the next few days. Thank you all for your well wishes and constant prayers.

Have a wonderful week!!!

Her parents have given me permission to give out my new granddaughter's name. I love this name. I helped pick it out. I can't wait to meet her!

Her name will be Skye Lynn.

Just found out the new baby is a ....

GIRL!

I'll be leaving here in a few hours to head to Indiana! I'm beginning to get a little excited, yet right now I'm thoroughly exhausted from all the crazy busyness of my life lately! I guess I NEED a break!! :D

My sister has a pc, so I'll try to check in now and again to see how everyone is doing. I hope you ALL have a wonderful spring break if you are allowed one!

Just wanted to share a wonderful pic I took of hubby and grandson a couple of days ago. I LOVE this pic!! He sure loves his grandad and grandma!

This is sweet little grandson at 9 months old. They were just taken one week ago today. I think some of you have already seen these pics. If not, here he is! I love these pics! I think each round we take, he looks just a little cuter -- if that's possible!!! And I'm having a REALLY hard time believing that little dumpling is already 9 months old!!

I'll be heading on Spring Break to Indiana in just a few more days. We seem to be over our sickness (for the most part), so I'm hoping that I won't be carrying any germs there!

Son is still doing his thing; meanwhile, the other side of the baby's family isn't doing a lot of helpful things at all! It's going to take more time and patience, but hopefully it will all turn out well in the end.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and week ahead!

Things are slowly getting better on the health front! (knock on wood!)

I'm going to Indiana in less than 2 weeks now. I'm so looking forward to seeing everyone! I know it'll be fun, and I could certainly use some time off to just relax and enjoy my family. It would be wonderful if grandson could come with me, but maybe next time.

Speaking of grandson, things are going well on that front, too. I'm so afraid to even speak it aloud for fear of jinxing it or something! ;) Son and d-i-l are filing for divorce right now. The lawyer has told him that it's better to add it to all this other nonsense so they can take care of it all at once. He said the court system doesn't like to have two different cases with the same parties involved. They just roll it all up into one and take care of it at the same time. Sounds good to me.

Don't know if any members of that family read anything they can find on us, (or her friends who have actually been quite mean to us lately), so I can't post much here. I'd be happy to fill you in if you want to email me, though. Things are looking up! I'm impressed with how things are going, and happy about the direction they seem to be heading!! I'm trying not to get my hopes up, though. We know how things have gone in the past with all this stuff... Uggg...

So it's a pretty good week so far. I'm taking grandson to buy him a spiffy new outfit tonight and getting his 9 month pictures taken. Wow... Has it been 9 months already?!!! Time is moving far too fast... I'll try to post as soon as I get the disk of pics!

In the meantime, I'll try to enjoy my week and not worry too much. ;)

Hope the rest of your week is wonderful!

Hey, guys. I've been crazy busy as of late. Hubby and I are still trying to get completely well from whatever bug seems to be roaming around now. I swear it seems that as soon as we think we have it licked, it comes right back! We've already taken 2 round of antibiotics. This last round really feels more like a cold with a nagging cough. I suppose working in a place where kids come to be tutored really doesn't help! ;) Hubby seems to be on his way to recovery with the right combination of meds (finally!), and is making slow progress every day. We can really tell the difference in how he feels. I'm really glad he's doing a bit better on that front!

Aside from that, we are doing okay. Son is following his directions from cps and doing what they ask of him. We have one hearing in a week to make sure cps is doing what the judge ordered them to do, and one the following week in front of the judge. We've been told from an experienced friend that cps and the legal system (in Texas) are very slow, but to hang in there because it will work out in the long run. I'm really tired of all the waiting, but there's nothing else I can do BUT wait right now. We still see grandson once a week and come running when she needs something for him. Other friends say we shouldn't do that as it looks as if we are the "rescuers" with none of the benefits. I don't know. If it's for grandson, I do everything I can...

I finally bought my ticket for my annual trip to Indiana for Spring Break to visit my family. I actually considered not going since I've been ill for so long. I wasn't sure I'd feel like going - or that I'd be good company since I'm so exhausted from it all. My mom convinced me, though, that a week off away from the house to just sit around and visit would do me good. And we know that Mom is always right!! ;) I'll be leaving 3 weeks from today.

Grandson turned 8 months old on Valentine's Day! I know I'm a bit behind on all that, but I'll try to update with pics soon!

I'm so glad it's Friday! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

At this point, I have no idea or not if I've fixed my blog. A couple of people have told me that they get pop-ups when they come to read my page. I've removed a lot of things to see if it could be one of them. Didn't help. I replaced my comment box this morning to see if that would help. Let me know if you still get pop-ups. I'll have to try changing the background and creating a whole new page if this doesn't work.

Have a wonderful week!!!

May you all have a wonderful
Valentine's Day!!!

May you have love to share,
and loved ones with whom you can share it.

"...I hope life,
will treat you kind
And I hope that you have all
That you ever dreamed of
Oh, I do wish you joy
And I wish you happiness
But above all this
I wish you love."

THANK GOODNESS!!!

Hubby is home today. After multiple tests, including MRI's, CAT scans, ECG, EKG, EEG, multiple blood tests approximately every couple of hours, the endocrinologist finally made an appearance last night. (As well as the neurologist and cardiologist.) The cardiologist says his aorta is enlarged, but functioning well. The neurologist says there are gray areas on a very small area, which, after questioning him, has said that could easily have happened when he had a fractured skull as a child. There is no brain damage, though, and no sign of a stroke!!

The endocrinologist came in and commented on some of the reported blood test and thyroid scan tests. He said that not only was he not in thyroid storm, his thyroid is non-functioning! We wondered how we could have been so confused by the others reports, and we have learned that (specialists mostly) specialize in one or maybe two areas of expertise. Endocrinology is such a different field. We ALL assumed that since his number was high, his thyroid was high. The opposite is true. The higher the score, the less functioning your thyroid actually is!

The endocrinologist asked him if his regular doctors have changed his medications for his thyroid (and any other conditions) lately. They have. Multiple times. Evidently that (and having a chest infection-bronchitis) threw his body into some sort of spiral that caused his body to go into shock and then a severe anxiety attack!

His problems, just as if the thyroid were on the high scale, are very similar when they are on the low scale. It has it's own set of problems. Now we are dealing with mostly a non-functioning thyroid and all the problems that it entails.

So now they have a starting point to get all his problems taken care of once and for all. He's supposed to carry his medical records from the last few days to his regular doctor and finally get everyone working as a team, or at least put them all on the same page.

Thank goodness.

Don't quite know what to say, but feel the need to say something. It always helps to get my feelings and experiences out a bit...

I went to work this morning as usual. I wasn't feeling great since I've been sick for something like 3 weeks now. Hubby was a lot worse... He wasn't seeing the same results I was after 2 rounds of antibiotics. He didn't even want breakfast today -- which is unusual.

After I was at work a couple of hours, he called. He was not feeling well at all. He'd been nauseated and throwing up. He tried to get out of bed only to go all black in the face. ...vision gone. He began shaking uncontrollably, became seriously weak, and was sweating profusely. He called me immediately because he wasn't sure if he'd fainted or not, but wanted to let me know of this situation to help him out if I needed to do so. I talked with him for about 15 minutes, thinking he was just dealing with a bad flu bug. He called me back almost immediately after we hung up to say he needed to go to the emergency room. His hands and fingers were now going numb. I raced home to find him still in bed -- afraid to get up on his own for fear of falling.

I drove as fast as I possibly could to the local hospital. Once we arrived, he asked that I go in the emergency room and ask for someone to bring out a wheelchair. He was shaking so badly now that he was afraid to even stand up. His whole body was weak.

After sitting in triage for some time, he was finally taken back to the emergency room and all sorts of blood test, urine tests, and monitors were set up. They did an EKG to see if he'd had a heart attack, then a CAT scan to make sure he hadn't had a stroke.

We think they have now ruled out a heart attack, though they are now requesting an EEG tomorrow to get a better picture of his heart, but they are also requesting an MRI of his brain. They aren't completely sure yet that he didn't have some sort of stroke. And his thyroid is definitely not right. The normal T3 range for a normal thyroid is between 1 and 4. His 'normal' is between 1.3 and 1.7. His T3 is now 12. TWELVE! (...which is HIGHLY confusing!! The numbers just don't match up for thyroid storm, and yet...) They think he's going through what they call Thyroid 'Storm'. He's been through it before. He thinks that's probably what it is, too. They refused to release him. They are keeping him slightly sedated until they can at least figure out what is going on with his thyroid. They need to do more tests to make sure that option is safe for all his organs. Being in Thyroid Storm over time begins to destroy internal organs like the heart and brain. We'll find out more tomorrow. I'll try to keep everyone updated.

It seems very strange, but we are both still in fairly good spirits. I'm extremely happy that he called me and wanted to go to the hospital. (You know how men are...) But he's alive and in the hospital being treated. They say that for sure what happened today is that he had a seizure. It was a wake up call to what else is going on with him internally.

I left the hospital after midnight after 12.5 hours in the emergency room. But he was taken to a room upstairs and admitted finally, and I know he's fairly safe and sound and in a place where someone will be watching him constantly.

I'm going to work in the morning, but after his tests, they are fully expecting to transfer him to another hospital. (Which now may not be necessary. They're still doing heart and brain tests, though...) I came home and packed everything he'd need for a week's stay at any hospital and took them to the hospital he's currently staying. He'll call tomorrow to let me know what tests they will be doing. (He didn't even want me to stay at the hospital tonight! He said, "There's nothing you can do. At least go home and get some rest." Yeah. As if that's possible! ;)

We just celebrated our 25 year anniversary in December. That's not enough time. Nowhere near it...

I've relapsed. This bug just won't go away! I'm on my second round of antibiotics now. Hopefully just a few more days and I'll be over this crazy thing.

I saw grandson, but only briefly, today. He just finished taking his antibiotics a few days ago and I surely don't want him to get sick again. He's been on meds the last 2 months of his life, and he's only 7 months old! ...poor baby. I didn't hold or cuddle him at all. I dropped off diapers and wipes for him and 'goo-gooed' him from a distance. He's such a special little guy. Always has a smile for his grateful grandma.

I spent about an hour or so with son, girlfriend, and her two little boys today. It was very nice. We talked, laughed, we shared, and we were all happy. I found myself wondering in my head if this "is what it's supposed to be like". I truly appreciated the simpleness and joyfulness of it. If THIS is what it is supposed to be like, I think I'll enjoy this relationship. I have no worries about this new baby coming in August. I don't worry about him/her being taken care of or being safe. I don't worry about her taking care of herself while pregnant. It's so nice not to have any worries. It's a complete turnaround from what I felt before. I think this time will be a much different experience. Thank Goodness!

It's quite nice to not feel stress about it all.

Number 2 is on the way.

**EDIT -- It's with a different woman. ...a woman he's been with for several months. Granted, the timing is awful, but there it is. What can you do? I definitely don't worry about this one as much as I did when grandson was on his way. -- END EDIT**

Poor little baby... He is SO sick. When we went to visit the wee one yesterday, he had an upper respiratory infection, both ears infected, sinuses infected, and bronchitis. He was fine last week. As a matter of fact, he had just finished taking meds for an ear infection only a few days earlier! How does that poor little thing get so extremely sick so quickly?!! That woman doesn't have a clue how to raise a child.

Here he is with his daddy. He clung to him yesterday. What a precious angel.


He just wanted to be held by everyone. And even in the midst of it all, he still had a smile for us.

Hmm... I don't know what's going on with all this stuff we were relieved to hear about last week. No one is answering our phone calls, nor are they calling back. I'm trying to be positive, but I'm not so sure "no news is good news" in this instance. ...getting worried.

I'm a bit nervous to put any news on here because of the pending court case with grandson. We did receive some good news last night. I feel as if I am holding my breath for fear it will disappear.

Keep on praying and keeping us in your thoughts. For now, though, just suffice it to say that the wheels are turning, and they seem to be ever so slowly turning in the right direction! It will still take time, but at least we have that small piece of good news!

Here's one family Christmas pic we had taken.

December 14, 2008Not even 15 minutes later, we changed grandson's clothes and took another set of pics since he turned exactly six months old on the same day. Isn't it strange that he looks a bit older in the second pics? It was hot that day (about 80), though, and I think he was just more comfortable in the second set of clothes that we had bought for him when he was only a couple months old!

I have to tell you about an experience we had a couple of weeks ago. We took the baby (as well as the other grandmother) to Costco to get prescriptions and things for him. I carried him around in my arms as we passed all the people we knew who work there. (They do the "samples" thing where they cook something and everyone around them gets to taste it.) We are friends with most of those people since son used to do that job, too. One newer guy said, "Wow, the baby really looks like his mother!" Hubby and I looked at each other and asked, "How do you know that?" He pointed to me and said, "Well just look at the two of you. He resembles you SO much." Hubby and I just laughed as we told this guy that I am his grandmother and not his mother. And of course the other grandmother turned red in the face and gritted her teeth. She was angry. She really hates to hear that kind of thing! Oh, well!!! :D

I don't quite know what to say. It's such a long, long story.

The kids made sure they asked the lawyer a lot of good questions. When the judge asked questions of them, they seemed to have the right answers.

Daughter-in-law's mother still has temporary custody of grandson, but the lawyer and judge made sure that they both knew that it was a seriously "temporary" situation. She is giving them 60 days to start to make some differences. When his other grandmother asked about "services", she was told by the new CPS worker that she had no right to ANY services!! (Yay!!! Praise the Lord!!!) She was told that they would help her with WIC and food for the baby and also medical services for the baby, but that she received nothing else. NOTHING! She was quite disappointed with this new development.

We have also since learned that she has been panhandling with grandson for money. I'm so mad I can barely tolerate her because of this. And at least CPS has been notified of this behavior. They are now watching her to make sure she does nothing of this kind again. She just says that people feel sorry for her and choose to hand her money to help her. Umm... Yeah. That's it.

We are still fighting with all our might for that precious, precious baby. I won't give up for even a second!!

The last few days have also been eye-openers on many fronts. ...MANY fronts. I don't feel comfortable going there right now. Maybe in another day or so I will feel as such, but for now, I can't go there. The last week has been terribly stressful and traumatic. (Yes, more stressful than normal.) Just suffice it to say that I need people right now. I need friends. I need many prayers right now.

Thank you all for all your support. Thank you for your prayers and thoughts. It means much more than you know...

Thank you...

And ye, who have met with Adversity's blast,
And been bow'd to the earth by its fury;
To whom the Twelve Months, that have recently pass'd
Were as harsh as a prejudiced jury -
Still, fill to the Future! and join in our chime,
The regrets of remembrance to cozen,
And having obtained a New Trial of Time,
Shout in hopes of a kindlier dozen.
~Thomas Hood

I hope that all of you had WONDERUL holiday seasons!!

We had our ups and downs. More games were played by an unnamed party... Ack. On the other hand, we loved spending the holidays with grandson!

Keep us in your prayers. Tomorrow is another court date, and CPS has done nothing to help the kids in any way. They have even refused to talk to them when they called! Lawyers don't seem to be doing much either.

I'll try to update more in a day or two -- maybe with a Christmas and/or New Year's pic or two!

Thanks for all your well wishes and holiday wishes!!