Soon To Be Grandparents

We received a call from Alyssa about 4:50 this afternoon saying she was on the way to the hospital.  I had talked to her around 11:00 this morning and she seemed fine so I was totally surprised.  When she called, Sandy and I were on the way to the grocery store and a few other errands so we turned around and headed back home.  I called Ashley and had her check the flight schedule.  The last flight out of Amarillo left at 6:30 p.m.  Fortunately I had packed most of my clothes this afternoon so we finished throwing things into suitcases.  My mother came to take us to the airport.  I tried to call Southwest but couldn't get through so we took off for the airport arriving about 5:55.  The flight stopped in Dallas but we did not have to change plans.  We landed in Houston about 8:45 and Ashley picked us up at the airport and here we are at the hospital.

Alyssa's contractions started in earnest around 2:00.  When she got to the hospital she was dilated to a 3.  The doctor came and broke her water and then gave her an epidural.  We poked our heads in the door very briefly and said hi and now we are waiting in the waiting room.  At the last report from Lichar, the nurse said she was about a 9 and she could see the head.  Shouldn't be too long now.

Gifts for Dingetje

A local card and gift shop is having a big moving sale. Just before Christmas I was in the shop and was surprised to see all the baby things they have. They have always had lots of collegiate items. So today I decided I needed to check out the sale. Thanks, Mom, for reminding me there was a sale! Check out the cute items I bought for baby Dillon - although if it's a girl, a couple of these will have to be put up for later. Not a chance that this Gigi will spoil her grandbaby. Don't forget to vote - do you think it's a boy or a girl?

An Aggie Nap Mat! Pillow and blanket are attached.
It rolls up and has a handle.

Aggie pants and tennis shoes

Cute little boy socks!

Everywhere a Moo-Moo onesie, pants and socks plus a teether frog!

Boy or Girl - What Will Dingetje Be?

Alyssa's due date is 2 weeks from today. She and Lichar will soon be parents and Sandy and I will finally be grandparents. But what will it be? Alyssa and I were discussing that on the phone today and she gave me permission to post a poll to see what you think - boy or girl. So please cast your vote on the poll at the right.

Yesterday I got to babysit Darcee's two precious boys, Ethan (15 months) and Eli (5 weeks). We had a great time. Eli took a bottle when he got here and pretty much slept the whole time. He would stretch or wiggle or make a noise but go right back to sleep. Ethan and I played with some stuffed pigs and read a book. He remembered where the broom was from when he stayed with me three months ago and went immediately to get that out. He did get tired and took a long nap also. Darcee swears they don't sleep like that for her. I had a grand time with the boys! I did forget to get a picture though.

Christmas and NASA tour

Christmas in Houston was great. Although it was cloudy every day and rained some, it was generally in the low 70s. We had a great time with the kids. Alyssa and Lichar were determined to set all the records they could on our Wii and Sandy and Lichar fought WWII airplane battles several times. We did a little shopping for bargains and baby things! We all went to church together on Sunday at New Beginnings where Kalum is the youth minister.

On Monday Ashley got NASA visitor passes for Mom, Alyssa, Sandy and me to tour the building she works in - building 9 aka the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility. The NASA tour for the public goes through a glassed in catwalk on the second floor to view the mockups of the space shuttle and space station in this building. We were actually on the floor of building 9 up close and personal with those mockups. Ashley works in the Automation Robitics and Simulation Division as a documentation analyst. I don't know that even Ashley could tell you exactly what she does but she is enjoying her job. She works with lots of engineers and is really learning lots.

Ashley, Gay, Sandy and Jo at NASA
Ashley showing us where she hangs out
and how she can lift big, heavy things!
Sandy and I have tickets to go to the launch of STS-126 which was supposed to be in October. This is pictures of the crew. the gal in the 2nd row far right is Meaghan who is a friend of Alyssa and Lichar's. The shuttle is going to repair the Hubble Telescope hopefully in May.

Here's a slide show of more pictures. The "chariot" is the new lunar module which will be used when we next go to the moon. One of Alyssa and Lichar's friends,Andrew, worked on the design of this vehicle. Ashley said this was the first time that there weren't people there working on it.

Christmas Eve at the beach!

We are in Houston for the holidays.  Alyssa is now 36 weeks pregnant and couldn't travel to Amarillo so we ventured down here.  We includes me, Sandy, our dog, Doogie, my mother and her dog, Deeogee.  It is a long drive - 12 hours which isn't much fun with two dogs.  While we stopped for lunch at Whataburger, Deeogee had to go poop and unfortunately, we weren't there to let him out.  What a mess he made in the car!  We were close to Walmart and got some great stuff to clean the seat and floorboard and some Febreze to kill the smell.  It certainly added "excitement" to an otherwise long boring drive!

This is the 2nd Christmas we have been in Houston.  Three years ago we decided to make a Christmas Eve tradition of going to Galveston to the beach.  Two big things were different this year.  Number 1 is that Ashley and Kalum are in Denton with his parents so this is our first Christmas without Ashley.  Number 2 is the devastation that Hurricane Ike left.  Last time we went to Stewart Beach - it is closed this year.  But we just went down the seawall further south and walked down to the beach.  We just missed high tide because the water was up to the seawall in most locations.  The dogs had a blast running and playing.  Doogie enjoyed wading in the water but Deeogee preferred to stay close to Mom.  Here are some pictures to enjoy.

Tomorrow we are having ham, green beans, sweet potatoes, dressing, brocolli rice casserole, etc. for lunch.  We all agreed to cut back on the gift giving but will open packages after lunch. I think the baby probably has more gifts than anyone else!  Sure will miss Ashley and Kalum but they will be back here Saturday evening and we can spend some time with them before we head home.  

Have a very merry and blessed Christmas day at your house!