The first time...

Through the marvel of emails and phone calls, we have kept in contact with your arrival and through the magic of skype we have "seen" you from the day you were born.

But today, September 11, 2008 is the first time I have held you...and cuddled and kissed you. To once again be rocking a baby to sleep, brings back all the wonderful moments of my season of mothering back in an instant. How much like your father you are :) But my baby is now your father...how quickly 26 years flies by.

Finding the quiet moments to once again treasure the everyday celebration of childhood is a wonderfully happy trail to be on. It's all so familar and at the same time, such a grand, new adventure. It's all such a gift to my heart, there simply are not words big enough to describe it.

...YOU are magnificant :)

...I am your Grammy :) and

...I am blessed.

Waiting for the plane to land

So, here we are, it's finally Thursday, September 11, 2008 and we are on the plane only hours now from seeing you for the first time...in real time...and I'm pinching myself, hardly believing it's for real :)

The thought of really being someones grandmother is overwhelming beyond words. When I just sit here, it's like no time has passed...I'm a child of seven, thinking that life will never change...a young woman of twenty, just waiting to start a family of my own..and I'm fifty-two on my way to meet my grandson :)...all of life seems to be converging at this very point.

My life unfolds before me in what feels, in this moment, like a story in completion. There is always something more to be waiting for, and for a year now...YOU have been that something we have been waiting for.

First to know you were on your way, and the waiting began...then the wait to see if you were a boy or a girl...the wait for nine months to pass, the wait for labor to begin, the wait for your birth, the wait to hear your name, and your first cry. The wait to see your picture, your skype visit, your smile, your laugh, your coos and chatter.

...and now the wait to land in Cleveland, drive to your house, and to see you...actually hold you & kiss your adorable little baby face...my, my, my...how very sweet this waiting is:)

In this moment, everything else just seems to melt away in the moment of knowing that someone very precious is at the end of the wait.

When I was a young mother, I don't think I fully realized just how precious my sons were to their "Granny", my mother. But now I know more fully the joy of a grandson of my own, and a grandmother's love is different from a mother's love, though there is much that feels the same ~ a precious little someone to love and protect ~ there is another layer of love.

...beyond that of an all-consuming love and on to the feeling of being on the cusp of something magnificant, on to another link in the completion of the cycle of life.

You are our precious Blake & we are so Blessed!

~I love you! ~ Mama Bev

Safely home

Okay...admittedly it's been a while since this moment when you first came home, but how could Grammy keep going forward without a little looking back?

You are so tiny, and this whole parenting adventure is so new. Your Mamaw Lilly was there as you arrived! If we could have had our way we would all have been crowding that waiting room during your labor. You are Mamaw's first grandbaby too! You can clearly see, you are so dearly loved!

This is a picture that we took on the webcam. Your mommy and daddy gave us the webcam so we could skype with you and watch you grow up.

We have talked with you from your very first day....and though it's not the same as hugging on you when we do get to see you, we do look forward to our weekly visits with you all.

Wooster, Ohio, is a very long way from Auburn, Washington...but you are ever near in our hearts!

On the very first day

Blake Isaac Patient: June 24, 2008, Wooster General Hospital, Wooster, Ohio...10:53 am...8 pounds, 14 ounces, 20 1/2 inches long, welcomed with love, Steve and Christina Patient

...while miles away, in Auburn, Washington, without saying a word, or moving a muscle, you have captured my heart.

I would love to be in that hospital nursery, to hug you and tell you sweet Grammy stories of how much you look like your Daddy ~ because you do, or how sweet your Mommy is ~ because she is, or how much we love you ~ because we do!

It would have been such a gift to have been there to take in all of your first sights, sounds, and smells. To have witnessed the moment when a family of two became a family of three and all the while you lay resting, a completely perfect little bundle of boy, resting in your father's arms.

Yet, here we stand...instead of a pane of nursery glass between us, we have the lense of the computer screen, and in the end of the day, it really doesn't matter if we are here, or there, our love for you couldn't be any more grand. To hold you is to hold the dream of tomorrow...and that is the sweetest of blessings, indeed.

One day you will crawl, and walk...and run. One day you will coo, and jabber and...and talk. Those "One days" will come soon enough.

For today, it is more than wonderful that you are here.

There are not words big enough to tell you how loved you are...but we intend to spend a lifetime making sure that you know :)

Blake Isaac Patient, we are your grandparents, Marc Emil & Beverly Jean Patient, and we love you more than you can know!

Happy "BIRTH"day!

...and so through the night I waited...needing to sleep to be ready to go to work in the morning...but wanting to stay awake to take the important call that lets us know you have arrived..but morning came, and no call...so off to work I went...still waiting for the call.

...and at 8:20 am (11:20 Eastern Time in Ohio!) your Daddy called! and in the background I could hear your sweet little newborn cry..and I knew you had indeed arrived and you were okay..better than okay, you are perfect!

Through the day I shared the news of your arrival with everyone who had been so eagerly awaiting your arrival :) By the end of the day we were able to skype in the hospital. You are perfect :) and peaceful...and very, very loved.


Happy "BIRTH"day to you, Blake Isaac Patient, my precious little grandson,

I love you tons & bunches! ~ Mama Bev

Waiting

Dear Grandson :)...Well, when the doctors first gave your due date, it was June 16, 2008...which has now come and gone and still we wait...Your mommy waits for contractions to start, Daddy waits for mommy to tell him, "it's time", and we wait for the call that tell us, "he's here!"...it's all different kinds of waiting, but it's all for the same little boy.


But it's not the last time we will wait! life is filled with waiting:

Waiting for things to begin, waiting for things to end. Waiting for special days...waiting for events, and people. So many different kinds of waiting, but waiting for wonderful things is the BEST!

As I am writing this, it's 9:42 pm (which is 12:42 am tomorrow in Ohio!) and your Daddy just called us to let us know that you are on the way...probably. Waiting for babies is not an exact science, false labor -though it hurts and feels like it's going to be "real", ends without a baby, and still more time to wait. But for you mommy, this time feels for real...so the waiting has suddenly turned into excited anticipation :)

They have called your Grandma Lilly, who will drove to be there when you are born...and yes, we so wish we could be there :), but for this very special time in your life, we are so grateful that you mommy will have her mommy with her ~ that's a special bond for mothers and daughters...bot the bond between mothers and sons is pretty special too.

Just like there are different kinds of "waiting", there are different kinds of "special". But to know that my "little boy" is on the edge of having his own "little boy" is the best kind of special! :)

So, a new level of waiting has begun. First to know you are heading to the hospital, and then to hear the phone ring that gives us the details of your arrival. Our prayers are with you...sweet, swift arrival...happy, healthy baby....happy healthy mommy...patient, calming, helpful daddy! We love you all...it's 3 am....no word....good night little grandson...I love you, Mama Bev

It's a Boy!

There will be many important days in your life...some will be because of milestone moments you will do and some will be milestone moments you will reach, but today is a milestone moment because you ARE...

The ultra sound pictures today have showed us that we celebrate today that you are a BOY :)...

Welcome precious grandson.

...grow strong...be healthy.

...I love you ~ Mama Bev