YOU DID IT !

I may lose readers after this post as it will sound like a similar post, a bragging post (please indulge me as I am recording our life)! It is both of those, BUT more than that its an ANSWERED PRAYER post. And just maybe it will encourage someone out there that needs to hear from a Mom that eleven year ago found out her beautiful senior in high school cheerleader daughter was pregnant. That was not my plan. That was not her plan. Life happens. You can read Amanda and Parker's story here and here. We were never upset, but we had not had a baby in our house in 18 years, so there were definitely questions of CAN WE DO THIS?

This was a FAMILY AFFAIR and from day one we were DETERMINED that we would support Amanda in every way, fill in every gap, every space, and as a FAMILY we could do it. Our village was secure. Please do not think we never had any obstacles, some hard, some expensive, but we were a TEAM and we had Amanda's back at every turn. Our son got UNCLE down immediately and wow did he ever do it right. He loves that little boy like his own. I would say there are few friendships stronger than that of my husband and Parker. The bond between them is one you could see a mile away. Pop and Parker are TIGHT.

Was it always easy? NO!

Did we do everything perfect? NO! Amanda was always the Mom and always allowed us to be the grandparents. She would probably tell you that there were times I moved out of those boundaries. I never wanted to, but I fell so madly in love with this child that protecting him was my mission in life. I would take on a bear or any person that caused Amanda's life to be harder. He became the grandchild of all my friends. He became the most loved little baby boy to all of Amanda's friends. This boy had a FAN CLUB. For the first five and half years of Parker's life they lived with us. From the moment Amanda gave birth she was MOM and a GOOD ONE. She was one of those that it just came naturally to. But that's not the point of this post. I could tell you Parker is smart. He is! Extremely....and a lot of that comes from travel and being exposed to a lot of different situations,spending lots of time with adults learning to interact with people of all ages and today he proved my theory that going to school every day is not a necessity. (If you are a teacher please don't email me. That has always been my theory and I am pretty sure it will never change)! Travel is education to me, even if it's to see the MOUSE.

Parker turns 11 next week. That in itself blows my mind. Amanda got a call at work today from his teacher to tell her not only did he score the best (and I am not even going to say what because I would really be bragging)on whatever the BIG tests they have just taken. You can tell school is not my thing as I cannot even think what they are called. I just know they are very important every year and he does not need to miss school on those days, eat a good breakfast and go to bed early the night before. Amanda makes sure all that happens.

BUT THIS IS THE PRIZE. She told her what a privilege it had been to be Parker's teacher and that she wished she had 20 PARKER'S! That one statement makes me cry. She went on to tell her how he made new kids feel welcome, how polite he was, how he was kind to kids that were maybe not so popular, and that he was a JOY to have in her classroom. This GRAMMY is PROUD! When I hung up I thought, "Baby you did it! YOU raised a little boy to be a GREAT TWEEN, that a teacher wishes she had 20 of. You will never find two parents that are more PROUD of their GIRL. I am not naive enough to think she will not have more hurdles to cross as he becomes a teenager. BUT tonight I CELEBRATE her, all those days she pressed on, all those nights she stayed home when her friends were out on the town, all those times she was a single parent trying to stay on a budget. Today she is happily married to a wonderful man who adores her and they have 2 year old JACK! Micah is a wonderful step-father and he and Parker really love each other. From the day Parker was born my prayer was that she would fall in love with someone that loved Parker as much as he loved Amanda. Seven years later she did! Answered prayer...and today was icing on the cake...

Today was a long day...I know many of you commented on my post last night about my friends first granddaughter arriving today. It was a very long day, 12 long hours of labor and pushing and the baby would never get in the right position, so at 6:30 tonight they had to do a C-section and 8 and half pound Elizabeth is finally here safe and sound. So after a lot of dental work and then sitting in a hospital chair for 10 hours, I came home TIRED to the bone....Then I got Amanda's call telling me about the call she had received from Parker's teacher! A perfect ending to the DAY. I can never remember feeling SO PROUD! Not only a JOY to his teacher, but the BEST BIG BROTHER EVER. It is 2 AM and my husband just came in from a trip. I just told him about his little man and the phone call. He and his Pop go to breakfast together everyday so I am sure there will be a celebration breakfast. We can hardly wait to get up tomorrow and BLESS HIM. We have sat here and talked about how our lives changed the day he was born. The day we became grandparents! Tonight we go to bed feeling BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE.

THIS PICTURE SHOUTS LOVE TO ME!

I can't even apologize for this post. I promise to tell you next time he has an attitude or pouts or anything that he does that's not allowed, but it may be a post you wait a long time for. He is all BOY and not perfect but tonight I am feeling like he is pretty close. And I am so glad God chose me to be his GRAMMY.

Remember all comments this week go in the Disney drawing.

Thanks for indulging me.