a not so happy birthday.

Sorry for the lack of posts, I have nothing to blame but cranky kids and a little bit of laziness (or a lot!)

Did I mention that today is my birthday?? Yep, that's right, today I reached the halfway point to fifty. (For anyone like me that can't do math without a calculator, that makes me 25!)

We spent the day running our usual Saturday errands, came home for naps while I finished up a very last minute birthday gift, and then went to Pump-It-Up for a birthday party for one of Millie's little friends. My husband got a phone call from his dad during the party, and he wasn't going to answer because it was so loud in the room, but he got a feeling that he should. Just a few minutes after cutting into the birthday cake, he came to me and told me that his sweet Grandma Millie had passed away. I know that she had been ready to leave this earthly world for quite a while, her husband passed away about 40 years ago, but it still breaks my heart to see that she is gone. Todd was so close to his grandmother, I've never seen anything quite like it. I've cried on so many occasions at the close relationship that the two of them share. She is such an amazingly wonderful woman that we even decided to name our first child after her.

Millie and Millie

October 21, 2007

June 16, 2008

I hate myself for not getting a picture of the two of them together during Grandma Millie's last visit in February after Anson was born. I was still exhausted from having a baby, and Little Millie was going through a no-sitting-for-pictures phase so I didn't want to put Grandma Millie through all the trouble. However, I did manage to get a picture of her with Anson.

She would always fight everyone over holding Anson. She'd say, "Let me have that baby!" I never expected to have so much help from an 86-year-old woman, but she definitely knew how to take care of things!

Grandma Millie was such a strong woman. After her husband died at a young age, she raised 6 girls by herself. She's such an example to me, and I love her so much. I have so many memories from the past 5 years that I've known her, like her obsession with butter, playing cards, and her never letting me forget that time she caught me clogging in the kitchen. I miss her so much already, but I know that she's happy. We love you Grandma Millie!