A New Lodge and A New Baby

My Dad - checking the 3D glasses

Wow.  It's been a busy week and a half.

I've taken a short break from blogging, but let me assure you that doesn't mean nothing has been happening around here.

There's been a new lodge to move into, and then a new grandchild to be born.

Talk about exhilaration!

We spent a very productive and pleasant week last week moving all of the furnishings and household items into the new lodge.  At this point we have the main floor (great room, kitchen, and bedrooms) cleaned and set up.  As for the basement, rec room and the deck/porch, they all still need some construction work and finishing before those areas are liveable.

By Saturday evening, the final night of our move in week, we were settled in enough to enjoy cooking a full dinner followed by some relaxing in front of a crackling fire and a 3D movie.

Sunday we came back home to the real world.

I spent Monday and Tuesday unpacking my suitcase, doing laundry and catching up on mail.  If it's possible for a soon-to-be-grandma-again to have a nesting instinct, I had it.  Although the baby due date wasn't for another 12 days, I gassed up my car, paid all the bills, put some cash in my wallet, and packed my suitcase again.

Daughter Sarah's due date was May 19th, but I figured I might as well be proactive and ready to go.  The plan had been for me to arrive at her home in western Ohio several days before her delivery, just to help around the house and add moral support during the final days.

That didn't happen, because yesterday, at 5:30 in the AM, I got THE CALL.

The water had broken, and they were heading to the hospital.

Let me tell you - this grandma-to-be-again loaded the car and flew drove very safely across Pennsylvania and Ohio to hopefully make it before the birth.  I made the trip in a record time of only 6 1/2 hours, having only stopped once for a five minute pee break.

Gabriel Parker Mekeel

Baby Gabriel cooperated and was born less than an hour after I arrived.

May I say he is amazingly adorable and cute?  I think there have possibly only ever been four other grandchildren in the history of the world that have been as wonderful as this one.

Born at 2:30 PM yesterday, May 7th, he weighed 6 pounds 14 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long.  And yes, there's a fair amount of hair in there under the warming cap.

As you can imagine, the new mom and dad and I spent much of the rest of the day just staring at that cute little face and feeling very blessed and grateful.

I'm about to head back to the hospital to help out again, so I'll leave you with several pictures, which probably tell the tale far better than I can.

A moment of awe and wonder

An exceedingly proud daddy

Now we are three

We are blessed.