Nonna time....

For those who don't know already...since Gabe bore me my first grandchild, he was given the priviledge of naming me (with a few strict instructions). It came as no surprise to those of us who know Gabe and where he's lived, he deemed me Nonna (pronounced like Mona...the the Italian version of Grandma)...so I'm Nonna Lisa. I could live with that.

With Rosie working full time and Gabe getting as many hours as he can...I've had the privilege of spending the past couple Friday's with Mia. Well actually...I've reserved her the past couple Friday's. Week before last I got Mia bright and early, we got Rachel and Jessica off to school and Mia and I got packed up and headed down to Tucson. My cousin Marci lives in Tucson and our favorite Aunt Janet was visiting. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to spend the day there and show off my beautiful grand daughter.

We played out sided on the swing, climbed up the kids rock wall,













Lola was a bit scary to Mia, but she soon warmed up to her...
...ate hot dogs, mac n cheese and carrots for lunch....went swimming for a bit and got to know her great Aunt Janet (and how great she is) and Marci and her kids, Spencer, Jake, Kennedy, baby Emma (not pictured)...and their cousin Rachel. We watched Marci make the famous spud nuts (oven baked style) and she sent us home with a couple. We had such a nice time just relaxing, visiting and catching up...we hated to drive home. Mia was such a trooper that day...we drove 94 miles to Tucson, the 94 miles home and as soon as we got back to Queen Creek it was time to head to Sky Habor airport to pick up Papa (Greg)...that's another 36 miles there and back. It was a long day, but a really good day!!! Thank you Marci for letting us invade your life for the day...it was great to see you and the kids and always great to see Aunt Janet. We can't wait for her next trip down...we're going to kidnap her for a couple days.













Day before yesterday Mia got to spend the day with us again. Our ward was having our annual chili cook off/trunk or treat activity and Mia wanted to come. So she came over early so "nonna" could alter her costume (it was a tad too big), we carved a pumpkin to decorate our trunk and baked the seeds because Mia's daddy likes them.

Later that afternoon we met Rosie at her OB appointment. Rosie invited us because she thought we might like to see baby Olivia. After waiting almost an hour and a half we finally got called in. It's been many years since I had my last US (23 years as a matter of fact)...so it was kind of exciting. The excitement died down a bit when we noticed the US tech was taking multiple measurements of the baby's stomach and other organs...I just knew there was some concern. When the US was done she sent the Dr in to talk to Gabe and Rosie to warn them that Rosie's amniotic fluid was low and that the baby was about 2 weeks behind in growth (probably due in part of that low fluid). Rosie was instructed to drink a gallon of water a day (in hopes that that helps) and to stay off her feet. She has to have weekly US's to monitor the fluid levels and the growth of the baby...and if it becomes an issue, they will have to take the baby early. The problem at this point is that Rosie is a dental assistant and getting the time off work is somewhat complicated (we found out that CA is the only state in the USA that has mandated disability benefits...which means Rosie can take the time off, but she doesn't get paid). So....the Dr said that at this point she can still work, but has to lie down on her breaks and is to only lay down at nights and the weekends. If things don't improve, she'll have to take leave from work.
This wasn't the news that we expected, but we will stick together and get through this.

We raced back to the house, got Mia dressed in her Snow White costume and headed to the church parking lot. An boy was that parking lot full. We had a great turn out and Mia had lots of fun. She ate chili, she rode the wagon ride (towed by a tractor)...













she stared and stared at the bouncy house...as the bigger kids cleared out, I gave Mia the go ahead to climb in and just as she did...they all came back. I quickly rescued her, but she was a bit traumatized. Luckily that was soon forgotten as the trunk or treat started.
All in all I think Mia had a good time, we certainly had a good time with her.

It's taken me a while to understand the "how great it is to be a grandparent" thing, but I think I've been bitten. I sure love my Mia and am looking forward to getting to know Olivia.