First but not most important is the Strawberry Smoothie Recipe I’m including in this post to honor my grandson, Caden’s, first birthday. I love the color of the berries that say “Summer has arrived – Here I am.” It reminds me of his newness, how bright his smile is and the sweetness he has. It is also one of the recipes that will be included in a smoothie cookbook that I’m working on (details to come).
Recipe:
3/4 cup of unsweetened chocolate almond milk or chocolate milk of your choice
1 cup of fresh strawberries
4 frozen strawberries
3 ice cubes
1 scoop of vanilla protein powder
1 Tbsp of ground flax seed
Blend and Enjoy
Today I celebrate being a grandma for 1 year and write to Caden…
Last night I was remembering where I was this time last year. Your mommy and daddy were having a sleepover because the air conditioner in your house had broke. It was a hot June day and your mommy was so big with you. We were all very excited by your newest pictures (ultrasound – this is a special way to see you while you were still in mommy growing) and talked about how cute your chubby cheeks were. I was all about doing this grandma thing and I clasped tightly to the belief that if I loved you the best I could, respected your mommy and daddy’s parenting role and trusted the preciousness of you to God, I couldn’t mess this new relationship up. Sometimes you don’t have to figure it all out – you just need to show up. Your grandpa and I are very blessed to live close to you so know I am committed to showing up.
Anyway back to the story of what was happening – Your grandpa and I are on a lifelong mission to see at least a couple of good live music concerts. This is an area that continually fails us; and I tell you this so you’ll have a marker that although we are older looking on the outside we still have young parts on the inside. One of the bands we had put on our “bucket list” was Collective Soul. (What bucket list means: This is a place you put your dreams in. ) We had tried once before to see them only to fly to Reno, NV (a long way from AZ) and be told upon arriving that the lead singer had gotten ill and the concert was cancelled. (Stuff like this happens all the time in life – you make plans but there are things beyond our control and when it all comes down to it – it will be okay. You get disappointed but there is always a Plan B even if that means waiting. So never lose hope.) In March we noticed they were coming to play a show 20 minutes away from our house. We looked at the date and compared it with your due date and thought we would be safe since you were 2 weeks out. Well we got to see the concert and you chose not to wait 2 weeks and showed up the next day.
Welcome to Our Family Caden – This is your Happy Birth Day Picture
The past year with you has been sweet. I realize that there was a room set aside in my heart designed for just you. Now that’s not to say if you have brothers/sisters/cousins that I will love them any less because they have their own special rooms just waiting for them.
Each time I see you my heart does a cartwheel, your cuddles are healing, your laughter sprinkles joy around a room, crawling on the floor with you not only gives me exercise but reminds me how fun playing is, your perseverance in learning to lift your head, sit up, crawl, pull yourself up is inspiring and motivating. You also remind me that we all get sleepy, cranky and need others to help care for us and that being a mommy and daddy is tiring. I am over the moon for you but that doesn’t mean there won’t be times you don’t like what I say to you. I love you enough to tell you no but believe me there will be more times I tell you yes. So Happy 1st Birthday sweet Caden. You are definitely a GRAND baby and are loved beyond the power of any words I could write.
Getting splashed at the pool doesn’t bother us – Bring It On 🙂
