October 22, 2018

Welcome, Benjamin!

October 22, 2018/ Lisa Carpenter

Welcome, Benjamin!

My long-awaited (local) grandson has arrived! Last Wednesday, in fact. As his entry into the world—and Mama Brianna’s arms—didn’t go quite as planned, I’ve followed Brianna’s and Patrick’s lead in delaying celebratory announcements online and otherwise.

Jim and I did get to meet the amazing bundle of joy while word was still under wraps, though. (A true perk of being local grandparents for the first time!)

October 15, 2018

Peak preggers pic

October 15, 2018/ Lisa Carpenter

Peak preggers pic!

James had his last regular season football game on Saturday and when Brianna came over before we all headed to the game—one determining whether James and his teammates make the league playoffs—I asked Brianna to pose for a final pre-baby pic.

With induction scheduled for Thursday, this is surely the peak of pregnancy for my girl, the final photo before baby arrives.

October 10, 2018

And the little one said: ‘Lemme out!’

October 10, 2018/ Lisa Carpenter

Conditions are getting quite cramped for my youngest grandson. During yesterday’s ultrasound—photos for which are far more distinct than last week’s ultrasound—there was one hand nearing the little guy’s face… and (not visible in this printout) a foot pressed up against his forehead, according to the technician. Quite a feet, er, feat!

The limited space must be why Mama Brianna experienced such mighty movement from the nearly newborn contortionist on Monday…

October 03, 2018

Grandbaby ETA draws near

October 03, 2018/ Lisa Carpenter

Brianna is officially at 37 weeks and two days today. Yesterday I had the privilege of attending one of her final ultrasound appointments—an exciting opportunity for me, considering my first three grandbabies were born 815 miles away, making this my first such experience.

I got to watch Brianna undergo a neonatal…

September 24, 2018

Getting real

September 24, 2018/ Lisa Carpenter

Getting real

My mom is struggling to survive stage 3 lung cancer. My firstborn will soon deliver her firstborn any day now. Somewhere in between my utter despair regarding the one end of life’s spectrum and my sheer delight related to the other is the space where I, a writer and blogger, should be writing and blogging.

But I don’t feel like…

September 17, 2018

Baby shower, with Pinterest upgrades! Plus, GRAND Social No. 320 link party for grandparents

September 17, 2018/ Lisa Carpenter

Baby shower… with Pinterest upgrades!

In the preamble to last week’s GRAND Social link party, I noted that I’d had a busy day the day before. The reason for the busy-ness was Brianna’s baby shower! It turned out to be a lovely baby shower—thanks in large part to all the pinning Brianna (and I, admittedly) had done pre-party planning.

I hosted Megan’s baby shower more than 10 years ago—long before Pinterest appeared and upped the ante on entertaining. Megan’s shower was nice. But, gee whiz, thanks to Pinterest, the bar has been raised since those long-gone days of simply serving up punch, cake, shower decor, and a few silly shower games.

Here are a few of the Pinterest-inspired creations I (with help from Andrea and Megan, who flew in for the weekend) managed to pull off for Brianna’s fall-themed affair…

June 18, 2018

My next grandbaby is a ...

June 18, 2018/ Lisa Carpenter

My next grandbaby is...!

Last Friday Brianna, Patrick, and James learned the gender of the baby scheduled to join the family in October. And the baby is...

June 15, 2018

Flashback Friday: Back in my day

June 15, 2018/ Lisa Carpenter

Dear readers: Today is the day my firstborn learns the gender of her firstborn, scheduled for arrival in October. With all things pregnancy on my brain today, I thought this post—originally published June 13, 2011—a fitting Flashback Friday feature. Thank you for reading!

I had my youngest baby, Andrea, nearly 26 years ago (Flashback update: nearly 33 years ago!). Listening to Megan talk about pregnancy, labor, and newborn care, it's clear there have been some important—and some not-so-important—changes in the whole process since back in my day.

June 05, 2018

Brain drain... On lo mein, cracked pots, and other loves

June 05, 2018/ Lisa Carpenter

Wherein I ramble on...

Brianna is starting to show. And that's pretty darn awesome. She and Patrick find out next week if their first baby is a boy or a girl. I'm hoping for a girl... yet wonder if it's wrong to even consider hoping for one gender over another considering what they've gone through to get this far. Of course I'll be thrilled with another grandson but as this is likely my final grandchild, adding a girl to the grand group seems fitting. (Don't tell anyone, but I do think it's a girl.)

The life God intended. Conversations and situations

April 19, 2018

Throwback Thursday: Thoughts on My Daughter's Miscarriage

April 19, 2018/ Lisa Carpenter

This #TBT piece—originally published October 18, 2015 on Purple Clover—underscores the appreciable blessing of my daughter's recent pregnancy announcement. Thank you for reading.

My daughter lost her baby last week. A miscarriage in the first trimester.

Coming from an abundantly fertile family, it's hard to wrap my head around that. My mom had seven children. Three of my sisters had several children, and a number of those kids had kids. I had three children myself, and my middle child had three children, too.

All of us had no problem. Yet it's a problem for my oldest child, Brianna.