Conner

Conner is my first grandchild.(See Blessings post) It was so fitting that he was born on Valentine's Day. On the day he was born, all our hearts were filled with love and thanksgiving. He has me wrapped around his little finger, and he knows it! People told me that being a grandparent was the greatest joy in life. I never really understood the truth of that until I actually became one. Being a grandmother changes you. Your priorities change. Playing with Thomas the train and building an elaborate track is now much more important than reading a book or doing any type housework. A trip to a department store means first going to the children's section and then if there is any money left over, you might buy yourself a shirt or something.
No one bothered to tell me that along with the joys, the heart aches would also be intense. When Conner had to begin preschool and I realized someone other than a family member would be caring for him, I thought I was actually going to DIE. Since I'm writing this post that means I didn't, and yes, it was tough for a while. Now, I am thankful to the precious ladies who lovingly care for Conner and Charli Grace each day. They care for them as if they were their children and it shows in the way the children happily go to school and in the stories they share about their day.

Houston

Houston, Texas is almost a thousand miles from my home. That means a part of my heart is a thousand miles away. Our daughter Julie and her husband David live and work in Houston. They have a happy, busy life there and we enjoy hearing about their adventures. Two of my "grand-dogs" live with them. Sammy and Dexter are their dauchshund babies. Life is never dull when you have a dauchshund in your life, let alone, two. They are naughty and ingenious little dynamos that can turn your world upside down. That's why they are such perfect additions to our family.
Julie and David are athletic. They ride in the MS 150, which is a yearly event to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis. Thousands of intrepid bicyclists cover the one hundred fifty mile distance from Houston to Austin in two days. Julie won't be joining David this year because she is traveling to China with Jennifer and Charli Grace.

China

China is on the other side of the world. As children, we always joked about digging a hole so deep that we would end up in China. Now, China has given my family a great blessing in a small package. Charli Grace, formerly known as Ming Ming, is my grandaughter. She became my grandaughter the day her mother, Jennifer, saw her photo on a "Waiting Child" site and fell instantly in love with her. Adopting a child is not a simple process. Add another country and thousands of miles into the equation, and it becomes insurmountable to the faint of heart. Jennifer and Chad are NOT faint-of-heart. When they first shared their desire to adopt from China, I was again dumbfounded. (This will be a common theme in my posts. My children announce their newest adventure and I am dumbfounded.) My mind raced with a million questions, how, how much, who, when, where and why? Then I zeroed in on, "Why do you want to adopt a waiting child?" Their logical response was that a waiting child needed them the most. (For those of you how aren't familiar, a waiting child is a child that has some type physical limitation.) Little Ming Ming has congenital glaucoma and cataracts. Her vision is limited. God knew that Jennifer and Chad were the perfect parents for Ming Ming and He set about to knock down huge obstacles and place her in their arms much more quickly than we could ever imagine.

Blessings

With the arrival of Spring I can't resist the opportunity to consider the many blessings God has bestowed upon me. These blessings are the elements that make up Bebe's World. My name is Robbie and for most of my life that is how I identified myself. That is until almost five years ago when my daughter Jennifer and her husband Chad handed me a "gift" in a ziploc bag. It was a white plastic object that resembled the adjustable measuring spoon that Pampered Chef sells. I was dumbfounded. Why would they be so excited about giving me an obviously used measuring spoon? I'm sure you've already guessed that they were handing me a positive pregnancy test (hench, the ziploc bag). That day marked the change of my identity from Robbie to Bebe. I thought that life after our daughters left home would be quiet and dull. Nothing could be further from the truth, and I LOVE IT!