It's every grandmother's dream when she's called into active duty. And, today, I was. Little Maggie's been fussy and - believe me, I remember how this is - Eva tends to act up when mommy needs to give the baby lots of attention. So I went down to play with Eva and do any baby holding needed. Or ANYthing needed. Eva and I played and colored. Emily brought the baby down after she had nursed well and handed her off to me. Chris came over after work and took Eva to the library and then put in a movie for her when they got back. I was able to let the baby snuggle in for a long nap on my nice, cushion-y body bed while Emily took a much needed nap herself. Bliss. Maggie would wake up every now and then, look around, smile a little and then fuss a bit and I would switch her position and walk her a little bit and then she'd fall back to sleep. Yeah. Pure bliss. :) I was able to help in the kitchen a wee little and then Chris and Eva and I took Maggie for a walk in her stroller while Emily grabbed a shower. It was heaven. Heaven, I tell you! And, obviously, I was able to snap a few sweet photos, too. Maggie's 7-1/2 weeks now. Hard to believe! That just doesn't even sound right!

So, we brought Eva home with us and left Emily and Maggie by themselves for the two hours before Dustin came home. And Eva will go to church with us tomorrow.

Martha's bringing Taco over in the morning, too, because she and Matthew are going camping (finally - they've been trying to get there all summer). And then we may be granddaughter sitting again tomorrow afternoon/evening a little - as Maggie will allow - because it's Dustin and Emily's 1st wedding anniversary and they want to go out alone to celebrate at least a little. And we want to help them do that however we can.

It's so freaking wonderful to be completely free to be able to help out. What a blessing that I'm not exhausted by a job. And that Chris is so available to help, too. Because he totally wants to. That's what grandparenting is all about - being that support system. Helping your kids to succeed and to be happy. What a privilege. Sigh...

Oh. Chris saw Maggie smile for the first time today. I don't quite know how he's missed it before. My first time was at the reunion. It was...well, I can't even explain it. But now Chris knows why I'm always trying to get her to smile. It's completely captivating. And it was fun seeing (and hearing) Chris go ga-ga over her darling smile, too. Yeah. We've got it BAD!