November 2, 2014 - Happy 30th Birthday to my Youngest Son, Jeremy Vukasinovic

Well, it seems impossible that a year has already
flown by since my last birthday blog for this amazing
young man who is my "baby" boy, Jeremy.  He was
the last born and the heaviest of all three of my sons

in terms of birth weight, though he is tall ( 6'4" ) and

slim now.

He was one of a city of happy San Francisco fans when the Giants won

the World Series!

Jeremy graduated with a degree in kinesiology from
Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo ( what a lovely area in
which to go to college ) and started work almost 
immediately.  After two years at Maxim Integrated 
Products, he is now in a supervisory position at
Genentech.  He was born in San Francisco and seems
to really love the city ( like I do ) and he has also 
acquired my love of travel.  This year, he visited Bali
and Singapore.

So far, he hasn't married and given me grandchildren
but he's a wonderful uncle to little Harper Ann and saw
to it that, before she was a year and a half old, she went 
to her first San Francisco Forty Niner football game ( he 
has season tickets ).  He's also a SF Giants baseball
fan.

This is one of my favorite pics of Harper and her Uncle "J"

He was a great help to his appreciative mother in getting
me packed up and moved out of my home, settling my
remaining belongings into storage so I could make these
jaunts to India ( protesting a bit, of course, but who
wouldn't ).

I am proud of him, delighted to call him my son, wish him 
the happiest birthday ever and joy and great
things to come the rest of his life.

Here's the link to last year's blog on his birthday.

http://rnsane.blogspot.in/2013/11/happy-29th-birthday-jeremy-vukasinovic.html#links

Along with a little sage advice, dear Jer, I wish you a
wonderful birthday, always have a designated driver,
travel and see the world ( you are following in my footsteps 
in that ) and follow your own good instincts in saving your
money and investing wisely.  You have a good heart and
soul and that's what counts.  

I love you very much.

I am participating in Sundays in My City

                                     

Add your post to join in the fun.

Harper Ann Is a Year Old! - April 16, 2014

It hardly seems possible that a year has gone by since the night we spent at the
Sutter Roseville Birthing Center waiting for my grandchild's arrival.  While Laura 
labored, her mom, all three of my boys, and another friend passed the time 
alternately chatting, snacking, and dozing, until, shortly, right before 7AM,
everyone but my son, Alex, Laura, the OB nurse and the obstetrician remained
for the big event.  

April 13, 2013 

The proud father-to-be, Alex Vukasinovic, with his brothers,

Shawn Smith ( the short one ) & the Jeremy Vukasinovic

Shortly after 7AM, we were called back into the room where, thrill of thrills, I met
my beautiful GRANDDAUGHTER, Harper Ann Vukasinovic, for the first time.

Of course, to me, she was the most beautiful baby ever and I was so happy to see a

little girl after having raised three sons!  Uncle Jay was already making plans to take

her fishing and to teach her to shoot a gun and to take her to a 49ers game while I

was picturing her in cute dresses and taking ballet!

I only got to see her for six weeks before it was time for my return to India.  Alex

dutifully downloaded Skype but he wasn't so great at staying in touch so I could see

Harper.  Laura did send videos of the major firsts...her cute smile, rolling over, etc.

I did get back home December 3 and I've been staying with the family in West

Sacramento, luxuriating in four months now of being a full time grandmother.  It's

been a delight seeing this baby crawl, learn new words, grow by leaps and bounds

and bond with her Nana.  If I am not out in the morning, she will crawl outside my 

door and howl until I respond, then she is all smiles.  She has a voracious appetite

( like her Nana ) and there doesn't seem to be a food that she has been offered 

that she doesn't like ( except, perhaps, raw mushrooms ).

The night before Harper's birthday party, Harper's two uncles, her "abuela", Elmira,

who had taken care of Uncle Jeremy and her dad almost from the time they

were born and Uncle Shawn's friend, Kim, came for dinner.  Uncle Jay

brought the most incredible cake his friend from Genintech made for

Harper.

It was almost too beautiful to cut but, believe me, it was so delicious!

Her first birthday party was held this past Sunday, the day before her birthday.  Her

Uncle Shawn was home from six months in Kuwait so we were all together for the

occasion, just as we were for her birth.  It was a lovely event, on a bright sunshiny

day, held in her Nene's backyard in Antelope, California.

I decided to wear an Indian outfit for the occasion.

Uncle Jay was all smiles.

Uncle Shawn was catching up on his beer drinking after six dry months in Kuwait.

Here come Mom and Dad with the cake!

Harper was lovely in her frilly pink dress and she enjoyed playing with her

cousins and was wide eyed at all the gifts.  Most of all, she seemed to delight

in devouring her birthday cupcake and frosting.   All the hoopla was a bit 

exhausting, though, for a little one-year-old.

No Coal in My Stocking But a Flare Up of Kidney Stones - December 3013.

I spent the last two Christmases in far off India so I was looking forward to a 
change of pace and sharing the holiday with my bouncing, cheerful 
granddaughter, Harper Ann.  While all three of my sons would not be gathered
for the occasion ( Shawn, the oldest, is on Air Force duty in Kuwait ), Jeremy,
my youngest, drove up from San Francisco and we had a special Christmas
eve dinner at Laura and Alex's.  Harper Ann, of course, was the star of the
evening in her "waiting up for Santa" pajamas - though she was snug in bed
about 9PM.

I added a "baby's first Christmas ornament" with Harper's name on it to the 

tree which smelled wonderfully but was fast losing it's needles.  At 8-1/2-months,

Harper was easily diverted from the gifts by a shiny red bag filled with gold paper 

which kept her amused, no matter how often she reached for it.

Needless to say, with my three sons, football is going to be part of this young lady's

life.  Here she is sporting the San Francisco Forty Niners hat her Uncle Jer gave

to Laura.  Nicest of all is that Uncle Jer won the fantasy football pool this season

and donated it to start Harper's college fund.  I can't imagine what college will 

cost when she is a freshman.

Slowly but surely, there is a little bit of hair sprouting on that head.  She has bright

blue eyes and, for the most part, she's cheerful and happy - HOWEVER, Harper

can certainly exercise her lungs and let you know when she is displeased.

I just couldn't resist this little outfit - though she only got one day's wear out of

it.  After all, there is just one FIRST Christmas in a granddaughter's life.  I am so

glad I was home for the occasion.

Much to my dismay, however, early in the wee small hours of Christmas day, as

Santa was still soaring over the tree tops, I'm sure, I woke up with the first twinges 

of right flank pain.  They kept increasing in severity and, even after medication 

and drinking a couple of gallons of water, I knew I was in for a bout of renal colic.

I've had kidney stones for about fifteen years, have had lithotripsy twice withour

success, and have learned to live with them, for the most part.  If I stay adequately

hydrated, I'm usually fine but I guess I had been remiss with my water intake.  

For most of Christmas day and the next, I stayed in bed, missing most of the

festivities.  I did, however, manage to get up long enough for unwrapping of 

gifts and enjoying watching Harper Ann tear into the paper, ribbons and nibble

on all the gift tags.  While the rest of the family went off for Christmas dinner,

I stayed home with the granddogs and thanked my lucky stars I, at least, 

didn't have to head to the emergency room.

"Unlce Jer - sometime I call him Uncle J - says he is going to teach me all the

important  things like how to crab and fish and shoot a gun.  I ike it because he

reads to me from the Spanish books my mom buys.  He speaks Spanish

better than Dad or Nana."

"I know Nana was glad to have a granddaughter...she tells me that all the time.

I think she is worn out from having three sons.  Besides, I can wear cute clothes

like purple hats.  I like all my presents but I really liked chewing on the tags."

"Nana REALLY does take a lot of pictures...not just of me but of everything."

"Ohhhh, I knew this was a Spanish book - "El Camioncita Azul" or something

like that - because Mom said Uncle J had to read it to me.  Nana said that,

someday, he will take me to Barcelona, one of her favorite cities or, maybe,

even to Cuba!"

Well, that was my Christmas.  I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday and that

it did NOT include coal or kidney stones.

Blessings and may 2014 be filled with love, properity, happiness and peace.

Happy 29th Birthday, Jeremy Vukasinovic - November 2, 2013

Jeremy is my "baby" - all 6'4" of him.  He weighed in at birth at over 8 and a 
half pounds and I was able to deliver him without too much trouble, believe it
or not!!  He remained bald headed for a full year but many times, especially
in later years, he has sported the most wonderful curls, one batch going to
Locks for Love.

I can't seem to find any of his baby pictures here with me in India so I'll show
you some of his more recent ones.

This has always been a favorite of mine...with Alex, two years older,

at the Golden Gate Bridge

Jeremy has never lived very far from home.  He spent three years at the College

of San Mateo where he got an associates degree in Liberal Arts and his A.S.

in Fire Technology.  He always wanted to be a firefighter.  He went from San 

Mateo to Cal Poly, 250 miles away, in the beautiful area of San Luis Obispo.

There he got a degree in kinesiology.  From there he became employed in the

semiconductor field and, now, for the past two years, he's been at Genentech in

South San Francisco.  I'm afraid that job may take him away since he is being

considered for a new position outside the Bay area.  When I expressed my 

dismay at "losing" him, he laughed and reminded me that I am often seven

thousand miles away in India.

Here, on a cruise, big ( ?  brother, Shawn, is trying to teach him smooth moves

With his beer at the Locks for Lover hairdresser

I think this may well have been Jeremy's shortest haircut

ever - at brother, Alex's wedding...Shawn, big brother, sadly,

was in Germany with the Air Force and had to miss the occassion

Of all my sons, Shawn and Jeremy seem to have developed my love of 

travel.  Much of Shawn's has been compliments of Uncle Sam, via the Air

Force, but Jeremy has already seen much of Europe and Argentina ( as a 

college employee of a pharmaceutical company ) and he speaks Spanish

better than many natives.  He has a real sense of adventure and he likes

good food and wine.  He, unlike me, is very much health oriented and has

worked hard to help me develop healthier habits.

This is Jeremy and his Cal Poly buddy, Daniel...I'm 

posting this for Eileen Dryer who always puts up 

firefighter pics...I think he would have looked good

in a calendar

Jeremy is quite an achiever and he likes to remind his brothers - both of 

whom stretched college years out to over a decade - that he managed to 

graduate by the age of 24 ( making the Dean's list, no less ).  He's done

very well in the corporate world though he still would like to be a firefighter!

Mom with the three best sons any mother could have - 

Shawn ( the shorty ), Alex, and Jeremy

Jeremy with his other mother, Elmira Lopez - she came to us when

Alex and Jeremy were infants - I wanted someone who was monolingual 

Spanish so they grew up fluent in another language - and she was family to us -

and a lifesaver to me with my crazy call schedule - and what a terrific cook!!!

The all night Harper Ann vigil ( post epidural )

Mommy and baby are doing fine!!!  Proud papa and uncles

UNCLE Jeremy meets niece, Harper Ann Vukasinovic - I think it 

was love at first sight

Already, Jeremy has his niece checking out San Francisco's bridges

There is no question, I owe this young man a lot.  First of all, he almost single handedly 

moved me from my four bedroom home when I decided to come to India.  He made 

about a hundred trips to the dump, broke down furniture, loaded things into storage, and

kept me focused so I finally got to India, after changing two airline reservations.  He's

been the one to check my mail, send my medications when it's refill time, visit me in

the hospital and help me when I need it.  He's drawn the short end of the straw, poor kid,

with Alex two hours away in West Sacramento and Shawn playing Air Force.  I've

had an occasional lecture ( much needed ) from him, as well.

All this he did, after having undergone shoulder surgery at the end of his Division 1 Cal

Poly decathlon career!!!  In fact, his research into a surgeon, saved me having to do it 

and Dr. Belzer was the one who did my shoulder replacement!  Sadly, he just had

shoulder surgery again a few months ago.

So, baby boy, though I am often seven thousand miles from home, it will be very

sad for me, WHEN I AM HOME, not to have you there.  It's not that I need you to

haul things for me and all that, I love being able to enjoy a bottle of wine with you and

to have dinner from time to time.  I am well aware I'm getting on in years so, even

our brief rendevous are really precious to me.  I am prouder of you than you will

ever know and, though, I probably don't say it often enough, I am eternally grateful

for your kindnesses to me.  You are a fine young man and the lady that finally gets

to share your life, on a permanent basis, will be one lucky girl.

On this, your 29th birthday, I am so glad that you were born...and that my labor 

wasn't so bad at all.  I love you so much.

Mom

.Happy 31st Birthday to My Middle Son, Alexander Vukasinovic - August 27, 2013

It hardly seems possible that another year has passed and your birthday - the 31st - has 

arrived.  This has been quite a momentous year in your life.  On April 14, 2013, your 

two brothers, Shawn and Jeremy, and I ( plus several other interested parties ) were

at the Sutter Hospital Birthing Center in Roseville, CA, to welcome the arrival of my

first grandchild, the most precious Harper Ann Vukasinovic, weighing in at 8 lbs.  That

wasn't an overwhelming surprise as you weighed 8 lbs, 9 oz when you were born.

Laura was a real trooper and I was so thrilled to have a girl in a family of so many

males ( thank you for contributing the appropriate chromosone! ).

Here you are in your baptismal photo...no 

one can see the gobs of gel I put on to tame

your cowlick!!!

Here you and Laura are on your May 10, 2010

wedding day - one of the happiest of my life.

At the birthing center with your brothers, Shawn Smith, 42,

( left ) and Jeremy Vukasinovic, 28 ( right ).  For once,

everyone has a smile.

And here you are, Dad, shortly after Harper Ann's arrival

This is one of my favorite photos of you, with Harper

slung over your shoulder, sound asleep.

While you are taking your own sweet time with finishing college - is the 

major now math with a minor in economics?  I can never keep up.  You may

well graduate, finally, with more credits than any student ever has accumulated!

But the end is in sight.  

I am so proud of the young man you are.  You and Laura already bought a home

( a year before you married ), you manage an incredibly difficult work schedule and

class, and you seem to have taken on fatherhood with great ease.  You manage 

your finances in a way I never could seem to do.

On this birthday, I am in India but I will be home for Harper's first birthday,

hopefully with her Christmas stocking complete.  From 7000 miles away, 

dearest Alex, I wish you all the best life can bring.  You are well on your way

to have it.

In fact, about the only complaint I have is that you don't get on skype enough so

I can visit with my granddaughter and two granddogs.  Otherwise, you are

one terrific son.

All my love and best wishes on this birthday and every day of your life. 

Mom

Harper Ann Vukasinovic - May 7, 2013

I've written snippets here and there about the arrival of my sweet granddaughter, 
Harper Ann Vukasinovic, but to do her justice - and for posterity - I feel she
deserves to be memorialized in one of my blogs!  All along, we didn't know if
this first grandchild of mine was to be a boy or a girl.  Laura and Alex were
adamant at every ultrasound that they did NOT want to know the sex of the
baby, that they wanted it to be a surprise.  They didn't care if they had a boy
or a girl.  I was equally vocal that, if I had a choice, after raising three sons, I
wanted a girl!!

Harper's due date was April 21st.  The kids invited me to go to Laura's ultra
sound on April 10th so I made the two hour drive to West Sacramento, planning
to stay for a three day visit since my India journey is drawing close.  Laura was
told the baby was weighing in 8 lbs!

You can definitely see Harper's face here, hair and an expression that seems 

to say, "Good grief, let's get this show on the road."

At Laura's OB visit after the ultrasound, her doctor initially was saying the first baby 
is often late but, after examining her, he said labor might begin that week!!

On Saturday morning, April 13, as I was preparing to head back home, Laura told 
me she was having back pain and hadn't slept all night.  She was having irregular

contractions, she thought, about twelve minutes apart.  A shopping trip with her

mother was planned for the Galleria instead of downtown Sacramento so she

would be near the Sutter Roseville Birthing Center where she was to deliver.

I moved my suitcase back into the bedroom, amused at Alex's text, "Oh, no, I'm

not ready."  

About 5PM, i headed to the hospital and joined Christine Calhoun, Laura's mom 

for the grandmother vigil.  I was most impressed with Sutter Roseville's beautiful 

birthing rooms and, especially, with Donna Taylor ( I think that was her name ),

a wonderful OB MSN from Alabama - I picked up on that kindred accent 

immediately ) - who was simply amazing.  As the hours passed, Laura finally

decided to have an epidural and then the atmosphere became downright festive.

Alex's two brothers arrived as did another family member of Laura's and we

waited patiently for the debut of "baby Vook."  

Here are the three brothers together.  Shawn Smith, the oldest, at 42, is senior

to Alex by 12 years.and is 14 years older than Jeremy.  I don't think I could

have managed without his help when I had extensive back surgery when his

younger brothers were just toddlers.  He says he will remain forever single 

and has done his child rearing with his two brothers.

As the hours passed, everyone began to grow weary.  Alex hopped up on the

hospital bed and napped between Laura's contractions and everyone else

got a little shut eye wherever they could.

Jeremy had borrowed a motorcycle from a friend and made the two hour drive from

San Francisco in pretty cold weather and he was totally exhausted.  Shawn, in military

style, can sleep anywhere.  "Nana" and "Nina", both nurses, of course, could sleep

standing up, if necessary.

Christine Calhoun, who will be "Nini" waited patiently for her grandchild.

Laura's cousin, Iva, was also a cheerleader all night.

Finally, as dawn approached, serious contractions began and all but Alex were

urshered out so Laura could begin pushing earnestly.  A short while later, Alex

came out and said Christine and I were grandmothers, still not telling us whether

he and Laura had a girl or boy.  "See for yourselves," he told us.

The first thing we saw on entering the room was the sign next to the door:

A GIRL!!!  The answer to my prayers - a beautiful, healthy baby girl in our family

of testosterone laden men.  

With Nini

With Nana and Daddy

With Uncle Jeremy

I've got my eyes wide open for Uncle Shawn

I was waiting when Laura, Alex and baby Harper arrived home from the

hospital on April 15th.  She was greeted by Taffy and Bucky who wondered

about this strange little creature.  She must have immediately aroused some

dormant maternal instinct in Taffy who responds to her every gurgle and cry.

Bucky says hello

Now it's Taffy's turn

At 8 lbs, Harper is already outgrowing newborn sizes!

I am overjoyed with this sweet granddaughter.  I have to get the kids hooked up

with Skype so we can have weekly visits the six months I'm in India.  June 1st is

such a short time away.

Laura and Alex have settled into parenting so easily.  I am very impressed.

Harper isn't really fussy at all.  She's a good eater and she can sleep just

about anywhere.  We've already had her on outings and, as long as she's dry

and fed, the adults can enjoy dinner without interruption, for the most part.

One of Harper Ann's favorite spots to "hang" out

With great Uncle Charley, Nana's brother, from Georgia

Supervision from Taffy

Lunch at Awful Annie's in Auburn, CA with Mommy and Nana

Needless to say, this is only the first of many pictures to come of Harper Ann 

Vukasinovic.  There will be a bit of a hiatus while I am in India for six months but 

I will certainly post an update from time to time.  I expect to be back in California 

for her first Christmas and I will need to have her stocking finished by then.  What 

a joy she will be to all of us, that is for sure.  Thanks to everyone for your wonderful 

wishes and prayers at the start of her life.