Babies and their Mothers

The best word I can use to describe this past year is difficult. I am hoping to never have a repeat. However, there were a few good moments and the two top vote getters were the births of the babies that are pictured above. At the top is Jaelyn Mae, shortly after birth and last week and also, then and now, is Benjamin Andrew. They are the result of a couple of "firsts" in my life: my first goddaughter, Rachel Mary who is the mother of BamBam, and my first niece: Vanessa Lee who is the mother of JaeMae. That's about all the credit I can take.

JaeMae, who arrived December 26, 2006 had shown us a preview of her upcoming vanity by showing off her very long fingers in pretty much every photo taken of her, including her hospital photo. BamBam, on the other hand, keeps his hands tightly fisted in all the photos I've seen of him.

Hannibal loves when she comes for a visit. He loves to jump up and kiss her, which causes her eyelashes to flutter as she quickly blinks in, not fear, but apprehension that the furry four legged bouncy barking creature moves so quickly towards her face. As she has gotten older, she loves to watch his tail wagging and feel his fur. Vanessa has, in my opinion, made motherhood look very easy. JaeMae is a happy little girl, she seems to rarely cry, it's more that she "complains" when she is hungry or sleepy. She is now sitting on her own, and crawling. Her crawl is different, one leg out straight and the other bent at the knee. It's amazing how much ground she can quickly cover.

BamBam, who I have not yet met, gave us all a bit of worry at his too early arrival. His wanting to see his parents sooner, rather than later, moved his anticipated birthdate of 3/21 to his actual birthday of February 12, 2007. From all accounts he's progressing as expected and I am looking forward to seeing Rachel in her role as mother.

These two little babies, who haven't met each other yet, have reminded me of the other kids in my life. Faith and Jerry's sons Timothy and Joseph who are Rachel's younger brothers; Janice and Tom's Kristina, Tom and Kimberly; as well as my nieces and nephews, Veronica who is Vanessa's younger sister (and now an auntie!!); Nick and Amy; Chelsea, Matthew and Emilee. I have so many stories of these kids, which I will be sharing in future posts.

Having babies in my life again - it's the best! An added bonus, my friend Faith is a GRANDMOTHER! This more than makes up for the fact that for 30 something years I've been reminded that she is 11 days younger than me. I, no matter how much older, will NEVER be a grandmother.