There is no answer to the eternal question - what does this cry mean?

Simon was our first grandchild, and now I am spending time with my 6th grandchild and we are reminded of the adjustment that a little one means to our lives...

We are always trying to figure out just what this little one is trying to tell us, and we are reminded over and over that there is really nothing to do but take it as it comes.  If they are fed and dry and safe... sometimes it is all we can do for them. 

Here I am with my mom and two grandmas... I am sure that my mom had a million questions about me, and she shared about how my dad would shake the bassinet with his foot while he studied, so it appears that I had a good set of lungs also!   We all make it through, and I still am not shell shocked by the time of the newborns... I still consider my nest years as the best years of my life.  How I loved the little ones all safely around me!

Ruth Ida - our first daughter - being baptized... I look like I am surviving the first few weeks of motherhood.  I know that every time that my children were baptized... I was deeply touched by the power, majesty and beauty of the Baptism rite.  I felt as deeply touched by the service yesterday for Augustine!  The most beautiful day of our lives, when the original sin is washed away and we join our life to Christ's and His amazing Church!  

Here is Nancy's baptism with her Godmother, Mary and Raterra.  Raterra stopped in yesterday to meet 

Gus and congratulate him on his special day.  The love continues on from generation to generation and Mary sends hers from heaven, as she will have the 25th anniversary of her death on July 3rd.

Nancy receiving the oils of baptism in the arms of her Godmothers!  I just had to have 

Bill come and look at this baby picture of Nancy - he said that it looks like Nancy, and we can see a bit of Gus in there too!   

It was fun to find these old pictures and remember the great times we had as family, and the laughter, and the tears that paved the path of life... It is wonderful to have Nancy feeling better tonight, and taking it more calmly as it comes, and realizing that there are not always answers to why the baby is crying.  He needs his mom to be close and to love and nurture him.  That has been true from the beginning of time, and most new moms lose sleep at night in the process of figuring out how much our little ones depend on us for all of their needs!

Baby John with his 4 older sisters!   I was just telling them about the hairs that would get wound around John's toe in the sleeper... I wonder where they would come from?  That answer unlike some was pretty obvious.  Nancy saw a mom with 7 children out in the lobby at the Alpha center today... "I had always thought that I would have 8 kids, but now I question if I could be strong enough."   Time will tell and Nancy you will find the strength and ability to handle all that will come to you in the name of family, faith, and your future domestic Church!  Jesus, we trust in you!

Bless-bless, Barb with my dad and grandfathers at a few months of age... I wonder if I had just cried and impressed them all royally too?!?  Probably!  They probably just had said; 

"Quick take the picture!  She's awake and not crying!"