Please Pass the Butter--and the Baby

This Thanksgiving we were all most thankful for the new addition to the family, this darling baby girl.   She is my niece, but in some ways, feels as close to what I imagine a grandbaby could feel like to a woman my age.

We hosted our gathering the Sunday after Thanksgiving in order to get everyone here who wasn't already "taken" on Thursday.

My sister thought I said dinner was at 1:00,  not 2:00.  Hence me in my cooking shirt and apron.  And hence me with hardly any makeup on.   "Get self ready" was on the list for 1:30, not 12:30 !

I was trying to make Joyce's corn pudding:

Let me tell you, once that baby showed up, I was highly distracted.

Highly.

What should have taken five minutes to prepare ended up taking 25.   Measure the sugar. Hold the baby.

Pass her to her cousin Joel,  who (despite the hair that he insists is "cool" and not too long) is a cute 11-year-old.

Especially when he talks baby talk.

----

Crack the eggs.  Wash hands. Hold the baby.  The baby who is getting hungry just smelling the food in the oven.  Hungry humans can get fussy, can't they?

 Pass her off to Uncle Paul.  We call him the Babe Magnet.

Something he does  seems to calm all the wee ones. Maybe it's the thinner air up in  his arms.  

The ittle socks that look like shoes with socks, are they not the cutest?

See her darling Ravens outfit?  The onesie was made by my DIL Dee. 

Here's how it looks in the back.  Dee sewed that purple ruffle on by hand. Adorable, huh? 

Not to mention her adorable little hand touching Uncle Paul's big hand. 

Add the creamed corn, sprinkle some nutmeg on top...

Pass the sleeping beauty to Dee.

  

My daughters-in-law are going to be such  good mothers.They love children and all that goes with taking 

care of them.  

When baby woke up, Jordan was happy happy with her cousin Ben. 

My son, my firstborn, where have 25 years gone? I remember when you were this little! 

Now look at you. Look how your hands fit all the way around your baby cousin. 

You know I'm thinking it looks a lot like practice....

 "My turn! My turn!" Pass the baby to Ambrey, please. 

Ambrey kept the spit-up cloth mighty close.  Baby girl is so slobbery. Must be close to teething time. 

Speaking of teeth and drooling, 

let's eat, shall we? 

Joel took the camera and--scrunching as far back into the corner as he could--snapped the panorama of people

for whom were are all grateful. 

 And my, oh my, aren't we attractive when we aren't quite prepared for the snap of the shutter. 

I'm thinking Joel just wanted to make sure his big brother's face got into the picture, no matter how far away.   Or that his mother regretted the only picture of herself at the table.

I wanted to say "take another one" (and maybe I did) but the family was all about eating, not posing. 

Oh well. 

After all, there was turkey, stuffing and corn pudding to chow down on. 

 
We also needed to celebrate a very special someone's 79th birthday.    Here he is with all his girls.
Well, not all of them. Two couldn't be here because of a little thing called airfare.

It's bittersweet to wonder, "Is this the last year Daddy will be here?"   I want to hold onto him forever.



Mama said, "I want a picture of my two granddaughters."   For 24 years years, Sarah has been the only granddaughter--and hasn't minded.  Nor does she mind at all sharing the spotlight with Jordan.

My girl and my sister's girl.   

 Three generations... A mama, her baby girl, and her baby girl's baby girl. 

And that was about the time baby wanted to be passed off her daddy. There was a nose to play with. 

And then Ima needed another turn holding her. Please pass the baby again. 

You are getting verrrryyyy sleepy. 

And I don't just mean the baby.