"A Problem Page For All!"

Really, it impresses you? Then I'm flattered! Maybe I'm all wrong...but I think I'm emotionally ready! (Hell, the one thing my family has been doing for the past two years is working on getting us all emotionally healthy, so by this time I should be emotionally ready for anything!)

Ooooohhh, I want to see pictures of Isabella! She sounds so wonderful.

Babies in my family. Well, my first-cousin-once-removed has a baby son, Simon, who must be about seven months old by now. It was his grandmother (my great-aunt) who died in May. He was a real blessing to everyone at the funeral. To have a baby to hold when you're mourning a 61-year-old woman's death -- that helps. His family was also at the cottage this summer when we were there staying with Nana and Grandpa. So, we got to see Simon twice this year. But that's not enough!

My youngest cousin is four years old. He and his brother were a big part of my life when they were babies, but we're not as close to that family (my aunt, her husband, the boys) as we used to be and we don't see them very much anymore. Plus, they're not babies anymore...just kids who are growing up unhappy, which is sad.

I do baby-sit sometimes for the two little girls of a chemistry professor from the college. Rachel is four and Elizabeth is two. (Yes, I know, the names!) They're adorable! I love going over to take care of them. I wish their parents would call me to baby-sit more often!

Rachel (my sister, that is) isn't as maternal as I am -- or just not as vocal about her feelings, perhaps. Jimmy is extremely fond of babies, wants one desperately, and was actually crying the other day because he'll never be able to give birth. That brother of mine amazes me!

Oh, and Cherie and Steve (Mom and Dad) don't make it easier by being quite, quite eager to be grandparents -- in a our-kids-are-still-young-so-we'll-give-them-lots-of-time-of-course-but-you-know-that-we-do-love-babies kind of way!