Surprise!

2/8 started out as a lazy-daisy-Saturday....and I took Gage to baseball while Daddy stayed home with the baby.... My sweet boy is getting so big!

After that, I headed home, and scooped up the baby. Gage would stay home with Daddy and we girls would hit the road for a visit to Mema.

{My Mema is...90? 91? I can't remember right now as I post this. How about we say, 'she is in her nineties'??? She can't be alone any longer. She gets confused. She seems to slip in and out of knowing what is real or imagined. She's got very poor vision, which makes the real vs. imagined even more difficult to decipher. She can be quite unsteady on her feet. She forgets to ask for help with getting up and down... You get the picture. Well, she's been in & out of a rehab there in her home town, and even when she's there, one of her daughters or caregivers is there with her all the time. So, on this particular day, it happened to be Darnin's weekend. Yaaay for surprise visits! I talked to Darnin earlier in the day and didn't tell her that I was thinking about coming. I could tell in her voice that she needed a visit as much as we needed it. Again I say, Yaaay for surpise visits!!!!! Seriously---Darnin works 5 days a week and then spends most of her weekends with Mema. My other aunts do it too during the week, but they don't work...but everyone needs time off to handle their own households, responsibilities, etc. It's just a lot to juggle, but somehow they all seem to make it work. They're pretty amazing.}

Below is a picture of my Mema and one of her babies. My Aunt Pat gave her this one. You think about this woman, 90+ years old, who had seven children. How many years of her life were devoted to taking care of little ones? And now, with her dementia, she may not be able to distinguish between this doll and a real infant, but this baby (this is one of her two babies) gives her purpose. It keeps her busy. It gives her something to tend to and nurture.

...and when I get old, I want to be just like that. And I want someone to bring me a baby.
{Gage, Eliette: take notes.}

(As an aside: I cannot fail to mention here that Mema now seems to prefer her babies over live, active babies. Her babies mind. They are still. They aren't loud. They take their bottle when you feed them, and they lie still and sleep when you want them to. They never have poopy diapers or fight clothing changes. ...and this seems to be just the way she likes it! Besides, what mother doesn't prefer her own children over the rest??)