I've been a bit AWOL

by Nancy C. Butler

I've been a bit AWOL for the last week as far as getting news out, but it is for an awesone reason.

We have a new member of our family, Elianna Grace Butler. She was born Wednesday at St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Lewiston and is precious, beautiful, sweet and cuddly and any other grandma kind of loving words you can think of. She weighed in at 7 pounds and 5 ounces. She is 21 inches long.

Our son, John, and daughter-in-law, Rebecca, are doing a great job loving and caring for her. Her older brother, Connor, is fascinated and wanted to know all about the things that doctors, nurses and others were doing in caring for her.

I have taken dozens of New Year's Baby photos over the years and always carefully posed the people and set up the backgrounds and surroundings to look just right. I took lots of photos, as did others, but this time do you think I even rmembered to put all the family in the same photo, nope. I think I was a bit distracted. However, these candid shots may tell more of a story than anything I ever took time posing, especially the expressions on their faces.

I tell people that when I grow up, I want to be a volunteer in a big hospital in a big city and just rock babies all day. Then my helicopter pilot will whisk me out of that big city to a quiet rural town in the evening. But, maybe I will just stick around and rock this little girl who grabbed my heart just surely as she wrapped her tiny fingers around one of mine.

Please, forgive a grandma's distraction and I will get back on track soon with the news.