Somewhere In The Mess: Saturday Morning Re-Cap

We recently received a visit from my sister-in-law, Naomi, and her son (our nephew) Ryan. I threw down a mini photo shoot and here are some of the best shots.

Seven months and already crawling like crazy!

Uncle Fernando with Ryan

He's pretty much one of the cutest babies I've seen. Half Mexican, half Armenian is a good combo.

This past weekend, I attended the baptism of Julia Ruby Barba, my cousin Jason's baby girl with wife Grace. This was the third baptism I attended this year! After the actual ceremony, it was back to Jason and Grace's house for food, drinks, and a mini-reunion with my cousins. I regret not taking more pictures. My uncle Jesse and aunt Esther were there, along with all three of their sons--my cousins "Little" Jesse, Michael, and Eric. It was actually Little Jesse's birthday on Saturday. His 40th! Michael came with his lovely wife, Claudia (I love her!) , and their kids Jacob and Briana. Jacob is ten years old and TALLER than me. The last time I saw him was at our wedding shower. He was short and pudgy. He has totally stretched over the last year. Briana is in the "losing teeth like crazy" stage. She's such a cutie, and really takes the job of taking care of her little cousin, Matthew, very seriously. Yes, Eric was there with his wife, Laura, and their son Matthew, who has also done a lot of growing up since I last saw him. It makes me happy to see how happy and successful my cousins have become. I can't wait until my brother and myself move into that tier of our life-- successful marriages, home owners, careers, and kids. The one thing that put a damper on the event was seeing my cousin, Sal. It was awkward as all hell because I didn't know he was out of prison yet. Yeah, Jason's brother, my cousin Sal, has spent the last several years in prison. He looks a lot older than his 27 years. I feel like I don't even know him anymore. I haven't seen him since he was a teenager and we had to stay a week with my Nana. Overall, though, I was happy I went. I spent most of the evening just talking to my aunt Esther and Claudia (and my mom) who I went to the party with. Here are the only two pictures I took that day:

Baby Julia with Mom, Grace

The priest, Jason, Grace, Julia, and Godparents. My aunt Linda was the Godmother (she jockeys for the position of Godmother for all the girls in our family--she's my Godmother, too). The Godfather (I forget his name) is a good friend of Jason's.

On Tuesday night, Fernando and I took his sister, Melissa, out for dinner for her birthday at The Olive Garden. Again, I was lax with my camera and only caught these two sub-par pictures:

Melissa looking embarassed because the staff was singing to her--that's her hubby, Clement, next to her.