Aunt Overload

My sister finally announced she was expecting #2. I cannot tell you how over the moon my little family is.

The truth of the matter is, I would love #2. I really would and here is where it gets all too serious. (blech) We tried for #2 for over a year. When it didn’t happen, I was okay with it. We told ourselves that we have our one amazing, beautiful, gifted child and that was more than enough for us. After a trip to the Dr. and review of my history, it was safe to say, for my health, one will be all for us. With him, I had heart issues. My heart just pumped way to fast and hard near the end of my pregnancy that my Dr. mentioned that any actual labor would and could be very harmful to both baby and I. So, after talking to him we decided that a C-section was the way to go. Today, I get such severe heart palpitations that I get very winded, dizzy and sleepy. I have to lie down and take deep breaths until it starts to beat a bit more normal. Since I don’t have insurance and DO NOT want to pay the thousands of dollars, it would take to do more testing on my heart to determine if it is strong enough for pregnancy #2. So one is our lucky number. (I know my smoking is harmful to, and I've cut way back and plan to stop this year)
 
Off that yucky dangerous stuff and on to the second light of my life. My youngest niece. She is my sister’s first child, and I get the biggest kick out of her. She is hilarious, and when I look at her, I see big giant brown eyes that in a small way mirror mine. A wider nose that matches mine and my sisters and I see a little of me in her. Since I will probably never have a daughter of my own, she is what I get to see when I imagine what my daughter would be like. She does look like her Daddy, but there are most defiantly hints of my sister in there. And if you know me, you know my sister, and I look ALOT alike! I hope with baby two; I can see more of me in her. My son is a long-legged, blonde, beauty with long lashes and big brown eyes. He is the spitting image of my sister. I see myself in him, but more people say he looks like my sister than anyone else. I tend to agree, and I do love it.

My niece, Lou used to favor me. She is now branching out to other people. (I HATE IT) But, I loved to walk in the door to a big happy GIKKI!!! Now Its, Where is Alex? (My son) I love she loves him so much, but I miss having pictures colored of me, cuddles and lots of Gikki's.
 
So besides all of that what is the best part of being an aunt?

And being the fun aunt who breaks the rules just a little bit.... 
 
Okay, Lou, I'll give you a few skittles. The little girl’s big eyes get bigger. But it will be our secret. (It's 7:45 on a Tuesday night) Do not tell your mom. She smiles at me and shakes her head yes. I crush up the cold skittles and give them to her knowing that once that sugar hits her system, I will be on my way home. (Sorry sister) Being an aunt is all about giving. Some candy here and there, babies, things that make noise, pink things, and later maybe some of my wisdom. (Do I have any?)
 
What makes me the most excited about being an Aunt is all of the things I got from my Aunts. The memories I have of them that I think of daily or share with my son, and hope to share with my nieces. I hope I always stay close to them and they will feel the way about me.
 
My Aunt Karla was born and raised in Texas, her accent is amazing. I could listen to her talk for hours (still could!) So tall, always had her makeup and hair perfect, She was what I wanted to look like when I grew up. I learned how to properly put on eyeliner when I was about 13 or so and stayed a week with my Aunt Karla and Uncle Danny in Texas. I remember watching my Aunt put it on while we were in the car headed to Dallas. I watched her so carefully and memorized it all. To this day I can close my eyes and picture that moment. I love that.
 
My Aunt Amy always had Flintstones Push pops in the freezer at her house, and always let my sister, and I wear her old Cheerleading uniforms. When I was in junior high, she drove my friends and me to volleyball camp about 40 miles away ever day for a week or two. (That is a good aunt!)  When I was little, I thought she looked just like Kayla from Days Of Our Lives (Remember Kayla and Patch?), and that was so cool.
 
My other Aunt who has is not to really in our lives anymore was the crazy single fun aunt. She always had excellent gifts like my first Caboodle case. She introduced my sister and me to Meatloaf and singing, "You took the words right out of my mouth" in the car. And was goofy as hell in the best possible way.
 
My Aunts rocked! I hope in 25 years Lou says the same thing about me. My Aunt Nikki Rocks.
 
So, Congratulations to my sister and brother-in-law. #2 is due to arrive around my birthday. Let's hope this one looks like my sister so I can get that "I get my good looks from my aunt" shirt I have been eying. Because Lou looks too much like daddy for me to pull that off.

Drowning in testosterone

For years I have known that I did not want a daughter. I was a total nightmare myself, so I didn't want that drama. I was thrilled when my little boy was, in fact, a boy. I was a tomboy so I knew it would be great. I grew up with just my sister and me, so some of the little boy things I missed out on. These days, I find myself questioning myself...."Is this a thing boys do?" Here are some examples of my life with my six-year-old boy, a husband, and three male dogs.

1) I think my kid cries dirt. Seriously. That child can get out of the bathtub, and if he cries, he has streaks down his face. Is this a thing? Is it normal? People tell me boys are always getting dirty, but actually...how does this happen? And I'm serious.

2) I cleaned carpets this weekend. The carpet was filled with 30% hair (mine), 20% Dirt and 50% rocks. Tiny little pebbles. I make the child take his shoes off when we walk into the house because his shoes are always filled with rocks, but how has he managed to get roughly 5 lbs. of rocks stuck in the carpet?

3) SMELL MY FEET!
SMELL MY SOCKS!
LOOK AT MY UNDER WARE!
LOOK IN THE TOILET!
THE DOG POOPED SOOO MUCH, COME SEE! 
These are all things I hear daily. Little boys are proud of their smells.

4) This is one of my closest friends favorite stories. My son loves to pee outside. I have often turned around and caught him peeing out in the middle of the yard, in the middle of the day. But, when he was about three years old, he was peeing off the front porch. I yelled at him to stop, and he got furious with me. "Those children at the park saw my weiner when you yelled they all looked at me."
Yes, he said those children and was angry I brought attention to it. This sadly did not break his habit, but it slowed it down.

5) 20 pairs of jeans and 20 pairs with holes in the knees. We go through jeans like toilet paper.

6) He now talks in his "man voice" He wants everyone to know he is manly. When he visits me at work, he only speaks in his "man voice" When we eat out, he only orders in his "man voice" For the life of me I can not get him to stop. Its all fine but comes off a bit like he is mocking someone. I don't want anyone to think he is mocking them so, I try to get him to stop...but here we are three weeks into this phase, and he said this morning, "love you mom" in his "deep man voice."

7) Bathroom behavior. Not flushing, leaving spit out toothpaste in the sink, hubs whiskers all over, toothpaste on the faucet, pee on the floor, TP roll, bare.

8) Army guys, guns, and cars EVERYWHERE. On the floor, in my bed, in my fridge, on the couch, on the coffee table, in the corner, in my China hutch-EVERYWHERE!

9) He apparently thinks my husband and I are deaf. His one volume is a 10 of 10. Neither my husband or son can whisper.

10) Dropping our pants ANYWHERE is HILARIOUS.  He has mooned me in Walmart, the grocery store, my work...etc. There is never any thinking about it, it just happens, and he always laughs.

Lucy's 2!

Today is my niece's birthday. She is two years old. I'm just her aunt, and I can't begin to wrap my head around the fact that it has already been two years since she came rocking into our lives!

The day she was born was Super Bowl Sunday. I can't tell you who played but, I can tell you how the two days before went second by second. 

Since little girl L was a bit stubborn and wasn't showing any signs of being ready to join us, her mom, dad, and my family decided to go to my favorite Steak place. All week I had thought about that Blackened Sirloin melting in my mouth on Saturday night. Friday night came, and I got a call from my sister. She was having some contractions. I was overjoyed but a bit disappointed. I wanted to have a big juicy steak in my belly before she got here.

No such luck. I waited until the next day and practically floated the 45 miles to my sister's house. We hung around all day, chatting and waiting.  Early evening we all decided to head to the hospital, another 20 miles away. My Mom, Step-Dad and I decided to grab some dinner before the big arrival. It was such a nerve-racking few minutes. We all sat quietly eating as fast as we could. I knew deep down that there was no way she was going to have that baby during dinner, but I was so worried that I didn't want to chance it!

We made it back, and there was a lot of sitting. My dad got there, and we just talked and pretty much annoyed my sister I think. We were in an old hospital that had old radiator heat. My brother in law slept in a recliner they brought him, my dad in a rocking chair, my sister didn't sleep but laid in bed, and I laid across three wood chairs next to the heater. It was pretty cold out, but so hot in the room we decided to open the window for some air. So, now I'm laying with my face an inch from the open window. I'm not sure how I didn't get pneumonia! I think I slept maybe 20 minutes. I was up and down all night as was everyone else. I had brought a ton of movies, books, magazines, etc. to keep myself busy....and I didn't touch one of them! I was too excited I was all over the place. That Sunday morning my dad and I ventured out into the freshly fallen snow to get some breakfast. We went to McDonald's and just kind of sat. We watched it snow and watched people come and go. Again, we were so ready for the baby to come and getting very anxious. We loaded up on coffee and went back to the hospital. Nearly the entire time we sat in that room it snowed.

The next few hours where a whirl of doctors, nurses, and excitement.  I got to witness her arrival. Due to my C-Section and complications, I got to see my son for a second then I was knocked out for about an hour after. So seeing her come into the world was such an amazing experience. She already had her little personality and grumpy look that still shows up often today. She was a chubby, grumpy, beautiful little angel. I could never thank my sister enough for letting me be a part of something so special.

I hung out for a while but wanted to give the new parents some time alone. So, I loaded up in my old beater car and headed the 60 miles home, in the snow. I was so exhausted I listened to a lot of music up full blast with the windows down. All the way home I was on cloud nine. I taped some of my drive home to show her when she is older.  I believe I just needed the activity so I wouldn't fall asleep. I made it back in time to kick my husband and son out of the house and fall asleep on the couch. It was amazing.

Here we are two years later and as I type this, it's starting to snow. I like to think Little girl L's arrival has brought us a sweet, pure, beautiful girl and sweet, pure, beautiful snow every year to celebrate her arrival.