The Good Stuff

I've been gone. I know.

I have lots to say. But today, I'm going to show off my niece and nephew. I spent a weekend with them and my sister, and have lots of great pictures. So here goes a picture post.

Caleb and Ellie

I have always loved being an aunt. I remember when my sister told us she was pregnant with Caleb. At that moment I felt like I already loved the baby she was carrying. I remember one time when I came home form college, when Caleb was a baby. It was a hard year for me, and I just scooped him up and hugged him. I can still remember the visceral feeling of holding him, as a baby, to me. I felt at that moment like everything was ok. Or it would be. When Shannon told us she was pregnant with both Hannah and Ellie, I felt the same way. Of courese, with Hannah we lost her and that was heartbreaking. But I still love her. When Ellie came I was living in California. Of course there were many things that influenced my decision, but I was home form California to about a month after Ellie was born. It was just... I needed to be near them. To know them and have them know me. I didn't want to be the aunt that we kind of know who lives far away.

And I'm not. I'm the aunt they know and love. That they're comfortable with. They come and stay with us for weekends. When I'm coming to stay with them, they're excited. When they come here, if they're not sleeping over, sometimes they get upset. We pull the calendar out and talk about when we'll see each other again and when they'll be sleeping over again.

There's something special, magical about a aunt/uncle/niece/nephew relationship. If it's done right, you're as comfortable with your aunts and uncles as you are with your parents (or close) but without all the complications of being parent/child. I love that life has worked out so that I can have a close relationship with Caleb and Ellie. They mean the world to me. The world.

Since I held them as babies, Caleb and Ellie have grown so much. They're independent little people with distint personalities and preferences. Caleb loves all things boy, including cars and football, and Ellie loves all things girl, including dresses, Dora, and dance. They play together, they are each other's best friends. They also get on each other's nerves faster than anyone else can. Caleb can read, Ellie pretends to read. Ellie bosses Caleb around, and Caleb pushes Ellie around. Caleb loves to hug, cuddle, and be affectionate. Ellie is growing into a very independent little girl, but if you get her in the right mood you can easily get a good cuddle. Caleb loves to rough and tumble, Ellie loves art. They are their own people.

They still run to hug and kiss me every time they see me.

I can't imagine, if you love someone this much who's not your own child, what it would feel like to love your own child.