Being an auntie...

...it's pretty much exactly like being a parent, except that you don't keep them. And usually they get away with a wee bit more than your own kids. Well, that's true for me anyway. At any given time, on any given day, we can have anywhere from 1-6 extra children coming and going from our house. Since I'm the "bread winner", Uncle gets the brunt of the duties after the kids get off school. He has to do all the lame stuff like homework. Yawn!

But then I have my babies on the weekends. This weekend, I had four extra babies total. Aden (7) & Abby (5) (my bff/cousin's kids) spent the night so they could have a date night. Believe me, it was must deserved. A&A get along with my kids so well. It's not even like having extra children, honestly! They disappear into the bedroom and play so nicely together. It's very little work on my part. You never realize how amazing having a best friend is, until your kids are also best friends!

So I'm prepping some lunch for Abby after church and I show her the Tupperware cup and earrings I bought her mother as a birthday present. She takes one look at the earrings and says, "My mom actually doesn't wear earrings, so she won't want these." I laughed internally. Her attitude is second to none. So I tell her that her mom actually told me she wanted those specific earrings. To that she replied, "Um...she's probably not going to wear them." hahaha! She is too funny.

Then, the kids and husband are all on video games in the back rooms playing together so I think I'm going to sneak away to the living room and watch Netflix on my laptop. I just stared watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, from the beginning. So shoot me, I loved that show! Anyway, Abby comes in about half way through one episode, and sweet, talkative, inquisitive Abby sits down next to me, promising that vampires don't scare her.  Then the non-stop questions begin: "Why does her face look that way?" "Is that a vampire?" "I can't see her teeth." "I almost have vampire teeth....SEE?" "OOOOOH, I saw her teeth!" "What is she asking him about?" "She can't kiss him or she'll turn into a vampire!" "She kissed a vampire?"... I can't even be mad...first of all, she's a girl after my own heart, and second of all, she's interested in MY shows. One more bonding experience we got to have!

 

Then she goes home, Aden stays to entertain Raul and my two little nephews come over. Maxxamillion, who is almost 2, with no desire to speak whatsoever, is literally an extension of my own children. He spent most of his life coming over on weekends while his parents (my brother and his fiance) were working. I bought special baby equipment and chairs for him so he could be comfortable. So having him over is so natural. But now he has a baby brother, who is 3 months old.

Baby Gunnar is so adorable, but man, is he a cranky pants. Poor guy has tummy issues already and is very gassy (my middle son was the SAME way, so I have understanding and patience that my brother lacked in the beginning). Unfortunately, Gunnar was not ready for mommy to go back to work. He refused to take a bottle for a few days. I ended up buying him a $10 bottle that he found suitable to his specifications I guess. Now that he's eating and accepted that mommy works, he tends to be much happier! Unfortunately, when daddy dropped him off last night, he was asleep, and then Uncle laughed too loudly at the TV, and he woke up on the WRONG side of the car seat! Poor guy.

All the while, Maxx is trying to give me the bottles of breast milk. What a helpful brother. Except, baby didn't want food. He just wanted to yell and tell me how upset he was that he was woken up prematurely. So, Maxx decides to be a curious little monkey and I see him walk past with a 2 foot screw driver. And, if you know anything about children, you don't panic in these situations. So I calmly said, "What are you doing with that?" And he smiled his ornery smile. Raul is in love with his cousin, and very patient as well. He calmly took it away and continued on playing. Kids are too funny and random with the things they want to play with!

Out of my 4 siblings, I have: Hunter (would have been 12), Leighna (10), Ella (8), Grayson (6), RyLeigh (almost 5), Brawn (3 1/2), Maxxamillion (almost 2), Paloma (4 months) & Gunnar (3 months). My brother-in-laws blessed me with: Eileena (14), Selena (13), Lokelani (6) & Ailani (almost 6). This does not include my cousins' kids who I'm honored to be autie of, those names and ages are too numerous to count (today anyway).

Who ever knew that so many heart strings could exist for these little people who you get to watch be born, swaddle as infants, help up as toddlers, encourage as preschoolers, enthralled as they are school aged, laugh at the ridiculousness of teenagers, and yet you love them at every stage in life. And you want to hold and hug them all the time, at the same time. And some of them will let you and some will be too cool, and eventually they will outgrow your lap, but they are each pieces of me. I just hope they always lean on me as they continue to grow and experience new things in life! I don't want to miss one minute!