The Adventures of Auntie Liz and LittleMan: How it Began

On the 20th day of June in the year 2015, my life changed.

My sister-in-law gave birth to my nephew.

And I fell in love.

The day I met the little boy who stole my heart in the only way a nephew can.

And then, on the 16th day of August in the year 2015, my life changed - yet again.

I became a mother.

Okay, a Godmother. But still. It's a big deal in my world.

And now...it's almost a year after his birth and we're getting ready for another delivery in November. I'm finding that I am that aunt:

 

Time-giving, single, capable, available.

Education-minded, Godly, opinionated and vocal. 

Honest, critical, observant, risky.

Dedicated, late, ridiculous, spontaneous.

Gift-giving, sharing, willing, working.

And don't forget those adjectives I want to say about myself, but I'm not sure if it holds true:

Fun, loving, forgiving, trusting, understanding, perfect...ha!


But really, our adventures today are just a mini-episode of our typical expeditions. Here's LittleMan's rendition of a typical day with Auntie...be surprised by his vocabulary:


     Auntie Liz says she'll be at Momma & Daddy's by 11ish in the morning. Momma & Daddy are getting nervous because it's already 11 and she isn't here yet. They're especially nervous today because when she drove the 1.7 hours yesterday, she wound up with a flat tire, delaying her arrival 30 minutes.

    So, Daddy calls grandma at 11:10am. Turns out Auntie had woken up at 9:30, took her time getting ready, forgot about updating Momma & Daddy.

     She makes her way to our house. We play. There's this running joke on Daddy's side about this thing that Auntie likes to do. Daddy refers to it with an extra syllable, I think, "sens-or-ar-y play"...I think it's real fun - I get to splash around with water, play with yogurt at lunchtime - maybe put some in my hair, play with rocks (sometimes she even lets me chew on them!), squish flowers, play (and sometimes chew on) leaves...we have a great time!  

    Every time Auntie comes to our house, I smile huge to show that I love her. She finds the craziest ways to make me laugh...my favorite is hide-and-seek with everything that I own: Duckie from bathtime, Firefighter dog, stuffed Lamby, her hand-turned-duckbeak...you name it, she'll do it! Of course, I'm not old enough to name anything, but she seems to be doing well with what she's got.

   I also know that she loves me because she agreed to come and babysit me for two hours while I sleep at night. See, Daddy works night shift during the week and Momma chose these real weird hours as a nurse...probably one of the most inconsistent of its kind (she usually works 7am-7pm Friday-Sunday). Long story short, they needed a babysitter from 10pm-12am the night of the 4th. Naturally, Auntie Liz was glad to jump on that opportunity! Such love, such love.


And that's how it goes! I've had many opportunities to reflect on my auntie-ness. I love it, I embrace it, I brag about it in conversations to the voices in my head (because it's rude to brag about such things to relatives). Look forward to my upcoming webjournal of these reflections!

Thank you, Jesus, for the gift of Life!