baby love

On a Wednesday night in November of 2010, I was standing outside a local dive bar when I found out I was going to be an aunt. As the murmurs of karaoke flooded out from inside the bar, I sat on the curb crying on the phone to my sister. "Holy crap," I said. "You're going to be a mom! I'm going to be an aunt! How did this happen?"

Well we all know how it happened. But what I really meant was, when did we get to this point in our lives where one of us would be having children? That phone call was the culmination of a whirlwind year for my sister and our family. Just months before she had said I do... a day that until that night in November topped my list of "holy crap, how did this happen" moments.

Cut to seven months later and a four a.m. wake up call on a morning in June from my little sister to tell me it was time, we're going to be aunts today! You know those moments that happen in movies? This seemed to sticking pretty closely to the script. Two hours later we got the text... "It's a girl!"

Everyone tells you that being an aunt is the best thing ever. And they are not kidding. What they say about spoiling them rotten and giving them back to mom and dad, or getting the best parts of the baby and skipping the worst, all true. The highlight of my days are picture messages from my sister, that I proceed to forward to all my friends... you know, sharing the love.

One day I'll have kids of my own, and I'm sure my "holy crap, how did this happen" moment will be topped. But becoming an aunt for the first time has been one of the best things ever {which is well documented here on S&E}. Watching her grow over the past eight months has been so much fun. I'm excited to watch her grow for a much, much longer time. She'll go through terrible twos and be a teenager before we know it. She'll make mistakes and she'll probably do a thing or two she shouldn't. But I hope that she always knows that she is surrounded by unconditional, unwavering love and support. And that kind of love is one of the best kinds I get to celebrate this year.

Do you have any nieces or nephews? Please tell me I'm not a crazy aunt and that these feelings are normal ;)