Great Moments in Niece/Nephew History

I have several nieces and nephews. My brother-in-law & sister-in-law have four boys. My other brother-in-law and sister-in-law have a boy and a girl and my sister has a boy and a girl.

I always wanted to be one of those aunts that the kids wanted to hang out with. I find it difficult to cultivate that kind of relationship because we live far away from all of them.

When they are small, they are all so sweet. The little things they do really make your day. Below are some of my fondest memories - the ones that really made my day.

Moment 1 -

My sister lives in Arizona so we don't see her often. My nephew, Atticus, is all about Grandma. I think she is his favorite person - EVER. My mom & I went out there when he turned 2. We were walking out to the car and Atticus stopped and turned around and started walking to us (me & mom). My mom didn't want to carry him because he was too heavy for her to lift so she kind of hid behind my sister. Not to worry - he walked straight to me and said 'up, up, up?'.

Moment 2 -

My brother-in-law & sister-in-law live in Houston so we don't see them often. My niece, Mia, is kind of shy. The shyness coupled with the fact that we don't see her often means that she doesn't come and sit with us (John & I) often. One Thanksgiving, they came up to spend the holiday with us. They stayed at our house so we got so spend some time with Mia. One evening, i had a small bowl of ice cream. Mia promptly came over and sat in my lap and shared my ice cream with me. You gotta love that.

Moment 3 -

My niece, Harper, also lives in Arizona. She's another one that I don't see near enough. When she turned 2, my mom & I went out there for her birthday. We spent a lot of quality time together. John & I went back to Arizona in July. When we pulled up in front of the house, Harper ran out of the house right up to me and stopped short. I think she wasn't sure what my reaction would be. I opened my arms and said "Well come on" and she jumped into my arms and gave me a big hug. How can you not love it when they come and jump into your arms that way.

Moment 4 -

When John & I first started dating, I went to dinner with his family at a Chinese buffet. We met his family there. When we got there, Paul, who was about 2 or 3 at time, ran to John yelling "Uncle John!" and jumped into his arms. I think that was the the sealing of the deal for me.

Moment 5 -

My dad recently passed away. My sister brought her kids with her to the service. My step-mother & I picked them up at the bus stop. Harper was asleep but was kind of waking up. My sister told her, "Sister's here to pick us up" or something like that. She promptly jumped out of the car and came straight to me.

Moment 6 -

I was going to take my final test for the CPA exam. John had gone to Houston to see a concert with his brother. The next day they were taking my niece to the zoo. John had called to wish me good luck on the exam. Mia got on the phone and told me they were going to the zoo. She told me they were going to see the meer cats. According to John, she wanted to talk to me.

John & I don't have kids so we relish the times when our nieces and nephews glom on to us for any reason. We love all of our nieces and nephews. But we both have one of these special memories with each of them.