I come from a family predominately made up of girls. On my mom's side, she has two sisters, one nephew and four nieces. Followed by that, is our family, Mom, Dad, and four daughters.
This is my eldest sister and dad.
The first grandchild and her mom, sister #1
This is sister #2, our recently graduated niece, and though I don't like it, that's me on the right-sister #4.
Man, I have really got to learn how to crop photos!
This is sister #3, the Texan of the group.
My Dad's side is unique. He and his sister were raised by his mother, grandmother, and two aunts. His sister did have three boys, and now they all have girls.
(Enter current generation) When my eldest sister had her first child, it was a girl. She's the one pictured above in the graduation regalia. Naturally we assumed that this was how it was for us. Girls are what we know. Boys we don't. What little information we've knew about them was somewhat unflattering (bodily gas emissions, football throwing in the house, etc...)
So one day in the fall of 1997, my next eldest sister and her husband came down for a visit. She had recently found out she was pregnant. We called our parents on speaker phone to tell them the good news. Everyone was overjoyed, ecstatic even. In the conversation we talked about all the usual things about preparing the house for a new little one. At one point, it fleetingly crossed my mind that there was a chance that it could be a boy. I mentioned it to her and we laughed. Naaaaah, couldn't happen, but it was funny to think about.
Fast forward several weeks. I got home from graduate school that day and checked my answering machine. (Yes, this was in a day when every house had only one computer with dial up internet. We had regular washing machines, VCR's, and we were just barely past the era of the cell phone in a zippered bag.) On my answering machine was a message from Lisa. "I'm having a boy!" she said. I was dumbfounded. I laughed for 20 minutes. Literally. Laughed. For 20 minutes. I couldn't stop laughing and thinking about what a sense of humor God has. I had the sneaking suspicion that this little guy would change everything, in the best way.
On May 16, 1998, he came into the world. Will with the head full of dark hair. A precious little tiny guy struggling to see his mama through the vaseline coated eyes. (What is the vaseline about anyway?)
When he was a few days old, I put that pink baby lotion on his skinny newborn legs and he stretched them all the way out like he was enjoying the free massage.
This was on my baby girl's first birthday. That's him holding her. This photo was taken during the "I refuse to wear a shirt" days. Can you tell who looked up to him?
These were in a rare bout of silliness. I think the entertainment of the computer's photo booth caused him to forget hat he was getting his picture made:) That's him on the left.
Funny Will!
Well that boy just celebrated his birthday last Monday. He officially is a teenager now and so much has changed in the last 13 years. His voice is lower, he's grown very tall. He likes to play his trumpet and enjoys video games. He is extremely camera shy. He is looked up to by all the cousins, especially the younger boys. He considered a beacon of wisdom, especially when it comes to "Runescape".
So happy belated birthday big guy. You are very special to all of us and we love you very much! Oh, and I'm sorry to post this embarrassing post:)
Much love and many laughs,
Your Aunt and birthday buddy
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