five

I've talked before about how I sorta have one foot in the "big kid" thing and one foot in the "little kid" thing. I have a 5 year gap between sets of kids, and some people tell me that was brilliant planning. I think that would be good planning, but obviously for us it wasn't intentional.

Last week Spencer's sister Melissa, her husband Steve, and their 6 kids came to see us. We were all SO excited - they are now back in the West so seeing them won't be as impossible as it was before. There are more kids in their family but the age ranges are sorta similar. It was SO FUN for my kids to actually be with cousins, something that is much too infrequent for us.

One of the little girls, Claire, turned 5 while they were here. She is adorable and has the funniest little personality. I really enjoyed her. She constantly called me Aunt Cheri and asked me to paint her nails ("party nails"). As I sat painting her nails I kept thinking about how I should have a 5 year old myself. Macie would be 3 months older than Claire. When Macie died I had 5 sisters in law who were also pregnant, all due within 5 or 6 months after me. On the day Melissa had Claire, I remember her texting to tell us the news, then saying that I was on her mind and she was thinking about Macie. I was so touched by that and as a result, to this day, feel a little extra bond with Claire.

We went to the Jelly Belly Factory for her birthday. She got TOMS shoes and cute jeans and nail polish. She is very motherly and was all over Sadie (as well as her own baby sister). I don't get to be in that stage with Macie, but I am so happy I got to share a little slice of that with my niece. It was a fun glimpse of the stage I am missing out on myself. Luckily I will get that again in a few years with Sadie.