Cousins

Besides my sisters, some of my best friends early on growing up were my cousins. I have a TON!! On my mom's side, I have like 15; I have 2 on my dad's side. Then my mom remarried and I got another 13 cousins!

I was especially close with my cousin Charlie and my other "cousin" Megan. (Megan is "technically" not my cousin, but try telling us that!) They were the girls closest to my age. They only lived 3 hours from me, so my mom would constantly drive my sisters and me up to see the family and I would get to play with Charlie and Megan. Or my Uncle would drive the 3 hours down to see us. At one point, my uncle moved his family to my hometown--so I lived 2 minutes from Charlie! Even now we are close. I am one of Jammers' godmothers (Me and Megs).... Jammers is Charlie's son. I was really close to my cousins Alex & Erik, but they are boys as well as 4 years & 8 years younger than me so it's a little different. They were closer to my youngest sister; she's only 15 days older than Alex.

The thing is, when I got pregnant, no one else in my family or my boyfriend's family was pregnant. I wasn't sure how close Emma would get to be to any of her future cousins, age-wise. Right now she has a cousin who is 3 and a cousin who is 8. Her 3-year old cousin ADORES her! It is so fun to see him run around trying to make sure Emma is comfortable. If she starts crying around her, he says "Her cry" and will try to find ways to get her to stop crying. He'll get right in my diaper bag and take things out and show them to her, hoping that makes her stop. Her 8-year old cousin wants to hold her and see her when we get together.

Things changed PRETTY QUICK recently. Emma is going to have FOUR cousins by the time she is 7 months old! My stepsister and her fiance (husband as of Sept 6th!!!) are pregnant with twins and due to deliver around Christmas time; she's technically due mid-January, but twins are usually at least 3 weeks early. My stepbrother and his wife are due on Valentine's Day. And my boyfriend's cousin is due Feb 10th.

I cannot wait for holidays next year. When all the babies start to get interactive. I can't wait to see them play with each other and grow up together. That was the best part: Growing up with my cousins and having people besides my sisters to play with! haha