Aunt Kakie

This weekend, I left the kids with Chris and my mom and I headed to Atlanta so that I could meet my sweet niece, Faith, for the first time. And let me tell you, babies smell even better in person than they do over the internets.

I’m not sure who was more excited about our visit – me or Faith.

Since Faith is only six weeks old and since I really only wanted to sniff her head all weekend, we took it easy. We did go shopping on Saturday at Scott’s in Atlanta. I was not aware of this magical place, but apparently everyone else in the universe was (or at least everyone who saw my picture on Instagram). It’s like a massive, upscale flea market for home decor and furniture. With my home renovation going on downstairs right now, my sister revamping her dining room, and my mom’s overall obsession with furniture in general, the three of us were in hog heaven. Faith did not share our enthusiasm, so she snoozed through our adventure. But I gave her the recap later when we got home so that she was in the know.

On Sunday, the ladies went and had our nails done while John Michael stayed home with both wee ones himself. He handled it like a champ! We came home to Faith sleeping in the swing and a happy, chipper Tillman greeting us at the door with a, “Where you been, Mommy?!”

My sister, being the poor sleep-deprived mother-of-a-newborn-and-a-toddler that she is, almost fell out of her pedicure chair. Twice. For no real reason that any of us could discern. And when she got back in her seat (both times), she somehow managed to get her feel all tangled up in the foot tub and ended up sloshing making a huge mess. I think they would have asked her to leave had my mom and I not whispered to the nail tech, “This is her first visit out of the house since her baby was born a few weeks ago…” to which the nail tech nodded in a knowing way and then spoke much slower to Ginny for the rest of the time we were there.

Bless her heart.

Other than those two little adventures, we really stayed close to home the rest of the weekend. I did a lot of playing with Tillman, who instantly seemed to grow up the second that Faith was born. He is just the coolest, funniest kid ever. And I swear he’s made of rubber. That dude can trip on air, face plant on the ground, and then pop right up and yell out, “I okay, Mommy!” in about two seconds flat.

Plus, he insists on wearing his “hat train” conductor hat when he plays with his trains, so that makes him even more awesome. I love a good appreciation for a costume.

I also taught him how to use a flashlight to look for boogers. I mean, I traveled all that way to spend time with him.  The least I could do was impart some wise, auntly wisdom.  He spent the rest of the weekend trying to shine a flashlight in people’s noses and saying, “Where your boogers are?”

(YOU’RE WELCOME, GINNY.)

He spent a good deal of time trying to see his own boogers, which was both frustrating and unsuccessful. Maybe next time, buddy…

We also accessorized with dinosaurs. Like ya do.

I had such a fun visit! Being a mom is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. But being an aunt is pretty close to the top of that list, too. You get to teach them things you’d NEVER teach your own kids. You get to laugh at things you’d NEVER laugh at with your own kids. You can play loudly right before bedtime, sneak a cookie to them right before dinner, and kiss on them even when they squirm and shout, “NO, KAKIE! WANT DOWN! WANT DOWN!”

I was ready to get back home to my own little ones this afternoon. I missed them and their daddy. But I sure can’t wait to get those “Aunt Kakie” cuddles again soon!