The Blessings of Family

Living near my sister has been fabulous thus far. I have a built in mini-mom in the form of my niece, Juliana.









She just turned eight and is incredibly gifted with babies and kids, quite like her namesake, Grandma Julie. It's great to have so many willing hands to give me a break here and there and so many other adoring faces. All of my nieces think she's "so beautiful" and "so soft" and "oh she's so cuuuuuuute!" Juliana has started calling her "missus" for some reason. I have no idea why. Now Becca and Lizzy call her "missus," too. I even found myself calling her that the other day.

The other perk, the best perk (at least to this middle child mother) is that Jane will have four cousins she'll see everyday, that she'll be familiar with like siblings. She'll have people to play with and fight with and tease and love. She'll learn to hold her own at the bottom of the totem pole with her cousins as well as at the top with her own siblings. And it's already starting with the adorable little Joey.