Sweet Southern Pursuits: March 2014

My sister is 6 1/2 years older than me. This pretty much meant that we had nearly nothing in common and didn't get along when we were younger. While she was getting her drivers license, hanging out with her friends, going to jobs in the summer, and spending time with her boyfriend, I was still playing with my Barbies in elementary school. I, of course, wanted to go places with her once she could actually drive because everyone thinks their older sibling is pretty cool, but she understandably didn't want an 11-year-old around.

This relationship changed some when she went to college. I was no longer fighting with her every day, and we started to enjoy spending time together. (At least that's what I thought... Maybe she feels differently. I don't know.) Anyway, as we both got older, I began dropping hints that she needed to get married because I wanted to be an "auntie." With it being just the two of us, her kids are the only ones that I'll ever be able to call my nieces and nephews. (This is still true as we both married an only child.) I wanted her to have a baby because I knew that I wasn't anywhere ready to have one of my own, so this teasing went on for some time.

After several years, she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. Olivia Leigh was born on December 6, 2013 at 9:17 in the morning. Her name is a mixture of her daddy's middle name (Oliver) and her mommy's middle name (Leigh).

She was here in time to celebrate Christmas with us, and she participated in her first Christmas play at church as baby Jesus. She's a very happy baby (most of the time) and loves bath time. She seems to fixate on books when they're read to her (wahoo!) and loves watching lights and ceiling fans.