One Awesome Big Sister In the Making

A week after I posted that I wasn't quite ready to leave pregnancy behind, I would like to print a retraction, I'm ready!  I think I just needed to get those thoughts written down, a few loads of laundry done, and some work finished, and then almost immediately I was uncomfortable and eager to meet little Zy. Someone else around here has been biding her time as well. As her little brother's due date approaches (not that he seems to care at all that he's supposed to be here in 2 days!!) someone is really stepping up her game. Angie has been impatiently awaiting this little bundle for months, which in tween years seems like decades I'm sure.

This past week she has really shown a ton of promise as a big sister. 

Just this year, Angie began to shop for others for holidays, having Jon help her get lots of great Christmas presents for me. On Valentine's Day, she took it upon herself to order us some chocolate covered strawberries without any adult consultation, except to ask us for our credit card number and other pertinent information (she then reimbursed us with her own cash.) This may not be a huge asset for Zy, unless he has a sweet tooth like his mama, but it shows that Angie's really beginning to think of others and move beyond herself, which is going to be invaluable when no one's getting quite the sleep or attention they deserve here shortly.

Over Christmas break, Angie took an all day safe-sitter class at a local hospital, preparing her for taking care of Zy as well as other kiddos who might like to play with her. With her busy school and sports schedule she hasn't had time to practice those new skills. But this week with all the snow days, she's been able to entertain the backyard neighbor kids as her first paying babysitting gig, thanks to our sweet friends who trusted her with their munchkins. 

They've given her rave reviews and I'm sure would act as a referral if anyone else wants take advantage of Angie's very maternal instincts and her low hourly-rate. When she's not been taking care of neighbor kiddos she's been taking care of me. Enormous in my 40th week of pregnancy and a bit under the weather with an ugly cough, Angie's been refilling my humidifier, reheating my tea, bringing me lunch in bed, and (my favorite) insisting that I take plenty of naps. Look at this beautiful lunch spread, the unclear yellow food is some yummy fried eggs fresh from a friend's farm. Today, to top it all off, she bundled up to shovel the driveway. Just as she was heading out we found a neighbor we'd met through our church's #lovewhereuare campaign blowing our drive already, but Angie decided to help him and do our walkway and our neighbors' walkway!
Looks like they've already canceled school for tomorrow, so if you find yourself in need of any odd jobs around the house, nursing care, or babysitting, she's cheap labor and is sometimes even willing to help just out of the goodness of her heart, although a couple bucks is a great motivator. When we found out just now that she won't have school tomorrow, I asked her if she'd like to have a friend over, she said, "No, I like to hang out with little kids, I wanna be ready for when Zy comes." I'm pretty sure she's gonna be way more prepared for this than I am...