Cousin Abbie

This weekend Hayden's cousin, our niece Abbie, came to visit during her Spring Break. It was the first time since Hayden was just a couple weeks old that she's gotten to see her, and it was a lot of fun to see them hanging out together.



Of course, it was also more than a little scary for Chris and I to catch a glimpse of our future about 13 years from now, to a time when our chubby little cherub will be in cheerleader tryouts, trying not to sound 'too country' as she shouts out "Go! Fight! Win", dealing with 'boy drama' (OH DEAR HEAVEN, BOY DRAMA!!!!), and spending hours upon hours on the phone catching up with her friends and trying to set new world texting records.

Abbie is my favorite niece (granted, she's my only niece, but will still always be a favorite!), and I just love it when she comes to visit us. Now that we're moving next door to my in-laws, and now that we have a little baby to lure her with, I hope that she'll come more often. It is terrifying, though, to have to watch her grow up before our eyes. I still remember meeting her when she was only 6, and just such a little squirt and now here she stands on the verge of womanhood.

It simply reminds me how very fast our little Hayden will grow up, and so I tried to strike a deal with her last night during her 3am feeding. You stop growing up, at say, 13 months old (much better than 13 years), and I will promise never to ground you. And feed you all the cookies you want. And buy all the Barbies in the store. Please just don't grow up and become a teenager! Or worse, an ADULT!!! Mommy just can't handle that. I think she was too tired to agree, though, because she was snoring her cute little baby snore by the time I laid out all my bargaining chips. I'll have to try again, I suppose...



In the meantime, I think Grandma's trying to work out a deal of her own.