To be honest...I don't think I ever wished for such...I can't imagine the workload I would have had.
Yeowza.
I can, however, remember wishing Malinda(my older sister) wasn't so gosh darned smart!
It was the Montessori school that did it..I'm convinced.
When we were growing up, Malinda had a cat named Queenie and I had a cat named Feisty.
I don't feel like I need to describe our differences anymore. That should sum it up.
We were mom's girls though.
We had 8 good years of The Heat's full and undivided attention before the other 3 came into the picture.
It was bliss!
Dad was always at the hospital late, so during the week it was just us gals.
The heat would often take us to browse all 4 stores at the local mall, and then to eat at Chick-fil-A.
Good times.
At night she would sit on the couch while we brought all of the brushes and combs into the sun room, where we would each have half of her hair to play with before bed.
I should have known, when The Heat started eating liver and onions, that something was up.
She HATED liver and onions with a blind passion..but she needed the nutrients for the baby she was going to have.
Yep, another baby.
We had 8 solid years with this lady, now we were going to have to share her.
Ugh.
I can safely say that we were excited about having a little sister. For real.
There was never a day we didn't look forward to it.
When Rebecca came in 1991, she didn't disappoint.
I can remember feeding her a bottle when she was a baby, and sneaking up to her crib in the mornings before school, where I would wake her up just to play with her.
She would peak over the bumper in her crib, and smile.
It was great.
She had the best smile.
I would then pick her up, carry her downstairs and proclaim, "She was already awake!".
Then I would give her to the babysitter, before heading off to school, because she obviously needed a diaper change.
You'rewelcome.
After Rebecca's first 2 years, all I can remember is The Heat being pregnant.
It was tomato sandwiches and maternity clothes for the next few years, while she had Ann Taylor and Mack.
Ann Taylor was after Rebecca, and was 3 months premature.
This was a difficult time.
I remember visiting The Heat in the hospital on Mother's Day after Church, and Malinda and I both cried.
She was OK, but no one ever wants to see their mom in the hospital.
Malinda and I were old enough to take care of Rebecca, for the most part, while dad was busy working at the office and farm and taking care of The Heat.
Since Taylor was so early, she spent the first few months at Children's Hospital in her incubator.
We spent a lot of time there as well.
Occasionally The Heat and Bossman would bring her to the window so we could see her.
She was a miracle....a tiny miracle.
Taylor had a heart monitor for a while after she came home from the hospital.
It would go off anytime her heartbeat became irregular.
Restaurants, airplanes...everywhere.
The main things I remember from Ann Taylor's early years, were the heart monitor and the fact that Taylor was always really red. She cried a lot too.
To this day, she is still very petite however she has become a lot quieter;).
A few years went by and Mack, or Mercy, decided to grace us with his big-headed presence.
Heh.
(He's on Fall Retreat, so I can say that.)
He was the last, and only boy for The Heat.
Healthy, big, and happy.
That was Mercy.
Us girls used to dress him up (he's gonna be so mad) and call him "Macky"....(I'm so in trouble)...
I can remember putting one of our yellow tutu's around his head making him look like the "sun"....he would smile and we would laugh...he was a happy baby.
He'sgonnaKILLme.
Now we are grown...for the most part.
Malinda's a doctor in Neonatology at Mayo.
I'm a farmer. (It's OK, I laughed too).
Beenie's in college.
Taylor and Mercy are in high school.
And we are all healthy, happy and close.
I get excited when I think about years to come, because I know we will always be very much a part of each others lives.
I can't imagine us ever being away from the farm for good.
It's in our blood.
Maybe one day we will run it together.
I am thankful for so many things I have and have not been given.
But I think most of all, I'm thankful for my family.
The Man Upstairs sure blessed us,
Well. Said.
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