inked

I mentioned in this post how Dave and I chose Maggie Ann's name.

Ann seemed like the perfect middle name.  

My sister is an incredible woman.

She is the mom to two of the cutest kids.
But, more importantly than being cute, they both have hearts of gold.

Her daughter is in 1st grade and is named after me.
She is sensitive and kind-hearted and smart and curious and creative and wonderful.

Her son is going into kindergarten next year.
He is spunky and sensitive and kind-hearted and cuddly and talkative and wonderful.

They are like this because of my sister.
She is an amazing mama.
Kids don't just get lucky and turn out as wonderfully as they did.
It takes work and patience and time to get kids as great as these two.
She amazes me.

I can only pray that I can be as good at being a mom as she is.
I can only pray that I can have kids as wonderful as her two.
I can only pray that my little one(s) will learn how to live life from their older cousins.

And, do you want to know another amazing thing about my sis?

She is an amazing aunt, too.
Ever since Annie found out about Maggie, she loved her.
She knew the challenges Dave and I faced trying to get Maggie.
She was so, so excited to hear the news about her.
Whenever I talked to her, she asked how Maggie was doing.
In fact, she even had dreams about Maggie.
I sometimes wondered if she was more excited about Maggie than I was (not possible, but she was super excited).
She was excited to finally be an aunt. She was excited that I was finally going to be a mommy.

Over the last two months, Annie has held my hand.
She planned all of Maggie's memorial service since I didn't have the slightest clue on what to do.
She loves my Maggie as much as I do.
So, she got this.

She was trying to decide between this and either a Winnie the Pooh tattoo or a tribal arm band.

To remember her niece.
To show others how much she loves her niece.
It's not big and you will never be able to see it.
But, I know it's there.
Maggie knows it's there.
And it means so, so much to me that my daughter was that important to her.


I just hope she knows that if I turn into Octo-Mom (or the Kansas version of John and Kate Plus Eight...read Dave and Rae Plus Eight??!?) that I expect eight more names below Maggie Ann's.