Grocery Shopping & Siblings

Call me crazy, but I used to enjoy grocery shopping.  I like making my little list and strolling though the aisles looking at all of the food just waiting to be cooked.

That was before I entered the third trimester...

Today's trip wore.me.out.  My Dad has asked me to begin helping him grocery shop each Monday and I don't think he could have asked any sooner.  Walking through the store feels great!  It's the bending over and reaching for items that wears me down.  I can barely get to my pots and pans in the kitchen now.  Elliana stays so low on my tummy, and it makes it difficult for me to be able to bend over and breathe at the same time.  But grocery shopping was crucial today to get ready for my siblings coming over this weekend and preparing for Easter.

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On Friday, I'm driving to Northport to pick up my brother and sister.  Nate is 15 and Beth is about to be 13 this summer.  I've always been a little bit jealous of their names.  See, my brother is Nathanael Howard and my sister is Mary Elizabeth.  Nathanael is from the Bible and Howard is a family name passed to the first born male of each generation in David's family.  Mary is my Gran's first name, and Elizabeth is Beth's other grandmother's name.  Mom named me Courtney after one of her MALE high school friends and everyone else in the 80s has the middle name Nicole.  It's silly, but I've NEVER really liked my first name.  I mostly go by Court to all that know me.  I'm only called Courtney when it's something serious!  But I digress...My Mom remarried when I was in first grade.  She and my step-dad waited for what seemed like forever to have children!  In reality, it was only five years, but I wanted siblings so badly.  There's about a 12 year age gap between Nate and me, and a 15 year age gap between Beth and myself.

This has always been one of my favorite pictures of them.  It's always stayed in the drawer with my make up and hair brushes since I've lived away from them.  It's amazing how easy it is to keep up with something when it means so much.

Nate

I vividly remember the day that my little brother was born.  It was nearly two weeks before Mom's due date and I just knew she was about to have the baby.  I had a school field trip, but there was a note in the office for me once we returned to school.  She had my little brother that day.  I promise you that I carried around a sack of potatoes for months in preparation for his arrival.  My Mom still says that I would have breastfed him if I could have.  He is still the most beautiful baby boy that I've ever seen.  He followed me around everywhere when he was little.  He would say such silly things, but he always told me that I was pretty.  I don't know if he knew what he was truly saying, but he said it without being prompted.  He also did his fair share of getting on my nerves too.  There was an incident that Mom and David still talk about to this day where he got mad at me (when he was about three) and he took off with my bra and panties and flushed them down the potty.  When Brandon and I first began trying to have a baby, I always said that I wanted a son because of Nate.

Beth

When Beth was born, I was living with Dad.  I knew that Mom was due soon, but when she picked me up for my summer visit I had no idea that she was being induced the very next day.  Much to my surprise, Mom asked me if I wanted to be present in the delivery room.  She saw this as birth control-and it worked!  Mom made childbirth look so easy.  They induced her and it seemed like no time passed before she was ready to start pushing.  I was amazed that I had a little sister born in no time at all.  Of course, Beth held her breath after she was born and was carried away to the NICU.  She was the biggest and healthiest baby in there.  They told my Mom that she couldn't see her baby until her epidural had worn off, but she was having none of that-she worked at the hospital where Beth was born.  Beth ended up being perfectly healthy, and her holding her breath was just the beginning of her "being the baby" and center of attention.  I wasn't around as much when Beth was little, but I always thought that she favored my MawMaw (great-grandmother).  There's a picture somewhere of the two of them at Beth's first birthday and the resemblance is remarkable.  Beth has always favored Mom and the Anthony side of the family, but I see little bits of me in her as she's gotten older.  That little girl still hasn't hit her awkward  phase yet and I don't think she'll ever have one.  She's been beautiful since the day she was born.

I'm excited to spend a little bit of time with my brother and sister this weekend.  I'm probably not that much fun to be around these days, but I want to see them and spend some time with them before Elliana is here.  I know that everything will be different from now on, and I may not be as cool to them once I'm a Mom.