My Big Little Girl

A couple of weeks ago I had the privelege of going to girls camp with my ward. My mom and the boys were kind enough to drive all the way down here to stay with Breah so she could be in her own environment and Brandon could be here to put her to bed at night. I was all paranoid that she was going to scream the whole time I was gone and that Grandma would never want to babysit again and that they would all just be miserable the whole time I was gone. But, as Brandon kindly told me the night before I left, "the graveyard is full of people who think they are indispensible." Gee, thanks honey, thanks for understanding. But, Grandma brought with her a new little kitchen (I'd been on the hunt for one) and two helpers, and apparently that's all she needed. I thought for sure she'd at least cry when I left, she has a cow if I try to sneak out to the car for something, but not that day! I made several trips out with all my stuff, and each time Breah would look up from her cooking and say, "bye bye Mom." Surely she would cry when they dumped me off at the church and drove away without me, right? So we armed ourselves with suckers and marshmallows to distract her from the pain of being torn from her mother's side. Did she care? Of course not. But someone had to cry in such a situation, though I'm not sure if I cried because I was going to miss her (this would be the first time I left her overnight since she was a new born) or because I was afraid she wasn't going to miss me. I tried calling to check in on her every chance I got, but everytime my brothers would tell me she didn't miss me, and that in fact, she thought Grandma was Mom now. It was a relief to know she was happy and well taken care of, but a mother needs to know she's missed! I know you are all dying to hear how it all ended, so let me end by saying that after 4 days without me...she still remembered who I was and was very clingy for an hour or two before she was back to her normal little self. I guess this is just further proof that my baby is growing up faster than I like to believe!

Breah had so much fun with Uncle Trev and Uncle Jace. I swear she aged 10 years while I was gone. I left her a little 20 month old toddler and I came home to an 11 year old who wanted to do whatever the big kids were doing. It was pretty cute to see the way she followed them around, and she still won't sit in her high chair without a fight.

P.S. In case Grandma Nellie is wondering, yes, Breah still loves her kitchen. She plays with it every day. And yes, Elizabeth, that is your baby, Breah was very concerned when you left her but has been taking extra good care of her for you.

(Breah learned to cook from her mother, that's why she's snitching on the fruit loops before they're done)