News, News, News!

It seems like not a week goes by this summer without some kind of earth shattering news in my family or group of friends. First there was the week when I found out my sister was engaged, then later I found out my cousin was pregnant, and just last night, my other cousin who also happens to be my neighbor and childhood best friend, came over to announce that she, too, is pregnant! It's like every time I turn around, somebody's pregnant! I'm so excited. And the two cousins who are both pregnant just happen to be sisters and their babies are due just one month apart. I think my aunt and uncle are slightly in shock right now! What an exciting time for their family! And for our grandparents who, after years of bugging, are going to finally be great-grandparents.

For fun, I counted up in my head all the women I know right now who are pregnant. Guess what the grand total was....15!! Holy cow, that's a lot of pregnant ladies! Must be something in the water around here. haha...

Anyway, back to my sister and my cousins. I grew up with these three girls, and I'd say we were almost more like sisters than cousins. Our moms were very close, and we lived within walking distance of each other. When we were growing up, hardly a day went by that we didn't see each other. At least a weekend or two each month were spent sleeping over at each others' houses. We had so much fun together! I remember we all loved to play "Little Women," because we were all exactly like the characters in the book. Sarah, the oldest, was Meg...always looking out for us and maybe a little bossy back then (haha...sorry if you're reading this Sarah! Not bossy anymore! lol). Rachel was definitely Jo, the wild, rebellious, independent one. I was Beth, the quiet, cautious, reserved one (also, the one who dies. I never liked that part! haha). and my little sister was, of course, Amy, the littlest one who sometimes was a little bit of a brat! But we loved her anyway ;-) (And sorry if you're reading this, Julie, you're not a brat anymore either!)

From left to right we have Sarah, Rachel, me, and Julie.
(I must have been sitting down or crouching because I'm actually 9 months older than Rachel. I was small, but not THAT small!)

Anyway, it's just fun to look back and to see how far we've come. We're all married/engaged, all grown up, and two of us have babies on the way. We might not be quite as close as we used to be, but I know I will always have a special bond with these ladies. And I'm so happy for all three of them! Congrats, guys!

That being said, if one more person finds out the news and says "all right, Jessica, now it's your turn!" I'm going to punch them in the face :-P haha, not really, but their words hurt me more than I'm sure any of them realize. And that's all I have to say about that! I guess I'm in a very strange place right now. I've never felt such strong feelings all at once: such deep joy for my cousins, and yet such a feeling of longing because I wish I could join them, too. But I guess God is just testing my patience and trust. Sometimes being a woman is just so confusing!

Happy Thursday, everyone! I can't believe the 4th is just right around the corner!