Angel Kisses

I was school shopping yesterday with Bradley and got one of the cutest calls, I saw that it was my sister Erin and as soon as I said "Hello", I not only heard my sister but I could hear this cute little voice saying, "Hi, hi, hi" This voice belonging to my little niece Alesa can always bring a smile to my face, She was so excited to be talking that she would hardly let Erin and I talk, it brought back all the memories I had of her sweetness when Zachary and I went to Maryland in April of this year to help Erin and Andrew after they had their 2nd child, Baby Van.

Alesa has this way of loving you with her whole being, she wants nothing more than to just be near you and tell you everything that pops into her little mind, she has a thirst for life and enjoys it to the fullest, she is at that age where everything she does and everything she says is so cute and funny!! (I can say that because I am the aunt and not the parent:)  Zachary and I got to MD after Alesa was asleep and so we had to settle for just seeing Van, I know hard huh, cuddling and smelling a newborn is as close to heaven as I think you can get and Baby Van was such a darling, it took no time at all for Zachary and I to fall in love with that little guy.  But nothing could have prepared us for the absolute cuteness of Alesa's excitement of seeing her Yacky the next morning, she was beyond excited and as soon as our bedroom door was open she zoomed in, crazy hair and all and was jumping on Yacky's bed and singing about how Yacky was here and then she climbed up on my bed and was telling me all about her "dam-ma" (grandma) jammies, my mom had made her some PJ's and sent them to her for her birthday and she was so excited to show them off.  She was also soooo excited to show off her little brother Van, so showed us where he slept, his blankets, his diapers, his binky, you know all the neccessities.  Ahhhhh, I love those two!!

I think one of the best things about being a parent is seeing relationships form and friendship grow, for some reason Alesa really attached herself to Zachary (Yacky) when we went to MD last summer, and then when Erin and Andrew came out for Christmas they just had a ball with each other, and their love for each other just continued to grow this week, Some of my favorites were having Alesa "teach" Yacky stuff, like how to eat a popsicle or kick a ball or color with chalk and he just being patient and learning from her.  Also having Alesa put Yacky to bed (with her routine); get a 1 monkey, put on a blanket, read a book, and kiss forehead, both cheeks, nose, chin and lips then say night, night!!  He would just lay there with an "I can't believe I am doing this, I am not a baby" look on his face but he went along with it because he cares about her so much.  I think one of the things Zachary loved the most was listening to how Alesa pronounced his name and when she would "whistle" for him, she would cup her hand to her mouth and yell "whoo, whoooooo, Yaaaccckkyyy whoo, who" seriously cutest thing ever.  My favorite Yacky/Alesa moment though was one morning I was sitting outside with the two of them and Zachary was sitting beside me and I noticed he had a few freckles on his nose, as I was telling him about my discovery Alesa came over to see what we were discussing, she was looking at the freckles and I asked her if she knew what they were, when she said "No", I told her that they were "angel kisses", so she immediately bent over and kissed Zachary right on the tip of his nose after Zachary looked over and said in the sweetest voice, "Well; now I have one more."  Oh my Gosh I could have cried, it was such a tender moment, I reached right over and hugged him so tight I am sure he thought I had gone mad, but for Zachary the boy who never puts his emotions on his sleeve, I love the fact that this little girl can bring out this very sensitive, very hidden part of his personality.  He has one of the biggest hearts I know, but he keeps it locked up and hidden, so when I get to see this side of him, I cherish it all the more.  Thank you Baby Van for being born so Yacky and Aunt Menie could come and visit you and Thank you Alesa for being a great hostess!!!  We love you all!!!

(Road Trip 2010 in Ocean City, MD - Zachary is feeding Alesa applesauce and she is playing with his belly button, blossoming of a beautiful friendship.)

(Baltimore Aquarium - Awesome place, and Alesa looooveees fishies)

(Alesa putting Yacky down for a nap!!!)

(Ohhhh, cute picture alert!!!)

(Alesa and Yacky playing some B-ball, I am pretty sure there is a story about how that ball came to be at the Wheeler residence and I am almost certain that Taci was involved, hummmm.............)

(The two of them were watching a movie and Alesa stood there and rubbed Zachary's hair for about 15 min. or longer, it was sooooo super cute!!!)

(Look he is saying "I love you Aunt Melanie, you are my FAVORITE!!!)

(Giving Van some Love and it looks like Van is trying to give it back, hahaha!!!)

('Lesa Lovin' now that is some good stuff!!!)