The Way to a Woman's Heart ....

Brian has siblings.  Lots of siblings.  He's one of nine, though he's quick to say it's a bit of a Brady Bunch.  One whole brother, one step-brother, two half-brothers, two step-sisters and two half-sisters -- he's toward the top, so he knew how to rock babies way before I did.

When he talks about them, he never says, "my half-brother Derek" or "my step-sister Kathy". He refers to each as his brothers and sisters.  He's not the mushy type, so even though they may not know how much he loves all of them, I, as the mushy wife of 8 (or is it 9?) years, know how much he loves every one -- Mike, Kathy, Karen, Jason, Kate, Mandy, Chris and Derek.  (I just recently could do that without counting on my fingers to keep from missing anyone.)

From the moment I met them, I was treated like a sister and a friend, so I've always felt very loved. However, it wasn't until we started having children that I was endeared forever.

I'll have many examples to come, I know, but here's one from just today.

The second to youngest brother, Chris, is 19 years old.  Very quiet, yet very cool.  He's also quite tall, way over six feet and it's a little funny to see his long legs sprawled out on the floor playing with the kids.  

One time, even in front of his (at the time) new girlfriend, he played twister with them...precious.  Last time, the kids built a fort from a bunch of pillows and they asked him to come in....hilarious.  

This time, Chase asked him to read There's a Monster at the End of This Book (a favorite of sweet Aunt Mandy's).  And, then he asked him to read it again and again and again.  And, he did.  No grunting. No distracting him. No suggesting he wait a minute.  He read it every time. Every single time.

They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.  I say, the way to a woman's heart is to be kind to her babies.