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Almost ever pregnant mom-to-be will say they don’t care if it’s a boy or a girl, “as long as they are happy and healthy”. And I think there may be a small majority of women who may truly believe that. But most of us, if we were being totally honest, have a preference. Not that we’d be any less in love with our babes if they turned out to be opposite of what we secretly wished, but if given the option, we all have a preference. All that being said, before we were even ready to try for a child, I always wished for two girls. And the wait to those 20 week appointments (or 19 weeks in my case because I’m JUST that impatient) was torture. Maybe even more so the second time around as I “secretly” prayed that Kennedy would be blessed with a sister (this coming from an only child who must have asked my parents, with fingers crossed, a zillion times if they were sure a twin sister wasn’t accidentally misplaced and forever lost in the hospital with no such luck). So if you can imagine the scene at Starbucks, peppermint mocha in hand and shaky, well, shaky EVERYTHING, as John tore open the envelope that held the gender of Kennedy’s soon to be sibling…I may or may not have screeched when he announced it was a girl (and totally freaked out all the other quiet patrons that morning) and immediately teared up.
Fast forward 15 months later…their sisterly bond is more than I could have ever imagined. I could write examples for pages and pages of how these two love each other. I could write about how when Kennedy falls at school and scrapes her knee, the person she cries for to comfort her is McKenna. I could write about how when we get in the car after dropping of Kennedy at school, McKenna stares at the empty seat beside her and simply whimpers. I could write about the hugs and kisses they engage in numerous times a day…and the countless times Kennedy busts out randomly with the phrases “McKenna is my best friend”, “I love you McKenna”, “I will keep your safe McKenna”.
I may have said this before, but John read a book once that quoted “your longest relationship in life will be that between you and your siblings”. While I’m a realist (ha) and realize life won’t always be this sweet and innocent between the two of them, I hope that no matter what, they always have an underlying love and appreciation for one another and realize how very, very lucky they are.