A(nother) Trip to Omaha

I've spent quite a few weekends in Omaha recently. My sister who lives there is building a house. So we went there to help her move to an apartment when they sold their house. Then my niece had her 4th birthday party. Then my nephew was baptized. And this past weekend I went to watch my niece and nephew while my sister and her husband did some moving-related stuff. It was a rare chance to spend time with them by myself. Usually when I go to Omaha, I go with my other sister and her family.

I mentioned that my niece is 4, but I want to also mention that my nephew is 7 months old (and about 30 lbs). OK. He's not 30 lbs. But he's past 20 lbs. That's for sure. He's a tank. And he's not just fat....he's tall too. So....lifting him can be a bit of a workout. And swaying him to sleep in my arms while standing...yowza. But it's great. This kid smiles more than any baby I've ever known. Even when he's upset he takes a brief moment to smile.

And his big sister is amazing. She's very protective of her brother. If he's upset she'll come in and tell him it's OK because she's there. It's very cute. And she's also very smart. She amazes me often and this weekend was no exception. She flew through puzzles that I had no idea she could do. She also is very insightful and asked my I "don't live with a boy." Well, her exact words at first were, "Why do you live with two cats and nobody else?" Kind of hard to tell a four year old that it's because I'm a loser that nobody wants. ;)  Luckily I was able to distract her since I didn't want to spread my woes to her....

She also loves doing hair. So I sat for her while she poked, pinched, "braided" and balded me to her heart's content.

It was a great day. It was also nice to spend time with my sister. With her in another city, we rarely do get to spend time together. So while it included 4 hours on the road...I think it was well worth it.