Let's begin at the very beginning, a very good place to start (name that movie, Amanda!)...We begin before Amanda was ever born. I was an only child, spoiled rotten, with a really good life, but what I wanted more than anything was a little sister. I spent nine years of my life praying and begging Heavenly Father for a baby sister. In 1986, God finally answered my prayers. Amanda was almost a Christmas present (that was her due date), but I spent quite a few prayers begging Heavenly Father not to send her on Christmas (it would have really messed up my Christmas, after all!). Instead, my little sister arrived on New Year's Eve.
I wish I could say that I loved her perfectly from day one. I did love her from the start, just not perfectly. It was a difficult adjustment for me to learn to be a good big sister and share some of the lime light. And really, who can compete with an adorable baby? There may or may not have been some tantrums on my side of things. But I was fiercely protective of her. One of my best friends from high school remembers how I wouldn't let anyone hold her but me. I'm still fiercely protective of her. No one hurts my little sister! I had promised my grandpa, before Amanda was born, that I would never, ever fight with my little sister. I think I was able to keep my promise until she started talking. My grandpa loved to tease me about that all the time.
Growing up, we weren't very close. It was a huge age gap at the time. She liked to write her name with marker on everything I owned (books, homework, doll's foreheads...basically, anything that I valued had 'Amanda' with big, backwards A's written on it). I liked to torment her in any way that I could. For example, (what you are about to read is a huge confession) one time my best friend and I put catsup all over ourselves and got out a big butcher knife and convinced my little sister and brother that a killer had broken into the house and was still in the house trying to kill all of us. I made them hide in their bedroom while we sat and watched a movie, just so I wouldn't have to deal with them for a couple of hours. I'm ashamed, and slightly proud of the creativity, of my big sister tormenting.
Luckily, after my mission, when I had matured quite a bit, we found our sisterhood. What a blessing! People used to always tell me, "Just you wait. One day your sister will be your best friend." I never believed them, but they were right. She is my best friend. She is my confidante, my partner in crime, my shoulder to cry on, and my friend to laugh with. We have so many inside jokes, so many memories that we love to reminisce about together. I don't think I've ever admitted to her how hard it was when she went on her mission. I missed her so much. I didn't want to tell her how much I was missing her and make her homesick, so I would just tell her how proud I was of her (which I was very proud). What I tried not to tell her was how heart broken I felt every time I went to call her and tell her something and couldn't. It was a rough 18 months!
And now, with the boys, she's not just my best friend--she's theirs. She truly is Super Nanny. Take, for example, this past weekend. It was her birthday. What did she do for her birthday? She and my mom took care of my boys because I was sick. I think it was well after 1 p.m. and after a long morning and afternoon of wrestling Sam, that she announced, "I am now going to take a shower, if that's alright, because it's my birthday!"
She is always willing to drop everything at the drop of a hat to come and help me. Amanda has this huge heart and is always sacrificing and serving others. She is such an example to me of the Savior's love. And my boys love their Nanny. She has such a special, sweet relationship with both of the boys. I know that they will always be friends, even when the boys are grown-up. I can see Sam taking his kids some day to go visit Nanny on a regular basis.
The thing I love the most is that Amanda loves my boys as much as I love my boys. It melts my heart every time I see how much love she has for them. And my boys know it. They know that their Nanny Manda loves them with all of her heart (and that she loves to spoil them rotten!). I told her the other day that I kind of don't want her to get married and have kids of her own because then she'll love her kids more than mine! I was joking...I think. But I am amazed by her.
I guess when I prayed for a little sister all those years ago, I really had no idea what I was going to get. When God blesses us in answer to our prayers, He doesn't give us what we want--He gives us something far better. For me, that was Amanda.
You know, Amanda, I am having a good time.
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