happy birthday, leila!

it's a return of the birthday posts. i took a hiatus to get rid of harold. BUT what a better day to re-start than on my sister-in-law's birthday?!

it is my hope that everyone has a sister in law like leila. here are my reasons: (yes, i'm into listing things lately)

• she produces (with my brother) amazingly gorgeous & cute nieces & bff's to adeline & amelia.
• leila is the perfect match for my brother...she has this ability to *know* scotty, fiercely & kindly. i am beyond-the-moon-happy that they are together & married & she is now part of my family.
  
• oh my goodness, need i say that she makes desserts for family gatherings that are scrumptious & made *someone* (not me, i promise you) say things like 'is this cake called orgasm cake?'. (& oh, does taht person not normally say things like that in public, so thanks leila for that laugh)
• & she also has this uncanny ability to remember stupid things that we say or do--all members of my family--& then bring them up at perfect times. she does this quietly, but with great impact & hilarity.
  
• she's a mom i have come to trust, a compatriot, battling out the mama wars (with kids or whomever/whatever) with advice & stories. i mean, she has *twins*...she knows the kid business.
• i am trying to learn from her patience, in all aspects of life...
• leila is a manager for a starbucks cafe giving her the ability to hand out good lovin' all the time (hint, good lovin' is a form of coffee-starbuck-ian treat). i mean, we get baskets of STARBUCKS treats for christmas! come on, tell me you're not jealous of me now.
• she gave me the word find puzzle book that helped me, uh, get the bowels moving after the surgery. there will ALWAYS be a soft spot in my heart for her b/c of this. (long story & no you don't want to know all the details).
• she doesn't flinch or turn away or look at wes & i like we're terrible parents when our children screech...she laughs with us.
• not to mention that leila is just simply an amazing person. smart. beautiful. insightful. kind. patient. strong (physically & emotionally). loyal. giving. witty. empathetic.
  

leila holding amelia, june 2009

another great thing? well, she didn't glare at me when i pulled out capri sun juice bags at the ball park in june, giving them to her barely 2 year old girls--not even thinking that when addy was that age she would've had NO CLUE what to do with juice in a bag with a hole. she was kind enough not to point the finger at me when the prissy young lady sitting in front of us, who was immediately squirted with juice by chloe & zoe (of course, what else do you do with a bag like that?), turned around all pissed off & huffy. i didn't even know it happened; my fault, my fault.

& most moms, even friends, would have a hard time with this one: i can't tell her girls apart. but as pissed off as she may get or be (or may not be!!!), she's never once been like 'heidi, get a grip, you're their aunt...tell them apart' . {btw: that is my family goal for this year: to be able to tell the twins apart. it's like a game i need to make up for myself, which one is chloe or zoe? or else soon we will have them here without their parents & they will pull the parent trap trick on me...big time}.

sooo... leila, we wish you a happy birthday! i am happy to have you in our family, a wife to my brother, an mama to my nieces, an aunt to my girls. you are loved & appreciated.