sepia-toned loving {baby nephew Arie}

Oh. Arie. That little 4 letter word has become synonomous with love for me. When my brother called me last May to tell me I was going to be an Aunt, I was super excited.
Here's the thing about being an aunt though. You know you're going to love your own kids. You know they will take your breath away. I knew I would love my nephew, too. What I was not prepared for was being reduced to tears in the middle of the whale and dolphin show at Sea World when the first picture and his birth stats popped up in a text on my phone. Instantly. Smitten. Yep, I am a sucker. And the beauty is, I can spoil him. It's not like with my own kids where I have to worry about them becoming raving tyrants who insist on ice cream for dinner and will only bathe on thursdays. With Arie, I can send him numerous quantities of superfluous random stuff just because. And it's accepted. Because I'm his aunt. I'm supposed to spoil him.
Last weekend, I was able to go out to Colorado to meet my one and only (thus far) nephew. And let me just use these words again. Instantly. Smitten.
It's a fun thing to see your younger sibling holding their new baby. Not only does it make you feel exceptionally old, it also allows you to see them in this whole new light. I remember Eric (my brother) holding my babies when they were tiny and trying to hand them off to the nearest person over 12 being so unsure and akward. Those days have passed. He's met this new challenge with a wonderful ease and assurance. My Sister in law is tired, but was so kind and sweet to me the whole time. I wish we lived closer so I could poke around the little shops in Downtown Denver with her on the weekends. They had even gotten me some little bath items to use during my visit. I wish I'd been quite so pulled together with my first 3 week old.
Anyway, I could write about this baby for pages and pages, because as we know I am (all together now ) Instantly. Smitten.  Here's a little slideshow I put together of his newborn session. I had to use this Jack Johnson song, it's one of my boys' all time favorites, and I really do feel like these three are going to be better together.

Untitled from courtney vickers on Vimeo.