"I didn't realize that was you, Anna..."

I'm sure everyone that reads this knows that I am the middle child. I have an older sister, Anna, and a younger brother, Ryan. I am a typical middle child for the most part... I am very lucky because we are very close and have always been there for each other.

Growing up I remember always waking up in the middle of the night with Anna leaning over me to make sure I was still breathing. I remember her begging me to go make a pallet in the floor in our parents room because she was scared. When I was in the first grade, I got my name on the board for talking (imagine that!!) and I wasn't embarrassed until Anna saw it. I remember thinking I was so cool when I went to Junior High and Anna would say hi to me in the hallways. In high school, I remember Anna pushing me so hard in basketball practice and getting SO mad at her for doing so. I remember huge fights in the locker room and fights at home that were mostly over clothes and the phone. I remember her covering for me when I was at places I shouldn't have been. I never had my own room until she left for college, which I thought was cool until I realized that I actually missed her! I remember the tough times during the next few years. And then I remember when she met Eddie :) I remember her poking my eye with mascara trying to do my makeup in the 10x10 room on the cruise ship 10 minutes before my wedding. I remember at her wedding standing behind her trying to zip up her wedding dress telling her it was fine when I truly didn't think it was going to zip up. I remember finding out I was pregnant and being SO excited about being pregnant at the same time as her. Now we get to share "mommy" stories about all of our kids.

Until I left for college where not many people knew Anna, I was known as "little Anna" or "Anna's little sister." Oh, how I hated it...I never had my own name. Anna was so smart, so pretty, and so athletic...I could NEVER live up to her. Teachers, coaches, and boys always compared me to Anna and the majority of the time I was on the bad side of the comparison. One time in middle school a boy came up to me and said, "Can you come to school tomorrow looking like your sister?" There were many incidents like the one just mentioned...

So....

Last night we had to go fit Isaak for uniforms for baseball and the couple's house we went to we've gone to church with our entire lives. Since I've been back from Abilene, people really don't realize who I am until they see me because of the change in my last name. We had been at their house for over and hour talking, mostly about baseball and a little about our kids, and then as we were leaving she said, "I saw Isaak's name, but I didn't realize it was you, Anna!" She went on and on about hearing my name as Anna with my married name and she didn't realize that was me :)

I did not correct her because I did not want to embarrass her in front of her family and mine. Since we will be around each other much more now that our boys are playing ball together, she will figure out I'm Katie :)

After we got in the car Tony asked me why I didn't correct her. I answered with the fact that I didn't mind being called Anna. That it is an honor to be called someone who is a great mommy, daughter, wife, sister, teacher, and friend! That I wish I could take back all those years that I hated being called Anna. She is a genuinely kind person that has great intentions in everything she does. She is a great sister to me, but more than that she is my best friend! She is still so smart, so pretty, and I'm sure she's still athletic :) We don't talk every single day, but I do think about her daily. I know that if I was in a crisis, she would be the first one to me and the one worried most about me. When I was in the hospital with my heart problems, she couldn't be there the entire time, but I know that she thought about me and prayed for me more than anyone else (well, maybe except for Mom!). I am so blessed that our children will be raised together and I know that we will always stay as close as we are now.

I hope that Anna will one day read this to Beckett when she is having a hard time being called "Little Elliott!!"

**I want to post some pictures with this post, but that will have to happen later :)