Ian’s had a great week, particularly Tuesday when his Aunt Joy came up and spent the whole day with him.  Ian’s Aunt Joy happens to be one of my closest friends in the world.  We’ve known each other since 1998, when my family started attending Joy’s church.  We’d attended one Sunday service, met David Tapp (the Sunday School teacher for my age group), and then came to attend a Wednesday service.  Typically Lee Village Baptist has a separate youth service on Wednesday nights, but this particular night featured a guest speaker, so all ages sat in the sanctuary that night.  David came up to greet my family that night, then exclaimed, “You need a friend,” and disappeared without another word.  Five minutes later he returned and said, “this is Joy.”  We’ve been friends ever since!

Joy and I kept in touch when I moved away to college, and still spent time together when we could.  After college, she was crucial in helping plan my wedding, hosted a beautiful wedding shower for me, and let me tag along on trips to D.C. and Myrtle Beach.

From the moment I let Joy know that Ian was on his way, she’s been a devoted Auntie, starting with the most incredible baby shower I’ve ever attended.  She decided to go with a farm theme that matched Ian’s bedroom perfectly.  There were farm animal decorations, bandanas, a punch bowl with rubber ducks swimming in the punch, and some amazing food.  If anyone ever needs an event planner, Joy is the person to call.  Her rates are reasonable, and she does an amazing job!  She even brought door prizes for my guests who won drawings and the games that she planned!

Since Ian’s birth, Joy’s been an important figure in his life.  This week, she and Ian completed some Pinterest projects together.  She covered his feet in brown paint and mashed them on a canvas to create a reindeer painting.  He seemed to enjoy the process pretty well 🙂

Joy baked Christmas teething biscuits for Ian while she was here.  I’d never even heard of such a thing for babies, but Joy knows all the cool stuff for babies.  Ian loves these biscuits.  he chews on them until they start to get a little soggy, then happily throws them in the floor for Mogwai and Chaco.  My theory is that he sucks out the cinnamon flavor, then has no more use for them.

During Joy’s visit, she took Ian out for a stroller ride.  This is still one of his favorite activities on any day.  Fortunately the winter has been fairly mild, so he’s been able to get in plenty of outdoor time.  I’m not sure what we’re going to do when winter truly does decide to set in for the season.

As much as I love having Joy as my friend, I’m more thankful to have her as a presence in Ian’s life.  I feel so fortunate to have so many wonderful people who care about him.  I’ll never have to worry about Ian lacking for love!