She left (almost) on time. 10 AM, Saturday morning.

We all miss her. A lot.

Mo woke up this morning, “Titti?” she called from her crib (just in case you forgot, that means Jessie).

“Sorry Love Bug. Jessie’s not here,” I replied as I picked her up.

“Titti bye bye brrmm brrmm?” she asked.

“Yes. Jessie went bye bye in her car.”

If I told you that Jessie was a help to me these past several months, I’d be lying. She was indispensable.  She was here for weeks before Lu was born (when I was giant-can’t-do-anything pregnant), and stayed for weeks after (when I was tired-can’t-do-anything-postpartum). I hadn’t, until now, truly felt the weight of stay-at-home-mom-of-two.

And it is tough.

I know I’ll be fine. We’ll settle into a new groove. I have a loving husband who makes my life easy (even when I make his harder with crazy moodiness). The girls nap at the same time once during the day…

Jess just fit so well into our little family unit. She was a third parent in the house. Mo listens to her, and she is better than any of us at rocking Lu to sleep.

But it was more than all that.

My sister, my best friend, was always just right down the hall.

And I seriously miss that. I miss her.

(photo credit: Random Guy at Multnomah Falls)

Even in this sadness, praise God for her new job! She’ll be teaching at the middle school in Benton City, WA. I know she will be the best teacher they’ve ever seen. No exaggeration. The students and staff are blessed to have her.

We certainly were.

We miss you Jess, and love you even more. Come back soon, OK?