I don't know that there are many better things than having a nice big brother.
I'm purely guessing on that, because I never had one. I sure lucked out with an amazing big sister who taught me practically everything I know and I still thank my lucky stars every day for how she herded me through life.
But man alive, I always longed for a big brother too.
I knew they could tease.
I knew they could be mean when they were moody and tired.
I had seen my friends even cry because of those menacing big brothers they had.
But part of me wanted the teasing. Part of me wanted the resilience that I knew having a big brother would bring. And part of me wanted that protectiveness and brotherly love that showed through even when my friends' big brothers were hassling them like nobody's business.
They may not have seen it, but I did. And I wished I had it.
So I'm so happy my girls get to have Max.
Seriously.
He is an expert teaser.
Sometimes when the girls complain about that little fact I get a dreamy look in my eye and tell them how lucky they are.
They look at me like I'm completely nuts and run off to whatever they were doing. "It's no use complaining to mom," they realize, and they're off.
There's nothing like that sparkle he gets in his eye when his sisters are around. Nor is there anything to match the sweet way he talks to Lucy. (I can't explain it and I certainly cannot capture it with my camera, but it's there, and it fills the room (and my heart) with warmth.
(Man he is tall!)
Yes, I feel so happy for his sisters that they get to have him.
But my heart aches for him that he has no brothers.
I would give up an organ to get him one of those, darn it, but it's just not in the cards for our family.
So I feel glad he gets to play volleyball.
And over-the-moon glad that he just made the JV team in high school.
It was the weirdest thing when he tried out because I don't know that I've wanted something so much for a long time. He had 5:00 am tryouts and then an afternoon tryout that week. When I dropped off he and his friends that day they nonchalantly told me as they piled out of the car that they would find out if they made the team or not at that practice.
My heart jumped right into my throat I was so dang nervous.
I was teary-eyed for those few hours every time I thought about the tryouts. I texted everyone I knew to say prayers for him. I prayed my little guts out. Dave sure thought I was nuts, but oh I wanted it so much more than Max ever even knew to care. Maybe it's because I knew he needed it so much. Not only the confidence that playing a high school sport can bring, but for those "brothers" he can have on the team. They are SUCH nice guys. How I hope they'll fill in even a tiny bit to be the big brothers for Max that he never had.
My heart skipped a beat when he called after tryouts. He even had the audacity to tell me he didn't make it at first to tease me.
But he did make it. 
And we're so excited for him.
I tried to have him do some funny, muscle shots or something to commemorate his new uniform stuff, but this is all I got:
And I'll take it.
We're looking forward to a fun season.
(Man he is tall!)
And I'll take it.