There is one thing I know for sure, I. love. my. sister. And I can't get enough of her. It just plain-ol' stinks that we are raising our kids four hours from each other. But when we do see each other, we savor every minute... watching our kids play together and knowing that they have a relationship in spite of the fact that they don't live near each other. When they come up to visit, I completely forget that they don't live just down the street. I forget all weekend, that we live in different cities - in different states. I forgot until she tried to make a phone call over the weekend and got the universal message to hang up, try again, and dial the area code first. It hit me, along with a burn in my stomach, that - Oh yeah - gosh, yes of course she has to dial her area code... and that we don't even share the same one any more. I can't think about that too much, because I make a choice instead to be thankful for the weekends here or a few-day-stays there that we get to spend time together. I do know another thing is for sure, and because I love my sister so much, I am so determined to give that gift to Adelaide someday. Babygirl needs a sister bond too. Someday I hope and pray that Adelaide gets a sister and grows up to be so close with her. There is nothing like it in the world! I have some great friends, but no one knows me like my sister. No one can laugh at and with me without judging me like my sister can. No one can read my mind in the ways my sister can. No one can laugh with me, at nothing, until we cry - like my sister can. When they come to visit, it's usually a given that Holly and I will bolt out of the house sans babies once or twice to make last minute, late night runs to the grocery store, or to browse together at one of our favorite stores for a while. We do it just to get away the two of us, just because we can. I love it that she knows where almost everything is in my kitchen, and that she's never come up to visit without busting out some secret ingredients, made a few special trips to the store, just to try out a new recipe on us.
This was her new recipe during her stay, and it ROCKED!
Strawberry, kiwi, cucumber salsa with homemade cinnamon & sugar chips! It was delicious!
And I can't count how many cups of coffee we had together... morning or evening. Half of the time we drank it just because we wanted the house to smell like coffee. I just sent my sister a text saying "Sipping some freshly brewed coffee at 8:24pm... Wish you were here to share it with and redo our nails together!" Chipped nails are another reminder that it'll be a good while before I can redo my nails with my sister again. Thankful for the weekend we had together...
We so enjoyed having them here for Easter. We didn't plan to spend Easter weekend together, but it just happened! It was so fun to be able to spontaneously spend a holiday together. We started our weekend off with a picnic at the park on Saturday morning, followed by some serious play time at the park.
Man, I love these boys like my own!
Aunt Holly LOVES her some LaideyLou!
The park was followed up by some naps for the kiddos, and girl time for the Mommies! I absolutely love it when Holly comes up to Michigan... because, I'm going to be selfish for a minute as I admit, I love having her all to myself. We always have time to make time for some girly things. Like shoe and nail polish shopping... and after following her around at her top secret salon hookups... I will never again buy nailpolish, hairspray, or anything else for that matter for full price at a retail store. I'll wait until I'm with Holls.
We had an easter egg hunt for the kids Saturday evening, and Mamaw and Papaw even got to participate, via skype.
The silver egg tradition, started by my grandparents, that I will carry on for my kids. :)
Dylan loved cuddling with Laidey.
He always wanted to pick out her socks and pajamas every night! It was so cute!
Easter Sunday at church
After church, Grammy and Poppa had all of us over for Easter brunch at their house! It was so yummy! Grammy outdid herself once again... and made five different types of egg casseroles/quiche.
Please pause a moment for the cuteness... notice Adelaide's adorable headband that Mamaw made and had in her Easter package? Yeah... Mamaw made that and had NO idea what Adelaide's Easter dress looked like. The headband looks like it was made to match! I LOVE it Mom! Soo cute! It seriously made my day when I got it, because I had ran out of time to make her something to match her dress! And it couldn't have matched any more!
Too bad Breck isn't into taking pictures right now, because i feel like he's missing in so many of them. He's in that phase where he refuses to pose unless there is some serious bribery going on that involves "canny" candy.
Grammy and Poppa had a fun Easter egg hunt for the kids too! They had hid eggs all up and down the hills in their back yard... the kids loved it! We were just missing Maxon and William... they had to stay home and rest from just getting home from the hospital. Easter was a day of rest for them and no travel.
A few of our Easter basket favorites! Aunt Holly got those baby Sperry Top-Siders for Adelaide, Grammy got the kids that book... awesome story about how Easter eggs and bunnies are fun, but not what Easter is REALLY all about. And that cute headband my mom made... up close.
Really?! Really. Leave it to Auntie Holly to find the caaa-utest things.
My sister definitely got the good looks gene and passed it down to her sons!
Holly you are so beautiful! Inside and out!
Sunday afternoon, every single person and baby in the house took a snooze except Dylan and me. So we had a little time to color, cuddle and watch a movie together. :) Also, one of my favorite things to do during their visits!
Everyday Life
Some of my favorites from every day life over the last few weeks...
And possibly my most favorite photo of her. Ever.
Little Miss just adores her Daddy and it shows!
He found a new hat that I had stored away for him to wear this fall...
Can I just say I LOVE having a girl... for many reasons, but one of them being that we can share nail polish colors, and match, and accessorize together!
Baby girl is getting SO big! It's hard to believe she is seven months old!
Her first tooth came in six days shy of her turning seven months old.
She is such a curious soul...
and she pulled herself right up to this basket and peeked in to see what was in there.
His vocabulary is just exploding and tries to say anything we ask him to say.
Our favorites this week:
"Kaa-ya-maa-zoo" for Kalamazoo
"Indy-apples" for Indianapolis
I love it when she turns and smiles.
He loves to paint
New Life
Within two weeks three of our friends had their baby! Love holding a fresh new baby.
BrettRyan's brother Brandon, and his wife, Lindsay had their second baby...
William Robert
Our friends Dave and Krystal had their second baby... Julia Light. She is absolutely stunning.
And our small group friends, Justin and Anna, had their second child... Elijah David! :)
Whether inside or outside the womb... I LOVE new life... it's such a miracle. How can anyone deny that? We're off to celebrate another precious little life today... Breck's little friend, JT, is two years old today! And we're headed to his birthday party this afternoon!
