F is for Friends

There is nothing like an old friend.  We spent this past weekend with my best friend and her family, and I am so happy that they live so much closer to us.  Sure it is a three hour trip to West Virginia, but there is something to be said about spending time with someone who you can just be yourself around.  Who gets you and who cares about your kids.  We had a short visit, just a couple of days really, and we didn't do much other than hang out and try to get the kids to leave us alone so we could visit, lol.  The kids ran around, played and on the whole were very well behaved.  We drank some wine, watched grownup TV (Hoarders, Storage Wars and Fringe, a funny mix), watched kid tv (to keep them quiet) and took a lot of pictures.  

The first night, we got all the kids together for bedtime stories and put them all to bed a little late.  Two things that are crazy to think about.  One, Beth and I have known each other for almost 16 years.  Second, that between us we have 5 kids.  

And two fabulous husbands.  We found them like this in the kitchen talking home improvement.  It was funny.  They are actually flanking the tater tots.  

I love that we will be able to be old ladies and say to our kids "I knew you since you were a baby.  You were the sweetest thing, you were bald, I changed your diapers."

We celebrated Beth's birthday.  Don't mind the sad birthday Oreos, we did have a delicious dessert from dinner, but opted not to share it with the children and waited until they went to bed to have it.  Is that bad parenting?  Or smart?  In lousy friend fashion, I had put "make Beth's birthday card" on my list weeks ago, figuring she would appreciate the gesture more than if I bought one.  But really, who has time to make birthday cards, especially when we had three showings this week.  And I'm subbing more.  And I have three children under the age of three who don't give me much time for. . .well, anything.  And then I forgot to even buy one.  Sigh.  Maybe next year, my friend.  

Maggie enjoyed her birthday oreo.  Really, they just love birthdays in general.  Here's my gorgeous girl.  I spent a lot of time this weekend playing with my camera, working with settings and trying to take better pictures.  Well, technically better.  I am getting more and more pictures of Maggie than of Ben because she slows down and lets me take her picture.  I am again toying with the idea of putting out feelers for modeling. Because who wouldn't want this girl in a catalog?

We spent some time outside today in the yard, all these photos were taken with a Mia strapped to me in her Moby, which makes things a little difficult.  It was really bright, I put the ISO down to 100 and hoped for the best.

This might be the first photo in this blog that I have messed with in photoshop.  Other than cropping.  One of the things we like to talk about when we get together is photography.  Beth is more of a photoshop guru, and by now has surpassed me in camera knowledge too.  She is a much better study.  She showed me a few photoshop tricks this weekend and loaned me some magazines (which I will read, I promise!) so maybe my editing skills will get better.

This is in the wrong place, but their little camera does panoramic shots, so this is a shot of all of us at the table.  Kind of.

Kid shots are always interesting.  My kiddos refer to everyone as friends.  When we are at the library, they will say things like "that friend touched me."  "Why is that friend crying".  They do the same for adults.  Just now, sitting by me on the couch, he pointed to one of the pictures with the kids in it and pointed to Zach.  He said, "I think I love that friend."  I said Zach?  He said, "Yes, Zach.  He is my best friend.  And Ernie."

Melt.  All of a sudden, we have best friends.  Now mind you, they are always changing (sorry Zach).  The other day on the couch, I was Maggie's best friend so she was sharing her popcorn with me.  Gabe was Maggie's friend this morning, but Ben is her brudder.  Ben has also started in with "I don't love Daddy.  I love Mommy" when he is mad about something.  Or the other way around.  He also doesn't love Maggie some days.  He loves Aunt Patti.  Fickle, fickle.  

Random cute picture of Andy and Mia.

And this.  I debated putting this in my blog, but then decided why not.  I had mentioned to Beth that I had seen people talk about photos of them breastfeeding, but only had a couple of pictures that Andy had snapped of me under a blanket.  I am very pro-breastfeeding, I am very supportive of breastfeeding friends, and I would rather have someone see my boobs than my post partum belly that looks like crepe paper.  I had asked if she would mind taking some pictures of Mia and I while we were there and I think she did a beautiful job.

Back to my F for Friendship.  I think sometimes about how sad it is that I do not have more friends from my earlier life.  My best friend from Elementary school just had a baby.  I only know because there was a picture in the Christmas card she sent me, the only way we keep in touch.  I imagine she might have had a similar surprise when she found a third kid on my card.  I somewhere I am sure still have my half of the Best Friends necklace we shared.  We did everything together, but then drifted in middle school and later in high school.  My high school best friends and I had a falling out, that made me miserable a good chunk of my last couple years of high school.  I made another best friend, who is expecting a baby.  I know this because of Facebook.  I was in a sorority in college, and other than Beth, I don't have any friends I keep in touch with other than Facebook and some Christmas cards.    

It is depressing.  

But really, I should be grateful.  Some of my best friends in my adulthood I found on the Internet.  Funny but true, there are two groups of girls that I met through the Knot/the Nest/the Bump that went off the main boards and formed local groups.  We get together for playdates, for girls nights, do things together as friends.  We text, we email, we chat online.  I am grateful for that experience, and that these are friends that I can call my own.  I wonder what happened to so many of my old friends, and wish I had been better at keeping in touch.  I hope that ten years from now I am not saying that about my current friends!  

    

Then there are my girls.  I am a big card giver (aforementioned birthday fail excluded).  I like to find sweet and sentimental cards.  Since I now have two sister in laws that I love, I have tried to find them sister cards sometimes.  Big fail.  Because the sister cards all start out talking about how they grew up together.  Had always been friends.  Had giggled at secrets, and shared laughs and hugs, and heartbreak.  I hope they will have that kind of relationship.  I hope my daughters never have to feel like they do not have a great friend, or someone who loves them just like they are.  That even if they do not talk to me every day, like I do with my mother, that they talk to each other.  That they can help with each others kids, and go shopping, and share secrets. 

The will have each other, they will have Ben.  So far, I have had plenty of people who know other little boys mention specifically how sweet mine is.  How kind he is, how he already loves his sisters.  Nobody, absolutely nobody can get Mia belly laughing like Ben can.  She adores her big brother.   

  

Amelia. . .7 months old.

Ben.  Handsome and. . .comfortable with his manhood.  He likes to play with the dollhouse.  He has been breastfeeding Ernie.  He is sweet, he gives the best hugs in the world.  

And Maggie.  That little girl.  She has been quite a Mommy's girl lately.  She likes to play hair, and since the brushing no longer hurts, I am happy to play along.  She uses the tongs from the BBQ set as a flat iron.  She finds shoes and puts them on, likes to put on her pretty dresses so she can spin, and has been breaking out in song and dance.  

They have cousins.  I love that they have two wonderful cousins with hopefully more to come.  They are close in age.  We like to hang out.  I am jealous :-)

I absolutely love this picture I took of my nephew Parker.  Look how cute he is!

 Happy Birthday Nama!

And last but not least, my Project 52 Photos.  These have been random.  Part of me figures at least I will have two tries at each of these letters so if I decide to put them into a photo book I can just pick the best of my two tries.  I have ideas for at least a few of the next letters, we will see how they go.  

D is for Dollhouse Disaster

 E is for Egg Carton, Mia's favorite toy

And F is for Father.  What a wonderful one he is.