Friends and Kids

I mentioned a while back that a couple of my friends were pregnant at the same time as I was with the twins.  Well this past weekend we all got together with all of our kids for the first time in a very long time.  First time with the babies, of course, but first time in a long time with all the big kids too.  

We were celebrating Keisha who had Kollyns 2 months ago.  We never got to do a sprinkle for her because she was on modified bed rest, I was knee deep in zero sleep and we all just had crazy busy things going on.  

Anyway, it is too hard for us to all get together without kids so we decided to bring the kids and let them play while we hung out, tended to babies and maybe had a little wine!  

It was so fun.  It was hectic for sure.  Between 5 of us (Sarah and Jenny don't have kids....yet!) we have 12 kids.  Tina has 3, Courtney has 2, Katie has 2, Keisha has 2 and I have 3.  The good part is that Tina has 2 older kids (11 and 9) and Courtney has one older (12) so they were able to entertain and play with the medium kids (4 of them....a 5 year old, a 4 year old and two 3 year olds) while the all the mama's took care of the five itty bitties!  

The babies screamed, the medium kids ran around the entire time and also screamed some and the older kids were a little over it.  We calmed each other's babies, we made plates and got drinks for each other's medium babies and we all told the big kids what to do!  I don't think I held my own babies much that night!  Like one big crazy family.  

My Sarah and Jenny were doing this at one point during the chaos.  

Anyway, it was special.  I am so lucky to be able to do this mom thing with these people.  We have all been friends since high school and those girls are my family.  We laugh together and we cry together.  We get advice from each other and we share the struggles.  We help each other through the hard times and we lift each other up always.   These girls are my rock, my ride or dies, my squad.  THANKFUL FOR THEM.  

Friend Babies!

First of all, today is the first day I have had any time by myself at home in, well, I seriously don't remember.  Normally I have a couple of days a week when Blakely is at school to get things done around the house or run errands.  But for about 2 months now, on those days I have had J come over and help me get organized.  For 6 hours per day.  Then the last 2 weeks Blakely has been out of school because of the weather.  Last night I asked Juanet if she could keep Blakely today since she has other kids on Fridays and, hallelujah, it isn't snowing.  She said of course and I was so happy.  Not just for some relaxing alone time for myself but my girl is in some serious need of playtime with her friends.  She is very tired of Mommy.  I really don't even know what to do with myself today and I am sure a very long nap is in my future but first things first.  BLOG!  

I wanted to share about all the friend babies in my life right now!  As you probably know if you are my FB friend or have read this blog for any length of time I have a good size group of really close girlfriends.  Most of us have been friends since middle school or before and we have added a few to the group over the years.  I can't believe how lucky I am to have such great friends.  People ask me sometimes how we have stayed friends for so long and I really don't have an answer.  We just did and I'm so thankful for each and every one of them.  

Two of them, Katie and Keisha, are pregnant also.  Katie is about 7 weeks behind me and Keisha is 12 weeks behind me.  

Casey's baby shower December 2014

December 2014.  This was not long after Keisha found out she was pregnant.  No one knew and she had just told me.  We were so excited!

Our friend Tina has a son that is about 7 months old (her SURPRISE! third baby as she had children before all of us...they are 10 and 8...quite the surprise for her).  Our other friend, Casey, just had her baby girl 2 months ago.  So that is 6 total babies all within a year!  {And not that this needs to be said but, hello, I can't wait for my Sarah to join this friend baby bunch!}

All of us (minus Keisha who met us at the race) at Sarah's bachelorette weekend in November 2013.  Riiiiiight before Tina got the surprise of her life!  

This may not really seem like a big deal but to me it totally is.  I spent a good (ridiculous) amount of time worrying that I wouldn't be able to have kids the same age as my friends or I wouldn't have babies like they would at all.  I mean I really cried about this to Lonnie many times before getting pregnant with Blakely and he obviously thought this was crazy.  

Flashback to 2010.  Lonnie and I had been trying to have a baby for almost 2 years and we were smack in the middle of month after month of failed treatment cycles.  I remember vividly when Keisha told me that she was pregnant in 2010.  I was so very shocked and so very happy for her.  She was sweet and uber sensitive to the fact that it may be hard for me.  I will never forget that.  Most people would not have even thought a thing about it.  It was definitely a hard pill to swallow and I definitely cried about it.  Not because I wasn't happy for her but because I didn't understand why that wasn't me.  I was trying so hard...she was not.  It is a weird thing to explain how you can be ecstatic for someone else's baby news and yet it also feel like a dagger to the heart.  Anyway, I spent the next months hoping that something would work for me and we would have babies close in age.

Flash forward to me getting pregnant in 2011.  I was the only one pregnant but soon after I announced my friend Katie told me she was expecting.  Blakely and her son are 5 months apart.  And Courtney also announced soon after and Blakely and her daughter are 6 months apart.  

This was my baby shower in September 2011

So all that worry and those are 4 babes in about a year and a half.  Looking back I realize how it seems ridiculous to worry about such things.  But infertility makes you crazy and so...I did.  

Now Katie, Keisha and I are working on siblings to our first born and we've added 2 new friend babies to the mix this time around.  It is crazy how life works out sometimes.

I am thankful for all of these sweet friends and SUPER HAPPY that our kids can grow up together.  Yay for friend babies!  

Weekend fun. And not so fun.

I intended on posting this on Monday but right after our super great weekend everything went to shit.  More on that later!  

We had a super full weekend so I'll just start with Friday.  Blakely had gymnastics and then we went to my dad's house after that.  We have started getting into that routine the past month or so.  Sometimes I stay over there with them and other times I run a few errands while they hang out for an hour or two.  This Friday I had a doctor's appointment so I left her there to run around outside, play with Shady (the only dog in the world that she is not scared of) and play on the boat.  

I picked her up and we drove the long way through the country home.  She loves this because we drive by a few farms and she can see the COWS!  SHEEP!  HORSIES!  One of these days I am just going to walk up to one of their doors and ask if she can get a close up look.  She took a late nap because we were heading to the local high school baseball game that evening.

My girlfriends and I were having a girls night starting at the game.  We have a friend whose son is the star of the team so we went to watch him.  I knew Blakely would think that was fun!  And she did.  I think she entertained everyone around us the whole game.  Lonnie came after work to watch a little of the game and to take B home.

My girl will finally smile a good smile for a selfie instead of that cheese ball grin!

After the game we headed over to Jenny's and the girls who couldn't make the game came over then.  We ordered pizza, played games and talked for hours.  It was so much fun!  I had really good intentions of getting home at a decent hour.  But at midnight my pregnant friend, Tina, was still going strong so I felt I had to at least outlast her.  I made it home at 2 in the morning.  Whoa.  We had such a great time and I truly believe a girls night is good for the soul.  Blakely didn't get the memo about sleeping in so I was running on about 4 hours of sleep Saturday.  

Lonnie was on call but it was looking like his weekend wouldn't be too busy.  We decided to head out to our local horse racing track for a fun event they were having in the infield.  They had a huge BBQ competition and you could purchase a plate for $5 and sample all the food.  Ummm, yes.  Sign me up.  A huge open area for B to run around + food + live music + some bounce houses = a super happy toddler.  She ate more BBQ than Lonnie and I did.  We got there a little early before there were too many people there.  Definitely planned it that way.  Here are a few pics because I actually took my good camera.  Go me.  

come on, Mom!  

Taking a little break from jumping.  

We finally got her to sit down under the shade of a huge tree.  

The child ate 2 plates full!

Be happy I only posted 3 of them sitting like this.  I have about 50...

Adoration...

On the way home from the racetrack I felt like it was the perfect time for an ice cream date.  We have only gone for ice cream about 5 times ever.  The first 4 she didn't even know there were toppings for the ice cream.  I planned on keeping it that way but the last time we went Lonnie picked her up and showed them to her before I could catch him.  If I could show you the look on her face.  The child was so excited.  So, of course, this time she wanted to pick her toppings.  She decided on orange ice cream with gummy bears, chocolate chips and M&M's.  Yum.  Not.  I usually share hers but that sounded gross so I got my own.  She ate every single bite.  We were there for an hour.  She is not the fastest eater.  

By the time she was done she was in serious need of a bath.  Sweat mixed with sunscreen mixed with BBQ sauce mixed with orange ice cream made for a dirty little two year old.  

I soaked her and scrubbed her and then we settled in for a movie night.  Her favorite.  Toy S.tory.  About half way through I could tell Lonnie wasn't feeling well.  He mentioned earlier in the day that his muscles were hurting but I didn't really know what to make of that.  I thought he just slept weird or something.  Anyway, when it was time to put Blakely to bed he calmly told me to call my mom and and have her come over while Blakely was sleeping so I could take him to get checked out by the ER doctor.  Ummmm...excuse me?!?!?  My husband who refused to even get a physical for like 6 years wanted to voluntarily go to the ER on a Saturday night?  Yeah, so our weekend went to shit right there.  I'll post all about it tomorrow or Friday.  He is okay but still pretty ill.  Blah.  

A wedding post!

Since Sarah's wedding was 2 months ago I figured it was time to blog about it!  Ha!  I was waiting on pictures from the photographer and that took a little longer than expected.  So I know you've  been on the edge of your seats but here is a picture overload of the super fun wedding!  

Sarah and CJ got married at a place here in town called The Royal Ridge.  It is really neat and they have only been doing weddings there for about a year.  Basically they live on a ridge and the views are absolutely beautiful.  They built a large barn where they hold the reception and you get married outside.  

Their setup is really great actually.  They live there but the entire bottom floor of their house is where the girls get ready.  They have huge mirrors and a great place to get your hair and makeup done.  There are a few different rooms and plenty of space for 10+ girls to primp.  So we spent the whole day there getting ready and drinking champagne.

pre hair and makeup.  not pre champagne.  

post hair and makeup :)

Bless Hannah.  She came out with a friend to do all of our hair.  She cut and colors all of us anyway and she did such a great job!  

Lonnie brought Blakely up after her nap so I could get her dressed and fix her hair.  She was so not having pictures that day so I don't have any great ones but she was sure looking cute!

We took a few pictures before the wedding and then some after.  

being silly

Love this one of Sarah and her mom.  

Can we talk about how awesome that brooch bouquet is?  Her friend made it and she worked in pictures of Sarah and CJ as a baby as well as a pic of Sarah's dad and CJ's aunt...super special peeps.  

Right before it was time to start all of us girls had to go upstairs so we could make our grand entrance walking down the outdoor steps.  Lonnie was staying downstairs with Blakely and was going to tell her when to walk.  I had a little moment with her just giving her kisses and telling her how beautiful she was.  Lonnie snapped this pic and it is my favorite of all time.  Then she wanted to give Aunt Sarah some good luck kisses too!

the men making their way to the ceremony

Blakely and Kyndal were to walk down right after me.  We had practiced throwing the flowers and walking numerous times but she would never do both at the same time.  I was a little concerned but just thought if I can get her down the aisle then she can go off with Lonnie and he can handle her for the ceremony.  No way was she going to stand up there with us during the thing!  When they started walking I could hear her talking.  Then the talking got a little louder.  About a quarter of the way down she was full blown yelling ME SHROW FLOWERS while throwing them like baseballs.  Quiet giggles went around the crowd.  Then she made them all full on laugh when she stopped and yelled FLOWERS ALL GONE! UH OH! and proceeded to start picking them up.  I knew she would do that so I walked a little ways up the sidewalk and got her and Kyndal's attention.  All I had to do was say one word and they both booked it down the aisle.  Marshmallows.  

Then of course beautiful Sarah made her way down the aisle and the ceremony got started.  It was beautiful and we all got a little teary.  

And then the stressful part was over.  It was time to party!  We all went back into the house and popped the champagne before taking more pictures with the photographer. 

this girl was super happy to have the "standing in front of a crowd" thing over with!  

It was dreary all day but right when the ceremony was over the sky opened up and we got the most beautiful sunset.  I have to think that Sarah's dad was watching over her and gave her that sunset that she wanted.  It was beautiful.  

You know we had to play a little football....

We were all announced into the reception soon after that.  I didn't know that part was happening so there was pressure to make a grand entrance. 

nailed it  ;)

The rest was just all fun and dancing and more champagne.  

I don't even know what's going on here.  

or here... 

Blakely had the time of her life dancing.  She would shake her booty for a while and then come over and get someone to come dance with her. 

 I love kids dancing at weddings!  Lots of ring around the rosie..

My mom took her home when she was worn out and Lonnie and I stayed with our friends until the wee hours of the morn.  And I can't believe this but we did not get a family picture or even just a picture of me and Lonnie.  Total fail.  

I am so thankful for great friends.  We had such a great time together celebrating Sarah and CJ.  I feel like we need to do it again soon!  

And let's be honest....I have about 20 outtakes juuuuust like this one.  ;)

If you made it to the end of this super long post then you are my favorite reader by far!  ;)