A Whirlwind Weekend

The boys and I (sans Andrew) took a little trip this weekend to surprise my friend Amy, and see my old roommate Lindi before she moves to Texas. It was a last minute decision, one that I am VERY happy with because we had such a good time. Although the fear of traveling in a car alone with my boys for at least 7 hours almost paralyzed me, I can now say that, 'it ain't no thang'. We Staceys be road trippers again (despite being on hiatus for the past 6 months).

I told Luke the day before we left that we were going to go see his friend Will. I forgot that Luke isn't so great with understanding passages of time yet so the phrase 'not until tomorrow' didn't really register with him. He sobbed every time we got in the car and ended up somewhere other than Will's house. For this reason, I said nothing for the first 4 hours of our trip. I didn't want him to be disappointed every time I had to stop the car. But around the 5th hour Luke informed me that he was done watching movies and wanted to get out of the car now. Tears and whining ensued after I told him that we weren't getting out of the car for a while. So I broke down and confessed that we were on our way to Will's house.

Luke: "We go Will's house?" [pause to let it register] "YAY!!"

He didn't make a peep the rest of the trip and when Cam started crying he consoled him with, "Don't be sad Cammy, we go Will's house".

The next two days were a blur...

A Cafe Rio stop (nice to see them in the East). Amy, you are so brave for suggesting we take the boys inside. You could have been Joan of Arc to me in that moment (but she wasn't dressed up as a man or anything :)).

We packed into the minivan and did some sight seeing...

The reunion of these two best buddies was sweet to say the least.

The Naval Museum

I think this was after he got in trouble for getting too close to the water. Gotta love the fro.

 Every evening (well only two evenings since I wasn't there long) we went to the neighborhood park and let the boys play until dusk.

Then we went home and threw them in the tub to thaw out...

Thanks McAllisters, for letting us destroy your peace for the weekend...

[I didn't get any pictures with Lindi (college roommate and coolest person in the world) but it was SO good to see her and way too short]

The End of an Era

Five years ago this Fall, we were at a ward activity when we met the coolest couple: Cortney and Amy. I think it all started when Cortney remembered that Andrew played football for BYU. That's when we knew he was a stalwart BYU football fan. Immediate friendship began.

Back then we thought we had a lot in common. We were both childless couples who were recently married and had just moved to Ohio to begin professional programs at OSU. Our similarities only increased. 

[Luke always smiles this big when he sees Will]

Our first boys were born 4 months apart. Our second boys were born 6 months apart. Together we have watched nearly every single BYU football game within the past four years. Amy has cooked me about 81 dinners. We have met up at the park for playdates approximately 197 times (these figures are totally made up but they feel accurate). Amy has sewn curtains and a crib bumper for me, made jam, taught me how to use coupons, introduced me to new friends, told me about 1000 hilarious stories, babysat my kids and smiled about it even on their worst days, and passed on about 2045 pieces of good advice. Our children have worn the same clothes (since her boys always grow out of a size as soon as my boys are growing into it). Our boys have been in approximately 256 altercations, 234 of which have ended in some kind of physical assault by one or both parties. However, even after the most intense brutality, they have exercised forgiveness and forgotten each other's trespasses all 256 times.

Amy is pretty much the friend that every woman wants in her life. Loyal, funny, smart, kind. I feel like sometimes motherhood makes it hard to be a good friend to people outside your family. It's so easy to just get caught up in your own little bubble life. Kids need constant attention, and I personally have a difficult time even carrying on a basic conversation when they are around (multi-tasking is not my strong suit). It is easy to just forget about friendships or take them for granted once you have kids. But I've realized as I've become a Mom that I need friends more than I ever thought I would.

I'm grateful that even though my clothes are usually covered in snot and dried up food, I'm sleep deprived most of the time, and at least 30% of my mind is constantly devoted to keeping track of poopy diapers, feeding schedules, how long Luke has been in timeout, suspicious coughs, etc....despite all that, I have good friends who help me feel "normal" every once in a while. Amy, in particular, is the perfect person to talk to about a current event, a latest book read, a frustrating run-in with a rude shopper, an embarrassing moment, a  victorious success, a depressing defeat, or nothing in particular at all.

It really isn't the end of an era. Even though they moved to DC 2 days ago I think we've probably sent about  40 text messages back and forth about all their crazy moving experiences (I still can't believe your hotel room flooded with water in the middle of the night and Duke threw up all over the bed!). So I think it's safe to say this friendship will last.

Check this out...

Luke see trains...

Luke wants trains

"hmmm, I'll distract him with a hug"

"slowly grab the train while he is smiling for the camera"

Luke gets trains.

what a sneaky kid.

 

*p.s. this is the one who cooked me dinner while in labor ... people are always wondering who did that. She is an amazing cook. You can buy her cookbook here. I use it all the time.