that was then.. this is now

Today Anni and I drove out to Oak Park to see dear friends. We visited Jamie (who was in town from Seattle visiting family) and Annalea (who drove to meet us from Normal with 2 kids-rock star award!) and their adorable kiddies. Jamie has Persis who just celebrated the Big 1 in May! Jamie and I spent many a times on the phone discussing sleep (or lack there of in the first 6 months of our daughters lives and she was especially valuable to me as she was "older and wiser", ok only by a few months but the learning curve is huge in having a baby so she was an expert to me). Annalea has Luca (or "Guca" as he refers to himself) and the adorably laid back Gia who we had not met yet and who spent most of the day sleeping various positions and locations (Annalea's comment was "that is a second kid- she takes sleep where ever she can get it").

It seems impossible to envision our lives without kids now but we were crazy college roomies way back when. It is awesome that we have seen each other grow, through blessings and disappointments over the last 10 years. Even though we do not get to talk and see each other as often as we would like our get togethers since becoming Mamas have been fabulous. We all agreed that even though we are all in separate parts of the country since becoming Moms we think about each other even more. I know that it is a comfort to me that in the sometimes repetitive and mundane (did someone say Groundhog day? I swear I emptied this dishwasher yesterday and didn't I just wash these diapers?) tasks of Mommy-hood my sisters are out there doing the same things all hoping and praying that we are dong what is right for our kids. That the decisions we make will impact them and they will grow up to realize that God loves them and that in turn they will be empowered to love others. That they will be brave enough to seek change for the faults and injustice they find in their world (while we also pray that we will have the grace and courage to let them stumble and find their own way and that they will forgive our inevitable mistakes in loving them).

We sat in the backyard of Jamie's parents house and discussed various topics. Here is a sampling....
what kind of applesauce is the best, how little we appreciated college when were there and how much we wish we could take some of the classes over (ok, not EEE), how the heck does Annalea understand Luca?, the upsides and downsides of living in the city vs. the suburbs, what God is revealing to us, why I hate Egg salad and everyone else loves it, how hard life was when our babies did not sleep through the night, when exactly can babies eat strawberries?, how much we want to have more kids and either do want to be pregnant again (Annalea) or DO NOT (Jamie and myself), we quoted Clueless, and laughed so hard at the faces our babies made that we cried, and marveled about how amazing it is that we all have these beautiful awe-inspiring kids entrusted to us. I am thankful to have friends to grow with. That was then and it was good but this is now and it is grand.

*The top picture was taken today and the 2 following were taken the last time we got together in October (Anni was only 5 weeks old and Gia was still hanging out in the belly). I had to include the last picture which I entitled "I hate my new friends." Annikah had a little more fun today although Persis may not invite her back after the hair pulling incident (Anni does have hair envy-beware!).