We Took A Trip

It was all smiles after church for the two little somebody's in this house who turned 11 months yesterday!

If you're thinking to yourself that you've seen Lieren's shirt before, you have! We bought it as a special newborn dress, but it is actually a 12-month shirt. Since it was cut exactly like the newborn dresses and we liked it so much, we went ahead and bought it. Now we have used it all year.

The three and I went on a day-trip to visit my dear friend Nikki in St. Louis on Friday. It was a wonderful and much-anticipated day.

We left just after breakfast and arrived in time for lunch. It took us almost three hours (longer than expected because of traffic and a slight detour that might have just been my fault). We stopped only once for about 7 minutes at a rest stop for me to hand snacks to Silas in the back of the van. Then, for the next 20 minutes of our drive, I passed snacks to Sim and Lieren until I realized they were just dropping them on the floor. Sim fussed for a minute or two when we were about 10 minutes from arrival but once he found that paci, he relaxed again.

Nikki had a great lunch waiting for us but the kids were more interested in playing than eating so it took a good hour for us to eat! Times sure have changed since our college days...

But some things never change. Nikki and I always pick right up where we left off, even if it had been longer than we realized since we saw each other in person the last time!

Friendships like ours don't form overnight. Ours was forged through four years of college, three years sharing the same room, countless hours talking deep into the night, much laughter, and many tears; praying together, hoping together, and sharing together the joy of dreams realized.

The last time we were together, only Silas and Lainey were around. Now there are three more in our homes, born just 8 days apart: Simeon, Lieren, and Cooper...

After dinner, I packed my three back into the van, hugged my sweet friend's neck and drove home. Within 30 minutes, the van was quiet with sleeping children. I got home at 10 to Shane waiting for us, tucked the babes in bed (Silas never even woke, Lieren went back to sleep the minute I put her in bed, and Sim needed some coddling to be reminded it was still nighttime), and went to bed myself.