the reunion!!!

i don't really have time to do this right now. but i'm going to. because life just keeps happening and i don't want to keep putting it off "til i have time."

the afternoon i left (last Thursday) ended up being pretty crazy.

a little over 2 hours before Mary was supposed to pick me up to go to the airport TOGETHER to leave, she called.

Aaron, her 8 month old, was sick.

she had to cancel her flight.

SADNESS!!!!

it was really so sad. and hard to regroup.

and once i got my HEART around what happening, i then had to get my BRAIN in gear and figure out a way to get to the airport.

my sweet neighbor, Tiffany, drove me.

ok. get to the airport. i was pretty nervous about the whole security thing with a baby and stroller and car carrier. but it was fine. i had a very nice lady behind me that helped.

got through security and to the gate with a few minutes to spare. looked at my watch and realized pat should have picked up the kids from another neighbor's on his way home from work by now and call him to see how they are doing. he's still on the road. late to pick up the kids because he just got rear-ended.

he was fine. his car is a beater so it was "fine" (meaning he didn't care about the small amount of damage). and he was about to pick up the kids.

i'm hoping that the rest of my trip goes a little smoother than the beginning...

get on the plane.

VERY nervous about needing to nurse Sawyer next to a stranger at take-off and landing so that his eardrums don't burst. i have a "cover"...but STILL.

a very nice man sits next to me.

he's German. with SUCH a thick accent i can hardly understand him.

after i'm done nursing at takeoff, he proceeds to start asking me, "where do i get one of doz in dee States??"

i'm wondering if he understands what i did and what it is.

until he says, "ees for dee breast, yes?"

umm...ok. getting slightly awkward.

then he says he has a 7 week old baby at home.

ok. now all his questions seem perfectly appropriate. :-)

sawyer did great. slept some. played some. cried some. but did great for being a 6 month old on a plane for 3 hours.

sorry. this is getting boring.

moving on.

michelle hosted us all at her beautiful house. she is also 30 weeks pregnant with their first baby. she was such a gracious hostess to all of us (and 3 babies!!!)

i was the first to arrive on Thursday night.

ali and becca came a couple hours later once ali's flight got in.

kathy, christy and kate came in throughout the day on Friday.

we truly spent most of the weekend in our pj's in michelle's living room just talking. sharing our hearts. catching each other up on old and new things going on in our lives. laughing. crying. looking at photo albums from our college days. eating YUMMY food.

we did venture out a couple times.

once to some craft stores to work on a few projects for michelle's nursery.

ali made the CUTEST lampshade for the nursery.

went on a couple walks.

on saturday night we had a shower for michelle.

it had a "sleepytime" theme.

lots of fun food, wine, gifts and excitement for baby McClure!!!

getting ready for the shower...

we decorated little onesies...

the 7 of us (we missed you Mary!!!)

kate reading our "baby madlib" game we did during the shower.

sunday morning we did a "birthday brunch" because becca, christy and kathy's birthdays are all around this time.

brunch preparations...

YUM!!!

kallen (christy's little boy) and sawyer are exactly 1 month apart (kallen is 1 month older).

they were cute together.

kallen apparently thought sawyer's fingers tasted good :-)

"dude. these girls are CRAZY! don't you think?!?"

Mike, Michelle's husband, was kind enough to watch the boys while we went and walked/ran around Town Lake in Austin.

it was nice to get out, run a few miles, and enjoy the beautiful weather!!!

it was 75 degrees and SUNNY!!!

it's really a fun city.

and Mike did great. he's going to be such a great dad.

the trip home was long but sawyer did very well.

it was such a great weekend.

i am blessed with so many special friendships. and these girls are some of the most precious.

we are all very different. have different passions. different desires. different dreams.

but the history we have together is unlike anything i've ever known.

the safety to share anything and everything and know that you will still be loved is amazing.

i'm so very thankful. and now i'm crying so i'm going to move on.

thanks, girls, for a great weekend!

i can't wait til next time!