You'll never know unless you try...

When Claire was born I quickly realized that doing things outside the home would be more challenging. My mom reminded me when she was here for Noel's birth that, with Claire, the first few weeks I refused to leave our little apartment in East Lansing. Thank the heavens for Johanna! She had had a baby boy about a month before me and had moved in across the street. She helped me immensely! It was so nice to have a friend who was more adventurous nearby. We started having "playdates" with our kids and going on walks and outings together almost everyday. I was worried that she was going to get sick of us, but she stuck with us and I'm so glad that she did. We both went back to work in the fall as our husbands needed the support while in school. It was nice to have a friend to be able to talk to about the pressures of being a Mormon working mom. One of Claire and Ezekiel's first "playdates"

First "Pool Party"

Halloween Party... Claire is the chicken... EZ is the Ninja...

Claire and EZ in Texas last summer

When Aaron graduated, the first job offer he got was in Texas. I was literally going crazy working full-time and not being able to be with Claire. So, he took it. I sometimes wonder if we should have been more patient, but I try not to think about it. What helped is that Johanna's husband got a summer internship with the same company. I was so happy to not be working and we were back to doing something together almost every day. At the end of the summer it was hard to watch their family go back to Michigan, but we had hopes that they would be back with an offer from Dell the next year.

Netta and Noel

So now here we are another year gone by and they are back! The number of children we have between us has doubled. I had Noel in April and she gave birth to Netta in May. It has been so nice catching up and getting acquainted with the new little ones. One of the best things of all is that for the first time since we moved here, Aaron and I went to a movie with no kids. I guess that isn't entirely true - when Aaron's parents came to visit we have been able to make it out to see Harry Potter 5 last year, but still, that was over a year ago! Anyway, Johanna and her husband took care of all four kids on Saturday and let Aaron and I go and see Prince Caspian. I can't say enough how grateful I am for the chance to get out. Aaron and I haven't been able to afford a babysitter since I quit working and it is so nice to able to have someone here who is willing to swap services. Since we both have two kiddos and the ages line up I don't feel guilty, like it's more work for her than it is for me or vice versa.

So we have gone swimming together and had each other over to our homes. Things have gone relatively well. Until this week... We tried to go to my ward's playgroup this week at the Brushy Creek splash park and that was kind of a disaster when Claire ran into a couple of boys and fell and hit her head on the pavement. Her crying set off Noel's crying. So Johanna got Noel calmed down while I sat with Claire. We ended up leaving disappointed. Then... another disaster was a trip to the dollar theater to try to see 'Horton Hears a Who' with all four kids. Neither Claire nor EZ wanted to stay in their seats and were fighting in the isles. Noel was fussy, but wouldn't eat. Netta, the sweet little girl, slept through the whole thing thankfully. But we decided to leave.

I guess the point of this post (inspired by her post) is to thank Johanna for her friendship and for getting me to try new things with the kids. Things haven't gone ideally this week, but I'm so glad that you guys are back and close by. Some things are going to go well and some are going to go badly - hopefully we'll be able to look back and have some good laughs. But I'm glad to have opportunities to get out and have experiences and make some memories. Mostly, I'm so glad to have my friend back.