sweet friends

So last week, I guess actually by now it's 2 weeks ago, Matt had to go all the way to Baltimore to take his written boards and then stay for a conference.  About an hour after he drove off, my friend called and said, "How'd you like to come to Atlanta tomorrow?"  After weighing my options - staying home alone for 6 days or visiting my friends I never get to see - the choice was clear!  Off to Atlanta!

The one issue - flying standby.  My friends have Delta connections and got me a super cheap ticket, but it was standby.  And I had to take a train 2 hours into JFK with my sweet darling little papoose of a one year old and cross my fingers that they let us on the flight.  So . . . I did it.  And there were all sorts of Long Island stereotypes being broken as people helped me drag my luggage and stroller on and off the train, onto the air train, and then up to the plane . . . where we waited, waited, waited until all the other passengers were on before they said we could go!  Woohoo!  

 

Wild buddy was jammin' until we landed and they unfastened the seatbelt sign.  

Whew.

After that wild ride, it was SO absolutely wonderful to see my friend Allyson pull up at the airport.  We met in Kenya and she was a great friend then, but we've grown even closer through frequent phone calls and VERY infrequent times together.  I saw Todd and Allyson at our wedding and then last year for a couple hours during our trip to Cleveland.  And now they have ANOTHER beautiful baby.  It was just super good for my heart to be with their family.  

And so, I took a few pics and actually took the time to edit a few of them . . . 

{above} little sister Elise and big sister Ava

{below} handsome Tyler

Bo had his first wrestling matches with Ty.  It was hilarious and awesome.

We just hung out and had fun . . . took the kiddos to chick-fil-a, played at the house, went on a walk, and just did life together. 

Ty turned 2 while we visited, and I got to help Allyson prepare for their rocket man party.  Complete with adorable cake:

Ty bringing a giant tub of cheese puffs to his party.

This is the opening prayer where I sniffled and teared up as Todd talked about Ty's rocky start and God's great plans for his life.  Tyler was born with a hemangioma on his liver - his liver was 8 cm long at birth.  With the help of a quick (miraculous) diagnosis and steroids, it shrunk to the typical 1 cm and he is one healthy sweet boy.  I was overjoyed to celebrate his second birthday with their family.  

A surprise for me - our friend Anita, another Kenya connection and one of my bridesmaids, recently moved to South Carolina and she and her husband came out as well.  What a treat, to be together!  I hope that when we move to Nashville we can make this happen a couple times a year.  And with Matt, too.  

We took the EARLY flight out because it has the most seats open.  Bo had his own little seat on that flight (hooray) but we missed the train home by SECONDS (boo).  It was slowly pulling away as I forlornly stood on the platform and contemplated jumping on . . . We took a different line home and got picked up from the stinky trains station and BOY, was I glad to be home.  I think I can write the book on traveling with a 12 month old.  Bo and I will take no less than FIVE flights together this month, without Matt.  Don't ask me how he managed to get out of all that.  But you know what, it doesn't even scare me anymore.  I've faced it all (did I mention he threw up on me last month?!).  I can handle it.  And it's always worth it to see our special friends and family!

bo's buddy kyalo

I'm a little behind on this old blog because of birthday parties and life and impromptu trips across the country. . .  but one special thing I want to remember is the visit from the Mulandi family, who came for Bo's birthday weekend.  We met Jenna and Dexter in Kenya and they have just moved back to the States for further training for Dexter, who's real name is Allan.  Funny story - since he was training to be a dentist and was obviously a science-type guy, his friends called him Dexter because of the cartoon, Dexter's Lab.  And it stuck.  Anyway, they are just a few hours from us for the time being and we so enjoyed seeing them again, and their sweet son, Kyalo (pronounced Cha-low).  

He is so stinking cute.

Man, it was fun to have the boys together.  They are only about 2 weeks apart and so cutely at the same stage.

Bath buddies:

They played pretty well together.  It was adorable.  In fact, I'm going to say that two one-year-olds are a bunch of fun.  Mothers of twins - one will be fun.  (dev, i'm talking to you)

 

and he chews on chicken bones.  I mean, hilarious. 

can we keep you?

Bo is ONE

Wow, it is kind of strange to have a big boy one-year-old in the house.  I used to look rather curiously at moms with their toddlers and wonder how they made it through the first year . . . that was back during the wake-up-to-eat phase.  And now here I am, with a real rootin' tootin' toddler-man.  He's so great.  We just love him.  We feel so blessed that he's in our lives!  

On Friday, the 20th, his actual birthday, he wore his little birthday shirt I whipped up for him.  Matt was off of work and we spent time outside getting ready for his party . . . it was a beautiful day.  He also had his one-year bloodwork done that morning but he's brave and doesn't remember. :) 

And I made him 2 little birthday cakes . . . one for his birthday and one for the party.  I used little pyrex dishes and was pleased with the shape.  This cake went over REALLY well . . . I'll get the video up on here soon.

hands-free.

We wanted to have a little something to celebrate our little guy, but since we don't have family around, his little party kind of grew.  I had fun making these invitations.  Actually, I had fun making about 3 of them and then resented the rest but they turned out cute.  Don't mind my sloppy attempts to blur out the important details.  I'm a real amateur at photoshop.

The night before the party, the weather forecast was grim - thunderstorms from 4-6.  We made some calls and made it come & go from 12-6 so that we could enjoy at least part of it outside.  It turned out to be a gorgeous day, and people came and went all day long. It was perfect!

The little birthday hat I made for him . . . he wasn't really a fan.  It is pretty funny looking.  Matt calls these the 'scary clown' photos. 

I made what felt like a bajillion pennant banners.  They looked pretty cute and dressed up our old house. 

The hobby horse looked more like a warning to all other horses . . . 

A little display of pictures . . . so fun to see how he's grown and changed.

Matt made ladderball out of the rungs of an old crib.  It's a fun game and we've played it together since. He used the short sides to make a chalkboard easel.  That was what I had in mind when I saw the crib on the road and he came up with ladderball all on his own. :) 

For all of the 'quirks' of this house, I do love the meadow that surrounds us and the water peeking through the trees.  We set up badminton for the party, and it would appear that a real live cowboy is enjoying the shade.

It was a special day catching up with friends and some we hadn't seen in a while. Bo's Uncle Adam came out from D.C. and Cousin Amanda came in from the city.  Our friends Meghan and Adam came back to visit from Boston and our friends from Kenya, the Mulandis, drove out from New Jersey.  They spent the night and we had so much fun watching Kyalo and Bo play together!  More adorable pictures coming soon.  It was special to look around at the party at all of these friends.  Our little life here is winding down and there are many we will miss.  

Bo and the garden

The other night after dinner, my parents took us to a community garden where my mom helps with a little plot. The garden belongs to my dad's company, Chesapeake, and I was super impressed with the space they set apart on their campus for growing veggies and flowers. Employees and spouses team up to take care of the beds, and one large section is devoted to the local food pantry. It's also just so pretty! Bo was in heaven with all that dirt.

I'm posting from my phone, which makes it difficult to subtitle specific photos, but I'm sure it is evident that it was tornado weather... Bo's little fluff was blowing in the wind! And one of these pictures reminds us of Frankenstein...