This weekend, Josh and I played "Spouse Swap" with Rachel and Lips. On Saturday morning, the girls and I headed up to Rockford (where, to no one's surprise, the temperature was a full five degrees cooler than it was at home) to help Rachel knock out some of her to-dos before Zechariah makes his appearance, and Lips came down to help Josh with some home improvement projects, little things that would make us enjoy our home more.
I was so excited to spend time with Rachel and Nehemiah, who is so much fun and who gives the best hugs. He and the girls had a ball playing, chasing, giggling, blowing bubbles, picking flowers dandelions, and in general running around crazy together. Rachel and I managed to organize some baby clothes (so teeny...my time with onesies wasn't so long ago, but it certainly felt that way....) and made several meals to throw in the freezer. And we just enjoyed being together. We took the kids to a park, drove by the neighborhood where Josh and I lived when we were first married, and ate at Burrito Loco where I introduced Nehemiah to the wonder that is horchata. We sat outside in the sun and talked about work and our husbands and our homes, and I found myself wishing that I could somehow make Rockford and Chillicothe two minutes apart instead of two hours.
Because I made the extra effort to take our nice camera, I took exactly zero pictures with it. Thank goodness for camera phones!
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| Elaina at the park. She spent much of her time hanging around kids a good 4-5 years older than she, having a grand time until Mommy Killjoy intervened to suggest she stay a bit closer to her family. So fun to watch her play, even if her independence scares me sometimes. |
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| My bubby. I mean seriously. |
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| Thankfully Ellie doesn't yet find hanging out with Mommy to be nearly the drag that her big sis sometimes does. We had quite a bit of fun on the teeter totter. |
Meanwhile, Josh and Lips got to work putting a window in our bathroom. Over the course of Saturday, our bathroom transformed from a cave to something much more lovely. Josh and Lips were kind enough to text updates to their expectant wives, and it was so exciting to see their progress.
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| Lips giving a play-by-play to Rachel |
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| Framing complete! |
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| Holy cow, there's a hole in my house... |
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| And now there's a window! |
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| Finished on the outside Saturday night.... |
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| Finished on the inside Sunday morning!
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When the work on the window was done, they got busy adding a storm door to the front of our house. This had been on my wish list for a long time, because I wanted the light and the cross breeze without the fear of stuff blowing in or the cats getting out. Apparently we got a frou-frou door and Lips teased Josh about it, but I couldn't be happier with the finished product.
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| Almost finished... |
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Look at all that light! (and ignore the floor I need to mop...)
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All in all, it was an incredibly successful weekend. I got some far to rare sister time, and the girls got to hang out with their cousin and auntie, and I got lots of hugs and kisses from my bubby. Josh and Lips got to work together and hang out, which they don't often have the opportunity to do, and the improvements they made are so nice and so appreciated. Now my house has a little more light, and because of time well spent, so does my spirit.
