Sunshine and a trip to St. Louis.

Time flies when you are having fun. I completely missed last weeks blog entry and I'm not even sure why. I hope its because we were outside enjoying the weather. Thats right, we have finally had some nice days. Sully has been racing around the yard while Greta plays with her toes and Dave and I clean up. We are in the process of having tons (literally) of landscape rock removed in order to create a kid's paradise. We intend to put almost everything to grass in order to maximize play space.

We celebrated on April 3rd with the news of the birth of my friend's baby in St Louis. She had a perfect baby boy (much to her surprise, she was thinking girl all along). He arrived four days after his due date and is a miracle child. Lucky for me, I had already booked my trip to visit, so I got to meet him when he was only six days old. He is so handsome and a very easy going baby. His big brother and sister are so proud of their new baby.

As one could imagine, their's is a very busy household. The kids are so sweet. Her daughter and I spent some time doing crafts and playing outside. I am lucky to be able to help her create some fun memories. I want to be someone she knows as she grows up, and I already feel that relationship developing. She was talking to one of her neighbor friends and I heard her say something like, "my Suzie gave it to me." My heart was overcome with happiness. They are all so special to me. Her little boy is getting so big and is so smart. He loves his sister and still wants his mom to do most things for him. He did make an unprompted reference to baby Greta, I know he remembers her from our last visit. He will be so impressed with how much she has grown when I bring her back this summer.

My friend is good. It is definitely a bittersweet time. It has been nearly 5 months since her husband's death and while she is working her way through the grieving process, having a newborn has definitely changed the progress. She is so good with her kids, incredibly patient and kind, maintaining routines and structure. I had to pinch myself on several occastions. I couldn't believe what I was doing there. I can't believe he is gone. I think back to our carefree college days and think if I had known then what I know now. How much sadness can one person endure? And why her? It is maddening. I wake up at night thinking of her and her uphill battle. Yes, it will get better, but when?

Dave was very busy here, but did great. We had a jungle gym delivered and set up while I was gone (happy early birthday, Sully!), so they were able to spend quite a bit of time on that. I returned to flowers, balloons, welcome home signs, piles of laundry, and to two smiling kids (one of which had her outfit on backwards...'but I thought the snaps went in front!') and a relieved husband. Ugh, I cant stop the tears. I've said it a million times, but I just wish I lived closer to her. Im happy to be home, but am anxious to get back.

Sully immediately jumps in as soon as Greta gets in.
This usually ends in tears. 

Birthday suit celebration for the birthday boy,
Joey Winters.

Racing around McKennan Park.

Sullivan supervising the play system assembly. 

Thank goodness mama left us with a loaf of banana bread!

Slide fun.

Totally under control with mama out of town.