Weekend in New Mexico

First of all, I have ZERO business sitting down to blog right now. My house is a wreck and this is going to be a very busy end of the week/weekend. (More on that later on)

It feels like I've been away from my blog a lot longer than I have. That is because I have been across the country and back since I last posted. Most of you know I used to live in Albquerque, I'm sure. My very good friend, Meg(who still lives there), called me several weeks ago and said her husband would be out of town for a weekend and asked if maybe I would want to come stay with her while he was gone.

Here is why she didn't want to be by herself for a long weekend-She has a 3 year old, 18 mo. old, and a 4 mo. old!!!! I just thought I had my hands full. I haven't seen her in 2 years and have never met her youngest two (both little boys). When I left, she had her little girl(Kate), and I had Ellie and Luke. Since then, our crew has doubled in size. So we packed our bags and hopped on a plane. "We" is Ellie, so she could visit with Nana and Poppy (and was actually quite a bit of help on the plane ride), and Andrew, of course, because I'm still his main source of nourishment.

It was such craziness-but such fun! We took TONS of pictures. Meg has my dream camera. A Canon XSi-is that right, Meg? She has also has my dream mini-van. A Honda Odyssey. I never thought I would be dreaming about mini-vans, but it looks like the day has come. Anyway, here is just a glimpse of the fun had by all...or most, anyway. As you can imagine, the weekend was not without a meltdown or two.

This is Kate. She and Ellie became fast friends.

Although, here Kate doesn't seem so sure.

I think she thought I was okay after I brought her a giant cookie from Whole Foods.

Sidenote: As I was typing this, Luke just yelled from his bed and said he had to go potty. (For about the third time). I told him if there was no tee-tee, I would be very upset. There wasquite a bit and as he went he said "That tee-tee was saying "Let me out! Let me out!" Yes Luke, I guess you were right.

Okay, back to Albuquerque...

Andrew did really well. Of course, he had a lot of people to watch.

For example, their little dog, Buddy. Ellie is usually very scared of dogs (even little ones). But she got used to Buddy and I think she liked that she could tell him what to do and he obeyed her. I know she wishes Luke would do the same.

This is Kai. He is 18 months and you can't take your eyes off him for a second. Here I think he is messing with the gas lines or something.

This is what he looks like when he plays dress-up. Isn't he too cute?

This is the newest addition, Corban. He doesn't spend much time on the floor because I think Kai might try to sit or jump on him. He must have been asleep in this picture. He's a big boy. Andrew and Corban can wear the same clothes. He's a great baby! The Lord knew Meg needed that.

I miss the beautiful Albuquerque weather. We went out in the backyard one afternoon. I think this is the first time Andrew had ever sat on grass. He didn't know what to do with his feet.

Did I mention that when we lived there, our house was one block away from Meg and Matt's house? They could see our front door from their back. We also had the exact same floor plan. (There are a lot of the same floor plans in that neighborhood.) I had a lot of deja vu moments. It tugs at my heart to think about our time there. We made so many memories and I brought two of my babies home from the hospital to that house. Here is a picture of Ellie when she was 10 months old, sitting in the grass, just one block away.

Time flies. Meg said it best-The days go by slowly, but the years go by fast.

It really was so great to go back and visit that which used to be my world. As with any place, there are things I miss and things I don't. There were a few things I "needed" to do while I was there. Eat some of the incredibly delicious, make your mouth water, (and eyes) chips and salsa, chicken quesadillas, (with guacamole, sour cream, and green chile). And for dessert, sopapillas (sp?) with honey. I thought I would never crave some of those things when I first moved there, but I have been thinking of ways that I could get one of those meals shipped right to my door. It was just as good as I had imagined.

Meg and I had a wonderful time, even though we were often yelling over children's voices. When things finally settled down at night and all was quiet, except for the hum of like four monitors, we kept thinking we heard a baby. I would say, is that yours? No, I think that's yours. We took them all out to eat one day and I'm not sure if people thought they were cute or we were just plain crazy. Maybe both. I would say the trip was a success. I even drug her into the blogworld. Check it out here. Thanks Wayne and Diana and Matt and Meg for the fun visit!

Now we are heading into Halloween weekend. Plus a tiny little shower for Laura Beth to welcome her new baby boy. (At my house-yikes!) So I have lots to do. I don't think piles of clothes on the couch is exactly the kind of thing guests want to see at a baby shower. I can't to see everyone's pictures from Halloween weekend...