Two Sets of Twins, Four Adults and a Dog!

(Laura takes the best pictures! In the picture of us on her blog, I look about 90!)


This past weekend, hubby, kids and I had the pleasure of visiting our friends at teacherhouse. It only took us five hours, which was good considering how much construction there was in all of the states we passed through. Hubby could not believe that I would actually want to spend five hours in the car. Truthfully, I believe he thought I would tell him never again after this trip! He was wrong though. We all ended up having a wonderful time.

As Laura said in her blog, we have been friends since about five years ago while we were both having infertility problems. The funny thing is that while I was going through that awful time, I never expected anything good to come out of it. Certainly nothing good like meeting a new friend. Yep, we were internet friends first. We joked about how I posted to her upon my first positive pregnancy test. The line was SO faint that I simply didn't know if it was true or not. Laura posted back,' A line is a line is a line'. I think she was the first person I told I was pregnant. Shhhhhh....don't tell hubby!

I was so excited when her and her brood came to visit in Chicago. Both of our firstborns were under a year, and my mom had recently passed away. The strange restaurant that we ate at is now one of the places to eat, but not so back then. Yah, that was an eventful night. I remember driving home that night and hubby saying it was too bad they didn't live closer. I agreed.

We both endured some hard times in between that visit and now. Miscarriages and cancer diagnoses, as well as the births of our beautiful second born sons. Through it all, we continued to post. And when she moved into her adorable capecod house, we decided to meet up. Which leads us to this weekend.

Laura expressed how she felt some pressure in entertaining us since we were from the far cooler place of Chicago! She vastly overrates our hipness, though. Hubby, the kids and I were happy just hanging out. Our children got along famously! Oh, and I think she understands now why I e-mailed her to tell her about S.'s facination with doors!!! This 'phase' has lasted two years! The highlight of the weekend to me was when Laura and I got to go out and have some time to ourselves. You know, we actually got to talk without being interrupted:) I no longer am an IKEA virgin, as she called it, and had a great time looking at everything they had to offer. We had great conversation and everything just seemed so easy. I felt as though we had been friends for many years, and that we had met more than two times. It was good.

I believe that I even left calmer than I came. Laura and her husband are so laid back while I am definitely ....not. Since they have kids too, I didn't have to worry about everything the kids were touching. What a relief! Her kids are so adorable, and were so welcoming to mine. It was great to see that although they are raised by different parents, there are some things that are just being three. That took a lot of pressure off of me, that I put on myself. Hubby and I have recently employed what we refer to as the "C. approach" to discipline, and we find that it works very well with our oldest. So thanks guys for that!

During our return trip home, hubby and I figured out how we could comfortably accommodate teacherfamily when they come to Chicago, which we hope will be soon! Our oldest son can't wait to see K. again, he'd also like to see Ocho but I don't think she makes long trips. Our whole family would love to spend another weekend with them, anytime. It's funny how you can meet the best people in the weirdest ways.