6 months old!!!

Catherine turned 6 months old yesterday. I didn't forget, I just did not have a spare minute to blog about it! I cannot believe it has been half a year already!
Sweet girl...
You are so fun and such a great baby! You are sleeping better at night finally and I hope it lasts!
You have a tremendous appetite and will eat a ton of things right now. Hopefully that will continue when you start table foods!
We love you to pieces sweet thing!

Chillin with Aunt Jen

Last day

It's here.  My last day at Entergy and Lauren's last day at her school here.  Wow... it feels so real now.

When I woke Lauren up this morning I reminded her that today was her last day at her "old school" and that next week she starts her new school.  This is the conversation we had:

Lauren:  Momma, does K (her friend) live in Louisiana?
Me:  No, baby, K lives in Arkansas.
Lauren:  Are we ever coming back to Arkansas?
Me: Oh, baby, yes we will come back to visit, but not to live here.  We are going to live in Louisiana now.
Lauren:  I'm really going to miss my friends.
Me:  Me too, baby.  Me too.

Leaving is never easy. 

Lauren is saying good bye to an AMAZING preschool teacher that she loves and adores!  Me too!  We will miss you so much Mrs. J!!!

And Catherine's teachers are amazing too.  We have LOVED the child care center here... it cannot be beat.

There are also a GREAT group of ladies that I work with.  They have made coming to work easy and fun.  I will miss seeing their faces every day.  They are great friends.

And a couple weeks ago we had a quarterly Alltel Girls lunch... I will miss my Alltel girls so much too!  Hopefully we'll still be able to get together for lunch a few times a year.  Love Amanda, Heidi, and Holly!  Such sweet and wonderful life long friends.

Have I mentioned that I don't like good byes?  I never know what to say and I feel so awkward.  I have cried so much already I don't know that I can cry anymore, but I'm sure there are still tears that will creep up when I walk out of this building for the last time today.

Our next update will come from Cajun Country!!!

Puttin' on a smile

Tomorrow is our last full day here in Arkansas.  Well it is for me and the girls.  Trey will still have to wrap some things up, but we are set to return to our roots, so to speak, by the weekend!

It's such a large range of emotions.  Nothing is sweeter than going home to family, but leaving friends that have become family is hard.  I'm forcing a smile a lot right now...

This girl.  She has been my best friend for the past 5 years.  Between the two of us, we have seen each other through 4 births and 5 pregnancies.  I can tell her anything and she will listen and understand.  I hugged her hard and told her that I loved her in the Chick-Fil-A parking lot last week.  I told her not to cry and then when I turned around to go to my car I sobbed.  When I think of not being able to see her I want to cry again.  BUT we promised each other that we will take turns visiting.  It's only 4 hours away and yes, it will be work, but we will and can do it.  And distance will not change the fact that she will remain my best friend.  I firmly believe that God planned our meeting and knew that we would need each other's friendship.  And in writing this I am starting to cry again, so I have to just stop now.

Robin, I hope you know how much I cherish your friendship and you.  You are amazing and I love you dearly. 

And my big girl LOVES her some Kate.  They have been friends since birth... literally!  Born just one day apart.  I sat in Robin's recovery room while I was in labor waiting for my delivery room to open up. 

We are going to frame this picture for our house so we can see Kate every day.

Friendship doesn't end because a state separates you.  

Friends

We had dinner last night with our friends Bethany and Kinley.  Of course we went to Larry's Pizza because we love that place.  These girls have been friends since they were just over two years old.  Bethany and I struck up a great friendship quickly with all of our commonalities.  She is such a sweet person, but we will keep in touch!!!  How can you not with all the technology these days?

I am going the miss the girls having dance class together and the play dates that we had often.  Lauren and Kinely would have gone to the same schools and maybe been in the same Kindergarten class! 

We will frame this picture so Lauren can see Kinley smiling at her every day!

As we drove home after dinner our car was in front of theirs and so we rolled down our windows and waved.  And the tears flowed.  It's hard to not cry when you are saying Good Bye to friends.  Hopefully it will not be too long before we see them again!