A visit!

Michael and I have tons of single, childless friends. Not tons of married friends, and hardly any with children. Therefore, when I was pregnant with Kindred, I didn't share a pregnancy with any of my close friends. In fact, the only person I really shared it with (besides Julia Roberts) was a 14 year old whom I've known forever, and was not particularly excited that I was pregnant alongside her. (That's an entirely different conversation.) But there weren't many friends I could exchange pregnancy stories and adventures with, and few ever really understood, even if they were interested and happy for me. So when I found out my friend Lydia was pregnant a few months after I had Kindred, I was so excited. We talked infrequently, (she had moved to Florida) but I kept up with her life on her blog and all of her stories and pictures. She was due right around Kindred's birthday. Her daughter, Emerson, came a little early, but was fine. We hadn't seen Lydia since her baby shower and had never met Emerson, so we were thrilled to learn they were in town for a few days and wanted to stop by. Here are a few pictures of Kindred and Emerson meeting and playing.

Emerson is 10 months old, but can hold her own. (Hard to imagine she's Lydia's kid, huh?) Kindred had to duck to get on her level, but...

...she showed him who was boss!

They played drums together on the bench.

Kindred showed her all his "Biiig Tr-ucks."

Then they posed for a lovely picture together. Kindred liked her a lot. (He also really liked the snacks she brought.)

And Lydia got to hold my little little one for a while.

It was a short but wonderful visit. We can't wait to see them again. (And it was a bummer that Chris couldn't come. We would've liked to hang with him too.)

The day after Lydia came, we left for my family's house for our own short visit so that the great-grandparents and aunts and family friends could meet Elias. Stay tuned for those stories and more....