North Carolina Part II- New and Old Friends

Another highlight of my trip was getting to meet Lilikoi and see Kelcey. Kelcey and I have been friends since 2nd grade. She is one of my oldest and best friends from home. We have seen each other grow into the women we have become. We both left home and have made our lives in other places, which makes visiting harder. I miss her so much sometimes and wish that our lives were physically connected instead of only through cyberspace. Our blogs have been life savers though. Even though it has been 2 1/2 years since I have seen her and had not yet met her lovely daughter, Lili, I feel that I knew Lili from reading her blog and get to stay connected to her every day life.

Kelcey lives outside of Asheville in an amazing nook in the Appalachian Mountains. She and her husband Alex have built their own small home and live right next to her brother and sister in-law. They have a great little farm going with chickens, goats, pigs, a huge garden, and a wonderful array of pets. Corbin was so excited by the animals. I think the chickens, dog, and cats reminded him of home!

Lili has the best shoes!

Watching a little Corn Hole at Jed's party.

Lili LOVES accessories.

This is one of my favorites! Just look at Lili's face! Ha! Corbin for some reason had an absolute fascination with her pacifiers. He doesn't use them but wanted one the whole time we were with her. This was his first invasion of her space.
Lili has just learned the word "mine". And Corbin required her to use it A LOT! It was cute to me, but I am sure it will change when Corbin decides it's also his favorite word. I was SO impressed with seeing my friend be a parent, especially during this hard time of the almost 2's. Parenting is hard. And Kelcey was amazing. It was a joy to see her in a mothering role. And know I can go to her for questions.

Lili showed Corbin how to shake the baby gate.

The weather was amazing up at her house. We hung outside a lot. Kelcey's house is very small, so we tried to be outside when nap-time was happening. The two babies were on different and alternating nap schedules, so Lili got some alone time without Corbin "stealing" her toys, and Corbin got to check out her cool sandbox (we are thinking a sandbox is in Corbin's summer future:-). The whole sleeping thing worked out amazingly! I was so impressed with everyone. Kelc's upstairs is all one room and we had my blow up mattress, Corbin's pack and play, their bed, and Lili's crib all together. It was like one big bed! And we ALL slept up there! I was curious to know how Corbin would do, because usually when he sleeps so close to me in the pack and play he wakes up sees me and wants out. This time I was on one side and Kelcey's bed was on the other, with no space in-between! And he talkes or cries himself to sleep and Lili nurses to sleep. So we put Corbin down first, let him talk or cry himself to sleep and then Kelcey came up and nursed Lili. And it worked! The second night Corbin came into my bed at 4:30 am, but that was pretty good!

Naked babies are the cutest!

Sometimes I still can't believe we are moms. Almost 22 years of friendship!

In the end, she knew she couldn't get enough of him! I can only imagine being 18 months and having to share my space with a little baby who can't understand everything. She was amazing!

I miss them already! I can't wait till the next time we meet again! Thank you to Kelcey, Alex, and Lili for showing me a piece of you life and sharing it with me. You are amazing. I love you!