Three's Company!

*I had to add that Kara emailed us today and said this post was perfect because today is officially "Best Friends Day." How funny is that?

Warning: possibly my longest post to date...may only interest Bridget, Kara, and our moms!! :) However, also possibly some of my CUTEST pictures to date! :)

Have you ever heard the phrase, "Two's company, three's a crowd?" Well, I am here to tell you it's not always true. My two best friends, Kara and Bridget, and I have been the "three amigos" since Jr. High School. When I counted tonight and realized that means we've been together for 16 years, I was seriously shocked. It seems like yesterday that we were getting into mischief at the Blair House Retirement Residence (our first job; we were meal servers) together, driving around town when it was $10.00 to fill up your gas tank and it was just fun to aimlessly drive and listen to our cassette tapes (ancient, people!) of songs that we requested off the radio and waited for hours on end to play in order to tape, and dreaming about what our futures held in store for us. Through the years we have shared our ups and downs, graduated high school and college together, been in each other's weddings, all become elementary school teachers, and are now all enjoying Mommyhood together. I often take for granted how truly blessed I am to have such loyal and caring friends. Friends like this come along once in a lifetime-if we are fortunate. Bridget and Kara, I love you!! This post is about three posts in the making...got behind at the end of the school year and am lumping them all together.

First we welcomed Holden Jay Hobson into the world in 2007...

Next came Natalie Marie Scott in 2008...

And most recently, we were thrilled to complete our "stair step babies" (for now anyway!!) with Lil' Miss Corinne Paige Thompson in 2009!

(I am allowed to post these only because we've all had our turn at the "ugly hospital bed" shot, so it is fair!) :)

I had planned to do a special post for little Corinne, so here are some video clips of her. She is the sweetest little thing ever! You just forget how tiny and perfect a newborn is. I love the little sounds she makes, the way she curls her fingers, her newborn smell...oh, I could eat her up! I am anxious to spend lots more time with her now that we are all off for summer!


Isn't she beautiful?? Look at those perfectly round, rosy little cheeks, and her sweet little mouth. I love the hand mitts on her outfit, too.

I LOVE this picture of her teeny little tootsies! Kara's hand is so huge in comparison. Don't you love how newborns curl up their butt and feet and cuddle on your chest? Sigh. I need another one.

As I look at these shots, I realize how much she has grown in the few short weeks since I took them! I took a personal day towards the end of the year to spend a day with Kara and Corinne when Gary went back to work. Bridget did this as well. We each took different days so that Kara had more help. (Although I must say she is a natural at the Mommy thing and is doing awesome!) Corinne came out of the womb expressive and makes the cutest little faces! When she is awake she is so alert and into her surroundings. I love how she looks like she is waving in the paci picture, and how adorable are her froggy feet?!

Just a few more close-ups of the sweet pea. How precious is her yawn?

A chat with Corinne

This past week, we finally got the three "babies" (Holden looks so huge here to me it makes my heart hurt a little! He's still my baby boy...when did he get that big?!) together for their first photo op. Holden has seen lots of pictures of Corinne and can say her name very well. Although sometimes I think he confuses Kara and Corinne, and Bridget and Natalie. He associates the girls with their Mommies and will see Bridget, for example, and say, "Atalie??" He was excited to meet her and give her kisses! Natalie was very eager, too...but we weren't sure of how GENTLE she would be, so we stuck Holden in the middle. :)

Holden leans in for a kiss...and Natalie thinks it's funny...and Corinne wants to know what in the world is going on?! She puckered her bottom lip out right after this and it was one of the best pouts I've ever seen! She knows how to work it already!

Three best friends with three cute kiddos! (We have already said that our kids will be best friends whether they like it or not! Very diplomatically spoken, of course.)

Holden and Natalie's relationship is blossoming now that they are both toddlers. It is so funny to watch them interact. Bridget and I are loving the fact that they are old enough to actually play together with minor supervision from the background...we actually get to have conversations again! :) And yes, that is my son kissing his "girlfriend" and touching her chest...in his defense he just really liked the flowers on her shirt. At least that's the excuse he went with!!

Bridget and Ryan are building a new home, and Holden and I went over to play with Natalie and help Bridget pack. The two of them were hilarious in her princess tent together, and got us in on the action.

They also hung out in Natalie's crib together...

...and cuddled up with a good book. :)

I thought this shot was so sweet. We were waiting for Kara and Corinne to join us, and the two "big kids" were getting tired and close to nap time. They both ended up snuggling in the rocker with Bridget. I love that my best friends love my child like he was their own.

"Why do those two get to have all the fun while I'm stuck hanging out with Mommy? No fair!"

Bridget's dog, Zoe, is the best dog. She is so good with the kids. Holden got tired and just laid down with her for a snuggle. Too cute!!!

We also met up at McGraw Park this week for some fun in the sun. Next time around, I really need a little girl. Seriously. Could the sun hat get any cuter?! It is actually Corinne's, and she was kind enough to loan it out to Natalie since it's just a tad big on her own little head!

Holden and "Aunt Kara" enjoying some fountain action.

Bridget and I discovered that Holden's seat fits perfectly in her car next to Natalie's. Too cute for words is all I have to say about the two of them enjoying their ride together!

This is the only shot from the park that I was able to get with Holden and Natalie in the same frame! They were all over the place.

Baby swap!

Bridget and Kara, if you have made it to the end of this post...thanks for being the best friends and extra Mommies that a person could ever ask for!