There was a baby in my house!!!!

I had the best weekend! My friend Catherine and her 7 month old son, Ephraim, came to visit me this weekend and we had a blast! It was the first time I have ever been around a baby for any extended period of time and I can tell you two things; I am absolutely in love with Ephraim, and I am absolutely in no hurry to have a baby of my own. :)

Gizmo, however, is apparently ready for me to have a baby in the house. He spent the entire weekend keeping an eye on Ephraim for us. Seriously! He was never far from the baby. If Ephraim was on the floor, Giz perched himself in a place where he could see the baby (notice the picture). When Ephraim would cry, Gizmo would come quickly to let us know...but even then had his eye on the baby. If Ephraim was crying and we didn't tend to him, Gizmo would wander to him and stick by him until one of us picked him up. By Sunday Giz was EXHAUSTED. :)

Catherine and Ephraim got to Philly in Friday and we spent Friday night with Linda (who is Catherine's Prayer Pal). Saturday was a very cold day so we decided to stay in for most of it. We ran a few errands (including a fun experience at a Philly grocery store on a Saturday afternoon; us and the rest of the city) and then Catherine cooked me gumbo for dinner. It was delicious and I have enough food for the week! Shera came over that night as well and we had a lot of fun. Ephraim was having some trouble by the middle of the day and didn't want to be away from mommy. That was, until I picked him up!! He and I played and laughed while we watched Catherine cook and it was great! He went to bed soon after Shera came, but didn't stay there. I don't think poor Catherine slept much all weekend (I apparently have a wonderful ability to sleep through screaming babies, sorry Catherine!). Poor Ephraim had been sick, wasn't at home with his normal routine, was surrounded by strange sounds and just didn't know what to do with himself. I still thought he was wonderful, but Catherine said he's usually even better than he was. Hopefully he (and Catherine) are getting a good nights sleep tonight!!

We were all exhausted by about 9:00 p.m. on Saturday and went to bed (after I took Shera home). We went to church Sunday morning but could only stay for worship before leaving to head to New Haven, CT. Ephraim was pretty fussy in the morning, until we got to church. Once he was surrounded by people, he was so happy!! He really enjoyed worship as well, which is a great sign! I have decided he is an extrovert. He was only fussy when we weren't around people. The minute he hit a crowd, he was in his element!!

The drive to New Haven took exactly 3 hours and was such an easy drive. We met Catherine's parents there and headed out to dinner with them along with her brother, John, and his girlfriend. The Siphers (Catherine's family) are my second family and are a HUGE blessing to me. It was really great to see them!! There are a handful of people in my life that really make it possible for me to be in Philly. Along with my parents, the love and support of the Sipher family keeps me going, and sane. They are the reason I am even a believer! They picked me up and drove me to church and youth group for years when I was a teenager and have supported me in everything I have done. I love them!!

After dinner we went to see John perform in his graduate recital. He is a trombone player about to graduate from Yale's Music School with a graduate degree. The recital was wonderful and he played amazingly...though I didn't understand most of the pieces he played. :) Catherine, Ephraim and I all spent the night in a hotel room (after Ephraim attended his first college party where we congratulated John and Ephraim immediately passed out, haha). I slept well (thanks to Karen Sipher's kind donation of ear plugs), but it appears Ephraim and Catherine didn't sleep as well. I really do hope they are both sleeping right now!

This morning, we pretty much got up, ate breakfast, packed and headed back to Philly. We hit some traffic on the way back, and I missed a turn in New Jersey which caused us to end up in Delaware, but we still got to the airport before Catherine's flight. We had to run into the airport with and quick goodbye and then it was back to life as usual for me. We didn't even get a picture of me with Ephraim, which is sad, but at least I have some pictures. Besides, Catherine has pictures of Ephraim's first everything, so there is no shortage of pictures from the trip. :)

It was a really fun trip, and so funny to see the differences in how our lives have turned out. Catherine and I have been friends for over 20 years (how crazy is that?!?) and I don't think either of us ever expected to be where we are now...and yet neither of us would want to be anywhere else. And, while I definitely want to have children of my own someday, for now I'm very content with being a surrogate aunt/friend to some of the greatest kids in the world (Ephraim, Paxton, Kyler...) :)