my sister.

What, you thought I was an only child?! Oh, right, I am. But, I like to pretend that Lauren is my little sister. I have known her since she was negative 9 months old so I am pretty sure I get some sisterly rights ;-). And this weekend my "sister" came to visit!

Prom my sophomore year.

Noah and "La la".

A brief recap of how I know Lauren...Lauren's parents moved in catty-corner to us when I was 8 (or so). I took it upon myself to be the welcome wagon for Bobbi and Doug and pretty much just made myself at home, eating all their double stuffed oreos, from that moment on. It was actually funny, on this trip, Lauren asked me, "Why did you go over and spend so much time with them?!". I just loved them and loved being there, so when Bobbi was pregnant with Lauren, I was ecstatic (and spent 9 months trying to get her to name her Stephanie)! 

Lauren and I at our neighborhood pool. I'm pretty sure I thought she was mine.

In keeping with the pool theme, I was also her swim coach. Let's just take a moment to admire my outfit of choice for our awards banquet. I still own that skirt, that's not ok.

This spring my Lauren graduated from high school. This should probably make me feel old, but for some reason I don't have a lot of qualms about my age. What it does make me feel is so incredibly excited for her and the next chapter of her life at Ole Miss. It also makes me realize that time flies. It is a good reminder on those trying days with Noah that in a blink he'll be off to college.

How can you get enough of that little face?!

Backyard shenanigans!

That said, it was a little crazy to realize that she is almost 19, can have a few drinks with us, can fly as an adult (I dropped her off for her flight home at the curb...I felt like I needed to take her to the gate)! Lauren is an incredible girl and spending this weekend with her just solidified what an amazing person she has become and I can hardly see what her future holds. One thing I know, it will be full of great things. She is smart, funny, talented, inquisitive, witty, beautiful, and seriously just a joy to be around. She really just felt like one of the girls hanging out with a glass of wine!

I mean, could she be any prettier?!

I consider myself lucky to have had the joy of being Lauren's big "sister" and look forward to one day visiting her at her home. Although, let's be honest, my current mission is to pretend to be in college again and join her for a tailgate, Ole Miss style! And convince her to come back for an annual visit ;-).

Me (with some kind of awesome perm), Lauren, Dolly, and Gretzky. Gretzky is that furry half of a golden retriever in the bottom of the picture and probably 90% of the reason we picked a Golden. Other than the fact he peed on Lauren's head (entirely her fault) when she was little, he was the best.

Bobbi & Doug lived directly across from Allie. We were a great parenting duo, Allie & I! I give us a lot of the credit for her perfection. Anything that went wrong has absolutely nothing to do with the fact I dropped her on her head on the cement during a game of ring around the rosie.

Clearly, Lauren means the world to me (all of the old pictures were in our wedding slideshow...pretty sure she had as many photos in there as my parents!) and it was so special to get her for a whole weekend. If college doesn't work out, she can move in immediately!  Unfortunately, college is going to be a dream for her and I'll have to fly to London just to soak up some more girl time ;-).

Allie, Jordan (Lauren's little sister), Lauren & me.

Lauren and Jordan with Noah. Where has the time gone?!

Lauren, I love you. And Doug & Bobbi, congratulations, you made one amazing daughter. I am blessed to have her as a sister forever.

We took a really brief break from shopping to snap a Golden Gate Bridge picture. 

Ok, a pre Lauren bonus...Doug, me and Gretzky. There is so much to dissect in this picture, I am going to let you do it for yourself ;-).