Me and my bestie

My best friend, Stephanie.  Where does one begin?  I met her in seventh grade when many of my friends and I changed Catholic schools at the same time.  Loooong story on that one.  While many of my old friends and I all knew each other, I also wanted to get to know some of the new kids. Stephanie (one of the "established" St. Mary's kids) was having a murder mystery birthday party, which I thought was super cool at the time (still do actually).  I went on a mission to get to know this girl and score an invite to her party.  Unfortunately, because we were in different homeroom classes, I didn't solidify a besties relationship until it was too late to make the cut.  By the end of the school year though, we were best friends.  As a side note, Steph is pregnant with her second bebe as well.  And when I recently offered to help throw her a baby shower, she offered to make it up to me by having a murder mystery baby shower.  That has bad idea written all over it so I told her that we would put that one in the...maybe pile (and by maybe I mean heck-to-the no). 

One of the things that I love about Stephanie is that she is sooo honest.  She says what she is thinking although she doesn't always say what she means.  Girl has a flair for the dramatic and she will freely admit it. For example, during my pregnancy if I am not feeling well, I am likely to say that I am feeling "yucky."  Steph, however will go into Stephen King detail about the quality and quantity of vomit, etc.  Whereas I might silently grrr when I receive bad service at the nearby Starbucks, Steph will leap across the counter and threaten to stab the poor barista's face.  By the way, her blog is HILARIOUS, and I encourage you to visit.  

This past weekend, Stephanie, her husband, Gabe and their baby, Annabelle came for a visit at Casa de Pate.  It was so great to spend time chill-ax-ing and catching up!  Because I am so close to the end of my pregnancy and being on my feet for long periods of time is uncomfortable, Steph indulged me by staying close to home.  It also helped that the weather was cold and foggy instead of the upper 70s temps that were promised by the Weather Channel. Oh BONUS: last week one of the local radio stations started playing Christmas music.  All of these factors resulted in the Pates and Bacas spending lots of time eating, watching television, eating, laughing and eating.  I should mention that she is also pregnant with her second baby.   

Having her one year old around was a glimpse of how Liam would act with a sibling.  Eric and I each breathed a sigh of relief because the two kids got along fabulously.  Because of the age difference we thought that they might just ignore each other, but instead they played together, ate together, bathed together.  You get the idea.  Future buddies in the making?  Possibly. In fact, when Liam would wake up in the morning he would go looking for "Ann-aw-belle."  Such a relief to me.   It was a fantastic weekend and we are so blessed to have such great friends!

Stephanie and I went for afternoon ladies tea at the Chocolate Angel. While it is no St. James Tea Room,  it was super yummy!

My delicious almond cranberry tea.  And it was pink!

No exaggeration: This is how much sugar Stephanie uses...per cup of tea.

Baby Belle partaking in a little Sonny Bryan's BBQ sauce.

As Belle eats a rubber duck, Liam takes a walk down memory lane and samples a plastic cow.

A little etch-a-sketch and puzzles before bedtime.

The girls enjoying...water.  Give us about 6 months and the water shall be replaced with "Saturday night water."