5,4,3,2,1

Duncan and I moved here back in August of 2001. The first Sunday we were official residents of my hometown, we attended Reformed Presbyterian Church of Bowie and we never looked back. It has been such a joy to be a part of this body of believers in Christ and to be under such solid teaching!
Soon after we started attending, we began to get to know the other married couple, Megan and Rob, who were about our age and didn't have any children. (I really think they were the only ones in the exact same season of life as us, hence the words the other married couple.) We hung out some, yet we were all quite busy working and/or going to grad school. The summer of 2003, we discovered we were both expecting our first babies at around the same time. It was an exciting time and a blessing to go through that experience with our friends. We got to know each other better as we compared our experiences and discussed what baby gear we were choosing. Megan and I even shared a church-held baby shower.
Amelie came along on February 19th and William made his entrance into the world just 13 days later. Megan and I were both able to stay home with our babies and therefore were able to hang out even more.
In the Spring of 2006, after Violet was born and when Megan and Rob were expecting their second baby, our neighbors approached us and wondered if we knew of anyone that might be interested in buying their home. I remember the conversation when Duncan wondered aloud if Rob and Megan were considering moving to a bigger home since they were expecting a second child. They hadn't mentioned anything, but we figured we'd throw out the idea to them. One thing lead to another and they became our official next-door neighbors on September 29, 2006. How do I remember the exact date, you ask? I know because Lucy arrived a couple of weeks ahead of schedule, on October 1st--just two days after they moved in!
It's been so much fun to have neighbors that were friends first. Freighbors, I call them. We often play outside together, borrow ingredients that we forgot to pick up at the store, or go on Starbucks runs for one another.
When I ended up in the hospital the month before Linus was born, their being so close was invaluable. Our children are so comfortable with them and in their home which made a chaotic time more than palatable for the girls.
Last week, I had a realization, after Amelie turned 5. For just under two weeks, until William has his birthday, our 5 children are the ages of 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. I couldn't resist the photo op! So, at Amelie's little birthday party, we snapped this photo.

Amelie-5, William-4, Violet-3, Lucy-2, and Linus-1