My sweet Emmy drew this picture of herself and her younger sister Elle.  It melted my heart in so many ways.  I love that my girls are friends and they do love each other.  Sometimes its hard to see that through all their petty fights and disagreements ("Mom, Elle said she wasn't my sister any more!" or "Mom, Emmy said I don't have a toy puppy named Cassidy, but I do!").  Then their disagreements over who had what toy first, who hit whom over what toy and who rightfully deserves it.  Is life really fair?  But at the end of the day, they really do love each other, they love to play together, and they seriously miss each other when they aren't together. 

Emmy and Elle are technically 16 months and 3 weeks apart.  They are close in age.  Elle and Louie are 3 years and 2 months apart.  As far as spacing children, I think I prefer the closeness.  In so many ways things are easier with the bigger space.  But it's really about personal preference.  My sister spaces all hers about 3 years and it works great for them.  Mr. N has a sister who has hers about 2-ish years apart and another with a much bigger gap.  It's all about what works with family dynamic and personal preference, right?  It is kind of my personality that if I'm going to do it, I like to get it done.  Anyways, way off topic.  For right now when Louie is younger I like the big gap because its a bit easier.  But for the long term I think I like the spacing a bit closer.  Maybe 18 months to 2 years?  It keeps their interest and stuff relatively close.  Yeah, its a lot tougher to have more "babies" but babies grow up. 

Really though, all this won't be such a big deal in 20 years.  Who really looks back when their kids have left the home and says, "Geeze...I still really wish I had spaced those to kids a bit closer/farther apart."  What matters are the children themselves in the end, not the spacing. 

I'm not really sure how I got on this topic.  The point is that I love that my girls are friends.  We have our struggles, but they are friends and sisters.  They are so loving and caring of Louie too.  I love my girls.

I wish every day I could be a better mom than I am.  Every day I try.  Sometimes I fail miserably, and sometimes at the end of the day I think, "Phew!  That didn't go so bad!"  Thankfully, The Lord is kind.