New year - 8 things!

Happy happy 2017 - hope everyone had a great time celebrating last night.  We went to an old friend's wedding and it was literally the most beautiful wedding and by far one of the most meaningful ceremony's that I have EVER been to.  It was a such a great night catching up with old friends and celebrating those two and their new family.

With a new year, there is lots of reflection too!  I found this article on pop sugar and loved it.  This morning, Jimmy and I went out to breakfast sans kids after a NYE wedding and night in a hotel downtown (so fun!) and were talking about goals.  Goals for 2017.  He said he's not a big goal guy - but I challenged him to think about where he wanted to be this time next year - welcoming in 2018.  Where did he want our family to be?  What did things could we feel better about in 2017 than we did in 2016?

I LOVE conversations like that.  I'm a weirdo - I know.   But I feel like sometimes you can just get SO wrapped up in the day to day and then that turns into the week that went by and then the month.  For me, having that conversation with someone means so much.  And I'm so thankful we got to start the new year off like that!!  Talking about our individual and family goals.  Personal and professional.  Sharing our prayers and fears for 2017 as well.

In addition to personal stuff, I'm always looking for ways to simplify my personal and our family routine...so I'm sharing 8 ways that this article mentions (you can read it there) and add a few of my own comments.

1. Keeping a well stock pantry (I'm also going to add FREEZER to this one because you know my love of freezer meals).  But I totally agree with this one and what a better time to keep this up with our new pantry that we (meaning my dad!!) made in 2016.  While I feel like you need to be aware of your pantry and freezer inventory - meaning you're not stocking up on the same thing over and over again at the store - it's so nice when I meal plan that most of the meals I already either have the stuff in my pantry or it's a full meal already prepped and ready to go in our freezer.  (Check out some freezer meals ideas here and here that are healthy on my heath and fitness blog!)  Helps relieve so much of the stress on a weekly and daily basis and we never have to ask the question "what's for dinner?"
2. Commit to a Regularly scheduled toy purge.  Oh BOY.  We need to do this ASAP from all the Christmas toys - but this is a MUST on our quarterly to do list for 2017.  Plus when we involve the kiddos and give back to kids that don't have toys - we teach our kiddos about giving and I love that.
3. Do a better job of budgeting.  YES.  YES.  YES.  This was on top of my list of things that I feel like Jimmy and I didn't do a good job of this year.  Do we manage our money?  Yes.  Put money into savings?  Yes.  Did we just pay off our minivan and are finally car payment FREE?  YES (seriously I'm so excited about this!).  But what I don't like is not having the visibility and feeling of knowing at any time throughout the month where our money has gone, planning to go and how we are doing towards our plan.  I have a plan in action that I talked through with Jimmy and we are SET on this one.  I just hope we can keep it up!
4. Take the easy way out (sometimes).  Totally love this one.  We have a lot going on in our family.  I have a lot going on personally.  I don't like taking the "easy" way out, but sometimes it's just necessary.  Make my kids halloween costumes?  Not my thing - so just buy!  School parties?  Don't feel guilty about signing up to bring plates.  This means continuing to be conscious that there is not all the time in the world and sometimes it's needed to say no, keep your PJs on and just be with my family.
5. Only make time for the people who matter.  This one is hard for me and always will be.  I have friends from forever and all stages of my life - I love them all so much.  What I learned in 2016 was something that wasn't easy. Friendships change and evolve.  People that you thought were going to be your best friend forever - might not be.  And that's OK.  It was hurting me too much to keep holding on and it took lots of reflection and conversations with people smarter than me that had been through it before to realize that is really is OK.  I'm not a bad person and those people aren't bad people - but we just aren't the same as we were and the relationship isn't benefiting either of us.  Not a fun lesson to learn - one that was filled with sadness, anxiety, tears, etc.  But I'm thankful that I went through it in 2017 and know that with the limited amount of time, it's important to focus on those that you value the relationship with AND (the key) that they value the relationship with you as well.  Easier said than done, but I know I will continue to reflect on this in the upcoming year.  On the super positive side?  As folks funnel out of your life, some amazing people come into it.  I'm so thankful for all the friendships that have grown in 2016 - those with old friends and those with people that I just met this year.  It's quite an interesting circle (friendship is), but I'm thankful for my old, dear friends and all the new ones as well.
6. Make sure you can manage your extracurricular commitments.  Three kids.  Two old enough for activities.  Here's what I'm NOT doing in 2017.  Over scheduling.  Making our kids do things that they don't want to do.  I learned that in 2016 the hard way when I tried to be all strategic with doing indoor soccer for Charlie and Maddie in the fall.  Our Saturday mornings turned out to be WAY too stressful and just made for a horrible start to the weekend.  I'm nervous because I do have them signed up for gymnastics at 9AM (Maddie) and then basketball at 10AM (Charlie) on Saturday's - so I might already be off to a bad start on this one, but I learned that if it's too much - we can adjust and change and even quit as needed.  In addition to the activities for kids - being conscious of my involvement in things.  I manage a HyVee freezer meal group.  I like have regular girl's night.  I want to be a bible study.  I love my personal blog.  I am a health & fitness coach.  We are involved with a small group at church.  That's quite a lot.  Yes, I like busy.  I thrive on busy. But I also need time with my family to do nothing.  And be with Jimmy.  And my extended family.  I know this will just continue to get harder, but keeping this on the top of my mind is important to me!
7. Get your schedules in sync.  I'm hoping Google Home will help with this one :)  Ha.  But in all reality, we are pretty good with this one between Jimmy and I.  We use google calendars and then I also have a planner that I write stuff in - because I like that aspect of it.    
8. Consolidate your errands.  If only I could JUST go to Aldi, I would be one happy lady.  Haha.  I have professed my love of Aldi for grocery shopping and now that they have baby food, it is pretty much the guaranteed place you can find me on a weekly basis.  Most everything else we do subscribe and save via Amazon.  But the things I feel overwhelmed with are when I forget something for the kid's school, a birthday present, body wash (other personal items) - and I'm not able to get it off of Amazon prime.  #firstworldproblems right?  But seriously, I am trying to be mindful of sitting down each Sunday to plan this out and order from Amazon as needed and then stick to my weekly Aldi trips - because Aldi is the BOMB.

Other things I'd like to focus on in 2017:

1. Sticking with my morning workouts - I loved getting into this routine in 2016 and plan on keeping up with that in 2017.  While the 4:45 alarm is early - the energy and endorphins I get when I kick off my day with a quick sweat session is amazing and it's my time to myself that I'm investing back in me
2. Spiritual/reflection time - this is something I always TRY to keep up with and is one of the most important things, but I am going to be honest here - I seem to always have a reason why I can't take like 10 minutes in reflection everyday to pray, be thankful and just be with God.  It's only TEN minutes right?  I'd like to start there - maybe push my alarm 10 minutes early and reflect then?  I just need to find a time (and spot in my house - I think I have a good journal and this 3 minute devotion) and commit.
3. My marriage - this man that I married almost 7 years ago (in April).  He is the best.  Seriously.  Even when I want to hate him, I can't.  He was gushing to me last night how much he loves me and I almost started crying.  I'm so lucky to have him and I don't want him to forget how much I love him!  
   

OK - whew for lots of reflection.  What are things you are looking to do in 2017?  I'm ready to crush these goals and have an amazing year!!

No kids trip to Houston!

Well - we went on a trip and left our three kids behind.  And everyone survived.  Including our parents (both sets - we split the kids up!) survived!  We couldn't thank them enough for watching them.  Jimmy was in a wedding in Houston and we have known about this for a while now.  So we knew we would have a little baby and I was totally unsure if I would be ready to leave him.  But we booked the flights just in case.  And guess what?  While actually leaving him was terrible (like I cried)....it was SUCH a great get away.  An amazing break from life, work, kids and house chores!

We left on Thursday around 5PM and when we were waiting for our flight - we were both in shock that this was all we had.  After being used to traveling with 3 kids - you have so much STUFF.  So this was a piece of cake!

It was a quick flight to Houston and honestly, the ride in the Uber to the hotel might have taken longer.  Ok, not really but seriously Houston traffic is unreal!

We got to our hotel and were STARVING.  Jimmy's friend, Justin (the groom), recommended a sushi place close by.  So we walked there and then got a text from him that his brother in law to be had rented out a whole bar that was full of arcade games until 11PM.  We headed that way and I played a ton on PacMen and Mario Kart - while Jimmy played some Star Wars.  It was fun to meet his bride to be (even though I felt like I knew her after following her on Facebook for so many years) and their family that had come into town!

When we were on the way to our flight in KC, I sent a text to my college friend, Amy, who lives in a suburb outside of Houston to see what she was up to on Friday.  We had nothing to do and I really wanted to see her.  Much to my surprise, she already had a girl's day planned with her mom to go to the Nutcracker Market in Houston on Friday!!!  Her friend had given her tickets to use and she got one more for me - SO FUN!!  I couldn't believe we would get a whole day to just hang out with each other and her mom SHOPPING!  The tickets were early access, so she was picking me up at 8AM, so Jimmy and I were up and went to enjoy the hotel breakfast.  Which was amazing.  And made me want my own personal chef.  Yes please.

Ok, this Nutcracker Market thing is INTENSE and all about strategy, apparently.  I have never been to Holiday Market, similar to this, in KC, but now I'm for sure going!!!  It was super fun - and this place Claudia Ornament was the top recommendation by her friend.  They have personalized ornaments and people wait HOURS in line to get them.  We were there at 9 (along with 100s of other women!), got in and went straight there and got in line.  And we still waited TWO hours.  So we had to of course document the three of us when we finally were getting closer.

So funny because in the beginning, we were both like, ahhh we will just get one ornament.  Well, after waiting two hours in line, I was like ALL the ornaments.  Haha.  Over $100 later - but I got some pretty adorable personalized ornaments and few gifts knocked off my list! 

Check out this one I got of our family!

After we left the market (and Amy got an AMAZING mink shall thing - seriously!), we headed back to her friend's house and we got a tour.  Her house was AMAZING.  And even better, she had super curly hair.  Anyone who has curly hair and rocks it so well, I always ask what their routine and products that they use are.  She uses Deva Curl and she even let me take a picture so I could remember.  After we got home on Sunday, I went to Beauty Brands and spent a pretty penny there and so began my mission to embrace my curls #siderant

Ok so when I got back to the hotel, it was late afternoon and almost time for the rehearsal.  Jimmy said I didn't have to come to the rehearsal, so I got in a work out, a quick snack and a shower.  I'm not going to lie, it was quite amazing being in the hotel room by myself getting an uninterrupted workout + shower in!!

I had to find a random shuttle + the other people going to the rehearsal dinner at the hotel I didn't know (which meant I asked about 3 different groups of people until I found some!), but we made it to a delicious Mexican restaurant, where we celebrated the bride and groom.  They serve filet as their steak fajitas and boy was it good!

The groom had a friend taking pictures at the rehearsal and dinner - and look at this picture he shot of Jimmy and I!  A nice little candid.  Two things: WOW the quality! Makes me want to use my nice camera more and I love that he caught us like this.  Always trying to hit on me :)

That next morning, I woke up to the magic of social media.  I had posted the above picture on IG the night before and said we were in Houston.  A friend from high school, who used to live in Houston, made a breakfast suggestion!  And when I looked it up - it was close enough for a short Uber ride!  So we went to Baby Barnaby's!  And it was DELICIOUS!!!  It was a small little house turned restaurant and we loved it.  We are totally breakfast people - thank you, Molly, for the suggestion!!!

After breakfast, we had the morning ahead of us.  Nothing to do.  It was a weird feeling!!!  After having three kids to constantly take care of, I am not going to lie, it was kind of nice!  I missed them, but then going to the bathroom in silence was also nice too.

I got another work out in (I'm holding accountable to my challenge group!!), while Jimmy laid and watched some football.  Sounds like a perfect afternoon.

Then Jimmy left to head off with Justin and the other groomsman to get ready.  I showered and then walked to some nearby shopping.  The Galleria was close, but it was CRAZY and I actually had some stuff I needed to return to Old Navy and that was closer.  So I walked there and got a necklace for the evening (to go with my new dress!) and some new jeans.  

The girl, Melissa, that Jimmy was walking down the aisle with and we met last night had her husband and brother in town as well and they had nothing to do either, since Melissa was with the bride all day.  They had called my hotel room earlier to get my cell phone number so I told them I would meet them at a bar after I was done shopping.  When I showed up, I was welcomed by them and Andre  Aka the man from the Hangover, with better rugby shorts - haha!

He provided us with lots of entertainment in the afternoon and I might have had one too many beers to get the night started.  Then we had to head back to the hotel via hotel shuttle and get ready for the night!

The wedding and reception were at a very fancy country club in Houston called River Oaks (per our Uber driver the first night, he was like very impressed it was there!).  It was so nice and the bride and groom had a combined Jewish and Christian ceremony.  It was fun to see those religions come together for the ceremony and I'm excited for Justin and Cortni!

After a somewhat quick ceremony, got to see this handsome devil walk down the aisle.  He sure cleans up nice, right?

While I was off having too much fun taking selfies with Mike and Jeff (Melissa's husband and brother)!

Did I mention this was a black tie/fancy wedding!?!?  It was!  And I took advantage and got myself a long fancy dress.  It was Ralph Lauren and beautiful and made me feel super fancy.  Did I mention it cost $17!???!?!  Haha.  Oh yes.  My mom suggested that I go to this place called Half of Half in KC, which is right by my work.  Nothing like last minute shopping - but I rushed there on Wednesday over lunch and found this dress!  It was awesome quality and Ralph Lauren and marked down to $50.  I was so excited!  And even more when I got up to the register ---- and apparently it had been additionally marked down because I literally paid $17 for it!  I'm guessing I had the least expensive dress on at the whole wedding!  But you couldn't tell (my necklace I bought was $17 too! ha!)

My date.  We were having too much fun.  And people were quite frightened (ok maybe shocked), when they asked if we had kids and we said we had three.  Ha.  That's just how we roll, right?

Evidence of a fancy wedding and mom and dad having too much fun.

I spared you with the dancing videos and snap chats that Jimmy took of me.  Let's just say the band was amazing, the bartender was awesome and was feeding me Corona's all night (I'm so fancy, right?).  I had to pump once, but other than that, I felt like I was 23.  Besides the fact that when we had to get up the next morning at 5:30 and head to the airport for our 8AM flight.  GRRR.

We landed in KC and this is how we felt.

And then I felt even better taking care of my sweet babies (who I was very excited to see...and were all very good when we were gone - BONUS!).  You can tell from this selfie.

But this picture takes the cake.  Haha.  I love all of their expressions in this.  #roughSunday

We had so much fun on our short getaway.  And while the weather was much cooler in KC when we landed, I had to remind Jimmy of this:

Overall, I dont' think I realized how much Jimmy and I needed a short get away.  It was the perfect amount of time away with just the two of us!!!  I took off Monday to get caught up with laundry, house stuff and had to take my car in.  I kept Mikey home with me and let him nurse whenever he wanted so he didn't "hate" me for leaving him at such a young age.  haha.  Good news is - he was so adorable and forgiving and loved me just the same.

Cheers to adult only getaways!!!  I had a blast but was so happy to come home to our babies.  Jimmy even did Christmas decorating on Sunday night, which I sat and watched.  Ha.

6 years

Happiest of anniversaries to my wonderful husband, Jimmy!

Seriously - not sure how the time has passed so fast and life has changed so much - but yet my love for you has grown, changed, matured, etc. so much.  Becoming parents almost 4 years ago was definitely a game changer - but made me realize even more what a wonderful man you are and how lucky I am to have you in my life.  The one who always has my back, my best interest at heart, will always be there for a hug or an ear after a long day and of course- to wrestle with our children when they need to exert that energy they have.  

You're simply the best. And I'm so happy and lucky to call you mine.

I'm headed back from Nashville from a fun bachelorette party weekend and being with my sister (who is getting married in June) and all her friends (also recently married and many getting married), it took me back to all the emotions I had as our wedding day approached 6 years ago - and just how happy I am that we made that life long decision to be husband and wife and start our lives together when we did.  Life is just wonderful with you in - no matter the circumstances.

Love you Jam!

Mexico - no kids and lots of sun!!!

My oh my. Where to start on this trip?!

It was completely fabulous and just so fun.  We hadn't taken a vacation like this in four years when we went to our friends wedding in Mexico.  Two kids later after 5 years of marriage, we felt like it was a good time to get away and enjoy.

And we did just that!! A HUGE thank you to our parents because we couldn't have gone without them tag teaming and watching our kiddos all week.  They are the best!!

Early Sunday morning we headed to the airport to fly to Cancun through Chicago. There were two wedding parties on our flight too- how fun!!

We actually went back to the resort we went to on our honeymoon, the Excellence at Playa Mujeres.  We debated and debated if we should go somewhere else, but we decided in the end this vacation was solely for rest and relaxation and knew how much we liked the Excellence before - so just went back. And I'm so glad we did!!  It was so nice knowing the restaurants, where the pools were, etc.

When we got there, Jimmy chugged his champagne. Ha.

We went to the pool in the afternoon/early evening and I felt really sick and ended up throwing up (horrible) so we went back to the room and Jimmy ordered room service while I slept off the sickness.  I now think it was the champagne that did me in after looking at this picture!

But the next day was a new day- and even though Jimmy wasn't feeling well on day 2 (what's wrong with us!??!), this was our view all day long.

Oh wait - then we moved to the beach.

We seriously did nothing at all.  We ate.  We drank.  We laid by the water.  We read.  We floated.  We applied sunscreen.  Yep, that's it.  Oh and we slept whenever we wanted to!

And then people screamed because they saw how pale we were.  Ha.  Sad, but true.

But I will say, all the hard work I did with the 21DF workouts and eating plan since January?  Worth every ounce of it for this trip.  I didn't feel self conscious at all walking around in my bikinis and I just LOVED getting to buy new swimsuits that I really felt good in.  I rarely felt like that pre-baby, so I'm not sure if it's just working out...or I think it might be the fact that after having TWO babies in the last 3 years and knowing/seeing with a little hard work and some discipline in my eating how my body can transform into looking more like it did pre-baby and feeling so strong doing it.  I really like having those babies and seeing my body transform, it just is amazing to me how women's bodies are and makes me love and appreciate mine so much more.  

Plus the lack of muffin top helped.

That night we tried to go to the Japanese steakhouse that was on the resort, but even though we were there early, we weren't there early enough to get a reservation for it (that is the only place that requires a reservation), so we just decided to eat at the Asian place.  The pad thai was not very good but the sushi was good.  I really wanted a yummy dessert and what they had wasn't cutting it, so we walked around and found the WHITE PARTY.  And guess what?  Jimmy was dressed for the part.

And I made him go down there and he hated every minute of it.  The upside was that we met a very interesting looking man that we referred to as "ceviche guy" all week when we saw him.  We also eavesdropped on a large drunk table's conversation that had people on their honeymoon.  Entertainment at it's finest folks.

PS Jimmy wanted me to add a picture of ceviche in case you had no idea what it was.

Source

But they had an AMAZING violin player that played some great songs, so we found one of the beds on the beach and listened to him play and the ocean and it was heavenly.

Then Jimmy got sick.  So went went back to the room and he went to sleep and I read.

Wah wah. 

But he did take a picture of my dress that I got from Old Navy for $12!  This was my one purchase I made for the trip besides new swimsuits and a cover up and I liked it!!

And if you didn't think one picture of me was enough - well here is another one at breakfast the next day.  I posted this on Instagram and my friend commented that I looked "so relaxed" and I loved that.  Because I was.  It was crazy.  No responsibilities, no cleaning, no cooking, no work.  It was a strange feeling, but a nice break from reality for sure.  

Plus how cute was my hat that I got at Academy Sports ?  Ok - wait this was another thing I bought for the trip - sorry.  I think that's it!!

Back to the pool just like yesterday.  This time we ate lunch poolside with brick oven pizzas.  Delish!!  And look at that stud (and his sunburn!)

So we got burned - if you couldn't tell.  Oh and the week before at my conference I was at, the conference swag was a selfie stick.  I was so excited because it was perfect timing.  And then guess what??  On the second night - Jimmy freaking broke it, so he tried to convince me that he could fix it....after I saw this picture - yep, we stopped using the broken selfie stick.  Sad face.

This night's dinner?  Oh yum.  My favorite and I think Jimmy's too.

This was one of the restaurants we didn't get to visit at the resort for dinner on our honeymoon because it literally rained like 4 of the 6 days we were there in 2010.  It's right on the pool and it was "The Grill" and it was awesome.  The steaks were perfectly cooked and the sides were good too!

But the best part of this dinner?  The desserts.

So we both ordered something - he got cheesecake with a blueberry thing on it and I couldn't decide between the chocolate chip cookie with coconut ice cream or the brownie with vanilla.  I really don't like coconut, so I was going to go with the brownie, but Jimmy suggested I get the cookie and just ask for vanilla ice cream.  So mad I listened to him.  Not only because the cookie was so hard, but they ended up messing up my ice cream request - they gave me coconut and then for some reason put my vanilla that I was supposed to get on his cheesecake (weird!!).

But then Jimmy's plate came out and had that glob of chocolate on it as a decoration and apparently he didn't know it was chocolate and thought it was a spoon (?).  Because we were laughing about how bad they messed up my request and he goes "The even better question is...what is this spoon for?" and went to go try to pick it up and realized it was chocolate.  Probably a "had to be there" story, but I seriously am still laughing thinking about it!

The next day?  Breakfast.  Pool.  Lunch.  Pool.  Work out.  Shower.  Dinner.  

The third night we decided to be adventurous and our stomachs were both feeling better so we went to the Indian restaurant!  I had only had it once when I went to London last year (and liked it) and Jimmy had never had it.  We let the server order a variety of stuff for us and we liked it all.  However, Jimmy thought it was an overkill on all the spices they had - because they were spices but not spicy.  I agree, but still liked it!

Then?  We went back to the beds on the beach and laid there again just talking and listening to the ocean and eventually Jimmy fell asleep.  Again...like what is this life?  It was surreal!

The next morning?  Well it was our last full day at the resort and that meant it was SPA DAY!!!

So the spa is called "Miile" spa.  Since we have (had) a dog named Milly...we just loved the spa from day 1.  We went on our honeymoon and just loved it.  So we went all out this year.  I mean, we don't do this kind of kid-free get away often, so why not?  I went to set up our spa services the day before and really had no idea what I was getting us into by ordering this service.  But it was awesome!

It's just nothing compared to spas in the US.  You do a whole aqua therapy treatment before and go in the sauna and then dumped in cold water, etc.  So awesome.  The best part was the disposable underwear they gave us to wear.  I was SO confused and didn't wear it because I didnt' want to be uncomfortable the whole time.  Come to find out, the service I got us came with a full body scrub before the massage and facial...so yeah. They gave me a pair in there and it was hilarous.  They looked like scrubs and had underwear and a bra. Jimmy had on the underwear and when he took his robe off I DIED of laughter.  It was amazing.

We were in the room for 100 minutes.  Yes that is right.  A whole freaking hour and 40 minutes and it was just amazing.  Worth every penny.  I'm thinking about how good I felt after that massage right now as I'm sore from stupid corporate challenge events.

We took it easy and went to the more calm part of the resort after that and floated around the lazy river, I found a juice bar and Jimmy creepily watched people.

While I took awkward selfies and finished my books....we are just perfect together people.

For our last night we couldn't decide where to eat!!  We settled on trying the French restaurant, but to our dismay (and lack of reading the daily Excellence Times that came to our room)...it was one of the ones that were closed.  So we hit up the bar until we finally decided to go to the Italian place!

And we ordered almost EVERYTHING.  It all looked so good and we both wanted samples of all the stuff, so they were so awesome and brought us it all. 

By far the best night of service.  Kept our wine glasses full, kept asking if we wanted him to take our picture and then brought the chef out to talk to us.  And the dessert he randomly brought me?  AMAZING too. He got a huge tip from us and we loved it!

The next day was go home day.  And unlike the last two times we came to Mexico, we scheduled an afternoon flight so we didn't have to get up early and rush off to the airport.  However, while we had a leisurely morning...that meant we didn't get home until like 11:30...about two hours later than planned, but if that was the worst thing that happened to us (besides come home to FREEZING cold weather in May)...we'll take it!

Overall, we got super lucky with no delays (minimal in Chicago) and great flights and seats, etc.  I had to make a pit stop to pump after we landed at Midway and OH MY.  My mom suggested that I asked if there was a mother's room and I'm so glad I did. It was fabulous and just perfect for a quick pit stop for any mom - to pump, to nurse, to feed, to change a diaper.  Super clean, has a plug, a nice chair and a sink.  Seriously - check it out if you are mom traveling through Midway.  in gate C!

My mom was waiting at our house when we got home (kiddos fast asleep) so we relieved her of the babysitting duties after a long week (but so fun!) and we couldn't wait for the kids to get up!  Charlie was pretty confused when we came into his room in the morning after he woke up and called "Papa come get me!", but he was excited!

And I was supposed to play in corporate challenge softball game (ugh...) at 7AM, but luckily it was delayed because of wet fields and Charlie's first t-ball practice was still on at 9:30 and I got to go watch!!  He did great with Jimmy. Not so much into following directions (as in, he wanted to continue running the bases after they ran them once...but such is life), but did good overall.  Let's hope the next few practices are not that cold!!  It was the end of May for goodness sake!!!!!!!!!

Overall, it was just such a good trip. 

It was so nice to just relax and do nothing.  And actually talk and hang out with my husband and not ask him if he has the diaper bag or cheerios or a sippy cup or do rock paper scissors to see who has to change Maddie's poopy diaper.  We talked about how the first 5 years of our marriage went and where we see us and our family being in the next 5.  It was grand. 

And I cannot wait for the next 5 years with this guy!!  It was so hard to be away from the kiddos and our parents were awesome facetiming with us and sending us pictures and videos of all the fun they were having, but it was worth a little time away to feel so much more connected to Jimbo.  Sometimes life just gets so busy and each other is who we neglect and it's just so important to not do that...so if you can get away...do it!!!  

And then you'll come running home and miss your kids SO much!