Mommy Weekend!

This past weekend I went on a girls trip!  We went to the Mall of America.

I started to think Friday night, "was this the first time I have done something like this?"  I could not for the life of me remember if I have ever left my kids home with Nic overnight and went to do something fun and for myself. 

I have left my kids for many overnight stays while either celebrating our Anniversary or attending a Hawkeye game or just a date night.  So while I have left them to do fun things with my husband, leaving them for a girls weekend, felt a little different.  Not sure why.

I'll give you a short description of my weekend....no kid screaming "MOM!", nobody asking me for food or a drink, no butt wiping, no giving anyone a bath, no doing laundry for an entire 48 hours, nobody asking me to do anything, peeing in peace with the door shut, getting to eat my food while it was still hot and when a baby or kid cried, it wasn't mine! 

Do I feel guilty about enjoying that time? NOPE!  As a mother we devote our lives to our families and work.  We hardly ever get to enjoy just being a woman with friends.  So while I missed my kids like crazy, I so enjoyed my weekend.  I even took a nap!  Yeah, it might of been on a bus, but it was awesome! 

By 6:00 Sunday night I was really missing my family!  I felt as if the bus would never make it to Seymour! The ride home did go quickly, thank goodness after a close call and 1st tank ran out of gas. LOL 

I was greeted with my husband and kiddos hiding behind our kitchen bar and jumping out screaming "SURPRISE!"  It was an amazing welcome home moment!  The girls made a sign and had it hanging up.  That moment meant more to me than they will ever know.  The girls ran to me hugging me like I had been gone for weeks.  Little man just wasn't quite sure what to think but I finally stole a hug and a kiss. 

The weekend away was good for my soul, heart and mind.  Just as a warning to my husband.....I plan to do this more often. 

Made it to the Mall of America!  I was a first-timer!

My amazing Hurricane Drink! 

Waiting for the Fly Over America.  This was an ordeal!  I hate Halloween! I hate being scared so the waiting for the ride was not cool! 

On the ride for Fly Over America!  One amazing ride!  I highly recommend this!

All of us girls in front of the Hard Rock Café!

We survived the ride.  (we didn't have any doubt)

My note the girls made!  Love it with all my heart!!

Bedtime post again...

I have been trying to figure out what has happened with Kanon's bedtime routine and I have no freaking idea!  We had things going great! Girls went to bed at 8:30 and Kanon would have his bedtime bottle and be out and go right to his bed.
Did the planets shift, did the signs change....what happened?!  I can't even remember how long his routine has been all messed up.  One night he's asleep and in bed by 9 and the next he isn't asleep until 11.  He use to sleep in his bed all night long...not now....he maybe sleeps in his bed 1 or 2 nights a week. No joke!
We changed his daily routine to only allow an hour nap. It seemed to help for awhile but not now.
You might wonder why it is such a big deal he go to bed by 9.  Well for starters he is only 1. He needs his sleep.  I am concerned of him getting run down.  My next reason is from 9 till I go to bed I need ME TIME! No, I don't feel guilty saying that.  I work full time, sell real estate and make-up on the side, take care of a household, and my most important role take care of our 3 kids.  My husband works extremely hard and several evenings so I do many nights all by myself.  So I do not feel guilty about taking an hour to watch my TV show, read a book (which I bought a series 2 weeks ago and I'm still on Chapter 3), or take a relaxing bath.
Tonight I fed him his bottle at 9:45, his eyes were closed, I rocked him a bit and put him in his bed for good....so I thought. He instantly stood up and cried.  So I rocked him his room and he again fell asleep.  Lay him down again....bam right back up standing crying.  This time I left him crying.  This is hard for me.  After about 10 mins of crying (not hard crying, just light crying) he laid down and went to sleep.  By 9 pm!!!  I knew he was tired because he fell asleep in his high chair at supper time.  I did wake him up because that is far to late of a nap for him.
I just wish I knew what has happened or what to do to get his routine back.  As far as him sleeping in his bed all night...that is on us parents. Nobody to blame but us.  What is scary...some nights I don't even remember going in and get him.  I just know I'm exhausted and want to sleep.  However with him in our bed...nobody sleeps. He tosses and turns, he kicks me and head butts his dad.  I wake up feeling like I rode a roller coaster.   The poor boy also head butts our headboard.
I know what I have to do to fix that.  Just takes determination and strength.  Something I have a hard time finding at 1 am.

Bedtime post again...

I have been trying to figure out what has happened with Kanon's bedtime routine and I have no freaking idea!  We had things going great! Girls went to bed at 8:30 and Kanon would have his bedtime bottle and be out and go right to his bed.
Did the planets shift, did the signs change....what happened?!  I can't even remember how long his routine has been all messed up.  One night he's asleep and in bed by 9 and the next he isn't asleep until 11.  He use to sleep in his bed all night long...not now....he maybe sleeps in his bed 1 or 2 nights a week. No joke!
We changed his daily routine to only allow an hour nap. It seemed to help for awhile but not now.
You might wonder why it is such a big deal he go to bed by 9.  Well for starters he is only 1. He needs his sleep.  I am concerned of him getting run down.  My next reason is from 9 till I go to bed I need ME TIME! No, I don't feel guilty saying that.  I work full time, sell real estate and make-up on the side, take care of a household, and my most important role take care of our 3 kids.  My husband works extremely hard and several evenings so I do many nights all by myself.  So I do not feel guilty about taking an hour to watch my TV show, read a book (which I bought a series 2 weeks ago and I'm still on Chapter 3), or take a relaxing bath.
Tonight I fed him his bottle at 9:45, his eyes were closed, I rocked him a bit and put him in his bed for good....so I thought. He instantly stood up and cried.  So I rocked him his room and he again fell asleep.  Lay him down again....bam right back up standing crying.  This time I left him crying.  This is hard for me.  After about 10 mins of crying (not hard crying, just light crying) he laid down and went to sleep.  By 9 pm!!!  I knew he was tired because he fell asleep in his high chair at supper time.  I did wake him up because that is far to late of a nap for him.
I just wish I knew what has happened or what to do to get his routine back.  As far as him sleeping in his bed all night...that is on us parents. Nobody to blame but us.  What is scary...some nights I don't even remember going in and get him.  I just know I'm exhausted and want to sleep.  However with him in our bed...nobody sleeps. He tosses and turns, he kicks me and head butts his dad.  I wake up feeling like I rode a roller coaster.   The poor boy also head butts our headboard.
I know what I have to do to fix that.  Just takes determination and strength.  Something I have a hard time finding at 1 am.