Recharged!

I'm a new woman! Seriously! After 6 full days without the girls (longest time we've ever been apart) I can honestly say I got the break I needed. I now feel more patient, more loving, more understanding, more rested, and all around just a better mom. Did I miss the girls? Like crazy. But did I enjoy my week alone with Calvin and Spencer? Most definitely! I cleaned the house, went to the dentist (no cavities- yay!), worked on projects, took naps, went shopping, went on walks, went out to breakfast with a friend, dinner out with Spencer, had Cal's 6 week check-up, and tried hard to relax. Spencer had to remind me to do the last one. After spending Monday and Tuesday cleaning and organizing the house, Spencer asked me if I'd taken a nap. Sheepishly I admitted that there hadn't been any time. Spencer then proceeded to give me a little lecture on how the whole purpose of this week was for me to relax and get caught up on sleep. He told me he wanted me taking a nap everyday- reminding me that if I spent my week cleaning, all I would have at the end is a clean house that would be destroyed within minutes of the girls getting home. For some reason his little lecture hit home for me and I made sure the rest of the week was spent doing things I can't do with more than one kid. Like a morning speed walk with a friend, followed by running errands with 4 stops (I had to nurse in the fitting room at Target, but it sure beat my normal errand running of one, maybe two stops- max! Anything over that=complete melt downs )!! Some days I'd just go out in the morning (Cal always gives me a long morning nap in his car seat if we go somewhere) and then stay home the whole afternoon. It was just nice being able to do whatever whenever I wanted to! We had dinner at Spencer's parents on Wednesday (Wilkinson's were in town) and even though Cal was super fussy, it was nice not to have to worry about packing jammies, bringing toothbrushes, and then having to deal with the repercussions of late bedtime. It really was a wonderful week.

The girls had an eventful week as well. Dad was out of town on business for half the week, so my mom was on full-time parenting duty. And boy did she have a busy week! Thankfully my mom and I are two peas in a pod and she does almost everything just how I would do it. She kept a very detailed daily record of all their activities- including everything from wake up time, to errands ran, what they played, what they fought over, what they ate, and what time they fell asleep!! LOVE my mom for doing this! Unfortunately on day one Elle had a super high fever. Mom started meds that night, but the fever didn't break and Tuesday afternoon my mom ended up taking Elle to Urgent Care with possible strep throat (thankfully results ended up coming back negative). Poor little Elle- it broke my heart not to be with her when she was feeling so yucky! And my poor mom! Not only was she doing eye drops 3x's a day for pink eye, but she was also giving amoxicillin, and then rotating Advil and Tylenol to get rid of the fever. And of course Elle wasn't sleeping good at night, so mom was up with her several times at night and finally just resulted to sleeping in a bed next to Elle. Thankfully the fevers were gone by Wednesday and they were able to some fun! I have no pictures to post of the week- just the ones my mom would text to my phone, but some of the highlights included: splash park, playing with friends (Madi was super excited to see her friend Olivia, and Elle totally had a blast with her buddy Zachary), hot tubbin, picnics at the park, shopping, health fair (the girls got so many cool things, including ID cards with their picture and fingerprints), 1st "real" haircuts by cousin Emma (I think Madi got tired of me telling her how much I love her new haircut), and 1st manicure experience!! They were definitely spoiled with gobs and gobs of attention from my parents.

BIG thank you to my parents for being so willing to keep the girls and build these wonderful memories with them. I'm so grateful for the quiet one-on-one time I was able to spend with Calvin. It wasn't the easiest week- as he was right at the 6 week mark (peak of fussiness), but it was nice to be able to watch his patterns and work on getting him on a schedule. I also enjoyed just having time to rock and hold him, give quiet baths, and not feel rushed to do anything. My battery definitely feels recharged! Thanks mom and dad!