Moms Gone Wild??

As any mom knows, as much as we dearly love our kids (and our husbands!), sometimes we just need a chance to unwind with the girls.  Judging from the title, you might be expecting a post that goes something like this:


This past Saturday I headed downtown to meet six of my favorite moms for our first (of many, I hope) Girls Weekend! We shopped Circle Center, enjoyed a great dinner at a well-known steakhouse and ended our evening with drinks at my favorite martini bar. We stayed out late and slept in late....it was a crazy and fun weekend!

While all of the above is certainly true (well, expect for the sleeping in part), that's really not the whole story! Here's how my “wild” weekend really played out:
 
Saturday morning, when I left my house a little after 11am, all three kids were whining or crying for different reasons.  I gave the kids big hugs and lots of kisses, gave my husband a hug, a kiss and a sympathetic pat on the shoulder and headed out the door. It was finally here...a day and a half of  "me" time!
 
As I started downtown, I flipped through MY favorite radio stations.  I enjoyed the quiet the comes with being alone in the car.  I took in my surroundings as I navigated downtown, noticing restaurants and shops I had never seen before.  I located my favorite Mall parking garage and prepared myself for an event I have not had the pleasure of experiencing for at least 9 months (since Drew was born)...shopping (in a non-grocery store, no less) All By Myself!  Pretty wild so far, huh?!?   
 
I met my friend Sarah for lunch in the mall then we walked around the mall, exploring all the stores we wouldn't dare go into with small children!  I even got to visit the Colts Pro Shop and fell in love with a fabulous hooded sweatshirt that is officially on my Christmas list :)  Next up, check into our hotel conveniently located just a block off of Monument Circle.  We check in at the front desk then head to the 4th floor to check out our rooms.  The first one we open up isn't ready!  The beds are unmade, towels on the floor and trash still in the room.  We lug our bags back down to the front desk to explain.  "No problem," says Savannah, the friendly hotel clerk, "we want to make this right."  We get upgraded to nicer rooms on the 10th floor and complimentary breakfast buffet for all seven of us!  Bonus!  We met up with three more friends shortly after checking in.  We sat around in our sweats, ate chips & hummus, cheese & crackers and cookies we didn't have to share with anyone under 5!!  We even celebrated our Girls Weekend with a little wine before dinner. 

We got "all dressed up" (in our favorite jeans, though I was sporting cuter shoes than normal) in clothes that didn't smell like spit up and made our way to dinner.  I start to feel really old when I realize the 2 glasses of wine I had at the hotel (over 2.5 hours) has given me a headache :/  No worries, though!  Several glasses of water and one tasty dinner later, I'm feeling much better.  Next on the agenda: martini bar!  Though I stated this is my favorite martini bar (and favorite non-restaurant establishment in the city) I have only been there 3-4 times in the 7 years that I have lived in here...certainly not a place I frequent, I just really love the atmosphere.  We toast to our Girls Weekend and to each other and enjoy a drink or two before heading back to the hotel.  As we're leaving, we notice the line to get in the door is unbearably long and we decide we never would have waited outside that long just to get in...what time is it anyway?  Um, 11pm.  Whoa!  Who goes out that late??  Wait, we did...in college, which feels like a million years ago now!  




Megan, Brooke, Brandi, Sarah, Melissa, Bree and Jennifer


Back at the hotel, we put our sweats back on and get the snacks back out.  Since our breakfast plans changed, we break out the Panera bagels that would have been our breakfast.  Late night snacking at its best!  Now it's off to bed.  Check out is not until 12noon, so we're sleeping in as late as we want!  

It's 7:43am.  I'm awake and staring at the ceiling.  I get up to use the bathroom and realize the lights are on in the sitting room, separated from the bedroom by two french doors.  Meg's already up watching TV.  I lay back down and try to force my eyes closed again.  After about 45 minutes, I surrender.  There's a knock at the door.  Mel's up too and ready for her Starbucks run - any takers? 

We take our showers, make ourselves look presentable and by 9:30 we head downstairs to one of the most amazing breakfast/lunch/dessert buffets I have ever seen!  Omelets, pancakes and waffles made to order, biscuits and gravy, fresh fruit, smoked salmon...and that was just on the breakfast side.  There was an entire lunch buffet I never even attempted to visit, but I could not pass up the dessert buffet.  Keep in mind it's about 10am now and I have already eaten a gigantic omelet, but I had to try the chocolate fondue fountain and tiramisu - Delicious!  Brooke had an amazing piece of apple pie cheesecake that I wish I could have taken home and enjoyed when I was not already so full!! 

I completed my girlfriend-fix Sunday afternoon with a little shopping (again, alone!!) at the Fashion Mall before heading to a nearby restaurant to celebrate my friend Jenny's baby girl on-the-way.  We swapped pregnancy and birthing stories (and am quite certain we scared the non-moms at the table into never having kids...I swear, it's worth it, though!) and showered Jenny with some new baby gear. 




Sarah Lynn, mama-to-be Jenny, Brandi, Elizabeth, Pam and Alison


The perfect way to end my Girls Weekend...and I got home in time to put my sweet babies to bed then watch Peyton's team beat up on Eli's team in Manning Bowl II!    

Many Thanks and Kudos to our Awesome Husbands for humoring us for the night and allowing us a little girl time!  We so appreciate it!  What a "wild" and wonderful weekend!

Baby, Baby

Don't drink the water!  Seriously, in the past several months the number of people I know who are pregnant has increased exponentially.  Some of them are close girlfriends and others I have reconnected with on Facebook, but at last count I have learned of at least one new pregnancy every week for the past 4 or 5 weeks!  When thinking of these moms-to-be (whether it be their first or their fourth), I think back to my first pregnancy and try to remember the things I wish veteran moms would have shared with me:



Baby D at 2 weeks



* As a first time mom, packing for the hospital can be intimidating.  Pack comfortable (maternity) clothes - and don't let the nurse try to convince you wearing that horrible hospital gown is the way to go.  The disposable underwear, though, that's another story...

* Write EVERYTHING down!  I don't care if you think it's unimportant or ridiculous, write it down.  You will love reading through it months and years later.  Sadly, I have done a much better job at this for Baby D than I did for my girls but it's never too late to start.  I also started a "quote journal" to record all of the hilarious things my preschoolers say.  The mind of a 3-4 year old is amazing.  I just wish I could find a tape recorder so that I can record the way they say things....makes it even funnier!

* Take pictures of baby feet, baby hands, baby fingers and baby toes.  Another thing we didn't do right away with the girls that I am still kicking myself.  By the time we did (about 6 weeks) those brand new fingers and toes were already bigger! 

* You're a new mom - don't be so hard on yourself!  You're gonna mess up - I still do, every day!  If you don't mess up, you will never learn anything new, right Mom?  Being a mom is the hardest job you will ever have, regardless of your occupation.  It's also the most rewarding.

* Spit-up Happens.  This one was too easy.  Get used to wearing it, smelling it, and stepping in it.  And through it all know that, when you look back to your baby's first 12 months, you won't remember any of it!

* Same goes for poop.  Apparently organic baby food makes babies (or maybe just my son) go #2 about 4-5 times per day.  I know this is an insanely high frequency for an 8 month old (though normal for a 0-3 month old).  But he loves his Apple Pear Oatmeal and Harvest Squash Turkey, so a few extra diapers a day is worth it! 

* The baby weight will eventually go away...if you work at it.  That "line" everyone gives you about how it took "9 months to put it on, 9 months to take it off" is actually true.  You are at a distinct advantage if you are in your early to mid-20's during your pregnancy when your metabolism is much kinder to you.  I was 25 when A and C were born and lost all 67 lbs in 6 months (with a lot of help from Weight Watchers).  On the other hand now, 3.5 years later, the scale says I have been within 2 lbs of my pre-prego weight for 6 weeks but my shape is finally starting to make a comeback too!  (A little help from WW and a lot of running!)  In the meantime, enjoy the fact that you have a legitimate excuse to wear yoga pants every day! 
* Don't watch the infomercials on during those 3am feedings - unless you are prepared to buy whatever it is they are selling.  Vacuums and kitchen utensils (even cars, right B?!) have a way of becoming immediately necessary in the middle of the night. 

* Try, try, try to not worry about the housework.  If you are a perfectionist like me, this is much harder than it sounds.  I eventually figured out that I physically could not take care of two babies (now three), my husband, myself, the laundry, the dishes, the dinner, the bathrooms, the vacuuming...every day! It will always be there waiting for me whenever I get around to it!



My attempt at a nap with the girls at about 3 mths old!

 *Take naps with your baby - let's face it, you will need the nap by the time baby goes down!  Snuggled up on the couch or in the glider is a great place to relax and cuddle with your baby.  Before you know it, your little one won't want to even sit on your lap, let alone snuggle up with you for a nap...enjoy the snuggle stage while it lasts!

* Make lots of "mom friends" if you haven't already.  Though I was the first of my closest college friends to get pregnant, I was lucky enough to know two moms whose first babies are just a few months older than mine and to have several more of our friends also start their families before the girls' first birthday.  You will still love hanging out with your "kid-less" friends to truly get away from it all...but the relationships you build with other moms going through the same growing pains as you are priceless.  And the lunches and play dates, parties and vacations are pretty fabulous, too!

* Start a Blog or Online Journal!  I know it sounds silly - but if you can find the time to update it (weekly, even monthly!) you will have a wonderful recount of your child's most important and memorable moments and be able to easily share your updates with family and friends.  And that is truly priceless!


No amount of advice can truly prepare you for the amazing and unpredictable adventure of parenthood, no matter how honest and upfront.  But hopefully you took a few minutes to relax while you read this...and remember to avoid those 3am infomercials!

New Beginnings

It's been so long since my previous post, I don't know where to start!  It seems everyone has started something new here.  Three weeks ago, the girls had just started preschool, my baby boy had just learned to crawl and the family wedding event of 2011 became the wedding event of 2010!!  We are all (obviously, my almost-SIL most of all!) thrilled with how well everything is coming together :)

 The girls are doing great in preschool - getting smarter every day!  Once a week they take in a picture to coordinate with the letter of the week and something to share coordinating with the theme or color of the week...it's always so fun to see what pictures and items they come up with for their sharing time! 

My sweet baby boy is already turning into my fast and very curious baby boy!  He learned to crawl just a few days into his 7th month (which was much quicker than both girls) and about a week later starting climbing up to a stand on pretty much anything he can reach: his exersaucer, the bathroom stepstool...the stairs!  Saturday night, I was in the bathroom making sure the girls were brushing their teeth and my little man pulls up to stand on the stepstool, gives me a huge, drooly grin and lets go with one hand.  He looks around the bathroom, presumably for something else to hold onto, and when he didn't find anything within arm's length, he lets go - for less than a half a second, my little man was standing!  Oh my...I believe I am about to understand exactly how different it will be raising a boy after starting with two girls!!

Look Mama, I think I want to stand up soon...

Hmm...I found a great hiding spot under the coffee table!

These steps look like fun to climb...

Getting closer to standing up on my own! 
He thinks raising his hands in the air is going to help :)

Standing up!
(Only holding on to Mom for security, but I can stand on my own now!!)