Girl's Weekend In

This past weekend, Will took Charlie along with him to a wedding in Nashville so he could play with his cousins and I could have a little alone time with Anna. And let's be honest here, Anna is still immobile, takes two 1 1/2 hour naps a day, and goes to bed at 6:30 pm, so this was a mini-vacation for me as well. As shocking as it is, this was the first time in 3 years, 4 months, 2 weeks, and 2 days that I spent more than a few hours away from Charlie! That is, of course, excluding the two days in the hospital when I gave birth to Anna, but that hardly qualifies as "vacation time".

Believe it or not, it wasn't until we entered into the "three's" that I even felt I needed time away. I love kids (particularly my own), always wanted nothing more than to be a Mom, and spent one hellacious year teaching 30 kindergartners from 7:30 am to 3:00 pm, so I just saw this lack of alone time as part of having young kids...and I loved it! However, although I continue to love my son even more than the day he was born, the time for a "break" had come. First-time moms beware: everyone talks about the terrible twos; but it's the terrible threes that will grip you by the you-know-whats, make you scream for mercy, and see what you're really made of. Most days I can get by just reminding myself that every "No, I will not do what you say", and "That's no fair!" is just normal "I am three, hear me roar...", defiant, self-asserting behavior, but the past couple weeks had been wearing on me hard. The couple of days of sunshine followed by a solid week of rain and cold, trapped inside a house with two three-year-olds and one 9 month old was just more than this Momma could handle. So needless to say, I was looking forward to this...

Friday night, Anna and I had a quiet dinner (oddly quiet). Anna went to bed early and I had some girlfriends over to celebrate my mini-vacay.

Saturday morning, we got all dressed up and headed to the mall with friends for a "just browsing" trip that turned into a "new summer wardrobe for Charlie and Anna" trip.

I didn't buy it, because it wouldn't have survived the afternoon, but is this just the cutest thing you've ever seen?

After hours of shopping, Anna had her first "Girls Night Out" style dinner.

She entertained the other patrons with her dance moves...

while her buddy Caroline slept through the entire thing!

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend that I will not soon forget. I will remember how much fun I had shopping with the girls, hanging out with my friends, taking two naps a day, reading a magazine while Anna played on the floor, having time to devote to just Anna, and eating an entire meal without having to tend to anyone.

But I will also remember how lonely the house felt when I returned home without anyone to greet me, how quiet it seemed without the dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, and baby monitors buzzing, and how lifeless it felt without someone giggling, throwing balls at the windows, crashing cars on the carpet, pitching a fit over bedtime, and begging for one more cookie.

Most of all, I will remember how much I missed my Charlie. Attitude and all...