I Need A Vacation From My Vacation!

Yes, it's been awhile since I've been heard from, but I have a good excuse - I went on a vacation (kind of.)

See, we had our spring break a week ago. We had planned for awhile that I would go see my sister and new niece in Houston, dropping off the girls at Nana and Granddaddy's house on the way, so that I could go help my sister during her recovery from her c-section. So, that's what we did, basically. I spent one very long day driving to Fort Worth where I met up with my in-laws for the child-exchange, and then drove on to Houston. The drive was actually not too bad, even though I arrived in Houston right about five o'clock. I had Jerry's iPod transmitter, so I was in full voice on the second half of the drive - something I rarely get to do anymore since I'm hardly ever alone in the car for any length of time!

I spent the next week getting to walk in another mom's shoes, kind of. Mostly my job was to keep Will occupied while Amy nursed the baby, tried to catch up on sleep, nursed the baby, took a shower, nursed the baby, etc. etc. etc. (MOO!) I had a great time, and I really want to be close to my nephew and niece, so I was glad that I had this opportunity to be with them. When Will was born we were in New Mexico, and it was too far to travel to help out when he was born. He was five months old before we got to make a trip out for a real visit, and that was just too long! Now we get to see each other more often, and I think it's a good thing - although after this week Will may disagree!

Will is a very headstrong little boy. He is also very particular about who he wants to do what, for instance, if he wanted a drink, it went something like this:

Will: I tirsty.
Suzy: I'll get you some juice.
Will: No! MOMMY get juice!!!!!

This conversation was repeated about one hundred times a day, just substitute in any action or object for juice. And if Aunt Suzy dared to try to hand the juice to him, he would become quite distraught. We worked around this by me surreptitiously giving the juice to Amy, and then she'd hand it to him, or better yet, we'd make him think the thing he didn't want to do in the first place was his choice:

Suzy: Will, do you want Aunt Suzy to wipe your face, or Mommy?
Will: Mommy wipe my face!
Suzy: Well, here, give her the washcloth and tell her to wipe your face.
Will: (Trotting off with dreaded washcloth) Here Mommy, Wipe my face!

So we got through the week with a minimum of fuss. It was just so different from life with my girls when they were two. They were so compliant compared to Will. I wonder if I had a boy, if he would have been so strong-willed. It's the age old question - how much is nature and how much is nurture? For instance, one day when Amy hadn't slept well, I took Will to the mall to play on the play structures there so the house would be quiet for Carissa and Amy. Will was very unhappy that I had put him in his car seat (No, Mommy buckle me!), taken him out of the car seat (No, Mommy unbuckle me!) and taken him to the mall. I figured though, when we got there we'd be okay. I carried him to the mall, and we walked in. He saw the strollers that are shaped like cars, and he wanted to ride in one. I said no, we were there to play, and he began to get upset, so I picked him up and carried him to the play area, figuring that when he saw the play area, he would forget all about the strollers. I set him down in front of the play area, and he went boneless. Just laid on the tile floor and looked at me. So, I picked him up and set him about six feet inside the play area to get him out of everyone's way. He rolled back out, I put him back in, he rolled back out.

At this point I was seriously debating what else I could do with him, as taking him back home would not result in the quite atmosphere we were looking to provide for Amy. I decided that it was worth the $5 stroller to get this play date moving along, so we went and got change and picked a stroller. From that moment on, he was happy and compliant. We motored down the mall and back, and then he was ready to play. We put away the stroller and played on the play area for 45 minutes. Next we had lunch, which he ate with gusto. We played on the coin-operated rides, walked back to the car and went home. He was being an angel. I was feeling like I'd made a dent in my Evil Aunt Suzy image! But then, we pulled into the garage, I opened the door and reached to unbuckle him and he said, "No. Mommy unbuckle." Sigh. . . Oh well.

We spent quite a bit of time trying to get a picture of Carissa for her announcement, although we never did get just the right shot. Once, after we had put her in the boppy for a photo shoot, when we picked her up, will climbed on the boppy for his turn at a photo session:




Here's a few parting shots of the weekend -

This is the only shot of me and Carissa together. The one with Amy and Will we took on a walk through their neighborhood.

At the end of the week I drove the back roads up to North Texas to pick up the girls. It was the never ending drive. I just don't like driving. My mom has such a huge road-tripping gene, I don't know how I missed out on that, but I did. I picked up the girls and we headed home to see Jerry. He missed us so much - he quelled his sorrow with retail therapy. I got to see quite a fashion show when I got home - two pants, two pair of shoes, 4 t-shirts, 4 henleys, 8 dress shirts - when is Jerry's next trip out of town so I can have a turn? He also cleaned the house while we were gone - even did the floors! We walked in and the house was straight, the floors clean - it was so nice! I might have to leave more often. . . Last night though, Jerry walked in and noted that the house was not so clean anymore - he said, "You guys have been home less than a week and look at this place!" I just looked at him and told him, "Yeah, your preaching to the choir, honey!"


We dyed eggs when we got home, and the next morning, we had an Easter egg hunt.

The bunny hid 24 (plastic) eggs, but we only found 23. We still don't know where the last one is! We went to a local church for their Easter service, and they had a special program for the kids that included a clown. Apparently Gracie got to help him with one of his tricks - that was all she could talk about for the next few days.

Here's our family Easter photo:

As you might imagine, this 'vacation' was exhausting. When Jerry went to work on Monday and the girls went to school, I breathed a sigh of relief, but this week has been so hectic trying to catch up. Someone tell me again - when exactly do Mom's get vacation?