Some girl time (plus or minus a few kids and a husband)

My two good friends from college, Tracy and Christine, came into town this weekend. We had such a great time. It’s amazing – we all hadn’t been together for years, yet it felt like just yesterday we were in college. That being said, it is so funny looking back at the things that we would have done on a weekend like this back 5-10 years ago vs. what we did this last weekend with 2 kids. Back 10 years ago? We probably would have gone out both nights for some dinner and drinks and then, during the day, maybe would have driven to Newport or Providence or even (dare I say it???) Boston? To do some sightseeing. Now? With 2 kids?

We stayed in the bubble.

Part of me felt kind of bad, but both of them seemed to be perfectly happy with experiencing the LC and everything it has to offer! Now, I don’t mean to make it sound like we can’t do anything fun anymore now that we have 2 kids. But, what I have found is that, if you want to do anything, you really need to motivate in the morning to at least ATTEMPT to get Avery back for nap time. Otherwise, we will all pay for it later. Side note – we could have gone out without Avery, but that would have resulted in us leaving a screaming child who wanted to hang out with Mommy and her friends for Josh to handle, so I chose to spare him. And, obviously, I was in no mood and neither were Tracy and Christine to motivate in the morning so that we could walk around Newport in the rain. Although, that being said, I did allow Avery to wake both of them up at 8 am on Saturday morning. They were less than thrilled with a 2.5 year old screaming, “Auntie Christine???? Are you awake?” outside their door, but I figured if I had already been up for 2 hours, they were not going to be allowed to sleep in either. So, you are asking yourself – “Self? What does LC have to offer in the middle of November?” Well…

First of all, temperature-wise, it was a great weekend. It was pretty rainy on Saturday, but Sunday wasn’t bad. So, Saturday, we went to lunch and then walked around T4C where we looked at all of the ridiculously overpriced stuff and wondered how anyone stays in business there? And, then there were the ever fascinating moo-moo cows. We were all pretty impressed with the size of these things – so much so that we all insisted on taking quite a few pictures (I'll only make you look at one of Christine and me).

Tracy even went back a second time to get that “perfect cow picture.”
Then, there was the bench where Tracy felt the need to perch like a frog (and, I felt the need to join her - I know, I know. We're crazy like that)…

Then, in order to get Avery out for some exercise, we all went outside and played in the rain after her nap. Where was Alex, you ask? On a stroller ride with Josh in the POURING rain. Now, if that’s not proof that Josh has ADD and has to be on the go at all times, I’m not sure what is. Saturday night, we relaxed and cooked dinner and drank wine (lots of wine, actually – Alex totally hooked me up though and didn’t wake up until 5 am that morning, so all was good). Sunday, we all went to take a walk on the beach. Unfortunately, it was a bit short-lived, as Avery was hungry and I forgot to bring food for her (I know, can you believe and Epting forgot food??? ). But, the girls got to see the beach and the houses, which are pretty unbelievable. I am going to apologize in advance for posting the next picture, as we all decided that somehow it turned out to look like C and T are a cute couple with a cute daughter. I think that it has something to do with the way Christine is holding Tracy's waist in such a loving manner. Either way, it is the only picture that I have of us at the beach from that weekend, so it's being posted. Aren't they a cute looking family? :) Alex chose to make up for his fabulous sleeping on Saturday night by staying up all night on Sunday night. Which, fine, I’m used to it and it isn’t enjoyable, but this particular Sunday night was unfortunate, as we had to get up at 430 AM on Monday to get Tracy to the airport. Ugh. I thought that I was going to die on Monday. But, I have officially caught up on sleep and am feeling much better as we speak. And, it was worth it to stretch the weekend out for another night!

That was our weekend. Avery had a great time hanging with the girls and having some more people (most importantly, more people with new and different imaginations than mommy and daddy) to play with. She was busy showing us how she takes care of her babies and cooking us things in her kitchen all weekend. And, then of course, going to various “parties” located throughout our house with Tracy (As I said– “different” imaginations). Alex kept us all entertained with his constant laughing and smiles.

Oh, and on a totally unrelated (yet, exciting) note - it's official!!!!! Avery has enough hair to put in pigtails! As you all know - this has been a long time coming, so I had to document it as proof that my child has finally grown hair.

This weekend, we’re off to Texas for Thanksgiving! Josh is traveling with us this time, so it should be much less stressful - probably won’t be as good in terms of blog material, but less stress, which is a good thing these days…

Corporate Woman Yet Again

Well, it happened- maternity leave ended. It was depressing the first time around with Avery after 5 months of being with her every day and it was even more depressing this time around – not only because I only had 4 months (I know, I know – a lot more than a lot of people get, I’m not complaining. Actually, I am. Sorry) at home with Alex, but because this could quite possibly be the last time I ever have maternity leave. Kind of sad to know that there will never be another time in my life when I can just schedule vacations or play dates or run errands whenever I want and as frequently as I want. But, enough about me…
The last weekend of maternity leave was a great one – it was Alex’s first Halloween and Avery’s first Halloween where she actually understood what was going on. Well, kind of. She understood that she got to run around outside and go to people’s houses and say, “Trick or Treat!!” And, we told her that she would be getting candy (or CANS OF SODA – which was the case at TWO houses. WHAT??? Who the hell gives cans of coke to kids on Halloween? Apparently 80 year olds who live in our neighborhood), but she honestly didn’t really care about that part. She had the best time just running around outside with all of the kids and yelling, “Come on everybody! Let’s go to another house!!! This is fun!!!” As you can see, she was a butterfly

and Alex was a chili pepper (or, a strawberry according to my mother).

From the looks of this picture, he may have been happier as a strawberry.

The original plan was to make Avery’s costume ( I was feeling pressured because the moms who we went trick or treating with all made their kids’ costumes), but I quickly realized that I in fact am better at going to the internet and clicking as opposed to going to the sewing machine and sewing. So, the wings were purchased (and, of course, I made this decision way too late and ended up spending more than the cost of the wings on shipping to ensure it got there in time. Ugh). However, I DID paint the butterfly on her face. I’m sorry, but I think that I clearly have an undiscovered talent here. You have to admit you are impressed with this.

The following Monday, it was time to go back to work. Day one went well. Of course, the night before I got EVERYTHING ready that I could possibly think of – Alex’s bottles, the breastmilk, my pumping stuff, my computer, my lunch, my outfit, Alex’s outfit and Avery’s outfit. Night before day two? Nadda. Nothing. Zippo. I figured it wouldn’t last forever, but I thought for sure I could handle getting things ready the night before for more than one day! As it turns out, by the time I get home, feed Alex, get him to bed, eat dinner and get Avery to bed, I’m exhausted. And, at that point, I (heaven forbid) want to spend just 1 hour doing what I want to do. So, I do. Which, of course, results in me running around like a chicken with my head cut off the next morning, but whatever. That one hour is worth it. Unfortunately, Alex was sick on Tues, Wed and Thurs (nothing serious – just the runs, but no fever, which I know because I took his temp like every 5 mins) and given the fact that I just got back from 4 months off, we didn’t think that it would be smart for me to take more time off during the first week. So, Josh and Alex had some major bonding time those days (one of the many upsides of having a husband who works for his father). Josh has a whole new appreciation for stay at home moms now. Don’t get me wrong – he does a TON around the house, but he has never spent that much quality time with either one of them as an infant this young. I will say that I have received constant grief ever since because both nights, he managed to have our dinner and Avery’s dinner ready when we got home. I’ll be honest – I think that happened two times in the 4 months that I was home. BUT, come on! I had two of them there AND Alex was WAY more fussy then, which made it impossible to do anything. Josh definitely got the new, happy Alex, which makes things MUCH easier.

Ok, if I don't stop typing this and get back to work, the title of the next post will be “Corporate Woman No Longer," so I’m signing off for now. More to come...