a girl's weekend

Usually, when I blog about a girl's weekend - it's about me and some friend's stealing away to a beautiful location for some relaxing, time away from life.

This one was different.

My first Hannah & mommy - girl's only - trip.

Hannah and I left Daddy & Peter to their own devices to go on a camping trip in the Sierras
(don't worry they both survived)
 while we boarded a plane for Arizona.

Hannah's favorite part of the trip was both plane rides, she didn't want to miss a minute.

Now, Arizona is definitely not a luxurious vacation spot in August when it's 115 degrees outside.

 But it is where my beloved grandparents, Hannah's great grandparents, live and so we went for a visit and to help with some moving details.

We lucked out with "Auntie Lulu" (my aunt Lucinda) being there for the weekend also.

And of course, where we stayed had a gorgeous indoor pool that Hannah and I spent the afternoon in cooling off.

this was the closest I could get to Hannah taking a picture with great grandpa (note his arm in the background),
4 year olds definitely have strong opinions about everything

By the end of the weekend we were both pretty worn out, but I was very proud of my big girl.

She shared a king-size bed with me and kept her promise to not wake me up at 4am and tell me how much she loves me (oh yes, this is sweet, but after a few nights of it in a row, I get sleepy and grumpy) - please note that this is a true story that happened the last time we shared a bed.

She was amazingly patient while the adults talked, food took a long time to arrive and errands had to be run.

She even wore her backpack - stuffed with toys and snacks through both airports - and did all of the pulling of her adult size suitcase.

Wow!

I love my big girl and look forward to more girl's weekends with her!

joy

This morning, I made my favorite scones (with dried cranberries and white chocolate chips) -
just because. 

I find myself hoping every morning I will have the time to make them and my mouth watering at the thought of tasting them, but then my to do lists and my little people take center stage and I put them off for another day.


I love the verse in the Bible that says,
"Today is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it."
(Psalm 118:24)

And I decided that today I will embrace the joy of fresh baked scones and I will let my vacuuming, sweeping, and windexing wait for another day.

It's also pretty reassuring when Matt eats a scone and declares, "That was simply wonderful."

I agree.

my boy

Peter is two and 2 1/2 months!

And like many two year olds there are some landmark challenges that come with this stage
- our current one -
staying in bed when you realize you have the ability to get out.

I think I've mentioned before that Peter is kind of a like a monkey - he loves climbing!



For the past two weeks, he's decided that climbing out of his crib (at all hours of the night), turning on the light and running out of his room - is way better than sleeping.

And this tired mommy (and daddy) are working like crazy to figure out how to get him to sleep again.

 In this midst of this I've been reminding myself of some of the things I love about this little guy.

Peter gives great hugs.

He loves "choo-choos" (trains).  And gets very excited whenever we see one go by.

Helicopters fascinate him.

He is very musical and loves to play his ukulele with Daddy's picks.

He really enjoys eating everything and doesn't mind making a mess.

Anything with wheels (motorcycles, cars, bikes) is 

simply amazing to him!

And with some wise insight (from other parents who have gone before us), as well as a lot of man hours - deconstructing the crib, and turning Peter's room into a toddler-proof fortress, we finally have a sleeper again!

Each time he gets up from a nap or in the morning - our whole family celebrates 
Peter staying in his "big boy" bed with a cheer and a dance.

Today we even celebrated with a Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treat at snack.

Rejoicing at being "big"

Big sister "Ahn - uh" (peter's sweet way of saying Hannah)

has been instrumental in making Peter's bed an exciting place to be and showing him how to sleep in it.

Okay, so your challenge may not be keeping a 2 year old in his bed, 

but whatever it is - with patience, prayer and the support of others -

 if this tired, pregnant, and sick with a cold mommy can do it - 

you can do it too!!!