July 27, 2015

What a nice weekend!  I was apprehensive about taking the kids on a trip by myself.  Silly, I know...but somehow everything seems a bit harder when you've lost someone.  Although it is a different situation, I'm sure that freshly divorced parents must feel the same in that regard.  It's almost like you have to learn new skills.  Maybe after you try something once, it gets easier every time.

So, I know that it may not seem like that big of a deal, but I had to muster a bit of energy and strength in deciding to go.  Jeffrey and Marti were so awesome to let me and the babies ride with them.  I told them that it made me feel a lot younger to be riding in the back seat again.

We were so well taken care of all weekend.  Everyone...Steve's parents...Steve's brother and family...Steve's cousins...just everyone...tried to make me and the babies as comfortable as possible.

Donnie and Jen live in such a beautiful home with a great pool in the backyard.  They had every meal planned and even made something for each family to take home.

Seriously?  This has upped the ante!  

Jen went to give me a cup of water and asked if I would like regular ice cubes or refreshing cubes with sliced cucumber frozen inside.  O...M...G.  AH-MAH-ZING.

Lunch was really, really good.  Dinner was fajitas...and then breakfast casserole and other yumminess this morning.  They had attended to every detail. 

Donnie even had a couple of Diet Mountain Dews put aside for me.  They already have a bunch of kids, or I would have asked if they would adopt me.

Poppy threw a few tantrums, but it was always around a time that she generally naps.  She really loves her routine and normally naps for two hours every day.

I'm not super smart yet about knowing what to do in situations when she starts to act up.  I don't know if I'm supposed to admit this, because I feel like I haven't heard other moms saying it...but sometimes I just don't know what she wants.  She'll be gesturing and crying and screaming, and I'm like..."I don't know what you want!"  It's a little frustrating.

And to be honest, I don't really know what I'm doing.  I'm just figuring it out as I go along.  Maybe I'll be better at it by the time Oz gets to be a toddler.

So, Jen was great at trying different things with Poppy.  She has really good Mommy instincts and was the biggest help and support.  Sometimes I get so entrenched in the moment, I forget to consider other possibilities.  Like last night...here I was trying to hold Poppy outside on the deck, because I didn't want her to fall in the pool.  She was getting really angry and wanted some independence.  I was getting embarrassed, because she was throwing a fit.

All of a sudden Jen suggested that we take Poppy inside to play with blocks.  BRILLIANT!  Why doesn't it come naturally to me?  I would have tried to sit by the pool forever and tired both of us out in a losing situation.  Anyway, I really appreciated her mothering skills and kindness to this struggling mom.

Despite it being a terrific weekend and very nice getaway, it was definitely sad to be there without Steve.  I missed him a lot.  He would have had the best time...I pictured him doing cannonballs in the pool, breaking the springboard accidentally, being the life of the party, staying WAY too late tiring out our hosts and royally *&^#ing me off.  But most of all, he would have loved playing in the pool with Poppy and hanging out with his treasured family.  

Here are some pictures.  Sorry for lack of Oz.
(I know that some of the pictures are difficult to see.  I'll do a bit of editing tomorrow.)