All By Myself...

Brian spent this past weekend in Breckenridge, Colorado--it's the town's annual Oktoberfest celebration, and it's also Brian's annual Boys' Weekend. He goes to Oktoberfest every year, and I have a Girls' Weekend every year, and we decided that we should keep these traditions alive even after becoming parents. He was gone Thursday through Sunday, which doesn't sound very long, but his flight left Thursday morning and he didn't get back until Sunday evening, so it was basically four full days. Bleh. Too long. No me gusta.

I had planned ahead for him being gone and tried to fill up my days with fun stuff. Thursday we were going to have a visit from my friend Jen, who lives in McKinney--she hasn't met Charlotte and Jensen yet so we were going to have some lunch and hang out. Unfortunately Jen had a sick baby so those plans got scrapped...which stinks, but hey, it happens. And I am definitely the type who appreciates the non-sharing of germs! :) So we've rescheduled that for another time. Thursday night I decided to turn down my mom's offers of help and do bedtime all alone. It actually went great--only one near-catastrophe, which is definitely worth sharing: I had Charlotte and Jensen on the floor on a fluffy blanket where Brian and I read them stories and give them massages (which we don't know how to do, so it basically consists of us rubbing lotion on them) before bed. I took off Charlotte's wet diaper and started putting a new one on her. She is quite squirmy these days so sometimes it takes awhile. I happened to look over at Jensen just as he had her old wet diaper clenched in his little fist, which was rapidly moving towards his mouth! I pulled the diaper away just in time, much to his disappointment. Anyhow, the rest of bedtime went off without a hitch.

Friday, I used a gift certificate Brian got me to get a hot stone massage at a local spa. He gave me the gift certificate several months ago for Mother's Day, but I tend to save gift certificates for a rainy day. (Sometimes I save them too long, forget I have them, and they expire. But that's another story.) I decided that Brian being gone qualified as a rainy day, and I enjoyed every minute of my spa time! Then I spent the afternoon at home, fed the kiddos their dinner, and got their bedtime routine started before my mom came and took over for me so I could go grab a late dinner with Tiff.

Brian spent his Friday doing this:

Whitewater rafting! And looking like a mix between a Smurf and the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man!

Saturday we pretty much hung out at home all day--my one errand consisted of driving through Walgreen's to pick up a prescription. We did enjoy a visit from Uncle Dot and Aunt Biff, whom Jensen and Charlotte absolutely love. I have a funny video that I took of Uncle Dot and Jensen, but since my computer hates me, I will just describe the video: Uncle Dot and Jensen are lying on their tummies facing each other. Uncle Dot screams at Jensen. Jensen screams back. Both laugh. Repeat. Oh, and of course Uncle Dot had to pose Jensen so that it looked like he was holding a can of dip, take his picture, and send it to Brian. Boys, huh?? So classy.

In the midst of all that fun, I decided to dress Charlotte and Jensen up for College Football Saturday! Aunt Biff got these outfits for Charlotte and Jensen before they were born. Jensen's is getting a bit snug, while Charlotte's is still a tad big.

Hook 'em! And Gig 'em!

Saturday evening my mom and I put the babies to bed, then my dad brought over sushi and the three of us ate and watched college football.

On Sunday, my wonderful friend Cristi organized a little get-together/girl time/pampering for my birthday, which is looming just around the corner...yikes! Seven of us girls got pedicures and had lunch at the cafe at Daired's. Cristi even brought cupcakes from the new(ish) place in Mansfield, Frosted Pink. It was my first experience with Frosted Pink cupcakes...if you haven't been yet, GO! They were delicious! We had lots of fun having lunch, cupcakes, wine, and girl talk. Then it was time for me to go back home, shake off the wine and mimosas, and get ready for Brian to come home!

In the old days, Brian would come home from a trip and find a clean house and sometimes even dinner in the oven...yep, that was the old days. I had good intentions of cleaning and all that, but it just didn't work out that way. Instead, the babies decided to launch a two-man protest against napping, and I got absolutely nothing done. So Brian came home to the three of us on the bed...Charlotte fussing, Jensen spitting up, and me probably looking like I'd seen better days. But I think he was so glad to get home that he didn't mind our frazzled state.

So anyways, I survived my first weekend without Brian (with a lot of help, of course). The funny thing was, I had expected to miss him and wish I was in Breckenridge with him. But I didn't. I missed him and wished he was home with us. Next up: Brian's first weekend alone with Charlotte and Jensen as I hightail it outta here and head to Austin for my 3rd Annual Girls' Trip!