We did it. We completed a little 30 weeks pregnant mom and Leah vacation.
Shew!
It wasn’t the easiest thing in the world, let me tell you. But nothing at 30 weeks pregnant comes easily. However, it was still a blast. I hate that my parents don’t live close. That we have to plan trips to see them. That we have to pack and navigate and fill up gas tanks to get there. BUT – seeing Leah get so excited knowing where we’re headed, or get so excited when we finally get there kind of makes it all worth it. It has its own little dose of special, the fact that they don’t live close. It gives us something to look forward to, new surroundings, new things to do.
I told her literally 3 minutes before we walked out the door that we were going to go to Nana’s – you should have seen that little face light up! She immediately said, “I jump on nana’s ____” she didn’t finish the sentence, but she meant to say bed. She remembered from the last time we were there jumping like a nut on Nana’s bed while getting 5 Little Monkeys recited to her. Obviously, it was a highlight. So I told her yes, she could jump on Nana’s – but first we had to get in the car and take a drive… and she had to nap in the car. She was just so excited; she grabbed her Pooh and her blanket and beat me to the door. Her dad tucked her in the carseat, gave her a kiss, and we were off.
She slept the whole way! (Which is why she’s my favorite).
Don’t you just want to eat her?!
My biggest problem turned out to be the drive. It’s not easy to sit still and pregnant for almost three hours. Every inch of me hurt. But I had one goal, to get there. And we did – and we learned Poppy wasn’t home, so we headed straight for Nana:
Leah running, Nana’s arms open wide – it was too much for my heart. Made the drive worth it, and I would have done it all over again to see that reaction again. We played helped Nana work for a little bit, then took off for home. And then we found Poppy:
And Bella:
Leah loves Bella. Bella… isn’t used to kids. However, on this trip she learned that Leah will play with her so she was much more accepting than in trips past. They had a pretty good time together. The days were filled with Bella and Nana and Poppy and playing and frozen yogurt and swinging on the back porch and shopping and swimming:
And then there were the nights.
When I learned that Leah doesn’t sleep anywhere but in her own room. Oh my goodness, we had to fight for some sleep at Nana’s. The first night she fell asleep at 11:30! It was a mix of being excited, being tired, crying, and talking to herself about Nana and Poppy. I decided it would be the easiest if we shared a room/bed since I thought Leah was not going to even know what to do in the crib anymore, but I don’t know what would have worked at this point. So night one was a bust. I was out of my mind tired from getting her to sleep and then trying to sleep with her and without my snoogle! I had much higher hopes for night two, and had some things I was going to change, sure it would make a difference. It didn’t. We had the same results with just a slightly earlier bedtime. It was in the middle of night two when I had two little feet in my chin that I decided we would be in our own beds for night three.
Upside down.
We had plans to stay until Sunday afternoon, but I just couldn’t keep up that awful nighttime routine – we both needed some good sleep before a new week started. So we had a wonderful day all day on Saturday… and left at bedtime. Oh, she screamed when we left. Maybe the most awful thing to ever hear, “more nana! more nana!” The only reason I got her out of that house was the promise of seeing Duncan… and Duncan’s friend Evie. She agreed to come with me under the promise that she could play with Duncan when she got home. I was hoping she would be asleep when we got home and forget about our deal, but I was prepared to let her play if I had to – what’s one more late night?!
Another long, painful, and this time sad drive home. I hated leaving early knowing how much fun Leah was having, but I was also grateful that for the first time in three nights she was sleeping at 8:30pm instead of screaming. And I was anxious to cuddle up with my snoogle and without little feet. I was excited to see Kyle and even Duncan and to have a day of rest on Sunday. The whole quiet drive home I thought of Quinn (because she does not sit still in cars), what I needed to do this week and with the 9 remaining weeks we have, and how to get my parents to move!? Stubborn people they are.
Just like I had hoped, I had a sound asleep Leah when we pulled in at 9:30. Her daddy carried her up to her bed without her even waking up. I melted into my bed.
And now we’re back. First things first Sunday morning, a reunion:
It’s not the greatest picture, but you can see the top of Leah’s head and the two of them leaning into one another.
All day Sunday she went through the list of things she wanted to do with her dad checking them off one by one. She had fun with her Nana and Poppy for sure, but she doesn’t last very long at all without her dad:
We’re back to routine now. We’ve got a couple good nights of sleep under our belt. Kyle has his man weekend out of his system. I made a batch of banana/squash muffins, did the laundry, restocked the fridge and pantry, and Leah and I got to work in Quinn’s room today:
Ha. We found the hat Leah wore in the hospital 🙂
Now we’re in finishing mode. Finishing up these last 9 weeks of making a Quinn. Finishing up these last 9 weeks of intense studying. Finishing a nursery. Finishing laundry. Finishing putting gadgets together. Finishing Christmas shopping. 67 days is the count. 66 until the test.
We’re back. And now we get to work.
Chronicling Life 