5 Days

Five days...120 hours...4 bedtime routines....1 soccer game

That's how long we were away from our little girl.

And I'm going to say (without any guilt) that it was amazing.

Now I don't know if the grandparents were lying to make us feel better, but according to them, she was perfect...I think the word "angel" was used.  As parents, we're always obsessed with sleep and that was all I wanted - was for her to sleep well for them...and she did. Some minor bumps, but all in all "perfect" (their words, not mine).

Enough about her - let me get to us - the weather couldn't have been better, the swim up bar couldn't have had better daily cocktails, and the lazy river couldn't have been any - well - lazier.  We slept well, ate well, drank well and we got to watch our best friends get married on the beach - who could ask for better than that?

I am eternally grateful to our parents who happily watched our little girl and didn't make us feel guilty about it (in fact, they told us we deserved it).

We missed our little girl, and she definitely missed us, but we didn't spend our days talking about her...and honestly the look on her face when she saw us walk through the door was worth going away for.  We got to be just Melissa and Mike...just husband and wife...for 5 wonderful days.

Viva la Mexico!

Tomorrow will be the beginning of our longest time away from our little girl.  We have a wedding in Mexico and decided months ago to make a mini-vacation out of it.  We'll be gone from Thursday (probably before she wakes) until Monday (hopefully back so we can do dinner and bedtime with her).

We've left her with grandparents a couple of times...we went to Vegas (twice) and had a couple of overnight trips as well.

But this feels different.  We'll be out of the country.  I don't know if our cell phones will work everywhere. Wifi is limited.  So this time, we won't be in constant contact with her. Instead, it will probably be more of a 'touch base' in the morning kind of thing. It's also the first time other people will be getting her ready and taking her to school in the morning.  We're trying to keep her schedule as close to normal as possible.  And I have to somehow resist the urge to write out every.little.thing we do for her on a daily basis to leave for the grandparents.

Don't get me wrong, I am so looking forward to this trip...we've had a rough couple of months and can use some time away to just be Melissa and Mike, Husband and Wife.

So I guess we'll put our complete (and well deserved) trust in her wonderful grandparents and know that we're going to come back being a better Mommy and Daddy.

I was holding on tight but...

I'm going to change the wording just a tad to fit with the story I'm going to tell...

For me, I'm forever holding in tight but...my bladder will inevitably fail me.  I'm going to take you back...before I became a mommy (and the whole birthing process surely ruined my capacity to hold tight) before (I think) I was pregnant...

Mike and I took a trip to Barcelona, Spain.  It's an amazingly beautiful place.  We took a day trip to Figueres and Girona....on a bus...about 2 hours...no bathroom. 

You probably know how this ends. 

I was fine on the way there.  The two places were a lot of fun and very different from Barcelona.  It was a nice way to spend the day. But I made a mistake.  I forgot to go to the bathroom before we got on the bus to go home.  Rookie Error. 

About halfway through, I look at Mike and say, "Honey, I have to go to the bathroom."  As is typical for us, he asked me how bad - I said on a scale from 1 to 10 about a 7.  He went to the front and asked our guide how much longer. Another half hour without traffic. 

I tried to hold it in.  I really really really tried.  I concentrated on anything and everything that I could to keep my mind off my bladder.  I was not successful. 

I told Mike I couldn't hold it in any more. I had some sanitary napkins in my bag and proceeded (on this crowded bus) to shove them in my underwear (hoping that they would soak everything up).  FAIL. I also put our backpack around my bottom, so I wouldn't get it all over the chair. FAIL. I peed all over my shorts, all over my bag, all over the chair. On a crowded bus.  Did I mention it was August? And hot. Yeah. 

I was so embarrassed.  But unfortunately (or fortunately) Mike is used to these kinds of things happening to me. We ran off the bus straight to our hotel so I could change. 

I'm sorry to the person who sat in our seats the next day thinking they were on a lovely day trip.  The smell must have been horrible and it was probably still wet. 

I was holding on tight but....

This post was written as part of Mama Kat's Writers' Workshop

the long and winding road

Road trips are one of the fondest memories I have as a kid.  We drove EVERYWHERE.  From New York, we drove to Atlanta, Knoxville, Fort Lauderdale, Disney World, Virginia, Vermont, Quebec, Nashville....and pretty much every other state on the east coast. 

This was before carseats and seatbelts were the law.

When my dad would put me on his lap (kinda like Britney) and let me put the token in the basket to pay tolls.

We spent a lot of time together. In very close quarters.

Maybe this is part of the reason why my family and I are so close to this day.  Rarely does a day go by where I don't speak to my mom, my dad, or my brother. And if I'm telling the truth here, rarely is there a day when I don't speak to each of them multiple times.

We did lots of stuff to pass the time.  The thing about my family is we're what you call "gamers" - super competitive over everything. This was (still is) true for our car games as well.  

We played some 'normal' car games like Concentration or Geography (person says a place and you have to name another place with the last letter of the first one...ex: Canada...Australia... Austria...)

We tallied the license plates we saw from different states, getting points for finding "new" states.

Then we played our infamous License Plate Poker.  You look for license plates with good poker hands - like four of a kind, or a full house, or two pair.  We still play this game now.  I even have my husband hooked. We'll be driving and he'll yell out "I'll take that car - three nines" amd I'll be on the search for something that will beat that.  It's addictive. Try driving right now without sizing up the poker hand of the license plate in front of you.

I loved our road trips.  I loved how we would switch seats around when my brother and I would start fighting in the backseat and I would sit up front with my dad and mom in the back with him.  I loved laying across the backseat, taking a nap.  I loved looking at all the South of the Border billboards heading down I95.  I loved staying in random hotels on the way, because we were never sure how far we would get on day one of our trip.

I guess it was vey Griswald-esque.  But it's what we did.  Every summer of my childhood, we packed up the car and went somewhere.

Some people (my husband being one of them) can't imagine being in the car for that long.  But it worked for us.  We made it fun.  We didn't have Nintendo DS or DVDs to keep up occupied.  We had conversations, imaginations and games. 

This post was written as part of Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop. Join in on the fun by clicking here:

my stress level

I'm one of those people who likes to seem to have it all together...it's a facade...I'm a good faker.
And right now, my ability to fake it is getting smaller and smaller. So I thought that if I list out the things that are stressing me, maybe it would help...

1. I am about to rock my daughter's world.  The world as she knows it is about to be turned upside down and inside out.  She's going to be starting daycare next week.  Don't tell me she's going to love it.   In her short life, she has never known what weekends are. She has never known a full day without her mommy.  She has never had to nap with kids all around her. And starting next week, I am asking her to stay in a place she's not really familiar with for long periods of time, with people she doesn't know.  Don't tell me it's good for her. Everytime I think about next week, I start to tear up. She's my little girl and it makes me sad to be dropping her off at daycare.  That's how I feel right now at this moment.  I know hope that she is going to love it.  She spent a little bit of time there and she loved that everything was her size.  But it doesn't make the transition any easier. As much as she doesn't know life without her mommy.  I don't know life without her right now either.  It'll be just as much as transition for me as it is for her.

2. Mike starts his new job on Monday...in Seattle.  The job is not in Seattle - but he's starting with a week out there for training.  A week. Without Mike. Without Jenna (see #1).  Now Mike and I are not the kind of couple that does things apart.  Other than an occasional bachelor party or business trip, we don't do the whole "apart" thing.  We've never been apart for a week. Ever. So, a week without Mike, Jenna's starting daycare....oh...

3. My brother in law and his grilfriend are coming to visit us next week.  He lives in the Czech Republic and comes in only once a year.  I cannot wait to see him and meet his girlfriend.  I've already sent him an email and let him know over Skype (seriously should do this if you don't already) that I may be what some may call a mess next week.  So he's been forewarned.  I'm hoping I can hold it together and show them a good New York time.  Mike told him he has to hold me together while he's away.  That's a pretty tall order and I hope he's up for the challenge. 

4.  Work starts soon.  I know I know teachers hate talking about school when it's still summer. But for me, August is like the end of the road.  I'm nervous/excited/anxious about going back to work.  I hope I'm still good at it.  I hope it's like riding a bike.

so the stress is high over here but i'm going to try to stay calm....

When 4 days feels like a week...in a good way

We hightailed it outta here on Friday.  I'm not mincing words here when I say that we needed some time off.  Between Mike not working to finding a job he's super excited about, to me going from SAHM to Working Mom in a few weeks to Jenna starting full time daycare in two weeks and lots of house guests coming and going the next few weeks...We took a well-deserved break.  I'm not going to call it a vacation (if you're a loyal follower you know this already) because I believe once you travel with kids, it's not really a vacation, but more a change of scenery. 
We drove up to Mystic, Ct., which is normally a 2 hour drive, but the traffic on Friday was RIDICULOUS, so we stopped off at Norwich for the Aquarium and dinner.  Jenna LOVED it! she was running around, touching animals, and playing with everything.

It was a great spur of the moment car decision to pull off the traffic-ridden road and try out a new place.  We got to hang there, grab some dinner and hit the road again (thank god the traffic died down) and got up to Mystic in time for bed.  Mystic was awesome.  We hit up the seaport and did a boat ride (Jenna's first), went to the aquarium there, and went to Ocean Beach Park. 

Loving the spray park!

Thing is, it wasn't what we did that was so good for us.  It was so nice to just be the three of us for four days straight.  We're big family people, so we're always seeing family and friends and sometimes our weekends feel like we don't get a minute to breathe.  So it was amazing for us to just be together, with no real plan of action.  We took family baths in our room jacuzzi...laughed all the way home from dinner one night just from making raspberries with our mouths...touched sting rays, starfish and shells...played in a spray park for what felt like hours...and realized that Jenna is in fact afraid of carousels. 

Jenna does not like carousels

It was great to just stop and enjoy ourselves.  It didn't matter that we ate dinner on the early side so Jenna could go to bed at a normal hour, or that we ate at family-friendly restaurants, as opposed to some fancier places (they have liquor and beer at the family friendly ones too), that we didn't get to read all about the seaport and it's history, or that we couldn't spend all day laying out at the beach.  It was great to be away.

And despite my feelings on these things, it actually felt like a vacation...

Unplugging

The three of us are taking a last minute weekend away...literally last minute - like it's Thursday night at 9:00 pm and I just booked the hotel and we leave tomorrow morning.  I love to go away and it's kind of exciting to be so last minute about it. 

Anyway, Mike got some good news and we're going away to celebrate. 

I'm officially going to be unplugged until Monday (or at least going to do my best to be)

I'll post about it Tuesday! Have a great weekend!

Top Mommy Blogs just reset their numbers and I went back and forth as to how much begging I was going to do for votes because I guess it all comes down to "why am I doing this?"

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love to write.  And this has been a great way for me to write down all the little things that go on in our day to day lives.  I'm sure some people may find this boring, others may like reading about someone else's life, and I know family and friends like hearing all the Jenna and Mike stories.  It's also a way for me to document all my feelings about being a new mom, staying home, going back to work, and all the crazy emotions you feel.  I also think this is going to be an amazing gift to give my daughter when she's older.  I wish I could read about all the feelings my mom had when she was raising my brother and I...I'd love to hear about all the dumb stuff we did...and how we drove her crazy. 

Then I found there's this whole other world out there of moms doing the same thing I am, trying to figure this whole parenting thing out.  Some of their stories make me laugh, others make me cry, but it's nice to know I'm not the only one feeling the way I do. 

I don't get as many comments on the blog as I'd like to (not going to beg for them, but c'mon if you're reading it and have somehting to say, click on the comment button!).  But lots of people contact me in other ways about what I'm writing here (emails, wall posts on FB, texts, phone calls), so I know people are reading and (hopefully) liking what they see. 

I've even had a few random people (some blasts from the past in my life and some complete strangers) tell me thank you for things I've written here...so I'm going to keep it up as much as possible.  With going back to work in September, I'm hoping I can still keep this going.

And for the person reading this who's about to go on a long car ride with their toddler...a box of tissues can be an amazing toy to get you through traffic!

Jenna pulling all the tissues out of the box!

To answer my initial question, I will be doing a little bit of begging for votes because I think my blog is a worthwhile and good read. Top Mommy Blogs helps me get new people to read my blog...

so please click here to vote for Diary of a New Mom!

Thanks!

I'm a Guest Blogger!

I am so excited to be guest blogging over at Baby To Go...

Harm is a really good friend of mine and she's done some amazing things with her blog - she's had appearances on a bunch of different blogs and written aritcles for a bunch of publications! She is also hands-down amazing for all the traveling she's done with her little one (who coincidentally is only days older than Jenna).  After our trip to Florida (for grandpa's 90th birthday),  I asked if I could write a little post about our trip...she said yes!
So please go check it out - and take a look around her blog  - it's pretty awesome!

If you're here from Baby To Go - check out a few of my favorite posts:

Letters to Myself
Mothers & Daughters
Pacifier Issues

Top Mommy Blogs just reset!

Please click here to put me in the top 50!

Wordless Wednesday

I am linking up for the first time with Angry Julie Monday for Wordless Wednesday

In Florida on vacation enjoying some cabana time with my little girl...I love this picture, even though my wrinkles are out.of.control!

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Sorry but my kid is awesome

I'm going to apologize ahead of time because honestly, after this past weeks craziness, I am so lucky to have an easy-going, laid back kid.  So seriously, stop reading right now if you don't want to hear about how great my daughter is or if you're going to hate me for it because she was amazing.

Here's a few highlights:

*Slept for an hour and a half on our flight down to Florida in Daddy's arms - this meant that not only was it 'easier' for us than entertaining her the whole time, but also that I got to chill and read my book and watch TV.

Sleeping baby on plane = very happy daddy & mommy

*When she got up - was perfectly happy to eat some snacks, flirt with the people sitting behind us, and color with her crayons.
* Although we messed with her typical schedule BIG TIME - she napped when we needed her to and went to bed at night (usually 2 hours after her normal bedtime) with no fuss
* Napped in her jogging stroller by the pool/beach - amazing because we got to hang with family, with each other and enjoy the pool and ocean without having to go back up to the room
                                                                                                          

*We ate dinner out both nights we were down there and she was amazing - ate her food, walked around a bit, but no fussing - We were totally prepared to be "those" parents who have to leave, but we weren't

*Our flight was delayed four hours -this meant that we were in the airport for close to 6 hours - this could have been a nightmare, but she was such a trooper -ran around with some other little kids and took an unexpected nap at a later hour which really helped keep us calm about the whole situation.

*Napped for almost the whole flight home and when we came home at 1:30am(!) she still went back to sleep for the night.

*Even though we had to wake her up in order to go upstate Saturday morning, she was such a happy girl all day, going from hand to hand and enjoying all the extended family's company.

Please don't hate me - I know we're lucky and on days when I forget or I'm feeling frustrated with her, I'll remember how great she was for us when we messed with her!

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Takin' Our Show on the Road

We're taking two trips this week:
Part 1 = Florida from Wed - Fri (flying)
Part 2 = Upstate NY for a Family Reunion (driving)

By the time this posts, we will have (hopefully) had a wonderful flight down to Florida and should be enjoying some beach/pool time as you read this...

But right now, I am in the midst of packing for the three of us to take a 3 day trip to Florida for hubby's grandpa's 90th birthday.  I don't know when a 3 day/2 night trip turned into using our largest suitcase, but I guess that's just what happens with a baby...In the days before parenthood, we probably would've packed two bookbags, carried it all on the plane, and called it a day.  Now it's making sure we have everything we need for Jenna - bathing suits, clothes, diapers, sunscreen, toys, books....(and hopefully we remember to pack some stuff for us too!) Her stuff takes up over half the bag and we're squeezing our stuff into the two corners.

Her stuff is taking over the bag

I have to keep reminding myself that this is a trip, not a vacation - As I've blogged about in the past (see this post), those are two very different things.  I actually reread that today to remind myself to manage my expectations with this trip.  It'll be great to see Jenna on the beach and hanging with her cousins who she's never met, and of course to celebrate the big 9-0! But to say it's going to be a relaxing beach vacation is probably a mistake.  I'm hoping she does well on the plane because the thought of three hours with a cranky baby does not sound like the best way to start a trip (sorry fellow Jet Blue-ers if this is the case). 

We're doing all we can to anticipate her needs for the plane, the hotel, and the driving that will take place all week...and hopefully we do a good job!

What's even more difficult is the fact that we come back on Friday, only to hit the road again on Saturday morning for a family reunion.  I'm definitely looking forward to this - there'll be all sorts of fun stuff for her to do once we're there, like pony rides and pool, but it'll definitely be a not-so-normal week.  I'm going to try to keep in mind that we're asking a lot of her this week, so if she's cranky or not sleeping as well as she normally does, well that's to be expected....

Looking forward to writing about our adventures when we get back!!

Car Tricks

We lived without a car for many years and about 2 months ago, we decided that it was time to get one - I'll need one for when I go back to work in September, but decided to get it earlier so we can enjoy the summer and get to places we want to go easier. 

That being said, Jenna was barely in a car for the first 12 months of her ilfe, so this whole car thing is kind of new to her and we're constantly trying to find ways to make it more pleasant for her (and for us!) 

This past weekend, we took several long car trips (6 to be exact) and I really don't like sitting in the back seat unless I absolutely have to.  So we got together a bag of tricks to help us out...
* Goldfish, mum mums, puffins, and anything else she could eat independently and that were not very choking-hazard-ish.  When we first got the car I swore she would never eat in it - how quickly I changed my tune!

* Baby Tad - It's big enough for her to hold onto and me to pick up if she drops it on the floor

* Music Together CDs - We kind of wanted to shoot ourselves after hearing them over and over, but it kept her happy and a happy baby = happy parents on long car rides!

* Cell phones - we give her old ones that still turn on to play with

With our new bag of tricks (and naps along the way) the car rides were actually pretty enjoyable!

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I'll Tumble for Ya!

Smiling as I write the title of this post but trust me when I say that I was not smiling when this happened.  And since Chris didn't want to hear the full story til I blogged about it...here it is...

Hubby and I stayed at our friends' house Friday night because they were all running the Spring Lake 5 on Saturday morning.  We had our alarms set (which I don't think we've done in 14 months) for 5 am...which woke all three of us up with a start. 

Now let me say this now - We live in an apartment and apparently supervising your child in an apartment is VERY different than supervising in a house (read: there are steps in a house). 

Our friends' three kids were still sleeping and we were kind of running around getting ourselves and Jenna ready.  I went into the bedroom and Mike went into the bathroom.  I thought he had her and he thought I had her.  Then we both hear the BOOM and WAHHHH!

:::OH SHIT:::

We rush out of our rooms to find Jenna lying on the landing of their stairs, wailing.  She must've rolled down, or flipped over, or just jumped over the 7 steps (we have no idea exactly what she did because we weren't there to see it).  We grab her and procede to 'whisper yell' at each other (since there are still three sleeping kids in the house), we fought over who's fault it was and who was supposed to be watching her....and well...we were both wrong...Truth is, neither one of us was watching her and thank god (and carpeting) she was okay. I know kids are resilient and tougher than we think they are but seriously that was some scary shit. 

Guest Blogging

Check out my guest blog over at Baby-To-Go...My girl Harm is in the midst of "Stroller Week" and today's my review of my Maclaren Techno XT...While you're there, look around a bit - it's all about travelling with baby in tow - seriously - if you're thinking about going somewhere with your kid, she's probably already done it (and has tons of advice about it)!

And her kid is super-cute! Enjoy!!

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Park Days = Exhaustion!

Took a little trip into Manhattan today...which involved some subway riding on the way there (with some terrible people who use the elevator and push in front of the strollers insetad of using the escalator - so freaking LAZY!!), some running around time at Borders (to kill some time), a delicious lunch at Alice's Tea Cup (buttermilk scone = heaven!), Central Park, and subway ride home (with some super nice people who helped us carry the strollers up the stairs). 

This may sound like a lovely, laid back day, but I am unbelievably EXHAUSTED!!! When did having lunch and hanging out at the park become exhausting activities?!!? Oh right...about 13+ months ago when I had a baby. 

Lunch was great, but not only am I feeding myself but I'm also feeding a ridiculously hungry toddler (if you saw her eat, you'd think I hadn't fed her in days - but it's more like minutes!).  And J can pretty much go from 'I'm so happy eating my lunch and smiling at everyone' to 'Get me out of this high chair NOW...I said NOW...Mommy NOW' in about 30 seconds.  At which point, it's "check please!' and out the door.  Sometimes I feel like I'm that rat on the wheely thing - always moving, always in a rush. 

And the park...I can't imagine why I'm tired after running around after her in a big grassy field (I can understand why people fence in their backyards and send their kids outside). 
But seriously, an amazing day - the weather was perfect, the company was awesome (I love the new friends I've made this past year), and J was such a good little girl...just one with a whole lotta energy!!

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Back to Being Mommy

Well my wish came true and we were probably one of the last flights out of NY on Thursday. I'm not going to lie and say it was easy leaving J behind...I cried from the minute we closed our apartment door until we got to the airport (and a couple of more tears shed throughout our time at the airport) but knowing she was in great hands made it easier (and calling to check in three times a day helped too!)

Although there was lots of snow we still made it to the airport in record time meaning we had almost three hours to kill before our flight took off and being that we were now officially just Mike and Melissa (and not Mommy and Daddy) - we bellied up to the airport bar and proceded to get our drink on...Most of the people in the bar were also heading to Vegas (it seemed to be the only flight that was still scheduled to take off) so it was a pretty rowdy bunch...

Vegas was great - the hotel was AMAZING, the shops, the food, the entertainment, the spa...spotting Troy Aikman working out at the gym...And the best part - getting to know my husband again. I mean that may sound silly to some people but with a baby at home at times we feel like we're living parallel lives. Many of our conversations revolve around baby J and we spend our time taking care of her - it was great for US to just be US for a few days.

As nice as it was to be away, it was just as wonderful to come home...my parents picked us up at the airport and J was sleeping in the car seat.  I could not take my eyes off of her - I know you're not supposed to wake a sleeping baby, but I wanted so badly for her to wake up and smile at me. I couldn't believe how much I missed her...When she woke up she didn't exactly cry out in excitement like I selfishly wanted her to but I can tell (or at least I'm telling myself) that she's really happy we're home and back to our "normal" routines.

I'll play along...just grabbed this from The Foster Family blog and boy do I have some wishes!!

You see, my husband and I are supposed to go on our first vacation without the baby (read: our first vacay in over a year!) We have a great trip planned to Vegas - we're staying at the Wynn and we're going to see Cirque du Soleil "O", we're going to get spa treatments, hopefully win some $$, eat well, sleep well, and relax. So my wish on this lovely Wednesday is that this snowstorm that they're announcing not mess with my trip tomorrow!!

Second wish, that baby J is good for Grandma Helen & Papa Bobby because they are so supportive of Mike and I going away and having some husband and wife time!

Trip vs. Vacation

My husband and I love to travel...in the years before J arrived we went to lots of places - some just a few hours drive from home (Boston, Newport, Philly) others further away (Pacific Northwest, Mexico, San Fran, Barcelona, Dominican Republic, Prague) just to name some.

Let me begin by saying that I will go anywhere anytime and not think about how much it costs - I think vacations are necessary, wonderful, and priceless! My husband, as much as he loves going and the feeling of being away, will always think about the dollar signs attached to traveling - this is our ongoing discussion...

Now that we have a baby - things are different (I'll post about all the things that are different another time) - but in this regard, we are down an income - although thankfully this hasn't affected our new lives that much, it does affect our traveling budget.

With that being said, we have taken J on a few trips (notice- I DO NOT call them vacations). We've been to Boston (by train), Philly a couple of times (by car & train) , and Colorado (by plane). We have upcoming trips planned to Florida as well. Trips with our daughter are great - I love seeing her in different places, taking in different sights, meeting different friends and family. But a vacation it is NOT. Let me note some reasons why these were not vacations:

Boston - J fell asleep in hotel-provided crib at 7:00 - what are we to do in a small hotel room with a sleeping baby at 7:00?!?!? Exactly...nothing - TV was on so low we could barely hear it...we were speaking in whispers and...well the things we used to do in hotel rooms were out of the question with our daughter sleeping 2 feet away from us....

Philly - stayed with my mother-in-law - took us over an hour to rock J to sleep - finally got her to fall asleep - moved her gently into the pack and play and realized it was too late to really enjoy the evening...good thing I didn't because she woke up at 5:30 ready to rock.

Colorado - J never got into the time change....it's a 3 hour difference - need I say more?!?

After Colorado - my husband actually agreed with me when I said "we need a real vacation." Surprisingly, we didn't even discuss money - I think he needs the rest and relaxation that a real vacation will provide for us even more than I do. My parents have offered to watch J so we know she'll be in great hands - They are firm believers in taking time to keep your marriage in tact. So with that hubby and I are off to Vegas in a few weeks...we're going to see a show, eat at good restaurants, get some spa treatments, win some money, and hopefully do those things that we used to do in hotel rooms...now if only I could stop worrying about leaving her for 4 days...