Home Sweet Home

Tory and I are back from our whirlwind weekend trip to Nebraska and bonus! Husband came home from his work trip two days early this week. Guess what else? I SURVIVED solo parenting last week and hardly worse for the wear, I might add. The time really did fly by.

On Thursday, Tory and I hopped a late flight to see my family in Nebraska for a few days. I'm so thankful I made plans ahead of time to visit them, knowing I'd be moping around my house all weekend otherwise. It created a nice distraction from barely talking to Andi all week. (We don't usually talk when Andi travels for work. He's busy, time changes and late work dinners usually get in the way, and I don't think I'd offend him if I admitted neither of us enjoy talking on the phone all that much). (On a side note,  I seriously don't know how our relationship survived long-distance the first year we were together). 

This was my second time flying with Tory by myself and it went relatively smoothly, considering the timing. Evening flight options to Lincoln are limited so we were booked on the 9:55pm flight home. Poor Tory was so tired, but refused to close her eyes for even a minute for fear she might miss one piece of action in the airport. Now up 3 hours past her bedtime, she finally tuckered out after 10 minutes of crying once the plane took off. In case you're wondering, I didn't have a boob-isode on this trip. Just my luck, I was seated next to a 30's-something guy again but this time I politely introduced myself and explained Tory *should* be asleep shortly; to please bear with us. I brought my nursing cover which Tory still wouldn't allow to be over her head but at least provided enough fabric to shield my chest from the rest of the plane. The man seated next to me was very friendly (and sort of drunk, I think) and said he had 3 kids so he understood completely. I decided not to care if he could see my boobs or not; it is what it is when you're seated so closely. Who knows if this guy was uncomfortable with my nursing. I didn't pay enough attention to care. My parents picked us up from the airport and Tory slept the 30-minute drive to their house so while disjointed, she did get some sleep throughout the night.

My parents took the day off work on Friday and we drove back to Lincoln for a day of shopping. Strangely enough, this was Tory's first real shopping adventure - at 6 months old! I'm not a big mall person (I much prefer buying online) and I didn't realize until afterwards she'd never actually been to the mall (except during our trip to see Santa). Tory did great, though. I carried her in the Baby Bjorn and she loved watching all the people. I even bought her a little outfit she pulled off the rack at Old Navy because it was cute and I'm pretty sure she wanted it. (Mama = wrapped around Tory's finger).

Later that night, my sister came over for dinner at my parent's house and after Tory went to bed, we sat out on the patio and drank cocktails. Who would've imagined we'd be sitting outside enjoying the beautifully warm Nebraska weather in MARCH? It was wonderful.

Saturday was more of the same; we lounged around my parent's house for the better part of the day. Saturday evening, I drove back to Lincoln to meet up with my best friend Ashley for some much-needed girl time. We got pedicures and went out to dinner. I heard later Tory was somewhat of a pistol going to sleep for my parents which I felt guilty about. I'm sure she was overly tired from traveling and not being on her regular schedule.

My family went to church on Sunday and celebrated my sister's boyfriend confirmation into their church at a reception hosted at her house. Tory and I were able to see my extended family before we left town which I loved. It's so fun to see all the little cousins (Brooke and Lauren) play together and interact with Tory, too. I'm thankful we get to see them as much as we do considering we live so far away. My parents took us back to the airport later that afternoon, and Tory was a peach on the entire flight home. I think she was exhausted from all the excitement of the weekend.

This week Tory and I enjoying our time at home with Daddy, who cut his trip short and came home on Monday. It's still crazy-beautiful weather in Minnesota this week and Andi and I have been taking advantage with walks around the neighborhood and dinner on the three season porch. Ah, springtime I've missed you!

So, I survived my week of solo parenting and surprisingly it wasn't too difficult after all. Andi's home this week and then gone again and although I'm not looking forward to him being away, I'm not dreading it like I was this last trip. Sure, I won't be able to jet-set to Nebraska every time he leaves but I also realize Tory and I will find plenty of things to occupy our time.