7 Quick Takes: Life Lately

1.  It's Week 3 of solo parenting while Andi is away producing a photo shoot in Montana. The kids and I've had a good few weeks, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't ready for this week to be over. Mostly, I miss my husband who I've barely spoken with in 17 days. So looking forward to Friday!

2. Two weeks ago, Tory, Aden and I flew to Nebraska to spend time with my family. This is one of the greatest benefits to being a stay-at-home-mom to little kids with no concrete schedule and a husband who travels a fair amount for work (why, yes honey, we'd love to burn a few of your frequent flyer miles on flights to America's hottest tourist destination -- good ol' Nebraska!) There was no big reason for our visit other than seeing my parents, my siblings and my extended family. Our visit was very low key compared to our whirlwind road trip over Easter weekend. Both Tory and Aden were excellent travelers, as per usual. I always feel like a supermom after successfully hauling two kids, two car seats, one big suitcase and a diaper bag through the airport by myself. It takes a lot of organization and patience, but it's worth it!

While we were in Nebraska, we celebrated my nephew Caleb's 16th birthday and my dad's birthday, went to my niece Brooke's softball game and sat around my parents house for countless hours. I went to use my point-and-shoot camera the first day we arrived and realized the battery was dead, so I barely took any photos of our trip. #fail

3. One day during our time in Nebraska, my weather-bug of a mother let me know Minnesota was receiving some heavy rain. I made an off-handed comment about how I hoped our sump pump was still working back home as our yard tends to turn into a swampy lake whenever it rains a considerable amount. My mom suggested I call my mother-in-law and kindly ask her to stop by our house to make sure everything was okay and for some reason, I felt like maybe I should. Janie checked on our house later that evening and sure enough, our sump pump had failed and water was leaking in our basement! Luckily, Janie caught the mess early. I alerted Andi who was working in the middle of nowhere and he called a plumber to remedy the issue. My wonderful in-laws stayed up all night long sopping up water with towels, pulling up carpet, running fans and handling the plumber at our house. Many, many dollars later, we have a new sump pump and all is well again. Isn't homeownership fun?! (Ugh.)

4. The morning we left Nebraska, I woke up with a bit of a gurgly stomach. I felt fine - just off, but I made it through the day and Tory, Aden and I flew back to Minnesota without incident. By bedtime that evening, I felt absolutely horrible. I think I had the flu, or a virus or something. I quickly ran through a list of local friends and family who might be around to help with the kids while I was ill and almost everyone I could think of was either working, out of town or busy. Crap! Andi's parents to the rescue ... again. The next morning, I called Andi's dad who is retired and he came to my rescue a few hours later. Grandpa Jim watched Tory all day while I laid in bed. Luckily, Aden was content to play toys and snooze beside me throughout the day. That night, Tory ended up staying at Grandma and Grandpa's house so I only had Aden to care for. So grateful for my in-laws and all they do for us. (Also? I might have to get the flu more often. I rested more in those 24 hours than I have since Aden was born and it felt pretty darn nice.)

5. Last year, I worked to find the perfect Father's Day present for Andi. He is the most difficult person to buy for, so usually I don't even try to surprise him - I just ask him what he wants and I buy it. (Okay, together we decide on a gift idea and he usually buys it for himself). Anyway, I thought long and hard and ended up creating a custom flag to fly on our flag pole at the lake cabin. I was so proud of my idea until ... the old cabin owners randomly took back their flag pole two weeks later and we were left flag pole-less.

This year for his gift, Andi and I decided to buy a new flag pole to mount to the dock at the lake. I don't really know which one to get so I'm leaving it up to Andi to order it, but I felt guilty showing up to Father's Day on Sunday empty-handed. Yesterday, I saw something I thought Andi might like at COSTCO, so I picked it up for him. (If I think he'll like it, he probably won't ... that's how that usually goes). I also bought myself a new one-piece swimming suit during the same COSTCO shopping trip and I ate a piece of pizza while waiting in line to pay for my many bottles of wine. Who am I anymore? I guess convenience trumps all these days.

6. Since Andi's been gone, Tory's taken two steps backwards in learning to sleep in her own bed all night / every night. I put her to bed in her own room every night, but I've been very lax about making her stay there. My excuses are: I'm tired; I'm still waking up several times a night with Aden; I'm tired (did I say that one already?). I'm a little nervous to hear Andi's reaction when he returns home from his travels. (Hi honey! Don't be mad, ok?)

7. For the most part, the weather has been absolutely gorgeous. With a lighter calendar this summer, the kids and I have been spending lots of time outdoors. Today, we met a few of Tory's ECFE preschool class at the park for a play date and it was really fun catching up with all of them. As I drove home, I thought to myself how much I really enjoy this season of my life. I love being a mom to my kids; love being a wife (and can't wait to squeeze my husband tightly on Friday!); love being a suburbanite; love summertime.

Life is good.