'Mom mode'

For the first time since Liam's  birth I took off and went out of town without my family. It was scary, entertaining, and dispite a full schedule of family wedding festivities in Atlanta,  relaxing.  I didn't have to worry about nap times or packing graham crackers and sippy cups on me at all times.  It was nice to deactivate "mom mode" for a bit. I got to be a sister, a friend, a daughter, a cousin. It was nice to enjoy the moment and also enjoy my family without being loaded with responsibilities.  .  I met up with my BYU freshman roomate for breakfast in my hotel lobby and we laughed about good times. I wore a bright red dress, stayed out 'til 1 am, and even danced under a crystal chandelier with my mission-bound, little brother Jake.   

I think that my carefree weekend vacation was a dose of good kharma for past mothering behavior.  I have weathered more discouraging airport and airplane meltdowns than is reasonable. My anecdotes always involve crying and sometimes include strangers handing me coloring books, food, an additional arm, and mental health advice. The most recent time I was coming home from Fairbanks, Alaska- I was by myself dragging 3 small, tired, children through 4 airports during the midle of the night.  One kid had an antibotic resistant ear infection, the others needed an emergency change of clothes mid flight- one from pee the other from apple juice. It was an ugly experience and it knocked the wind out of me.  I think it took this two day vacation, 2 months later, for me to recover. 

The classiest of weddings

I love a good wedding.  My cousin Brandon married his wife Lauren last weekend in Atlanta Georgia, and I have never seen a couple so excited to be wed.  The weekend celebrations were the product of hundreds of hours of fastidious planning, prepping, working.  The venue was beautiful, the bride was gorgeous, the flowers were incredible, the food, the music, the announcements, the cakes, the reception held at an old plantation, it was all lovely.

 

 

Finding Gems

 Iowa is not sexy but there is ample amount of simple, home-spun charm to experience. The kids and I are on a hunt for Iowa gems- they aren't obvious, but they're there. So far man-made lakes, a fossil bed, and Herbert Hoover's estate and presidential library top the list.  Luckily my kids are wildly entertained by simple things- parks, minnows, and playing with the garden hose.

Iowa Kids

 The kids are happy as clams- happy with their schools, happy with their new room, happy with their new life.  For the first few months living in a new place it always feels like stepping into someone else's life.  It seems like you're living in a house that isn't quite yours, sleeping in someone else's room and raiding their fridge. We're still not quite sure how we want to organize our cupboards and I will probably miss the turn for our street several more times before I finally get it right, but those things will come.