Zero more night nights!

Chris's view for the last 8 days has been this:

Kauai

Mine has been this:

our backyard

I'm not complaining but c'mon.  Someone got the short end of the stick, am I right? 

Chris's cousin, Rebecca, married her honey, Rob, in a gorgeous Hawaiian ceremony on Friday.  We were all invited but bringing a 2, 4, and 6 year old to Hawaii isn't our idea of a fabulous Peters Party of 5 vacation.  It was a very easy and quick decision to make - I would happily stay home while Chris went to be there and celebrate with his family. 

Chris left last Tuesday and returns today.  TODAY!  *cue the Hallelujah chorus*  That's 7 night nights and 8 days.  To be more accurate, that's 8 melt downs, 13 bouts of crying, 2 injuries, 6 karate classes, and 24 meals.  I'm super self-sufficient but with three little ones, it's just easier with daddy home. 

I'm fortunate that Lauren's favorite visitor, our sitter and helper, Miss Natalia, was available to help when I needed to be somewhere without a two year old (school function, doctor appointment, karate class).  Lauren loves Miss LaLa so that was a huge help to have her come when I needed her.

When I think about all the things I did - in addition to the regular ol' daily things - I'm thinking that Chris leaving was a good idea.  I seemed to have gotten a lot accomplished while he was gone.  I picked up all three kids' birth certificates.  What?  You have your kids' birth certificates?  Well, aren't you organized.  I hired painters to come and paint Lauren's room a pretty soft pink instead of the weird white-ish/blue-ish that it was.  I took Lauren to be fitted for this year's pair of Saltwater sandals.  (That may not sound like a biggie but she's two so it is).  I took the kids to have their passport photos taken.  We went to karate everyday, did big grocery shopping, got all the Easter goodies for their classrooms, blah, blah, blah.  I didn't get to the gym but I could only do so much and I had to set my priorities while he was gone and that wasn't one of them.

I am so thankful that Chris got to go.  First of all, he works so incredibly hard, he needed time to be away from the firehouse and from his office.  He still worked while he was in Hawaii, but it was a break from the normal 18 hour day he's used to.  He needed time away from the kids and the pace he keeps while he's here.  Secondly, he got to be with his family which, as we all know, is a rare thing once you become married and have your own family.  It's rare you are with just your parents and siblings and extended family.  That's a nice place to be without him having to be daddy.  He could just be.

We texted and Skyped and he kept up with how school went, how karate went, and how I was doing.  It was all good.  And it went by really quickly.  BUT, I'm really glad it's over.

Huge congratulations to Rebecca and Rob!