weekend

It was a special and unique weekend for our family. Eliana and her daddy had lots of q.t. together to do things like this:



While mama and her friends had lots of q.t. together to do things like this:

photo by nici


photos by casey

Why our family doesn't make choices like these more often is beyond me (but not at all because I'm not even skimming the surface of how hard it is for me to leave Eliana, still, of how much mama guilt I have when I work all week and then leave on the weekend, of how long it took me to decide to stay two nights, or how many conversations with Casey). Moving along. Jeff loved his alone time with his girl. He got some rockin' projects done around the house. He seemed rested and content when it was over.

Els loved every minute of her time with dad. Of course she was on her best behavior and didn't pull any of the multiple snarky tricks she pulls on me with frequency. I've heard this is the blessing of being a mama. She kept calling me, "Dada" the first hour I was home and clearly didn't seem too fazed by my absence.


And then there's me. Busy, ailing, big bellied at 13 weeks me, with ten thousand more blechy pregnancy symptoms than the first time around. And while it was a bummer that I couldn't enjoy a fat steak dinner, I could be still and present in my body in it's wild, altering state of upheaval. With my girlfriends. Without anyone asking for anything or needing to sit/stand/crawl on my lap. I wasn't interrupted. I wasn't asked for things multiple times. I could do exactly what I wanted at any moment.

When does that become so novel?

So thank you, honey, for being such an incredible dad. Thank you, girls, for making me laugh hard and slow down all at once.

And thank you Eliana, for being such a funny little lamb, willing to share the love.