Blessed Beyond Measure: The A Team Week 22: Vacation Preparations

Asher & Avery showing off their new sandals that Daddy bought them.

This week was a bit crazy, as we prepared for our first vacation as a family of four.

Nothing like a sweater and sandals!

Avery apparently decided that to prepare for our vacation he needed to catch up on some sleep and slept through the night TWICE this week (something he hasn't done since he was a newborn)!!

When I went to get Avery on Tuesday morning after he had slept the entire night before, I found this...A completely passed our baby, on his belly, with his arm hanging out of the crib and his music penguin playing music (he had somehow turned it on all by himself!).

Throughout the week, I spent almost every moment caring for my family and getting things ready to leave on Saturday. I worked, played with the kids, fed them, put them to bed (well Avery at least...Asher still only wants Daddy to do that. In fact, on Thursday night, Eric and I asked him who he wanted to read stories with him and then Eric said that his only options were Emma or Momma. Asher replied, "Emma"! :( The next few days, several people asked me how he liked Emma's stories!) and then packed. It took pretty much the entire week to get everything packed up and ready to go.

Video: MEAT...it's what's for dinner

Video: Avery would like some too...

On Wednesday, I am a little embarrassed to say that I put the kids in daycare for the morning, to spend a little time getting things vacation-ready for myself. First, since I had a gift card from a friend that was about to expire, I went and pampered myself with a mani-pedi. Then, I got myself a much-needed haircut and did a little returns/shopping at Kohls. Finally, I went and got the kids so that we could have lunch and nap time.

The end result of my mani-pedi. It's hard to tell in the photo, but my fingers & toes weren't the same. Toes where reddish pink and fingers were a coral color (not that anyone really cares).

After nap time, Asher wanted to do a "project" and I wanted to get the house cleaned up a little before we left (because coming home to a messy house is awful!). I had some old marshmallows that were WAAAAYYY past the expiration date, so I gave them to Asher along with some toothpicks and let him get to work. He enjoyed the "project" quite a bit, but wasn't fond of the marshmallows' stickiness or the residue they left on his fingers.

Avery trying to escape from his swing while Asher and I worked on our projects. I will admit a Mommy Fail: I rarely buckle him in the swing and last week when I turned around I heard him squeaking (not crying). I looked back to see what he was doing and found him on his belly on the floor. Thankfully, Asher had been trying to cover him with blankets earlier in the day, so he had a cushioned pad to land on. Today I watched him very closely out of curiosity to see how he was getting himself out of the swing. I thought it had been an accident and he had just wiggled his way out. Instead, he rolls himself on his belly and then uses his arms to push his way out. Now, he gets buckled in unless I am right there watching him.