Peace was Restored

So we survived our trip! Okay, we more than survived it, we actually had fun. First off, let me just say the bride was BEAUTIFUL, the groom was handsome and the wedding was rockin’! It was sooooo awesome to be able to spend time with family. I got to meet my ADORABLY chunky nephew Max, see my niece Macy, along with my sister and brother-in-law all the way from Cali! And of course the rest of the fam. – aunts, uncles, cousins and my Nana! All totally worth it. Despite the downs of the trip, the ups were UP and I AM definitely glad we made the trip.

Our flight there was pretty good minus a mid-flight meltdown. It was all going well, when Chloe, who could reach the seat in front of her with her feet, decided to frantically kick the poor woman’s seat. She had previously been patting it gently with her feet occasionally, but for some reason, she decided it was time to go full force. Not wanting to make the poor woman suffer, I tried desperately to get Chloe to stop kicking and even resorted to holding her feet still. This in turn resulted in Chloe screaming a delightful sound. At this point, I had to choose – annoy one passenger or the whole plane. Then we had our ah-ha moment! My mom, who was seated behind our row, offered to switch with the woman, who graciously accepted. Chloe was now allowed to kick away (which of course she didn’t) and we were all much happier. During this time, my two big kids thought it would be an appropriate time to argue with each other, just to test my sanity, I think. But within a few minutes of a near complete meltdown on all our parts, they all fell asleep and peace was restored.

We thoroughly enjoyed reuniting with family and enjoying time with my new nephew Max. At 6 months, he weighs in at a mere 20 lbs! For those of you not familiar with baby weights, that’s the average weight of a 1 year old. You go on about your bad self, big boy. After dinner with the whole gang, I put Chloe down for bed while Max and the 3 big kids hung out in my sister’s room. The sitters arrived and we headed out for a rockin’ evening with the wedding gang. It was a great time. We returned to the hotel around 12:45 to find Chloe WIDE awake, along with Xander and Macy. Fortunately Sadie and Max were asleep. I moved Sadie back into our room, which totally disrupted her sleep causing her to completely freak out for the next 20-30 minutes while Chloe screamed as I tried to get her to sleep. Chloe eventually feel asleep around 2 am only to wake at 7:30am when she FELL OFF THE BED and onto a wrought iron table. She has a beautiful scraped nose to show for it. I was able to get her back to sleep and once again peace was restored.

The hotel was great with an arcade and kids water park. Everyone had a blast playing in the water area. The kids took full advantage of it both Saturday and Sunday. The wedding was Saturday night and the kids had a complete meltdown after the ceremony while waiting for food. When we discovered it would be passed food we decided to head to the burger joint next door to feed the kids. BEST move we could have made. Within 20 minutes they had smiles back on their faces and were ready to return to the festivities. I do regret not getting a sitter for the wedding, as the music was LOUD and it was late and too much for Chloe. The big kids were fine, but Chloe was a little over-stimulated and it was too hard for her to get around with all the people. But it all worked out in the end and we had a WONDERFUL time. The DJ was phenomenal and the bride was just so beautiful. And Sadie got to go to her first wedding ever. :)

After the wedding we had another evening of dealing with Chloe screaming and refusing to go to sleep, especially since she napped at the wedding. Xander rose to the occasional and spent about an hour with me trying to get her to sleep. He even pushed her stroller up and down the hall in his PJs while I rested in bed. After he got back, he set up the DVD player with Baby Signing Time, put her in her stroller to watch and said “Mom, you go to sleep, I got this”. He’s awesome. She eventually fell asleep and we moved her into the bed between Xander and me. Once again, peace was restored.

Sunday was the day –after party at the bride’s parents’ house, my aunt and uncle. We all had a GREAT time, despite Chloe waking up with a cold. My mom followed Chloe around most of the time, giving me some respite! The kids were great and we even got some alone time with my cousins and aunt and uncle after it was all over. I used to live near them when I went to college so they are a VERY VERY special family to me. After the party, we headed back to the hotel and now it was Sadie’s turn to have a complete meltdown. And we’re talking COMPLETE. Kicking, yelling, hitting. . . you name it, she did it. It lasted for what seemed like forever, but finally did end. And I was able to get Chloe to sleep without much fight AND put her in her pack’n’play. And yet AGAIN, peace was restored.

We headed home on Monday after a lovely breakfast with my sister and her family. The flight home was uneventful, even pleasant. The plane was bigger so Chloe’s feet couldn’t reach the seat in front of her. She even slept. And although I spent the majority of the weekend having some sort of anxiety or another, especially when thinking about our family reunion TRIP to ND and MT this summer (anxiety about the trip itself, NOT the reunion LOL), I felt such a sense of accomplishment on the flight home. I did it. I survived. We ALL survived and like I said, even had fun! So even though we’ll be away for 10 days next time, I think I can do this. ;)

Pictures to follow in next post!