Girlymama

Can you guess the celebrity I spotted last night?

Our hotel is amazing! We're staying at the Hilton Grand at the Flamingo  Resort. Our 'room' is actually a one-bedroom villa that is about the size of our first apartment. Only much, much nicer. (Do you think they would notice if I packed up the kitchen in my suitcase and brought it home with me?)

Last night, we went out on the town and I saw what felt like most of the strip. My poor feet. We went to the Flamingo, MGM Grand, New York New York, Planet Hollywood Casino, Excalibur, Mandalay Bay, Bellagio, and Luxor. I saw so many 'classic' Vegas stops, like the fountain show at the Bellagio. So cool. 

And people watching here can't be beat. We were absolutly hysterical last night. You see anything and everything here! Not to mentin there was some kind of stripper convention going on at one of the casinos, so you can only imagine the outfits. Ahem!

I think that Mandalay Bay was my favorite casino. It was so gorgeous inside. We had an amazing dinner there at Lupo by Wolfgang Puck. My husband had a pasta with the absolute best sauce I've ever tasted in my entire life. And the drinks! There was a pear martini that was positively dangerous. And our waiter got the bartender to make me an off-menu wildberry cosmo that was fantastic. 

(We also had drinks and an appetizer earlier that night at the Bellagio at Noodle that was wonderful. We were tempted to order dinner there too, but it was only like 4pm. We may be old, but we're not ready to eat dinner that early!)

Today we're heading over to the resort. If its half as nice as this, I'll be a happy gal!

you are the biggest surprise of my life.

you surprised the heck out of me when i discovered i was ten weeks pregnant with you.

you surprised me when you decided to arrive 5 weeks early.

you surprised me when you become crawled at 5 months.

you surprised me when you gave yourself a concussion at 16 months.

you surprised me when – after we had you tested because of speech delay – you suddenly broke out in full sentences.

you constantly surprise me with your reasoning, which seems flawless to you, but is actually remarkably hilarious.

you surprise me with you goofy sense of humor.

you surprise me by climbing into our bed without our even noticing it until morning.

you surprise me with your sweetness.

you surprise me with your courage, just when i'm sure you will chicken out, you make yourself do something that frightens you.

you surprise me with your thoughtfulness, with your fierce protection of your siblings and your faith.

you are my greatest surprise.
i love you.

Guess whose husband was all sneaky and sweet and upgraded her to FIRST CLASS?

That's right. MINE!

I'm off to enjoy getting spoiled….

Tomorrow I'm leaving for Las Vegas for 3 days. Without my kids. This will be my first night away from Colin.
Ever.
In his whole, entire 17-month life.

I had left my other kids overnight by now. Ellie, I left because I was having another baby and all. Gracie, I think I left for a funeral. I've never left a baby this early and certainly never left a baby for something as frivolous as Vegas!

I was cuddling him this morning, kissing his soft, warm, pudgy cheeks and I almost cried. What am I going to do without him? Even when I am dying to get away from him, suffocating in motherhood, I still miss him when I leave. Goodness, I miss him when I go to the grocery store. And when I call to check on him? And hear him in the background talking ("Ma-Ma! MAMA!")? Oh, how my heart squeezes.

And when I come home and he sees me and runs towards me with his arms out and gives me a gigantic hug… sigh…

And I'll miss my girls, of course. Gracie was crying this morning, hugging me and
saying how much she was going to miss me. "What will I do without you,
Mommy?" she sobbed. "Who will I snuggle with in the morning?"  Don't even get me started on the fact that I will be gone on Thursday, which is Gracie's birthday.

So, this week I've learned that sometimes its hard to put yourself or your husband first. Sometimes its hard to turn off the Mommy and be Wife. Or Self.

I know I'm going to have fun and enjoy the time alone with my husband. I know how important this is to my marriage. And how I'll be a better mommy after having a break. And I know I need a break – believe me, I am really looking forward to this trip.

But I'm still going to miss my babies.

Kissing those cheeks goodbye at the airport and hearing him cry "Mama" as I walk away from him is going to break my heart.

More What I Learned This Week posts here.
 

Look what arrived in the mail:

I'm so happy. I know its just a cosmetic bag. But it has my make-up in it. And my glasses. And my perfume. And my favorite hair goop stuff that I love. 

Now I can go camping in a tent and 'rough it' as well as the next girl. And its not like I even wear much make-up on a daily basis. But not having ANY was a bit much for me to deal with. Because my beloved Target could not replace my essential makeup product: the best concealer in the world.

I opened it up and immediately sprayed on my perfume. Who thought I would miss that teeny-tiny ritual of perfume?

Sigh. I feel like myself again.

And I am eagerly awaiting being reunited with my ceramic flat iron, i mean, my husband in Las Vegas tomorrow.

We went camping recently and decided to pull an Ina and "turn up the volume" on an old favorite!

Traditional S'mores are made with graham cracker, marshmallow and Hershey's chocolate. Please tell me you've had these before, or I will feel so bad for you that I will drive right to your house, build a fire in your backyard and make you some.

But try these variations:

Mexican S'mores
Cinnamon graham crackers, marshmallow and dark chocolate

Raspberry S'mores
Graham cracker, marshmallow, dark chocolate and fresh raspberries

Peanut Butter S'mores
Graham crackers, marshmallow, and Reese's peanut butter cup

The verdict:
The Mexican and Raspberry s'mores were good, but the Peanut Butter S'mores were the true hit of the evening. I may never eat a regular s;more again!!

I went in looking like this:

And came out looking like this:
 

Notice how the dead rats nest is gone! Notice how the two inches of exposed roots are nicely blended in! My hair feels so great 🙂 But – wow – I didn't realize how much I cut off until I saw that picture from the back!!  Its a "lob" – long bob – that is longer in the front and shorter in the back and is a light ashy brown, as opposed to dark blonde. Getting ready for fall, you know!

Please forgive the lack of my flat iron, usual shampoo and make-up (notice there are no face shots here).

We made it to Ohio in 7 hours and 45 minutes.  We were less than 15 minutes from home when Ellie first asked "Are we in Ohio yet?" and Colin threw his blanket behind him and screamed because I couldn't reach it.

We will not speak of it again. Thank you.

I was unloading the car at my mom's house, when I made a discovery. A horrible discovery.

I forgot a bag. The bag. The bag with all of our toiletries. ALL of our toiletries.

We have no toothbrushes, no hair bands. No shampoo, no make-up. No vitamins, no diaper rash creme. No diaper wipes, no hair detangler. No hair brush, no ceramic flat iron. (!!!) None of my jewelry, no pills. (As in pills that I MUST take every day! Those pills!)  ACK!!!

Of all the things to forget! Not clothes, that we could have borrowed from a neighbor with kids or the kids' zillions of books and stuffed animals. I've traveled all over the place so many times and this is the first time I've forgotten something!

So I just went to Target and spend approximately three hundred zillion dollars buying all new toiletries we needed for two weeks.  ANNOYING!

I would much rather have spent that money on a pedicure for my trip. Boo.