Good morning and happy Friday, friends!
A little recap from yesterday…
While I fed Quinn, Mal cooked us breakfast (scrambled eggs with ham and cheese). Quinn’s two front teeth are coming in, so the poor little guy wasn’t loving his bottle like he normally does. However, he loved these Super Puff things that my sister gave me (Matthew apparently loved them at Quinn’s age), so he ate a bunch of those, slowly with the sides of his mouth, and then ended up finishing his bottle later in the morning.
The pug (creep) positioned himself in a prime location for any sort of dropped food. Clearly, we starve this dog. Haha!
Thursdays are daycare days, so I dropped off Quinn, swung by Marylou’s for an iced coffee (hey, it’s on the way home), and then ate second breakfast (crock pot steel cut oatmeal with Greek yogurt, banana, dried cranberries, sliced almonds, and peanut butter) while getting down to business. I usually schedule all sorts of appointments and random errands on our daycare days, but I quickly realized I wasn’t getting very much work done, so yesterday was my first day totally devoted to blog-related things and, holy cow, I got a lot accomplished!
About an hour or so before I headed out to run, I ate half of a baked sweet potato with almond butter. It didn’t look very appetizing, so I didn’t snap a pic, but it was sure delicious. And satisfying! Sweet potato + nut butter sits in my stomach like a rock.
My run went really well. It’s a “stepback” week in my marathon training, so my long run was only an hour. The weather was pretty nice (a balmy 37 degrees), so I ran outside… 30 minutes away from my house and 30 minutes home. I totally dressed too warm and ended up stopping after about 1.5 miles to take off my jacket. I was sweating like crazy! After that, I felt so much better.
When I returned, I chugged a protein shake (SFH + iced coffee + water) and then threw together a bunch of random leftovers for a late lunch. In the mix: Mashed potatoes, ground chorizo, Sweet Potato Shepard’s Pie, green beans, and buffalo sauce. Throw in bowl + nuke = lunch done in minutes!
After lunch, I worked a little more and then packed for my first blog trip away since having Quinn. I’m spending a couple of days at Canyon Ranch (I visited back in 2013 and loved it), which I’m obviously super excited about, but, at the same time, I know I’m going to miss my little peanut so much. As cheesy as it sounds, I feel like a piece of me is missing when I’m not with him. Mal has all sorts of fun things planned for the two of them this weekend, but I know I’m still going to rush home as soon as I can on Sunday when the trip is over.
Question of the Day
Moms: Do you remember your first trip away from your little one? How’d it go? Any advice?
P.S. Be sure to enter my giveaway to win a Happiness Board!
41 Comments
Husbands that can cook for you are the best husbands. 😀
That’s gotta be tough being away for the first time. There’s always FaceTime. Thanks goodness for technology. Have a fun time!
Best to do it now…it will be hard but for both of you if you do it occasionally as the kids are growing up it will be so much easier and better all round. The lads can have some bonding time and you can relax and enjoy adult time! 🙂
haven’t had a trip from my little before… i’m sure you and him will do just fine 🙂 🙂 good thing for facetime and good thing it’s not for too long!
I’ve never tried nut butter on a sweet potato but that sounds good 🙂 hope the little guys teeth aren’t bothering him too much! I remember it was so exciting when my first daughter started eating “real” food like Cheerios and things.
Hi Tina, although my kids are bigger now…it is always hard as a new mom to be away from your little one the first time..i have a quick question about your meals, i notice you eat twice in the morning, approximately how much food is in the bowl?about 1/2 cup or so? that must keep your energy up. thank you
That was one serving of steel cut oats, so about 3/4 cup-ish (1/4 cup uncooked). Here’s the recipe: http://carrotsncake.com/2015/01/crazy-easy-crock-pot-steel-cut-oatmeal.html
My first trip away was to visit my best friend for the weekend. It was actually WAY better than expected because we were having fun and my husband facetimed morning and night and sent lots of pictures. I still haven’t managed to take a non-fun trip without him (i.e. a week long training class for work – my husband and son ended up traveling with me) and he is 2!
I love almond butter on sweet potatoes. It’s a great snack. Canyon Ranch sounds wonderful. Enjoy!
Enjoy your first trip away! It’s definitely not going to be a walk in the park but you have to get it over with eventually. The boys will be having their own fun. Enjoy your weekend 🙂
Sending good vibes your way for the weekend! I’m sure it will be tough to be away, but it’ll be that much sweeter when you see Quinn on Sunday :). I’m going to make your crockpot steel cut oats today to meal prep for the weekend!
All I can say is thank goodness for FaceTime! My mother in law said she used to travel with a picture and kiss it every night. How sweet!
I definitely think you’re super brave for leaving him. It’s actually kind of sad, but I haven’t spent a night away from my daughter yet (and she’s 2 years and 2 months old today). We would do a lot of days and evenings away from her for dinners and concerts, but never a full night. Hopefully sometime soon! Hope you have a great trip!
Aw, it’s not silly at all to feel sad about leaving your little baby! I didn’t do my first overnight away from my daughter until she was 2.5, mainly because she was still nursing and the logistics of it were too much of a PITA to justify it for me (I haaaated pumping and avoided it whenever possible). I guess that’s the nice thing about formula feeding, anyone can feed Q!
It was also hard because I work full time and since I was already away from my sweet girl 8 hours a day/5 days a week, I couldn’t fathom leaving her for longer than I already was for the longest time. In fact, I still race home the second I can to see her… 8 hours is still such a long, long time away from her! My parents have now taken my daughter for a few sleepovers so much husband and I can get in some date nights, and as wonderful as it is to get that quality time in with my husband, we both end up missing her by the next morning (although she always has so much fun with grandma and grandpa she doesn’t even notice that we’re gone, ha!). Good luck with several days away… I don’t think I could have handled it with such a little baby, it makes me so so glad I never have to do work trips! It must be tough for you, although I guess a spa trip does sound fun!
My moms friends baby choked and almost died on those same puffs. Obviously any food can be an issue, even adults choke but I just want to say be extra careful with starting those puffs so early.
This trip will be a great bonding time for the boys, and it will make your coming home so much sweeter. It’s good for both of you. Enjoy it!
Hubby and I are both about to be away from our almost 6 month old, and I have no idea how I’m going to do it! I’ve never been away from him for longer than 7 hours.
I had preeclampsia which returned a couple days postpartum so I had to be re admitted. Unfortunately, the baby and my husband couldn’t really stay so they went home. I felt like my heart was tearing in half. Similarly when the baby had to be in the jaundice light box and we couldn’t take her out. I’ve never felt such raw helpless feelings.
After we got home things got took a 180 and I immediately felt comfortable going out alone. During out family leave, we even took a quick trip to Vegas. I think the key here was that the baby stayed with someone else that lives with us (grandma) and not someone that’s strange.
I went back to work at 6 weeks and even though I have pangs of longing by the end of the day, it’s what works best for me.
I shared in the hopes that people like me don’t feel guilty for not always feeling guilty. I hope your trip goes well. There’s always Skype for you 🙂
The first trip I took alone after my son was born was when he was 15 months old and my parents told me that they were going to have to put our family dog down. I decided to go home within an hour and it wasn’t the greatest trip – I didn’t realize until I got there that I never had been without Max before.
The only times I have ever been without Max are for when I have to take my school and competitive track teams to away meets (roughly 2x a year). I just exchange one toddler for 20+ teens instead 😉 I remember the first trip, my friend (whose baby as only 1 week older than mine) and I talked all the way to the meet about our kids, so that was nice. Max is three and I have yet to take a non-work related (with supervision of other people’s kids) trip yet
I don’t have human children but I’ll never forget my first night sleeping without my furry child (dog). It was horrible. Took me 5 years before I could actually go on vacation for an entire week. I’m leaving him for the weekend next weekend when I go skiing and I’m already sad.
With my first, I didn’t have any weekends away until I gave birth to my second. I had a few nights away, and as much as I forced myself to enjoy them, there was still that “missing a piece of me” feeling in the back of my mind.
With my second, I was forced to go on a job trip the week before she turned 1 and it broke my heart. She was breastfed only, so I spent my entire 5 days away pumping bottles and dumping them so that my supply would stay up. Luckily I had enough frozen to get her through the time I was gone. Once again, I had to force myself to enjoy my downtime during that week and I was pretty much in tears when I thought about my kids.
It was nice and “warm” yesterday! So jealous you get to go to Canyon Ranch! We went to Cranwell recently for our 5 year anniversary and it was lovely. I can only imagine what Canyon Ranch is like! Can’t wait to hear the details!
Just as an update on your happiness board, I turned the white board in our kitchen into one yesterday and while I thought my husband would think it was silly, this morning he wrote on it! Granted the first thing he wrote was a smart ass comment, but then he actually wrote something for real. Thanks for the idea it was super cute 🙂
That’s awesome!! 🙂
My first trip away from my little one is planned for March this year I am nervous and excited about it. I know it will be fun but I will crazy miss her!
I am taking my first trip away in March for a week and my kids are 5 and 7 eeeeek! So I’ll need your advice!!! lol
I can’t wait to hear about Canyon Ranch, I’ve always wanted to go!!
Enjoy your weekend away and the time for YOU! It’s so important when you have a child to take care of yourself. My first trip away from my son was a week-long work trip when he was 6 months old. It was so hard to leave him but once I was gone I just tried to embrace the rare alone time. AND when I got home my husband was super appreciative and honestly seemed a little overwhelmed 🙂
Tina, I love how you throw a bunch of leftover food together and call it a meal. I do that too – I always say my favorite types of foods are “conglomerates.” (Soup, mashy things, nachos…) My husband thinks everything needs to be separated and thinks I’m crazy. I say it’s all going to my tummy anyway!
Agreed! Food that is separated is so boring! Haha! 😄
Oh cool! Gina is on that trip too. Neat! I can’t wait to hear about it!! 🙂
Hi Tina–can you recommend a good workout headband that stays in place? Where do you get those big/thicker ones? I have a few sweaty bands…thx!
Junk bands! They’re the best! 😄ðŸ‘
sweet potato + almond butter+ tons of saigon cinnamon (I get it from Costco). I am so addicted!
Yummmm!
It’s totally healthy and good for the both of you to have a day or two apart every once in a while! The girls had their first sleepover at my mom’s around 6 months old, and I took my first weekend trip when they were about 8 months old. I hate the time away, but it’s quite refreshing! 😉 Have fun!!!
I think the first time away from my son was when I was in the hospital with my daughter. My first time away from both of them was for a wedding when my daughter was 8.5 months old and my son was 3. We weren’t even gone 24 hours but it was really nice to sleep in. The only bad part was all the pumping!
I don’t think that sounds cheesy at all, and I know exactly how you feel!! I do think it will be an awesome trip for the two of you though 🙂 You deserve it mama!!!
I remember the first trip away with both my kids. Both times it was for a scrapbook weekend away with my girlfriends, both times I got teary leaving them, but both times by the time I was there I was just enjoying myself!! I was excited to get home to them on Sunday, but I realized quickly how nice it was to be away and just worrying about myself for a few days! Enjoy it!!
ah, the first trip away is so so hard. but its also so important to have some down time to recharge. its the most bittersweet internal battle. i wish i could tell you it gets easier… i think the actual mental preparation for leaving does, but i’m always ready to rush back to them the second my flight departs. hope you were able to enjoy the weekend!
Baked sweet potato + nut butter is the way to go. I love it with coconut butter and cinnamon too! Makes for a good, filling breakfast either alone or with a green smoothie