Last week was unusually busy for our family. We were on the go every.single.day! And by the end of the week, we were all pretty over it. I'm trying to keep this week a little more low key.
Here is how our week went...
Monday, the kids and I went to the Zoo with my best friend and her three daughters. Tuesday I took Johanna and Ethan back to my sister after watching them for almost two weeks.
On May 2, Nathan's
grandmother passed away. Her funeral was scheduled for Thursday, May 8. We left for Pennsylvania Wednesday at 11AM. We
arrived in PA around 5PM. We got checked into our hotel and then headed
out to dinner. The kids were so tired of sitting, Liam hadn't had a nap,
and Alanna had only slept off and on. Ruy was super good through the
entire dinner, but Alanna cried almost the whole time, and Liam...well he was
cranky, had no desire to sit, and didn't really like his dinner. I split
my dinner with Liam, and I had to agree with him, it was pretty bad. Liam
and Alanna ended up crying so loud, that I decided to just take the kids
outside and let them run around.
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| The boys on the way up to PA |
After the kids ran around for a few minutes, we headed back up to the hotel room. We gave the kids a bath and
got them ready for bed. Nathan's Mom sent us a message letting us know
that everyone was meeting up at Friendly's at 8:15PM for ice cream. Ruy
and Liam really wanted ice cream, and we don't get to see Nathan's family very
often, so I decided to go. Friendly's gave the boys balloons so that kept
Liam pretty happy the whole time we were there, which ended up being about an
hour and a half.
We got the boys to bed just before
10PM. I nursed Alanna to sleep in bed with me, and after the boys fell asleep, I
moved her into her crib. I didn't sleep well the whole night. Ruy
and Liam woke up at 6:15AM. I tried till almost 7AM to get them back to
sleep but finally gave up when Alanna woke up. I turned on Curious George
and started getting ready for the Viewing. We all got ready, had
breakfast, and arrived at the Viewing just before 10AM.
The Viewing was from 10-11AM. I
spent the hour talking with some of Nathan's family, but mainly just trying to
keep Liam from messing anything up. The service started at 11AM.
Liam munched on some goldfish through the whole thing, so he was pretty
content. It was a beautiful service. Nathan's Gran was a wonderful
person. She was a great Christian, wife, mother, grandmother, and
friend. She was loved by so many people. I wish I could have known
her better than I did. She had Alzheimer's and when I met her five years
ago, it was just starting to become really noticeable. I am thankful for the time I did get to spend with her though, and I know she will be missed terribly.
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| This is the last picture we had taken of us with Nathan's Gran. Her first and only time meeting Alanna. This was earlier this year. |
We went to Nathan's Uncle's house for
lunch from 1-3PM, and then headed back home. Liam slept on and off for about an hour but that was all. He does not sleep well in the car. Alanna doesn't sleep well in the car van either. She either wants her crib, my bed, or the Ergo. I had to sit in the back of the van next to her the whole way home to keep her from screaming. We got home at 8:30PM, unloaded the van, and got the kids to bed.
Friday, Nathan's brother Mike was graduating from Medical School. We left the house at 10:30AM to meet up with Mike, his wife Andrea, and Nathan's parents for lunch at 11AM. We were at the restaurant until 12:45PM. After two days of traveling, and sitting through dinners and funerals, my kids were not really excited about another day of sitting still. The boys were very good through lunch though. Alanna was not so happy. She was really exhausted. She had slept 13 hours Thursday night, trying to catch up on her sleep. I had to wake her up 10 minutes before we left for lunch. So she cried through most of lunch on Friday.
We took the boys to a park for about an hour before we had to go to Mike's graduation. The graduation started at 3PM, and lasted until 5PM. I knew Liam was not going to sit through a two hour long graduation after going without a nap for three days. I was right...he lasted all of about 30 minutes. I spent the rest of the time trying to get Alanna to fall asleep in the Ergo, and playing with Liam out in the hallway. There were about 10 other mothers out in the hall, doing the same thing as me. Nathan spent the last 45 minutes helping me with Liam. He was able to go back in and see Mike graduate.
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| Nathan's brother Mike, and Mike's wife Andrea. |
The boys were hungry again by the time the graduation ended, so we all went to Cook Out for dinner and milkshakes. Alanna had really had enough by this point. She was trying so hard to go to sleep in my arms, but she just could not relax. She finally stopped crying when Nathan's dad gave her a taste of his ice cream! She loves ice cream! Every time I give her a little taste, she cries for more, and reaches for it. We finally headed home around 7:30PM. We got the kids to bed, watched a show, and then crashed.
Saturday morning, Ruy had a baseball game at 9AM!!! Seriously! I was really wishing it was an afternoon game when I woke up at 6AM. It turned out to be a very nice morning though. It was beautiful outside, and I love watching Ruy play, so it was all good.
We went home, and Nathan left straight away to go work on a project with our Church. I had just put a pizza in the oven for lunch when Nathan came home. It was only 12PM. I hadn't expected him home till around 2PM, but the project that the church group was working on had fished up early, and was done by the time he got there. I could tell when I saw him that he had something on his mind...
Nathan's graduation from Liberty University was that afternoon, but he had decided weeks ago that he didn't want to go. I had a feeling a few days before Saturday, that he was kind of wanting to go though. So when he got home Saturday, I asked him "are you wanting to go to your graduation?" He said yes, but wasn't sure if we could make it on time. We would need to leave at 12:30PM to get to his graduation on time!!! I rushed around like a crazy person for thirty minutes...feeding everyone, packing up the diaper bag, grabbing extra outfit changes for Alanna and Liam, snacks, water, Nathan's uniform, the Ergo, toys, etc. We left at 12:40PM!!! I think that was the fastest we ever got every one ready and out the door.
We made it to Liberty in good time, but the traffic was terrible once we got into the parking area. It took us about 45 minutes to get through traffic and get parked. You can imagine how tired the kids were all feeling at this point. I had to sit in the back of the van with Alanna again. Once we parked, we had a good walk before we reached the building where Nathan was graduating in. We got into the building 15 minutes before the graduation started! We felt pretty good about that.
I just stayed up on the very top section so that Liam could move around. We could see Nathan from where were were at though. He sat on the back row to make it easy for us to find him. I was so proud of him when I heard his name being called! The boys and I cheered for him. Nathan worked so hard for this. I can't tell you the hours he spent writing papers long after the kids and I were fast asleep! And he did it on top of working two jobs. He is such a hard working man!
Sunday was Mother's Day! We went to church and then spent the rest of the day at home. All I wanted for Mother's Day was to not go anywhere!!! {other than church} So we had lunch, gave Liam and Alanna a nap, played outside, colored, took a walk, and ate Ramen noodles for dinner! How's that for a Mother's Day dinner! :) I didn't care. I had no desire to cook, and no desire to go out to eat! And, I didn't even take one picture the whole day! GASP! We just took so many pictures or had some one else taking our picture so much during that week, that I didn't even want to get my camera out. Sunday night ended with Nathan and I having a quiet hour to ourselves, watching a TV show.
So there you have it...now you know all about my crazy week. :)
