Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder (and it made this mama cry!)

Last week, the kids went to Mamaw and O'Pa's (my parents) for a week of VBS.  Laurie and her kids were there and I was supposed to be there, too, but at the semi-last minute, I agreed to help out at the vet clinic where I used to work.  Up till last week, a weekend is the longest I'd ever been apart from my babies.  I really wasn't sure how this would go (for me, I knew they would have tons of fun!) but I tried to have a long list of things to do while they were gone.

I should have known better.

Working + heat + pregnancy + a too quiet house = one unproductive and unmotivated mama!  If I wasn't sleeping, I was wondering around the house in a mopey state.  I would say that it was kind of nice to take a nap whenever, for however long.  But I missed them oh so much! Hearing their sweet little voices and getting pictures from my sister and mom seemed to make it worse! On Tuesday, Nathan and I had decided to go on a little date.  We only have one movie theater so our only option after our dinner was to watch Harry Potter. Right when the movie ended, I looked at my phone and saw a bunch of pictures of my sweeties that Laurie had sent me during the movie and I just started crying! Then my thought was, "I have GOT to stop this before we walk out or people will think I'm an over-the-top Harry Potter fan who is crying because the series is over!!".  ...oh well...  I ended up only making it to Thursday before I'd had enough and it was so nice to have my babies back in my arms!!

They, of course, had a wonderful time and seemed to only marginally miss me. :)  They all got to participate in VBS and from what I've heard and seen from pictures, this year was a really good one!!

Day 1: Ezekiel and the Valley of the Dry Bones

Day 2: Balaam's Talking Donkey

They also had a petting zoo that night and while Jonah did NOT want to ride the donkey, he LOVED feeding and petting the other animals.  Apparently, there was a minor incident with one of the donkeys.  Jonah was feeding it and as my mom tried to lead Jonah away to the next one, this donkey got a little over eager to get the food and nipped Jonah's fingers.  He was fine but it was kind of funny that anytime after that (and still to this day, actually) if you ask him if he got to feed the donkey at VBS, he'll get this wounded look on his face and will try to show you his poor little fingers!

This little black goat was his favorite

She LOVED the petting zoo and loves to talk about it

Day 3: Jonah and the Big Fish

As I said, Laurie and her kids were there and it is always so fun to watch mine and hers interact.  Alyssa and Jonah are only 5 months apart so they play and play and play!  Of course, being so close together, they also tend to fight more. But they make up fairly quick so for now its fine. We were at the play place in the mall when they discovered their new love for wrestling and pushing each other. They were hilarious!

And of course, no visit would be complete without O'Pa's famous pancakes!

Heidi and Mamaw's picture

Picnic with Mamaw

Bringing these girls up right with...

...CHOCOLATE!!! ;)

Some random cousin fun:

This little dude is quite possibly the best baby ever!  He's so easy going, sleeps despite all the noise the other kids make and just loves to snuggle!

Baby Clark

She loves babies! I know she is going to be so good with her new baby sibling.

I have been blown away with how "into" baby Clark Jonah has been.  While I expected it of Heidi, I never would have thought Jonah would have cared much about a baby.  Boy, was I wrong! He LOVES holding him and asks to a lot.  He is so sweet and gentle with Clark and he'll sing to Clark when he's crying. It is so precious to watch!

Tie-dyed twinkies

One day, Laurie and Mamaw took all the kids to the zoo.  I guess at one point, Heidi asked Laurie to take this picture of her and send to me so I could see her.  I know she knew I was missing her and its little things like her thinking of me that just make me so proud and thankful that she's my little sweetheart. :)

THANK YOU, AUNTIE LAURIE, MAMAW AND O'PA FOR TAKING GREAT CARE OF MY SWEET BABIES ALL WEEK!!!!

And a HUGE shout-out to Laurie: she had the three of them all organized and in a routine at naps and bedtime, with no fussing.  I was very impressed but as soon as I got into the mix, my kids had complete meltdowns and wouldn't cooperate at all.  So finally, I would just take baby Clark and let her deal with the others and of course they settled right back down.  Mom and Laurie kept reassuring me they hadn't been like that at all that week (thank goodness, or else I would REALLY owe them!), I guess they were just saving it all for when mama finally got there!!