So in mid-January marked Casey and I's first full weekend away from our kiddo! Caden had done just one night away at his grandparent's house several times before, but at almost 13 months old we had never done 2 nights in a row! This Momma ain't going to deny she needed the break. With multiple episodes of illness and Caden starting a habit of waking up during the night again, I was needing some R&R to recharge.
I may have shown too much excitement in Caden's presence because the week of this much anticipated getaway he gets sick AGAIN (December dealt him an upper respiratory infection and ear infection, New Year's was a bacterial infection). Took him to the doctor just to make sure that it was only a cold and nothing worse to give us parents peace of mind to go out of town still. Thankfully it was just that, and he was at the worst of it, so come Friday when we would be leaving he would most likely be on the upswing.
Friday I'm hoping I can get Caden to take 2 naps for me because he had been napping pretty well that week, but of course the day I need to get a bunch of stuff done that I can't do with him awake, he sleeps like 30 minutes in the morning and maybe an hour in the afternoon. Of all days, my child decides to start the attachment phase. Seriously, this couldn't wait until Monday to start?! I'm convinced my child knew his parents were going somewhere without him and that we were looking forward to going without him, so he made sure he made his Mommy feel guilty! I could hardly put the boy down and forget leaving the room without him without massive crying and tears!
So I'm thinking once we get over to the grandparent's house that he goes over to once a week he'll be fine. He loves going over to spend time with his grandparents one afternoon every week and they have a dog who is an angel to Caden! Plus, he even had the bonus of seeing his Uncle Joel who came into town for the weekend! But the tears and clinginess continued, so I left their house listening to my baby cry his eyes out. This was not how this was suppose to go in my head, far from it! Like any mother who hates to leave their crying baby (much less one that is not feeling well), I cried on the way home in the car. That kid is good, he got to me. Thankfully, Caden's crying (and mine too) were short lived. My mother in-law sent me a picture of him later happy as can be playing with their dog. What a stinker.
Our marriage retreat was beyond wonderful, we had a great time together learning about the 4 seasons of marriage and what we need to do to keep our marriage enriched and thriving. The speaker we had was the new Marriage & Family minister our church has hired, and after hearing him speak I'm excited to see what great things God is going to use him to do for our church. It was great to get to spend so much quality time with Casey, just chatting about whatever. We had gone last year to the marriage retreat as well, but we also brought 2 month old Caden with us, so this was our first year kid free and what a difference that was. We stopped at a Mexican restaurant in Waller on the way up and at another table another baby was crying. Before kids, I probably would have started to get annoyed after a minute of it, but now I just tuned it right out. I knew it wasn't my child screaming, so I just continued happily eating my meal with 2 hands and enjoyed not having to be in that parent's shoes.
My lovely mother in-law sent me pictures the whole weekend of my sweet boy (who I did miss terribly). He had so much fun with his grandparents and Uncle Joel, which did my heart good to see. Caden even took a nap during church, which he NEVER does for me, but I'm glad he does for his Grandma. Spending a weekend learning how to make our marriages even better, made me even more grateful for the amazing, godly man the good Lord placed in my life. Thanks for asking me to be your wife Casey, best decision ever!!!
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exits and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Hebrews 11:6
