He's Home!

Chad just got back from a 5-day business trip to Texas.

These are some highlights from while he was gone.

Missed Days 1 & 2? Check them out here!

Missed Days 3 & 4? Check them out here!

~Day 5~

The boys sleep in again today. But this time they actually sleep in. Until 8:45am! I feel like Super Mom. Maybe Chad should go away more often! Ok, maybe not. Things have gone much better than I expected, but I am definitely ready for him to get home.

The boys are still in their PJs at 11am, so I think it's safe to say we're not going anywhere this morning. We all need some down time after our busy few days.

Alec has his last swimming lesson tonight, so I have one more mission to accomplish before my week as a single parent is over. Fortunately Chad's mom is coming over to watch Chase while I take Alec to his lesson.



Alec enjoying his last swimming lesson for this year

Swimming goes well. We get home, have dinner and get ready for bath. Chad is usually the one who does bathtime with the boys, so giving them baths this week has been somewhat of an unfamiliar experience for me. Sure I've given them baths before, but I don't do it very often. I come out of the bathroom feeling like I have just lost a big battle with a garden hose.

I get the boys in bed around 8pm, and the countdown begins. Chad's plane is scheduled to get in at 11pm, so he should be home around midnight. I realize there is no way I am going to be able to stay awake for four hours. I settle in to spend some quality time catching up on my DVR'd episodes of The Bachelorette.



My guilty pleasure

While I am watching 13 guys produce more drama than a room full of PMSing teenage girls, I notice a faint smell. It is a pleasant smell, but I can't place it. I dismiss it and continue to watch the 13 men fight for Emily's "true love." A little while later I notice the same pleasant smell again, but I still can't place it. It's almost like a candle, but not as strong. I make it through one episode of man drama and decide I've had enough drama for one night. I head up to bed.

When I get up to my room, I notice that smell again and begin a thorough investigation to find out where it is coming from. After almost convincing myself that I am imagining things, I finally figure out what it is. My hands smell like the boys' shampoo from washing their hair earlier. I fall asleep happy, hoping I can remember this scent for a long time.

I hear Chad get home around midnight. I semi-consciously mumble a "hello" and "I missed you" to him before returning to my state of exhausted unconsciousness. Unlike the night when Chad left, I have no problem falling back to sleep this time.

~Day 6~

Daddy is home! And he has taken the day off of work! We spend a nice day together as a family, and Chad and I go out for dinner and a show in the evening.

That night while I am getting ready for bed, I think back to the past few days. I made it through five full days without Chad. Not only did I make it, but I actually enjoyed it. I had a really fun time with my boys, and they seemed to have a fun time with me, too.

It's not that we don't have fun together normally. We do. But I often find myself frustrated and at my wits' end with the boys. But this week was different. Despite the shredded wipes, stashed bacon bits and the bathtime hurricane, I managed to really enjoy my boys without feeling overly stressed.

I am definitely ready for Chad to be home, but after these past few days of being on my own with my boys I feel almost like a better mom now. I feel a sense of accomplishment that I don't normally feel. Maybe it was the extra 90 minutes of sleep the boys let me have yesterday. Maybe it was the smell of baby shampoo on my hands. Maybe it was the smiles on the boys faces when they saw their Daddy this morning (or the bigger smiles when they saw he brought back surprises!). Who knows. But whatever it was has left me smiling and feeling ready to tackle whatever my boys have in store for me next, even if it is decorating the bathroom with toilet paper...again.

Chase loved his surprises that Daddy brought back from Texas