Life with the Gilmore's: A Week without Daddy

This week, Daddy has been in New Orleans for work. We have missed him SO much. It is amazing how much he really helps Mommy in the afternoons and nights, and it is a lot of work without him. But we have actually adjusted and managed quite well. We have stayed busy and luckily the kids have been pretty good. The only real adjustment is our bedtime routine. Usually we do both Caleb and Kailyn's baths at the same time then one parent takes one kid and the other parent takes the other kid. Caleb usually gets to pick who he wants to put him night night. So with Daddy gone, they have taken bath together then after everyone is in pjs and teeth brushed, Caleb gets to watch tv in Mommy and Daddy's room while Mommy puts Kailyn to bed. Then it is his turn. He's loving every minute of it! I just hope he transitions good with Daddy being back home and getting no more bed time tv.

On Monday, we had Caleb's friend Victoria over to play at the house for a little while. Victoria's Mommy is expecting a baby girl soon and wanted to look at Kailyn's baby clothes. We were so excited that she found some things she liked, we have very similar tastes in clothes :) Then we all headed to Red Robin for lunch. As we were sitting at lunch, the sky got really dark then the flood came! After eating, we had to let the kids play in the front lobby until the rain let up enough to make a run for it. By the time we got to the car, we were all soaked!! Then we headed home for a big afternoon nap. After naptime, we played at home a little then headed to Wal-Mart for a few groceries.

Tuesdays are our small group days and it was our turn to host. So we stayed at home all day and played while Mommy cleaned and cooked and prepared to have everyone over. Mommy cooked Chicken Cordon Bleu, Crock Pot Mac N Cheese, and rolls for dinner and we topped it off with some Cream Cheese Brownies. It was a success! Caleb had an awesome afternoon playing outside with his buddies, Jordan and Jayden and Mommy enjoyed some adult conversations!!

On Wednesday morning, we headed to the Botanical Gardens after Kailyn's morning nap. We took pictures, played, and visited with the fish, turtles, and butterflies before enjoying a yummy lunch at Clementine's. We headed home for an afternoon nap and after that, we had a special visitor. Pops came by with a pizza abd breadsticks for dinner! It was a really great visit and he helped Mommy out so much by just playing with the kids. The only bad part was the he taught Caleb to say, "Go big orange..." Mommy has quickly corrected this telling him we only say, "ROLL TIDE" around here :)

Thursday morning, we had another playdate with Caleb's friend, Victoria at Bridgestreet. Her Mommy wanted to look at some more clothes, bigger sizes and a few that she got home and decided she wanted after looking back at what she already had. So we looked at clothes in the back of Mommy's car then headed to Barnes and Noble to play trains and ready books for a little while. Caleb got to pick out a new book and he was really excited about that. He picked out a farm book with felt characters that you can move around on the pages- lots of fun! After playing for a bit, we headed to the food court area and picked up some pizza for the kids and then headed to Lime mexican where the Mommies ate lunch. We ended our playdate with a ride on the carousel before heading home for an afternoon nap! After a great afternoon nap, we headed to get Caleb's haircut so he would be looking nice for his first day of school next week. Gran Gran met us at the haircut place then we headed to Target to get a few things. After shopping, we ate dinner at Jason's Deli then headed home because it was already past bedtime!! Kailyn lost it in the car, she was completely exhausted, but once she had Mommy, she was all better- such a Mommy's girl :)

Friday was packing day! We stayed at home all day to prepare for a weekend at the River. Mommy worked hard all morning to get clothes washed and packed. Kailyn did not make it easy on Mommy, she did not take a morning nap and her afternoon nap was maybe 20 minutes! We were all so happy when Daddy came home. Then we all hurried to pack some last minute items and headed for the Tennessee River for a relaxing and fun weekend.