1st weekend without Lyla....

Let me start by first clarifying the Title of this post....Yes we were without Lyla physically...but she was definitely still with us!!!!

And the story goes...I was casually talking to my mom (grandma) about "possibly" taking a weekend getaway. That conversation quickly...I mean VERY quickly turned into my mom (grandma) emailing me for 2 straight weeks. Most of the emails going a little something like this:

"Hi honey, how is your day? How is sweet Lyla doing? So have you decided what you are doing about your weekend getaway. I need to know so I can put my request for days off into work."

Okay grandma you have been busted. We all know how excited you were at the thought of having Lyla all to yourself for an entire weekend. I think your lady friends at work will side with me on this one. You could have given them 1 day notice. I don't think anyone from your work would have deprived you of this experience :)

So the day came - we finally called grandma and gave her the go ahead to put in her days off. Michael and I booked our flights and the plans were set. We were booked to take flight across the country to California and grandma and grand-daddy were coming to Chicago to watch Lyla for the long weekend!!

Now before we get to the fun stuff I have to admit I obsessed ALOT leading up to our departure. The label maker made an appearance - I started labeling everything: Lyla bottles, Lyla dishes, night diapers, daytime diapers, Lyla's food, etc....

I also left grandma and grand-daddy with a MAP taped to the fridge including all neighborhood restaurants by cuisine and a folder with delivery options, park options, etc...

And I didn't stop at just that. Oh yeah I had alot of fun color coding Lyla's daily schedule!!

It's a good thing Grandma & Grand-daddy knew what they were getting themselves into -they know how I am - they raised me. When I was going over everything with them I reminded them that it had nothing to do with me not trusting them...it's just what I do. I reminded them of my closet growing up - my make-up drawer - my organized box of nail polish...you can never be too organized!!!! And NO I have not been diagnosed with having OCD...

Okay so now let's get to the fun stuff. Here's a glimpse of the weekend Lyla had with grandma and grand-daddy. If only I could have setup a camera to take pictures during the entire weekend.

I am going to start with this picture because it was one of "those moments." Lyla got her first taste of grandma's home cooked chicken pot pie. (And thanks grandma for making enough for Michael and I to have upon our return. We returned to a freezer full of food. 2 dishes of Lasagna, 2 chicken pot pies and a chocolate pie - YUMMY!!!! )

Lyla is looking pretty pleased here wouldn't you say...

Next on the agenda for Lyla was dining al fresco. Now what can not be seen in this picture is the cute hair style courtesy of grandma...

And do you really think Grand-daddy was going to wake her...

She woke just in time to eat some of grandma's black beans...who knew:) And bedtime... And playtime... The above pictures can't even begin to capture all the fun Lyla had. She also went out to breakfast, went on stroller walks, played on the rooftop, helped grand-daddy fix things around the house, helped grandma cook dinner - oh the list goes on and on. What I don't "need" to know are all those "special moments" she had with grandma and grand-daddy. Those moments that are only hers and grandma/grand-daddy to share and remember!!!! So as you can see Lyla had SO much fun!! I have to say as hard as it was to be away from her...more on that coming up...the BEST part about this weekend was the bond she formed with her grandparents. A very VERY special experience for me to see. When we returned, I wasn't even sad when Lyla crawled right over to grandma and laid her head on grandma's shoulder - one of the sweetest things I have seen! Okay now onto our weekend getaway. I will spare you some of the details and summarize it by saying I cried only 4 times...not including saying goodbye and on the train to the airport...okay so make that 6 times!!! Day 1 - we arrived in Napa and hit up our Napa favorites. Before Lyla - Michael and I took a trip to Napa/Sonoma every year - to find comfort we decided to ease ourselves in by visiting some of our favorites... After visiting Napa we started making our way to our hotel...with intentions to check-in, clean up and go out for a nice dinner. For those of you that really know us can probably guess what's next. We decided to order Papa Johns pizza, watch TV and go to bed early!!! OH yeah - what Michael and I consider to be the perfect night - even if you are in Wine Country. 12 hours later - YES 12 hours later we woke up!!! I have not slept that much since college. In fact, my mom called and woke us up. She could not figure out why we had not called her yet. Which is a dead give away of how many times we had already called home :) Day 2: Drive as far North as you can stand (because you'll keep seeing places you want to visit) and then start working your way back down...towards your hotel! The beginning of day 2... Driving the side streets and getting lost is one of our favorite things to do while in wine country. It's a time to forget schedules - time - and unwind!!!!!! Just enjoy the scenery and get lost in it's beauty!!! In past years, we have always gone in April...no grapes on the vines...so this year I was determined to taste a grape right from the vine...which of course you are not allowed to do so here I am making my escape!!! Living on the edge - haha!! I do hope Lyla inherited some of my goofiness - if you can't have fun laughing at yourself than honestly what is the point!!!! It's definitley on my "life lessons" list to one day talk to Lyla about :)

Below is an example of Lyla always being in our thoughts. She would have had a cheddar cheese omelete with cottage fries. And yes we were "those parents" that showed her picture to everyone - rather they asked or not! And yes we were "those parents" who talked about her non stop. And yes we were "those parents" that called home at least 6/8/10 times a day to check on her. And yes we were "those parents" that felt guilty about leaving her but so glad we did. And the list could go on and on....

And I will conclude with this. Yes we were "those parents" that got to the airport 4 hours early in hopes to catch an earlier flight so they could get home just in time to give their daughter a good night kiss and hug before bedtime.

Picture this:

15 mins to get through security - flight already boarding - still had to check-in with desk clerk because we were in the system as "stand-by" - I sprinted as fast as I could while Michael was close behind carrying all our luggage....

WE MADE IT!!!