a perfect weekend
I know I owe you guys much more of an update than what I am giving you today, including a race recap and a recipe. I had no intention of disappearing on you guys this fall, but coaching, teaching, and being a mom have taken up a lot more of my time than I ever imagined, and the blog just got pushed back and out of sight. But, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, so I am hoping to resume regularly scheduled blogging in the next week or two!
It’s been over a month since I had a weekend that wasn’t dedicated to volleyball or other life necessities. And since the weekend was “open”, I wanted to take full advantage and spend some time with my family as well as take some time for myself (which I also haven’t done in a really long time). MacKenna’s birthday was Friday, so I decided to take a half day in the morning so I could spend some much needed time with my TWO year old little girl. We took her out to breakfast at Cracker Barrel and then spent some time playing at home together before I needed to head out to work.
With being so incredibly busy lately and going a day or two without really getting to see MacKenna, just taking a few hours off in the morning was exactly what I needed to recharge my system. There are times where I feel like I’m being incredibly selfish because I spend so much time away from my family – I work/coach 30 minutes away from home and have games 2-3 nights a week in which I usually don’t get home until after 8PM and then spend most of my nights dealing with coaching issues or writing practice plans – but I also know that it’s part of my job and am lucky to have a husband who is incredibly understanding of the pressure and responsibilities that come with coaching (he’s a coach too). But, I can tell that MacKenna misses me and I have been really missing her too. I love what I do but it has been killing me not to get that time with her that I think we both so desperately need. Four hours in the morning on Friday helped make up for some of that lost time, but I still owe her much more.
It was so great getting to spend some extra time with MacKenna on her 2nd birthday! Can you believe all of this happened TWO years ago?! I am still in disbelief that I have a 2 year old running around my house! She is growing like a weed and is starting to string together more and more sentences. Her favorite thing to say right now is, “I sowry.” Melts my heart! She uses it correctly most of the time, but half the time she says it, it’s really not her fault! Still, she’s about the cutest thing ever!
Her birthday also meant a day to celebrate with family and friends. Some time I will realize that I am too dang busy in October and should just wait to have her birthday party until after volleyball season is over. I basically threw everything together at the last minute (nothing like sending out invitations a week and a half before the party) and was pulling my hair out Saturday morning trying to get everything ready. But, everything went perfectly! We were so lucky to have so many of our close friends and family over to celebrate our little darling turning two. I usually freak out and stress during these types of things, but my goal was to enjoy myself and get a chance to talk to everyone. MacKenna, I think, equally enjoyed herself and we avoided all melt downs, even without a nap on Saturday. Unfortunately though, she is deathly afraid of candles, so we had to sing happy birthday sans blowing them out. Really, we’re lucky she even let us sing happy birthday since she knows that usually involves candles…
Which brings us to Sunday. My 29th birthday. Not only do I now have a 2 year old, but I’m also starting my last year in my 20s. This was the first year I actually was able to enjoy my birthday since last year I was coaching a volleyball tournament that day and the year before I was sitting in the hospital holding my newborn daughter. I wasn’t going to let my 29th birthday be another one that just slipped on by, and thankfully Matt was on board to make it a special day for me as well.
It wasn’t all that special, but again, another day that I got to spend with my family is all I really needed. We spent the morning at Faust Park getting MacKenna’s 2 year old pictures taken. My sister-in-law Angela is a very talented photographer and these pictures turned out just gorgeous! MacKenna wasn’t too reluctant to get them taken either, although we had to bust out a few toys and stand-by giggle-makers to get her to smile for the camera.
After another birthday party for MacKenna’s new friend Parker (the best man in our wedding’s little girl who was born just 5 days after Kenna), we headed home for naps (myself included) before heading back out to let the birthday festivities begin (resume?). I did not want to spend a gorgeous Sunday inside worrying about cleaning my house, so we headed out to one of the new outdoor outlet malls to walk around. The only purchase made was some Bubble Guppy bath toys – MacKenna’s favorite show for her favorite activity! I just couldn’t pass them up.
And no birthday is complete without dinner and ice cream. A trip to Dewey’s Pizza hit the spot, followed up with some delicious Orange Leaf frozen yogurt. I am LOVING that they have separators now for the cups! Makes trying a bunch of different flavors so much easier. Mine were oatmeal cookie with cookie dough, pumpkin pie with muddy buddies, and snickerdoodle with mini peanut butter cups. All topped with sprinkles and granola.
It really was the perfect weekend! I am feeling ready to charge into this week head on now. Gotta start 29 off on the right foot! ;)