While the Cat's Away...

The mice will play, or in this case...

SHOVEL SNOW!!!

Yes, while I was doing this, Mat was lounging in Jupiter, FL.  How's that for a little guilt trip, honey?  :)  One thing I learned is that I have been pampered in not having to shovel a single time since we moved to Iowa.  This was only a small snow by Dubuque standards, probably 4 or 5 inches tops, but it still felt like it took a long time!  The fun part though was having MJ out with me and getting to play in the snow with him.  I've looked forward to doing this all winter, but have never had the chance because Charlotte's too little to take out in it.  But, this time the opportunity was perfect, because guess who was inside to watch little Charlotte....



GIGI!!!

Yep, Gigi was nice enough to drive to Dubuque to help out while Mat was out of town.  It was my first overnight time on my own without Mat since having two kiddos, so it was wonderful to have her help.  Getting two little ones to bed at the same time and then getting them both up in the morning is no easy task and having two sets of hands is a huge blessing!  She was able to get lots of quality time with her grand kids, catch up on Charlee's growth over the last month, and help me out all at the same time.  It was wonderful for me too just to have some face to face time with her.  Since becoming a mommy of two, I feel like there is very little time to talk on the phone lately and when I get the chance to talk to her it's usually rather short and to the point, so just having some time for a little girl chat and catching up was wonderful! 

To back up a bit, Mat went down to Jupiter, FL to meet my brother for a little spring training Cardinals style and relaxation time.  He was due a little break and had been looking forward to a long weekend of guy time and baseball.  It was his spring weekend at school, so he had to travel on certain dates and unfortunately it didn't line up with any games, but he was looking forward just to watching practices, hanging out with Jeff, enjoying the warmth, etc.  Baseball didn't cooperate too well and due to scheduling and weather, they got to see very little.  They still enjoyed eating out, a movie, and just hanging out, and he came back refreshed and very much looking forward to seeing the kiddos.  My little break will be coming up next, once Charlotte doesn't need me quite so much.  ;) 

While Mat was away, Gigi got to jump right into our normal routine.  She took MJ to school on Thursday, spent lots of time trying to get Charlotte to sleep, did some laundry, and made time for plenty of fun too! On Saturday, we visited the aquarium, where MJ had a blast looking at fish and playing with boats, and Charlotte took a nice nap in her stroller.  :) 



We're glad Daddy had a restful little break, and we had so much fun with Gigi, but Daddy, please don't leave again anytime soon.  It might make us sad...