Louisiana!

Oh my goodness, what a trip! Going to Louisiana last week was SO great.  We are beyond saddened to be back in New Hampshire as it just keeps raining and freezing us out! We left 91 degree weather and came back to freezing rain and frigid temps.  IN MAY! Grrrrrrr...... I even got a little tan there and now, 3 days of darkness has taken it from me.  Seriously you guys. It's BEYOND depressing here.  You have no idea.  

But back to our trip.  It was the best.  It was hot, humid, sunny, rainy, and WARM every single day.  Even the lightning storms produced a hot rain.  It was so cool.  Speaking of lightning storms, I finally witnessed a Southern Thunder Storm- there's nothing like it!  I've never heard that loud of a crack in my entire life.  It was insane.  And totally awesome. 

The girls weren't clingy to me at all (for once) and Sullivan was held and rocked by other people all week long.  I cried (literally) because of how thankful I was for a break.  Being a Mom is hard.  Being a Mom to tiny, needy kids with NO break EVER is extremely hard.  To be honest, I get so burnt out and tired that somedays I feel all I do is yell at the kids without really enjoying them at all.  That's not the life I want to live :(  With Shawn traveling so much (he's gone all this week and next) I just feel overwhelmed most days.  So being in a house with so many helpful hands and a backyard full of sunshine and toys for the girls was a huge reprieve for ME.  They played.  I rested.  And it was magnificent.

The beginning of the week started off sad as we laid to rest MawMaw.  She was a sweet lady and even though it was bitter-sweet circumstances, I'm extremely thankful that Shawn was able to attend her funeral and be a pallbearer for her.  Saying goodbye to his last Grandparent was heartbreaking, but as we all know, she is in a much better place and we can feel her looking down on us.  Rest in Peace, Maw Maw.  We love you.

The rest of the week was spent relaxing and soaking up the sun.  We had a "girls-day" where we got Mani's and Pedi's (even Lucy and Piper were treated to Pedicures!), we slept in, we sat outside baking  in the sun (well, I did, haha!), Shawn and I went on a date alone and a double date with Matt and Christa and we got to workout alone together TWICE!, we had a bowling alley birthday party for Lucy where she was spoiled with gifts (and even some for Pi! We also celebrated her birthday with ALL the cousins a few days later and Aunt Margaret made her a specialty Princess cake!), we went to Shreveport and stayed with Bobby and Whitney for 2 nights and then had a big Crawfish Boil there!  My cousin Laurie (on Shawn's side) and I sat by each other and peeled and ate crawfish for the longest out of everyone!  You know me and my love for shell fish! Haha, we sat there for 2 hours and just ate and ate and laughed.  She's awesome!  Bruce provided all the food and Bobby and Whitney rented a bounce house for the kids; fun was had all around!  There were cousins there from Mississippi I had never met and others whom I haven't seen since I was pregnant with Lucy!  It was a family reunion and SO much fun for me! Southern people are just the best.  If you are one of them and reading this- thank you for being you :)  Never in your life will you meet people sweeter than the people from the South.  I am so thankful to be part of a Southern family!  It was a week of the life we actually want for our kids- cousins to play with, ice-cream trucks to buy goodies from, sleepovers with friends, etc.  When I think of my childhood, those are the memories I can recall.  Being isolated in New Hampshire has been extremely tough for us and it's so sad when we leave the people we love to come back up here.  I know I sound mopey, but it's been almost 2 years up here and I really, REALLY don't like it.  I miss my family like you wouldn't believe.

Anyway, it was Sullivan's first time on an airplane and he was PERFECT.  On the way there he didn't make a peep! (The girls on the other hand were a nightmare to travel with!).  And of course, he was the center of attention. I worried he'd be overstimulated all week, but he only was during the crawfish boil.  It was stressful for him, but the rest of the week?  He was in heaven!  We all were!  When the doctors told me I had a colicky baby I believed them until I went to Louisiana. He hardly cried at all.  It was amazing.  He was oh-so-happy all week long in that warm Louisiana sunshine.  We miss it so :(

This month is going to be crazy busy!  We just got home from a long trip, we have Mother's Day this weekend, I have a quick trip with just Sully to Boise next weekend, then it's Lucy's birthday, then our anniversary, then Memorial Day, and then the first week of June is Lucy's preschool graduation-  hopefully by then we will get a taste of Spring.  New Hampshire is so miserably cold (I literally have both the heater and fireplace going right now!).

Praying we get to move soon!  For now, we're just keeping busy!

Good night all!