it's the simple things in life..

Tomorrow is my mom's birthday and because it's a Monday, we celebrated today. Well..... I should say that her and Ava celebrated today and we ALL celebrated tonight. My mom informed me that she wanted Ava for the whole entire day today as her gift from me. As odd as it may seem, this was a big deal to my mom. I have never been away from Ava for a whole entire day EVER. It may seem extreme to some and it is not as though I questioned the hands she would be in. It's just never really come up and frankly, I've never been able to give her up. I suppose I have had a bad case of "the first child" syndrome. Nevertheless, she was dropped off at my mom's house this morning at 9:30. Bella and I returned to a quiet house. She passed out within seconds as a result of not having her big sister running around the house. I honestly did not know what to do with myself or my time. All I could think about was how Ava was doing. After the 3rd call to my mom to make sure Ava was not crying and to remind her what time snack/lunch time was, I was asked not to call again. Okay okay... so I was being too protective. I took a deep breath and made myself let go a little. After all, what was I going to do when my husband returns and wants to spend the weekend together without the kids? I've come to terms with the fact that I'm eventually going to have to leave her and that it's almost garunteed that she will not miss me. If she does, it will not be nearly as much as I miss her, but I'm okay with that.

All I could think to do was clean the house & do laundry. BORING! I do that every day! Today I was going to switch it up... so while Bella napped I sat outside in the sun. Afterwards, I took a shower and packed Bella up and we went to the outlet mall. No better way to stay busy than by shopping, right?!

I wasn't allowed back to my mom's house until 5 o'clock. I pulled in the driveway at 4:59 and walked in to find my darling daughter as content as she could be. I was informed of their day which consisted of playing in the pool, using sidewalk chalk & sidewalk paint on the driveway, playing in the mister, etc. Mom said they spent the WHOLE day outside because Ava didn't want to come inside. She wouldn't even take a nap. She stayed up until 4 when her body won the battle and she fell asleep for 45 minutes. She was as happy as she could be & my mom was too. I am so thankful that they were able to spend time together and that Ava was in a good mood the whole day.

When I brought Bella inside, Ava got so excited. It was as if she was happier to see her than she was me! I laid Bella on the couch to change her diaper and Ava laid right by her rubbing her head and kissing her hands. My heart absolutely melted!

I survived my mom's gift :) Happy Birthday, Mom! I love you!