About an hour after we got home from our trip to Las Vegas on Tuesday my friend Britface called to tell me that she and Sara and Sue were driving down to her parents house in St. George the next weekend for Sue's birthday, and asked if Nolan and I wanted to come. (Notice that Nolan was the only boy invited to our girls weekend, no Justin hehe). Since we'd just made practically that same trip and I was tired of driving, not to mention we'd all been sick the past week, I himmed and hawwed a little bit and didn't commit to anything. On top of all that, Preston passed the Nevada Bar (YAY!!!) and was being sworn in that weekend so the rest of my family was headed to Carson City. I thought if I go anywhere this weekend it should be to Carson!
On Wednesday I had pretty much decided that I wouldn't go to either St. George or Carson City and was really looking forward to just relaxing at home for Memorial Day weekend. But as the week went on I just kept thinking about the trip to St. George. Maybe it was the thought that my opportunities to make a trip like this are disappearing, and that as Nolan gets older and we have more kids I might not be able to just leave on a spur of the moment like this. Whatever the reason I just couldn't shake the thought that I wanted to go, even though I thought it was crazy and such a big part of me just wanted to relax.
Friday came around and once again while sitting at work I thought about St. George. I talked to Justin and after being reassured by him that he would be just fine if we left and would take the time to get some writing done, I decided on a whim to go.
Traffic was, of course, slow getting home to Salt Lake. I picked up Nolan and quickly packed our bags. Then, after saying goodbye to Justin, Nolan and I headed out on our first road trip without daddy.
Let's just say, I had a little bit of a struggle.
As expected, the traffic was ridiculous and it took me an hour to get to Point of the Mountain. I kept thinking, this is stupid, I could still turn around and no one would think any less of me. But I kept going and the traffic cleared up after Spanish Fork. Nolan was asleep for the first couple hours so I started feeling pretty good about the whole thing.
Problem I hadn't thought of #1: I couldn't check on Nolan in the backseat - On shorter trips it's no big deal, or when Justin is driving I can just take a quick peek to see how he's doing, but being alone I found it so frustrating that I couldn't see if he was sleeping or just being quiet or what.
He was his usual angel self for much of the trip, but about 10 minutes from Cedar City he started fussing like he was hungry (and he should have been, it had been almost 5 hours since he ate!). It felt like an eternity getting to our exit, but we finally made it to a gas station.
Problem I hadn't thought of #2: Without Justin to stay in the car with Nolan I can't just run in and get what I need, go to the restroom, etc. - Luckily I retain water like a camel and didn't really need to go to the restroom. Even thinking about it now, I'm not sure how mom's go to the bathroom while holding a baby.
I unbuckled Nolan and carried him into the store where I put a little bit of very hot water (from the coffee machine) into his bottle and grabbed a cold water bottle to fill the rest. Also, I knew we'd be getting in late and in case Nolan fell asleep I wanted to get him into his pjs before we got there. So when we got back to the car I changed his diaper and his clothes on my lap in the back seat, then tried to get the bottle ready. I couldn't get myself situated well enough though so I set Nolan down at my feet. The flash makes him look mad, but he was actually super cute sitting there.
I finally got the bottle ready, but Nolan wouldn't take it. What the heck kid?! I know you have to be hungry! I thought maybe it was too cold and he was just being picky or something. So I grabbed him and went back into the store to add another little bit of hot water. But, when we got back to the car he still wouldn't take it! I couldn't just wait forever and we were so close to St. George that I decided to just keep going.
You guessed it, approximately 6 minutes after getting back on the road he started fussing again. It was pitch dark by now and I had hoped to avoid rest stops and the side of the highway at all costs (I've seen way too many movies). I didn't know what else to do though so I pulled off at the nearest rest stop. Only one other car was there and a semi. I tried to feed Nolan again, and once again he wouldn't have it. I was crying by this point because I didn't know what else to do, it was dark and scary, I didn't know why he wouldn't eat, and I just wanted to get there. Oh, and did I forget to mention that it was raining this whole time?!
I called Justin crying and basically told him that I was a total idiot for making this drive alone with my baby, in the rain, on Memorial Day weekend with all kinds of traffic and tons of construction on I-15 when I could just be snuggling with him on our couch in our warm apartment. What was I thinking?!
But...as usual, Nolan pulled through and within 5 minutes of leaving the rest stop he all of the sudden stopped crying and fell asleep. It's the tender mercies, guys.
We got to St. George and as soon as I walked in to the house Nolan woke up, but he just wanted to play. He didn't eat until midnight! By that point it was a little rough getting him to sleep, but it all worked out.
Even though it was tough getting there I am glad we made the trip. Since most of my best friends are single, I'm always worried that we'll drift apart. But I probably have nothing to worry about. They're so good about inviting me to some things, but not everything (knowing there's no way I could do everything with a baby). And I'm glad I took this chance to show them that I still want to be with them. And they just love Nolan so that's a plus. He has so many "Aunts." ☺
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Brittany's niece and nephew, Johnny and Claire LOVED Nolan. They were so cute and good with him and loved to give him toys to play with.
Ahh, he's such a big boy!
I can't get over how cute this little boy is.
On Saturday we did some shopping. How cute is this vintage looking cooler?! Justin is lucky I have absolutely no place to store this and had no room in the car to get it home ☺
Later that night Brittany's parents offered to watch Nolan while we played some pickle ball. It's sort of a mixture between Tennis and Ping Pong (?) and it's really popular in St. George. Look at these super nice courts! It's apparently also pretty big in Washington which is one reason Brittany knows about it. Justin also played in P.E. growing up. We were pretty glad Justin wasn't there though, because he apparently played a lot and is pretty dang good. Brittany is very good too, but Justin has this serve that is almost impossible to return!!
On Saturday night, May 23, Justin sent me a text reminding me that we got engaged exactly 2 years ago. I responded with this picture of Nolan and said, "And look what we get to have because you asked me to be your wifey ♥." I love that he remembers special days like that.
At church on Sunday
Snuggling with Aunt Suedles at church
Overall it was a GREAT weekend. Nolan has so many people that love him and take such good care of him (and are willing to help me watch him!) He had a good time playing with the big kids and I enjoyed some shopping, pickle ball, Swig, dinner, and just an overall great time with my friends!
Plus we were home by Sunday at 6pm so we still had time to relax and hang out with our favorite husband and daddy.
Plus we were home by Sunday at 6pm so we still had time to relax and hang out with our favorite husband and daddy.
