Weekend Away

I traveled to New York over the weekend for work.  Back in December when we first determined that I was going on this trip, my husband and I talked about taking advantage of our free room in the middle of Times Square and planning a mini family vacation...but then it turned out that I was pregnant, so we figured it would be best to save our money.  So instead, I flew off to New York, and my husband brought Ella camping for a special daddy-daughter weekend.

I was impressed that my husband agreed to take Ella camping for the weekend.  We have a pretty good balance of work within our family, but I simply have more time alone with Ella, simply because I drive her to and from school on my way to work, and my husband works in the opposite direction.  And his civilian job and Army responsibilities often take him away from the home for at least one weekend a month, at the minimum, and as long as six weeks--internationally, nonetheless.  So I get a fair enough of alone-time with just Ella and me, and he's had very little (this also means that I rarely get any alone-time by myself...so it's a little strange for me, as well, but in the opposite way).  But I think that it was good for them (and me), and Ella was so so so excited to go camping again!  My husband even packed her clothes for their trip without my assistance!  (We did, however, forget to pack the bread for their sandwiches).

As for me, I had a fun and busy--and yet a little lonely--weekend in New York.  Our flight got in with just enough time to catch a show (Wicked was sold out, but we were able to purchase tickets for Chicago just minutes before the show started), I spoiled Ella by buying too many books at an awesomely huge bookstore, we ate some great food, and I even got in two long runs through Central Park (although I'm fairly certain that my GPS app was thrown off by the tall buildings, because I find it highly unlikely that I ran a 7 minute mile at 24 weeks pregnant while dodging pedestrian traffic and waiting for traffic lights). 

But the long cross-country flights have done quite some damage to my poor ankles!  I'll spare you a picture, but they are so so so fat!  I don't remember them getting quite this plump the last time around with Ella!  I tried to elevate them a good bit last night, but it still sure felt strange to run this morning.  I'll prop them up as much as I can at work, but there's only so much room under my desk.  My very-dear friend assured me that she experienced the same thing when she flew internationally at 25 weeks with her first son, and that the swelling eventually went down after a week, so I'm hoping that mine will also return to a fairly-normal size.  I realize that ankles (and everything else) will swell a bit during pregnancy, but I just feel like it's too soon to experience the discomfort that I most definitely expect in late-pregnancy.  Besides, I still have another five miles to go before I hit 100 miles!

This week's blessing is Ella's little friend's mom, who was kind enough to bring Ella to and from school on Monday while I was traveling.  Her daughter is three days older than Ella, and they started at our original daycare at the same time.  The mom also works at the University, so we've become good friends.  They moved out to our side of town a couple of months ago, and it's been such a blessing to be able to rely on her for some pick-ups and drop-offs when I have to work late.  She's even offered to bring Ella into school while I'm on maternity leave...and I will probably take her up on her offer!