This last weekend I had the opportunity to attend a conference in Dallas called DotMom. It was an amazing weekend and I have so much I want to share about it. Today I'm just going to share a recap in pictures, and then I'll do another post with some reflections on some of what I learned.
The conference was on Friday and Saturday, so Patrick wasn't able to keep the kids because of work. Luckily my wonderful mother agreed to watch them at my sister's house, which was only about 30 minutes from the hotel where the conference was. We decided to go down on Thursday night and stay at my sister's so we could get settled and not be rushed to get to the conference on Friday. And let me just say - I'm not sure how it was possible, but I KNOW Maeva knew I was about to leave her for the first time. She is not a huge cuddler, but by gosh, she wanted to do nothing BUT cuddle with me that night. Exhibit A: this picture taken sometime after midnight where she was wide awake and wanting to be held. It was pretty sweet, even though it left me awfully tired. :)
We went to the first few sessions on Friday afternoon, then headed out for some Mexican - for the 2nd time that day. Ridiculous, right? Wrong. Not when you're kid free. :) We even went to Cheesecake Factory around 11 that night for some dessert. This is the craziest I've lived in years.
Saturday morning I went back to my sister's house real quick to nurse MB. She had basically refused a bottle the day before - she had about 2 ounces total for the day. Luckily it was a close easy trip, and she was SO happy to see me! I was pretty thrilled to see her too. :)
Manny, however, was just annoyed that I was interrupting his playtime with his cousins. When I was telling him bye the first day, he just kept saying, "Go, mama...bye! Get in mama's carseat. Go. See you later!" and pushing my back out the door. It was really hard for him to see me leave. Clearly.
One of my favorite things about the weekend was spending time with friends. Megan was the one who asked me to go to the conference and I'm so glad she did. Aside from her loud gasps and constant questioning of my abilities to drive in Dallas traffic, we had so much fun together. She has become such a great friend of mine and I'm so thankful for our friendship. Backseat driving and all. :)
It was great to hang out with Hillary and Kelly, and I also met sweet Jill for the first time.
Elizabeth is one of Kelly's friends from church that came, and I had so much fun getting to know her! She is seriously one of the nicest people I've ever met.
This whole group of girls are definitely one of a kind. I seriously have not had that much fun with friends in a long time. If you read Kelly's blog, you've heard her say how blessed she is with good friends from church. And after hanging out with them this weekend, I totally get it now. They are each such amazing women and I loved the time spent getting to know them.
As I mentioned, I have more to share about the actual conference. Still processing all that but I will be sharing soon because it was such a blessing to me. Mom, I can't thank you enough for making it possible for me to go! Love you!
The conference was on Friday and Saturday, so Patrick wasn't able to keep the kids because of work. Luckily my wonderful mother agreed to watch them at my sister's house, which was only about 30 minutes from the hotel where the conference was. We decided to go down on Thursday night and stay at my sister's so we could get settled and not be rushed to get to the conference on Friday. And let me just say - I'm not sure how it was possible, but I KNOW Maeva knew I was about to leave her for the first time. She is not a huge cuddler, but by gosh, she wanted to do nothing BUT cuddle with me that night. Exhibit A: this picture taken sometime after midnight where she was wide awake and wanting to be held. It was pretty sweet, even though it left me awfully tired. :)
We went to the first few sessions on Friday afternoon, then headed out for some Mexican - for the 2nd time that day. Ridiculous, right? Wrong. Not when you're kid free. :) We even went to Cheesecake Factory around 11 that night for some dessert. This is the craziest I've lived in years.
Saturday morning I went back to my sister's house real quick to nurse MB. She had basically refused a bottle the day before - she had about 2 ounces total for the day. Luckily it was a close easy trip, and she was SO happy to see me! I was pretty thrilled to see her too. :)
Manny, however, was just annoyed that I was interrupting his playtime with his cousins. When I was telling him bye the first day, he just kept saying, "Go, mama...bye! Get in mama's carseat. Go. See you later!" and pushing my back out the door. It was really hard for him to see me leave. Clearly.
One of my favorite things about the weekend was spending time with friends. Megan was the one who asked me to go to the conference and I'm so glad she did. Aside from her loud gasps and constant questioning of my abilities to drive in Dallas traffic, we had so much fun together. She has become such a great friend of mine and I'm so thankful for our friendship. Backseat driving and all. :)
It was great to hang out with Hillary and Kelly, and I also met sweet Jill for the first time.
Elizabeth is one of Kelly's friends from church that came, and I had so much fun getting to know her! She is seriously one of the nicest people I've ever met.
This whole group of girls are definitely one of a kind. I seriously have not had that much fun with friends in a long time. If you read Kelly's blog, you've heard her say how blessed she is with good friends from church. And after hanging out with them this weekend, I totally get it now. They are each such amazing women and I loved the time spent getting to know them.
As I mentioned, I have more to share about the actual conference. Still processing all that but I will be sharing soon because it was such a blessing to me. Mom, I can't thank you enough for making it possible for me to go! Love you!