Girls Only Weekend!

This past weekend, my mom, sister & I traveled to St. Louis to attend my cousin's baby shower. It's their first baby, and we were so excited to celebrate this time of their life with my cousin & our family. I have said before that I have two cousins who are more like sisters to me. This shower was for one of these cousins, but we were all there together. It was such a GREAT weekend spending time with all of my girls!!!!

The shower was on Saturday afternoon, and my WONDERFUL mother offered up an overnight stay in a hotel....with a pool, hot tub, and no responsibilities for a day & night.......um, YES PLEASE!!!!!!!!! I gotta tell you.....having a night away did me a WORLD of good! Apparently being a mom is a little overwhelming and stressful for me??? Who knew?!

We left early on Saturday morning, did some shopping at an outlet mall, went to the baby shower, checked into our hotel, grabbed some dinner & did some more shopping at the outlet mall with my aunt & 2 cousins. The next morning, my mom & I enjoyed the hot tub & pool (LOVE!) while my sister slept in.....of which is rare for her since she gets up at 4:45 every morning to work out! Then, we enjoyed a sit down meal at a restaurant....without having to cut up anyone's food! Finally, we did more shopping to finish up the outlet mall & then headed home Sunday afternoon. It was a FANTASTIC weekend for me, and sooooooo needed. THANKS GIRLS!

Me & my sister listening to the baby shower game instructions. This picture makes me laugh because we are so focused & have pretty much the same expression on our faces. PS....we rocked the diaper/dress the baby one handed game!!!

While I was gone on a girls only weekend, Corey was home with Ethan.....A BOYS ONLY HOUSE! Those two had a TON of fun doing guy stuff.....eating fast food, wrestling, playing video games, having a father/son sleepover in the big bed, and so much more. Ethan came down with the croup last week, so they didn't really leave the house. However, that didn't stop them from having a great time. And guess what happened while Mom was away......Ethan started telling Corey when he had to go to the bathroom! YAHOO!!!

Corey told me that Ethan is able to hold it about 2 to 2.5 hours, and then he would tell Corey when he needed to go to the bathroom.....both #1 and #2!!!!! We are so proud of him! Corey also continued to encourage independent behavior. So, now, Ethan WANTS to put on his own socks, open his own packages like fruit snacks & poptarts, and put on his own coat. These are all things that I have been encouraging but somehow "MAN" time with Daddy has caused him to WANT to do these things! So, now, it's not a battle when we ask him to do them. Daddy has magical powers!

Corey also discovered a new trick. I talked before about whenever we tell Ethan "no" that he thinks he is in trouble, and that causes his anxiety to rise & increases the chances of a meltdown. For instance, he will ask to "make it dark"...which means turn off the lights. When we tell him "no", he gets upset, and then asks us again....I guess he thinks we will change our minds. So, now instead of just repeating the word "no" during the repeated question, Corey started asking Ethan, "What did Daddy say? Did I say yes or no?" Ethan will say, "Daddy said no." Then, Corey will say, "Good job, Ethan. Daddy said no!" So, we are still saying "no", but it's in a way that is positive. Therefore, Ethan doesn't think he is in trouble. It's a little odd, I know, but it is working.....so we are doing it!

I think it does both Ethan and I so much good to spend time apart. As his mom, as well as his all day care-giver, I feel the weight of the child-rearing responsibility. This is very overwhelming for me. Taxi driver, chef, teacher, therapist, activities planner, playmate, and on & on. This is not unlike other mothers, but with the addition of Ethan's autism diagnosis, I feel the need to CONSTANTLY help him overcome the obstacles that he faces. I really do believe that if we work really hard right now, he will be better off the older he gets. But, obviously, Ethan & I need to RELAX a bit from this idea. It seems to be the best approach with him anyway! Once I back off from a concept, he soon comes around & has the desire to do it himself. So, I think this mom needs to chill out a bit!

So, thank you mom for the opportunity to get away & just be Jessica for a little bit. And, thank you to my husband for always encouraging me to take time for myself. Apparently, when I actually do it, we all benefit. Are you all getting this??? Obviously, I need to go shopping with my girl friends more often......you know......to help Ethan.