While the Reece is away...

Have I mentioned yet how happy I am to have my husband home?

Yeah, it's pretty great.

Even though I kind of miss having our queen bed to myself.

Don't tell.

While he was off globetrotting, the kids and I worked hard to pass the time quickly, and had a lot of help from our friends and family.

We spent a lovely afternoon eating cupcakes, playing dress ups and chatting up a storm with the Nelson girls, who were kind enough to drive all the way down from Bountiful to see us.

Tara was one of my closest friends and roommate in college and was there from the beginning of Reece and I (true story: she married Reece's roommate, whom she met the same night I met Reece), and I definitely got a kick out of watching our CHILDREN play so well together.

Where does the time go?

How is it that we each have a pair of KIDS?

Nutso.

 Nights were a bit rough.

At our house, the witching hour coincides with dinnertime, and since I had no energy to fight the nightly food battle, we ended up having multiple picnics on the kitchen floor.

String cheese and cheerios... the dinner of champions.

Nana and Pop Pop saved me at bedtime.

Nana wore the kids out by being their personal amusement park ride.

One night I came upstairs after tucking James in his crib to find Lola in the middle of a jam session with her grandparents.

This girl is so, so lucky.

Growing up, I loved singing while my dad played the guitar, and I love seeing Lola fall in love with the same ritual.

We spent an afternoon with the Maudsley girls.

When we lived in Salt Lake, Cindy never failed to keep me company when Reece was away.

I hate that our current homes are much more than approximately 1.5 minutes apart...

Lyla and Lola picked up where they left off, as usual.

These girls are best friends for life.

The kids and I also got to spend an evening with their soon-to-be aunt Christen, who is nothing short of wonderful.

At this point in the week my children seemed determined to destroy me (no naps mean complete chaos), but Christen kept Lola entertained, shared her gelato with James and helped me feel not so alone.

In my eyes, the woman is nothing less than heaven sent.

And then there is my saintly mother-in-law, who is always willing to open her home to my motley crew and who keeps the fridge stocked with Lola's essentials -- bacon and chocolate milk.

Don't know what we'd do without her.

Our Reece-less week was tough at times, but it was also crazy fun, and in a very strange way I proved to myself that I can do this thing called motherhood -- even if a few tears are necessary along the way.