Never a day off...

We are on our first family vacation right now in Gatlinburg, TN. More to come on what we've been up to and are going to be doing, but first...

What an experience getting here was! I spent most of Friday packing around Coleman's schedule. Thank goodness I make lists! They were very helpful in being productive during his nap times. He also spent a good portion of his day in the exersaucer or in the Moby "helping" me. As Justin was packing the car in the evening, we did have to leave some things behind that we wanted to bring because of space issues in the car (and did I mention that we are borrowing my in-laws car for the trip b/c mine is too small for everything we need for a baby?) Or maybe I just pack to much.....no, I think it's that we require more things to keep the little one happy, fed, changed, and entertained for 10 days.

So the car is packed, it's 5am and we're off. Coleman woke up as we were transferring him from the crib to the carseat. But what else is new, he was already up several times before then....he still isn't sleeping through the night...ugh! I got to sleep for about an hour and a half before Colie woke up at 7:30. We stopped at McD's to feed him and give him cereal, then he had to be changed from jammies into clothes, diaper change, give him some stretch/playing time, and packed back up in the carseat and then we're off (this took an hour mind you). Before Coleman we would quick stop, use the restroom, get something to eat and bring it in the car. Now there's a whole process to stopping. Oh yeah, and we had to get gas too.

I could make the whole post about how long it took to get here, but I wont...we are here, we made it safely and with really no troubles at all. We have a good little traveler on our hands and both mommy and daddy kept him entertained in the squished backseat while the other was driving. We sang many ABC's, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Coleman's name song.

The past 2 days we have been up by 5 to leave for our destination (we made a stop in KY before heading to TN to see the Creation Museum). Also, since my little man doesn't like to sleep through the night yet, I've been up several times in between. So needless to say, I'm a little tired (okay..a LOT tired). And sometimes all I really want to do is get to the destination, put down our things, and just rest...or take a nap...or watch some tv....but that can't happen like it used to because now I am a mommy. And someone is relying on my to take care of him, love him, play with him, nurture him. Of course, there's his incredible dad here to help as well. For both of us this has been a huge change. One that I'm very grateful for...but adjusting to this new job as a parent is tough work.

I'm so glad that we are taking a vacation with a 5 month old. I'm glad we don't stay in our home and not go out into the world because of how little he still is. We make sacrifices on not doing certain things because of his schedule sometimes...but really, it's not too bad. So I'm now realizing that being a parent means you never get a day off (even if you're gone from your little one overnight...because you still think about them all the time!). I'll take the job any day of the week though, it's the greatest job in the entire world.

And now I'm going to bed because the little man is sleeping and I'm sure I'll have to be up with him in a few hours (with a smile on my face of course).