Time Out for Mama

After Ophelia got a bit better, we headed to Oatmeal. It was a long-awaited vacation for me. PJ stayed home to study for his finals, writing papers, and working on projects. Me and Ophelia were by ourselves all day long anyways at home, so why not hang out with the grandparents instead? And Ophelia and I both had a great time! She is just always so good at Grandma and Grandpa's. Not sure, if it's because she is always stimulated, so there's no room for tantrums and such, or if it's because there are other people than me around, so she doesn't act up...I don't know, but Grandma and Grandpa think she is an angel...and I get to see her other side at home...
The ride there was a bit stressful. I had to pull over about 4 times to calm Ophelia down, fix her covers, or give her Tylenol. As I was pulling over for the 4th time (at a fast food place parking lot), I was at the end of my patience, so I said a prayer and stopped the car. Ophelia was acting like she was done riding in the car, did not want her paci or blanket, so I took her out and held her in my arms for maybe 3 or 4 minutes as we watched the cars ride on the highway and then, MIRACLE, an answer to my prayer, she pointed to the carseat, so I strapped her back in, gave her her paci and plankie, we started driving and I did not hear a peep until we reached our destination! Prayers work!

Here are some pictures of when we went to visit some neighbors in Oatmeal to look at their newly born baby goats! They were so cute! Ophelia was thrilled! She also loved their dog and enjoyed hanging out with everyone on the porch.







While Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed their little angel, I enjoyed my time off. I spent a day shopping, got a hair trim, and went to San Antonio for Time Out For Women. It was my first time and I loved it! Here are some pictures:





It was fun hanging out with these wonderful sisters, laughing together, eating good food, staying up at night laughing, and getting emotionally+spiritually recharged at the conference. My favorite speaker was Sheri Dew. Something that stood out to me was that: Heavenly Father has high expectations for us but he know we can do it, he is cheering for us louder than all. We all have to deal with "not ideal" circumstances sometimes. She talked about striving to be influenced by non-worldly things and remembering the influence we have on others. Another great speaker, Emily Watts, was amazing at speaking on the "habits of happiness". Kris Belcher presented a message on overcoming life's challenges through faith in Jesus Christ, as she shared her experiene of becoming blind while still a mother of 1 and 4 year olds. The whole conference just made me even more grateful for my blessings, for the wonderful people in my life, and for Heavenly Father and his infinite love for us.

It was such a fun trip all together. A long-needed time out for me, that's for sure!