20 Hugs and Kisses

And Cole is off….he left this morning for his Dad’s house in Nashville, TN for 19 DAYS! Sigh! If you have children, you know how their noises are the soundtrack to your daily life.  I love hearing Cole get out of bed in the morning. I love talking about his day. I love all the little pitter patters and noisy toys and video games sounds. I really love tucking him into bed at night.  When he is at his dad’s, everything just seems out-of-place.  It’s like taking the string section out of an orchestra.  While the music still plays, it isn’t the same. It’s not better. It’s not worse. It’s just different – I have to admit though, I am a fan of the string section  🙂

Somewhere along the way we have created a fun family tradition for Cole’s departure.  Before he leaves we hug and give kisses for the amount of days he is going to be gone and one extra one for good lucky.  19 hugs and kisses for the days he is gone plus one for good lucky!  Today before we went through security to get on the plane Christian got 20 hugs and forehead kisses (only one person can accompany Cole to the gate).  I also got 20 hugs and kisses before he got on the plane, but for the first time ever I got forehead kisses ONLY.  Sigh again.  He is really growing up. When did we get to the point of him not wanting really mommy kisses anymore?  Really? I only get his forehead.  Thank goodness Maute Moo is living in my belly right now.  I’ll be smothering him/her with real mommy kisses.

(random question for the day – does anyone know if they have increased the sensitivity on the metal detectors at airport security. Never in my life has the metal rods in my legs set of the detectors.  The past 3 times I’ve set off the alarm. I had on a cotton skirt and t-shirt, so the only thing I can think of is the rods in my legs.  Airport security and I are starting to get close!)

I miss the monster already.  The only way to survive 19 days without my little one in the house is to stay busy.  I’m going to try to get up and run at 5:30am to avoid the summer heat. This will free up my evenings for yoga practice.  I felt so good when I was practicing 6 days a week. I hope I get that back for a while.  I also bought a groupon for a local yoga studio that I’ve been wanting to try – 10 classes for 20 bucks. Score! I’ll be dropping in for a few classes over the next 3 weeks. While running and yoga are high priorities, the top of my list is to spend some quality time with the husband. We are long overdue for a few date nights and outdoor adventures. And then there are always the things on my 40 day goal list.  I think we will be plenty busy!

Happy Friday!!!