Mini-Mes

I made a vow on Saturday that I would only blog while my children slept.

But the very catalyst that prompted me to blog only during my babies' sleep patterns is the very thing keeping me from blogging during that time (thus why I have stolen this moment of Elliot's nap and Jane's fascination with a PBS show I can not stand).

Did I mention that I was going on a cruise? For 8 child-free days, Lane and I will join my parents, siblings and their spouses for a tropical vaca.

I'm really excited.

And really nervous.

Not that I worry about my babies. They'll be in the best of care from my fabulous mother-in-law who is selflessly forgoing her sanity to care for my 2- and 1-year-old solo.

I'm worried about me.

In 27 months, I have not once been without a child. Sure, for Diana's wedding I left Jane (but not Elliot) for 1 1/2 days. And, of course, when I gave birth to Elliot, I was without Jane for 1 1/2 days. I will miss my cherubs. A lot.

But I look forward to this break. I am confident it will only make me a better parent, more willing to face those days that I wish would end. I mean, hey, it's made me want to spend every waking moment this week drinking in my little ones' smells -- stinky and all (but not really the stinky).

You want to know what I'm really looking forward to? The flight.

I get to go to the airport and get a snack that no small hands will try to take straight from my mouth. Once I drop off my luggage, I'm not going to be still carrying a 25-pound child, stroller, carseat and diaper bag. I get the WHOLE seat to myself. And I get to read a book on the flight.

As you can tell, I've thought a lot about this child-free flight.

But I'll still miss those little kicking legs. Maybe I'll take a piece of their clothing to smell when I get sad.

Or maybe I'll just look at my parents. After all, they are simply older versions of my children.

Seriously. Jane is my Mom and Elliot is my Dad. How did that happen?

Perhaps the following photos are not the best representation. After all, they aren't twins. They just look like them a lot. But I'm on a limited time schedule here, so I grabbed the first age appropriate photos.

I still think they're frightfully similar. Or maybe you think they all look like each other. It could be my mother/daughter eyes. No, I'll stick to my guns. They're each other.

Mom and Jane around the same age.

Here's my Dad and Elliot, but Dad's probably a good 6 months older than Elliot.