Live, Laugh, Love

Since Emma has been born, I can count on one hand the number of times I have spent time with friends... without child in tow.  And, recently, I've started to feel it.  Sometimes you just need to get together with the girls and laugh about life.  Luckily for me, I have just those girls!  The gals in the hood and I left the husbands at home with the kids last Friday for a long overdue Mexican night.  Two hours of nothing but girl talk.  The kind that has you rolling with tears streaming down your face.  The kind that makes you love being a woman, because only we really understand the humor of meltdowns and pantyhose malfunctions.

Then, this Friday, the gals from my church group and I got all gussied up to head down to the Plaza for an evening at the melting pot... again, laughing till there were water works, and looks from other tables telling us with their expressions that we may want to quiet down... we didn't.

Sometimes, it's hard to convince ourselves that we are allowed nights off.  Everything that is required of me at home, sometimes I think the house would just fall to pieces if I leave.  But, it doesn't (Brett has a pretty good handle of things).  I do, however, fall to pieces if I don't leave. Ever.  Sometimes, time to ourselves can be just as important as time with the family. The women in our lives, they can encourage us, and lift us up, and help us find our sense of humor.  We have to hold on to that.

Brett and I also took a little evening to ourselves last Saturday night for a little dinner and bowling date.  I really love dating my husband.  We have so much fun being dorks together, and I'm so glad that he has no expectations of me to be perfect, or cool.

Not that I have completely neglected my daughter!  Mind you, most of the time she's going to bed when I'm leaving, so I still get an entire day full of Emma.  We have had so much time together since my schedule has lightened up a bit, and I am loving it!  She's also had a chance to catch up with some of her friends.  Julia came up with my friend Anna from Alabama to visit, our friend Cooper came up with his mommy Alecia from Shawnee to spend a day with us, and yesterday, we traveled to Olathe so Emma could play with Emma Jean.  She is quite the social butterfly, our girl!  We also got to stop in to see great-grandpa Butch before we came home last night.  

So that's what we are up to these days!  Living, laughing, and loving life!  Have a great week!

I don't think they were excited about pictures :)

Isn't our friend Emma Jean a little doll?!

I don't know who made the other laugh more!