Overnight experience

We did it….and we survived!  We spent our first night away from Jackson to celebrate our 2nd Anniversary. I’m not going to lie, it was tough, I cried at first, but I knew he was in good GREAT hands – my mom & Gary’s.

We dropped Jackson off yesterday at about 2pm and headed downtown to check into our hotel – The Westin. Shane’s mom works there, and has been for 30 years – so she was able to get us a great discount.  We are so lucky she was able to set this up for us for our special weekend – we love her so much! Shane surprised me with a suite as well as champagne & chocolate covered strawberries upon arrival. The suite was GORGEOUS and the view was breathtaking.  We decided to head out early to dinner and of course, as soon as we arrived at Palisade (our FAVORITE restaurant) our thoughts & feelings went 100% into us, our marriage, our relationship and our friendship. We had a delicious dinner and watched the beautiful sunset.

   From there, we drove back to the hotel and parked and walked up to The Dahlia Lounge for dessert and a drink. I felt like we were dating again. We were laughing, holding hands, kissing – it was so romantic. We texted my mom to find out how Jackson was doing and she let us know that he went down like a dream for bed……all my fears were gone.

Turns out, our very good friends (they were both in our wedding), Justin & Katie Behrens were in town. So we met up with them for drinks and headed out on the town.  Justin & Katie have been such a huge part of mine and Shane’s lives – what a treat to spend a few hours with them on our special day!

And another realization: we are NOT young anymore. By midnight, we I started to get tired and headed back to the hotel (of course stopping by a hotdog stand for a little “street meat” as Katie called it). The lightweight that I am got a little too tipsy and I ended up passing out as soon as we got back to our suite. Oops!

We woke up this morning, ordered room service and just hung out in our room in our jammies…..it was soooo nice!  Then around 10am this feeling kicked in, a feeling like something was missing, a part of me wasn’t complete. At that moment, Shane looked at me and said, “Let’s go get our son” and I teared up.  He read my mind, and that is one of the many reasons I love my husband so much. He knows me better than I know myself.

And our weekend was complete. Mission Reconnection was a success – and so was Jackson’s first overnight. He slept 9 hours straight and Grandma & Grandpa’s – and woke up happy as can be. Although I had mixed emotions prior to this weekend I am so glad we did it. Absence DOES make the heart grow fonder and I realized again how madly in love I am with Shane. I am truly blessed with an amazing husband, supportive parents/family, the best baby, and great friends – what more could a girl ask for?