A Rare Night Out

This weekend, Chip and I had a rare treat of getting to go out! When I say rare I mean the last time such an event has occurred I was about eight months pregnant with my almost seven month old twins. We even got to see the same band play that we saw that night and were excited to spend the evening with some old and dear friends! One of the many benefits of living so close to family is having people we love and trust who are ready and willing to babysit our crew and although I was reluctant to leave my babies for the first time (as I am sure any mother would be) I was excited at the prospect of wearing a top that was NOT breastfeeding friendly! It was a joy to dip in to that section of my closet that over the past three years of pregnancy and breastfeeding, has not seen the light of day.

Thanks to the thousands (yes I said thousands) of ounces of milk I have pumped and stored in our deep freezer, I was able to leave knowing that my babies would not go hungry and I prepared two full bottles and defrosted an extra bag of milk, just in case.  I know that if the babies don’t consume what I thaw out, that it would be a treat for Elijah in the morning.  Elijah and Patrick went to sleep before Chip’s parents even arrived and although Rory was happily awake and giggling at the sight of his grandparents, he quickly went to sleep after our departure.  My mother in law reported that although there were a few wakings, no one fussed or acted hungry so not bottles were given. Since my babies are exclusively breastfed and have only had one or two bottles in their life (for Patrick since he was NICU weaned a week after his release at 12 days), it was just the icing on the cake that they didn’t need a bottle. I was happy to have them available if needed and very happy that they were not needed.

The night out was just what the doctor ordered for this hard loving Mama. I adore my children and my time with them and definitely was ready to let my hair down for a night. I got to dance to some of my favorite music played by my favorite cover band with my favorite guy as my date! And even had the bonus of hanging out with some good friends. I think it is important to remember that I am a mother. I am also a wife and an individual outside of my children. And though I thought of them all night long and checked in as any mother would do, boy did I have fun dancing and laughing and being around grown ups. Thanks to my sweet husband for suggesting it and making it happen and thank you to my wonderful in laws who I know were very tired from a busy week but still did not hesitate to say yes to our night out.

Ready to do some dancing!

My parents just gave me this beautiful silver necklace with my children’s names on it but I don’t want to wear it while I am nursing because the babies are used to my nursing necklaces that they can pull on. I was SO EXCITED to get to wear my new necklace on our night out!

Rory was his giggly happy self and so happy to see his grandparents

Grandmother and Rory saying bye bye as we departed

I had a great time visiting with my good friend Rhonda who I don’t get to see that much anymore!

Chip and his buddy Thomas catching up on old times.

Rhonda and I with the guitar player from the band who dressed up like my favorite 80’s artist!

My sweet dancing partner for the evening, Cindy! The last time I saw her we were ringing in the new year on a rooftop in time square 2010!