7 Quick Takes-Back to Reality

1. Tony and I returned to Shreveport late last night after 4 1/2 days in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Aleia (my good friend of many years and Tony's godmother) and Michael were married on the beach on Wednesday. Everything-the wedding, the bride, the music, the decorations-was absolutely beautiful, and Tony and I were so honored to be a part of their special day. Congratulations to the Mr. and Mrs!!

2. It was my first time traveling out of the country with a toddler, not to mention Tony's first plane ride. It was...interesting. Don't get me wrong, I came prepared. I had multiple children's books, lots of snacks, a sippy cup with water/apple juice, and the grandparents (Nana in particular) to help with entertainment. I'm not going to lie, it was pretty stressful. Tony did *okay* on the plane rides, and for the most part the other passengers were very kind and understanding. Getting through customs, handling the luggage, lugging the car seat around and rushing back to remote parking to stuff everything in my car and begin the 3 hour drive home...ugh. I don't want to do that again for a very, very long time!

3. Will is in Florida until Sunday doing Army training, so Tony, Murphy and I are holding down the fort. I'm doing my best to get the house in order and get Tony back on a normal schedule. He has been very spoiled (particularly by the grandparents) over the past couple of days with Fruit Loops and pain au chocolat for breakfast, juice throughout the day, and sleeping in the hotel room bed with me. Nope. I think it's safe to say we're done with that!

4. I love finding/reading new blogs. If you have a blog and want to shamelessly promote it, please comment and leave me the link to your blog. It's nice to have new reading material during Tony's nap times and in the evening after he goes to bed. (It certainly beats watching reality TV, hmmm?).

5. This week is the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, and the March for Life in DC. On one hand, I'm hesitant to delve into my views on the matter, both of out fear of sounding "preachy" or judgmental. (I assure you, no matter which side of the debate you're on, I will never preach to or judge someone for the choices they've made). On the other hand, well, I write about everything else, and I know my opinions on several subjects are controversial. I think the reason I usually shy away from the subject of abortion is because my views have changed so drastically in the past few years, and I know there are quite a few people out there who may feel that I'm a hypocrite for no longer proclaiming the pro-choice stance I held for so many years. Many of my blogger acquaintances are participating in #GoDark4Life today, and while I don't plan on joining them-mainly because I was anxious to get back to my blog after a week-I think that Katie at NFP and Me explains it very well. I would encourage you to check out her post if you're interested.

6. On the subject of babehs, I've discovered that a little pizza monster lives in our house. All I craved was pizza when I was pregnant with Tony, and it appears as though I've passed the "pizza gene" on to my son. Yesterday at the airport in Puerto Vallarta, he ate an entire slice of Sbarro's cheese pizza (gross, I know. At the very least I could introduce the kid to Ricardo's or Balistreri's!).

7. I have to say, after 4 nights of sharing a king size bed with a toddler who has a bad habit of flinging himself around in his sleep, stretching across the bed horizontally, and pushing me to the very edge of the bed and planting his chubby little feet in the small of my back, it's nice to be able to enjoy a good night's sleep (by myself!!). I love Tony to death, but it was back to the crib last night for him.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!