Hawaii, Part Two

Aloha and Maholo, Hawaii!

Kohen's other woman :0 He loves his Nana

Kyle fighting with a gorilla in the Maui airport
Me, with two little Hawaiian kids. Aren't they cute?

My Kelli Rippa pose :)

Fire dancers at the Luau (pronouced Loo Oww...)

My hot Hawaiian dancer :)

My hot Arkansan with his Luau tickets. Don't you love his salmon colored shirt? :)

View from our bed

Aloha and Maholo, Hawaii!

We have returned from our trip to Hawaii (big sigh.) I know, for some moms, it is impossible to even think about leaving your sweet child for even a few hours, and I understand that. I WAS one of those moms. I've, at most, been away from Kohen for 3 hours. The thought of leaving him for 8 days was just impossible. I did, however, promise my husband that I would do this. And, I did.

When we found out we were pregnant, I promised Kyle that I would go away with him, just the two of us, once per year. See, before we were married, our preacher asked us to do several sessions of marital counseling (it was a requirement.) We went to every session, and beyond that, we LISTENED to every word he said. As the years have passed, we often think about his comments and advice. We don't speak with Brother Robert much anymore, but he gave us advice that has given us the greatest blessing in life, a marriage, a darn good one too! He told us that he and his wife went away, and each year he would tell his two kids that "mom and dad were going away so they could come home to be better parents." So, when I promised Kyle that I would go away once a year without our precious joy in life, I had no idea I would really HAVE to do it! I tried backing out of this trip a dozen times too. However, I walked onto the plane like a superstar wife, holding back tears for several hours, until I couldn't take it anymore. I cried. I called home often. I cried more, especially when our plane was delayed several hours coming home, and I even placed one foot on the luggage scale and pulled myself up onto the ticket counter to look the agent in the eyes. I wanted her to know that I NEEDED to be home to see my baby. She worked it out for us too.

While we were gone, Kohen had the BEST time with his Nana and Pops. Kyle's mom took him walking everyday. They played in the park, watched kids play soccer, looked for squirrels and rabbits, and Pops put tile down in our bathroom, fixed our fence, mowed our yard, had the oil changed in my car and so much more. Kohen LOVES his grandparents, and he goes around calling for his Nana. OH, and Kohen has so much more hair. I promise I'm not making that up. We even combed his hair into a mohawk today for a work BBQ. He said, "Daddy, Go" and "baby" today too. His Nana and Pops spent so much time with him. This was a win-win trip for all of us, but especially Kohen. Best of all, they spent a ton of time working with him to behave in his highchair. Now, we seriously have to wait on him to finish eating.

So, for all of you moms who refuse to go away from your children, take our preachers advice and "go away to come back and be a better parent." It is hard, but so worth it! Do it for your husband, the one you will spend the rest of your life with!