I've survived so far!

I am a blessed woman, because I have a husband who is very present in our lives. He doesn't have any hobbies that take him away from home, but instead, chooses to do things that can be done at home or can include the family. Therefore, I have not had a lot of experience going it alone with my 2 kids. The first time Nathan went out of town was when I was on maternity leave and he went to New York for 5 days. Will was 4 months old and Madeline was still going through a hard time adjusting to a new sibling. It was hard for me, and I'm afraid I had a pretty negative and resentful attitude about the whole thing. Since, I have dreaded the next time he would have to go out of town.
So, on Tuesday, when Nathan told me he had a great offer of a ticket to the Texas/Arkansas game in Austin, I paused for a moment, the resentful and negative feels welling up inside. But, I did not let them out because I am working so hard on being a more positive person overall. Now, I don't just ignore my feelings, but try to reason through them and find a positive and happy way to look at the situation. Therefore, I was determined that this time would be different. I made a point to be positive and enjoy this time alone with my 2 kids.
Believe me, the positive attitude has really been tested starting with Will being sick, having a report on a horrible substitute, having to take Madeline to a birthday party right in the middle of our usual nap time, Will getting extremely fussy and crying the entire way across town after the party, Madeline having a huge melt-down over cleaning up her mess in the playroom, and Will's new phase of separation anxiety that makes him hard to get down at night. Whew!!! In spite of all this, I managed to stay calm and handle each situation very positively and I really have enjoyed this time with my kids. Here are a few pictures I managed to catch today:

Madeline was really enjoying dress up right before lunch and I just had to capture the ensemble!

She was excited when the post-man brought her a belated birthday present from her Great Mema and Pepa Pesek. It was a beautiful dress and cardigan. I really can't wait for fall weather to start here so that we can enjoy the wonderful new fall clothes!
Will didn't want to be left out and claimed the bow on the package as his own accessory.