1st Vacation

No, not Benjamin's first vacation...my first vacation away from him!  YIKES!  Where, you ask, am I going?  I am going to Las Vegas.  I leave tonight at 9:15 pm and return on Monday.  I am going with some other ladies in my family, including my sister and my mom, my cousin and her mom aka my aunt, my grandmothers from both sides of my family and my cousin's grandma on her dad's side.  My aunt and uncle who live in California will also be there.  This trip has gone on for several years.  It is the third year that "kids" have gone and by kids I mean my generation. 
I agonized over whether or not I should go and leave Ben.  I actually only booked my trip about 3 weeks ago.
Cons:
-It feels selfish to leave the baby, who relies on me for food, at such a young age (3 months). 
-I will have to be pumping while I am there.
-I feel fat and my swimming suits all look terrible and there are always alot of attractive young ladies and guys at the pools.
-It is hard to wear cute hot weather clothes without showing the telltale nursing bra strap hooks.
-Although I majored in Child Development and know that babies brains are amazing things that don't get enough credit I still worry that Ben might forget me.

Pros: 
-It is not possible to go on a cheaper trip...the grandmas play the slots so much that they have priority points and we get free rooms and the flight is a cheap Allegiant direct flight. 
-The trip is alot of fun.
-As we get older who knows how many more trips like this there will be as the "kids" start having kids and the grandmas get older. 
-I have a freezer full of frozen bags of milk for Ben. 
-Even if I have to pump, I won't have to worry about sanitization or storage since I will just be dumping it out. 
-Justin is capable of and comfortable with taking care of a baby.  My mom, of course, didn't leave us over night like EVER when we were little but dads have come a long way since the 80's I guess...and her grandmothers didn't include cheap trips to Vegas to play the slots with their granddaughters for 4 days as part of thier yearly plans.  Actually, she never even knew either of her grandmas because they died young.

OK, Pros win!  It will be hard to leave but this morning I am anxiously watching the clock and waiting for evening to come so I can board that plane!  Everyone else is already there and has been since yesterday afternoon so I am very anxious to join the fun.  Oh, and feel that fabulous Mojave Desert heat that I LOVE!  The forecast says the highs will be in the 100s which might sound terrible to some people but I can't wait to feel that dry heat.  The climate in the Southwest makes my hair look really smooth too! 

Until I return, here is as funny picture of Ben wearing a shirt that looks like doctor's scrubs...

See you next week!