No Babies Allowed

I'm a party person.  I love to throw parties, I love to attend parties - I love being around my loved ones in a festive setting.  My RSVP card almost always says YES!  But all of a sudden, I'm not just RSVPing for me.  I have a little person who depends on me for food (literally, I'm a breastfeeding mommy), so where I go, she goes.  So she has been to baby showers, out of town business trips (daddy had meetings while I was on maternity leave, and we tagged along to get out of the house!), restaurants... she has even been fed at Home Depot in a moment of desperation (tiny little babies have a remarkable ability to double their volume in public when hungry).  I'm super mom, I can feed my kid anywhere!

However, I am faced with having to come up with a creative plan for an upcoming wedding out of town that doesn't allow babies.  I was planning on bringing Lily with us - she likes to dance with mommy and daddy at home, so a wedding would be fun for her!  But I just found out that the venue doesn't allow children under 13.  And the venue is 2 hours from home, making the entire trip (driving and event) between 6 and 8 hours.  I have to either feed Lily or pump every 3-4 hours.  I can't very well bring a breast pump to a wedding!  So instead of driving, attending (feeding her as needed) and then driving home, I'll likely have to get my mom to tag along and get a hotel room for her and Lily to hang in while Jim and I attend the wedding.  I'm sure I'll work something out, but it will be pricier than if I could just bring her to the event.  I can't stand the thought of missing this wedding (very good friend is getting married), but baby (and family budget) comes first.

My time and schedule are no longer my own - they belong to Lily.  I can't run off to parties or events that are not suitable for infants.  Not the end of the world, but it's still a social-life shocker.  But I wouldn't trade her in for all the parties in the world!



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