Time Out for Women

My MIL, three sister in laws, niece Tiffany and her friend, and I (and my little sidekick) all traveled to a Time Out for Women event in Portland this past weekend. 
Brooklyn and I flew to Portland.  I was nervous all week about flying with a baby but she did wonderfully.  And people are so kind when you have a baby.  Every step of the way I had strangers asking me if they could help.  There are good, kind people in this world.  The first flight I tried sitting next to a lady with two kids, a toddler and a baby, because I figured she wouldn't mind if the baby cried or if I nursed Brooklyn.  But the flight attendant let us know that there can't be two lap children in one row because there are only 4 oxygen masks per row.  So a lady behind me switched me and I sat in between her 11 year old niece and boyfriend.  I felt bad for the guy cause I didn't want him to feel uncomfortable with me nursing next to him but he was really nice and even commented that he liked my nursing cover haha.  Brooklyn ate and then fell asleep for the rest of the flight.
My MIL and sister in law Wendy picked us up from the airport and then dropped us off at my best friend from high school's place so we could see her and her family, including her two week old twin boys.  They are SO tiny and adorable and just slept the whole five hours or so I was there except when they ate.  I remember those days :)

 And her little two year old Collin is so sweet and read to Brooklyn and gave her hugs and kisses.  It was so nice to be able to catch up with Rachel.  I was thinking about it today now that we are home and amazed at how refreshed and energized she seems with two new babies and a toddler! Rachel is one of those friends that I can always pick up with right where we left off.
That evening we met the rest of my SIL's at the event center and heard some great talks and performances by a beautiful violinist Jenny Oaks Baur.  My favorite talk from that night was about forgiveness.  The speaker explained that how we can know that we have truly forgiven someone is that we can talk or think about the situation without getting emotionally charged over it. 

That night we stopped at Red Robin for a late dinner.  I stayed in the car with sleeping Brooklyn while everyone got dinner to go.  My MIL was so sweet and ordered mine for me to take back to the hotel. 
The next morning we were back at the event center at 9am til 3pm.  A lot of the time I was out with Brooklyn cause she wanted to be moving around but they broadcast it out in the big hall and in the big mother's lounge.  I got some good snuggle time with my girl while being uplifted by insipiring messages. 
It made my heart so happy to have Brooklyn be around her Grandma and Aunt's and cousin Tiffany.  I worry sometimes that she won't be loved as much as I want her to be loved (Is this a normal mom fear? ).  Having everybody ask to hold her and loving on my little baby just put my heart at ease.  It's the best to see your child be loved. 
Brooklyn cracks me up because she is SO social. As we are walking through the airport she makes eye contact with people and will just stare at them smiling till they notice her and smile back.  On the airplane ride back she was fussing a bit at first and the ladies in the row across from us would start talking to her and she immediately would stop fussing and get this huge smile on her face.  She was quite the attraction on the plane.  After eating and playing a bit on the last flight she fell asleep for the last little bit. 
We were both happy to see our man and spend the rest of the day together as a family.