This and That

This last week has been a busy one with little time left to blog. Sadly, my trusty laptop has been collecting dust on the bedside table and I find myself reading and even writing posts from my iPhone these days. I feel like I'm adjusting well to life with two kids, but it leaves me exactly zero time for myself. Forget leisurely computer time. Eating, showering and sleeping pull rank. 

Last week, Andi traveled for work and while I survived solo parenting just fine, I have never been so happy to have Andi return home from a trip. The first day and a half were going well until Tory got a random case of the pukes on Tuesday night about 10:30pm. I started to sweat bullets that a) I had to care for a sick child all night while nursing another one every 2-3 hours and b) that we were all going to catch whatever she had. Thankfully, after throwing up half the night, she woke up Wednesday feeling better. Then I felt like garbage with the on-set of a sinus cold. I pounded Zicam and hot tea with lemon like nobody's business and slogged through the day. My SIL, Lindsay, stopped by part of Wednesday so at least that helped get me through with an extra pair of hands. Last week, in general, made me realize how awesome Andi and I have band together as a team since Aden's birth. My husband has been such a big help with the kids and around the house lately. I'm so proud of us for coming together during what can be a challenging time in a relationship. It makes me love that man a million times more.

Last Thursday, I busted my bum in the morning to pack overnight bags and get the kids out the door to pick Andi up from the airport. Our new morning routine takes me three hours to accomplish (dress and feed Tory, nurse Aden, get myself dressed, car loaded, etc.) which is just insane. THREE HOURS! By the time I'm pulling out of the drive-way, I'm exhausted from the shuffle. Anyway, we picked Andi up at the airport and drove straight to the cabin to celebrate Andi's birthday. We spent the rest of Thursday and Friday doing nothing basically, just running errands around town, going for rides and hanging out together. I'd planned for us to drive around and look at Christmas lights as part of our advent calendar activities and somehow we didn't even accomplish that. Whatever. It felt good just to be a family again. 

We we're suppose to celebrate Andi's family Christmas on Sunday in the Cities, but we rescheduled because Andi's mom felt under the weather. So, Andi's sister and her boyfriend, Kyle, came over anyway and we had a "fake Christmas" where we ate all the yummy food we'd bought for the real celebration. If nothing else, it was an excuse to day-drink and lazily sit around the house all day. Well do the real thing after the first of the year. 

Tory, Aden and I flew to Nebraska on Wednesday for Christmas with my side of the family. For some reason it was cheaper for us to fly in early and Andi to meet us here later this weekend. I was super nervous for the flight because it was Tory's first time flying with her own seat/ticket (couldn't fathom my wiggly girl sitting for an hour) and my first time flying solo with two kids (Aden's first flight). Honestly, our travels went so smoothly. I brought the umbrella stroller for Tory and wore Aden in the Baby Bjorn. Andi dropped us off at the airport and I checked our bags at sky-cap so I didn't have far to lug them. I did have to check car seats inside, but some nice lady demanded I go ahead of her in the Sky Priority lane. Countless people asked if they could assist me and the kids were each given a set of wings from a nice Delta flight attendant. People can be so gracious. Tory was an angel the entire journey. All those flights in her first two years of life really paid off. Aden was easy-peasy, as always. 

For anyone preparing for air travel with kids, I highly recommend the children's book Amazing Airplanes. It's one of Tory's favorite books and during our travels she repeated many of the book's sayings like "you have to put your seatbelt on before the plane can go." I think it really helped her to know what to expect. 

I'm always nervous how Tory will do in Nebraska during our stays here, but so far so good. Her lack of routine/adequate sleep is the wild card, so we'll see how the rest of the week plays out when the holiday activities and family get-togethers kick into high gear. 

My baby boy turned one month old while we've been down here. Four weeks! How is that even possible?

Aden's week by week pictures - week 4

I have some notes typed up on my phone about his first month of life, but haven't had a chance to throw them into a blog post yet. So is the life of the second born. Sigh. I'll get there, Aden. 

I've got some words floating around in my head about our cabin updates, too. We've made some big changes there. More to come....