End of our Cali Trip

March 28, 2009

Having some fun before hitting the road for the long drive.

DD has finally learned how to walk down the stairs like her cousins. She LOVES it.

So we survived the car ride home. We didn't even use the DVD player until we were an hour or so into Oregon! I'm so proud of DD. She did a great job. I did climb in the back in between the car seats once because LM was having a really hard time and was so fussy. He calmed down once he saw me though. We made two longer stops for an hour and let DD run around and play while I fed. Overall it went well. DD woke up 45 minutes from home and couldn't get back to sleep so we turned a video on for her again and she watched that till we got home.

Our first feeding stop. DH went in and got us some drinks and DD LOVED her little soda. I also love the while driving pictures. DD's form of entertainment was picking her nose. Lovely. It started out only happening when she was tired in the car but now is all the time.

DH had to get his Inn-n-Out fix before hitting Oregon so we ate at the last one on the way. They gave DD a cool sticker sheet while we waited for food and brought the kids these hats. DD LOVES her hat. It was great entertainment for a while in the car.

I need another vacation. I came home to a big mess. Our house was left like a bomb blew up since I had been sick. Today I got a little bit of unpacking done. I did three loads of laundry and picked up the house a little since it was left in chaos. I think it will take me a week to get everything cleaned and organized. I'm so happy to be better though. I'm hoping to tackle LM's room and get the wallpaper paste off the wall and paint his room and get it ready for him. I got him sleeping 9 hours straight in CA though the last two nights we were there he was at 8. I figured that's close enough and I could get up once to feed him and that's not so bad. Watching all the kids two days in row in California did tire me out though so I don't think I will be getting much done (at least not quickly). I think it might take a whole week to recover.

We went over to my parents around noon to visit with my brother and his family that came for the weekend from Boise, ID. It was so fun to visit with my brother and SIL. Her littlest is a few months younger than DD and they had fun playing with each other though DD also played with her cousin who's 3. We are blessing LM tomorrow so they came for that and to visit everyone for part of their spring break. We will have a full day tomorrow with the blessing at 11, lunch/dinner at DH's parent's at 3, dessert with everyone at 4, and back to my parent's house till bed time. It will be a busy but fun day.

My brother's daughter just LOVES babies and was so happy to be able to hold LM. It was so cute to see. DD had a blast playing with her little cousin too that's so close in age. It will be fun watching them grow up together.

Cali Trip part 2

March 21-24, 2009
I finally figured out that DD is cold here while sleeping here on vacation so I go in before I head to bed and put the blankets back over her. Now she is sleeping through the night again!

I love how DD has her snack and "shares" with her brother. Notice it by his head in the car seat carrier.

So to sum up what been going on. Saturday my SIL works all day so after getting ready for the day my older sister called to see if we could get together that afternoon for lunch or the next day for lunch or dinner. I called her back and loved the idea of going out to lunch. They took us to In-n-Out. It was DD's first time there. She loved the fries and soda and even tried a few bites of the hamburger which is shocking that she didn't just shake her head at me and say "no" pushing it away without trying it first!

Yummy food for lunch.

DD was obsessed with laying out the blanket for LM and LOVED helping her Uncle with all his house projects. It was so fun to see them interacting with each other.

DD and her uncle loved playing "hide and seek" with each other. Here's a pic of when Auntie joined in the fun too!

At lunch I related my birth story to my BIL (he never heard about how my water broke in the Quizno's men's restroom). He took a major liking to DD too (this was the first time they have seen each other since Thanksgiving, though it was a big family gathering one evening). I was impressed with DD too because she let him carry her around and even set her down once and she came to me to get picked up but he asked if she wanted him and she went over to him! Amazing. We drove back to their house but the kids were asleep so I decided to just take them home. LM though woke up right when I was going to leave starving (it was an hour past his feeding time). I fed him in the car and my sister noticed I was still out there and came to chat with me while I fed him. It was a wonderful visit.

Then that night my SIL came home and her mother too (who was watching my SIL's sister's kids). That made 11 kids in the house under the age of 12! And there were two 2 year-old and DD too! It was very loud. We ate tacos (my favorite) and watched Twilight. I couldn't put DD to bed with all the noise so she didn't get to sleep until 10:30pm. We decided to skip church the next day since it started at 9am and I was dreading going by myself with the kids and not having DH's help anyway. DD of course woke up at 6 am (she always wakes up early when put to bed late). I got her quickly though and put her in bed with me and got her back to sleep and we slept till 9:45am! It was heaven.

Sunday we just relaxed. My SIL and I watched Kit Kittredge. My SIL fell asleep though and ended up watching it later that night. I thought it was a cute story. We went to my sister's for dinner (Taco's again....yummy- they are my favorite food). DD had a blast playing with Uncle Al and chasing him around the house. She ate a taco and even picked up the meat that fell out and put it in her mouth! Amazing. She loved the strawberries and ice cream for dessert too. My sister is almost finished with the family quilt for LM! She wouldn't let me really look at it until it's finished so I'm still waiting.

***LM raised his eye brow at me today (Sunday) in sort of a questioning manner. To funny and cute!***