This is the blog where I am going to attempt to recount our holiday happenings. I started this Sunday, January 6, 2013 and didn't make it very far...
The week has gone good with just me and Presley so far. I'm glad we had the weekend home just the 3 of us so we could readjust to home life after two weeks of living as nomads who were surrounded by amazing friends and family nearly 24/7. The past weekend was rough, mostly because Presley was very clingy and whiny - I'm guessing it had to do with the change of scenery, the fact that it was just the three of us, and her teeth coming in. When we were in Tennessee, we were always on the go and when we weren't, there were plenty of people to interact with at all times. By the time Sunday night rolled around, I was very low on patience, missing our friends and family, bummed my hubby was going back to work in the morning and honestly wasn't feeling very hopeful that things were going to go well this week.
And then I did something I hadn't done in a while. I try to send out a few encouraging text messages every week to about 40 friends and family members... but what was different is that this time I decided to put my worries aside and pray for their week ahead; I prayed that they could face their worries and troubles head on - that if they weren't able to change the problems in their life then I prayed that they could change the way they see it and improve their attitude. I consider myself a christian, but when it comes down to it these days, I am not holding myself accountable. I can't remember when the last time was that I went to church or had a conversation with God. Anyways, afterwards I just felt better and headed in the right direction. And so far, Presley has snapped out of her funk as well. (Currently giving her 2 opportunities to take a nap a day and I think that's helping!)
So let's rewind and start at the beginning of our trip.
We got up at a freaking UNGODLY hour on Christmas Eve to catch our flight from Moline to Detroit and finally to Memphis! My mom was on our first flight with us and then we split up (she was heading to Nashville to stay with my sister).
Once at the Detroit airport, for some reason, I was set on getting Starbucks during our layover. Let me draw you a picture: Tony and I were both hauling around two bags each that were jam-packed full of all our million items we would need throughout our time gone so that we wouldn't have to pay to check a bag. On top of it, we were taking turns carrying our heavy little independent nugget who thinks she deserves to crawl around on her own these days instead of being carried. Instead of taking it easy, I insisted on getting Starbucks - which we had to super speed walk (we call this "Disney walking" because that's how it was at Disney - we were always in a hurry to make it to the next attraction or meal or to catch our transportation, which was usually on the other side of the park...) to get there and back before we needed to board our next plane. We get there, and of course the barista was unpleasant because that's just my luck. So now, Tony and I were both hauling around two bags that were packed to the brim of all our crappy items we would probably not even need over the next 2 weeks because we are cheap asses who don't want to pay to check bags. On top of it, add a squirmy, happy, heavy baby we were taking turns carrying... oh yeah and a tall, hot Starbucks drink to the list of things we needed to carry. We finally get to our gate and I take the first sip of my drink (I have a thing where I am really scared I will burn my mouth on hot coffee so I hadn't really tried it until then...) and it tasted like body odor... I kid you not. Sooo, into the trash went my (roughly) $4 drink!
But honestly I was so excited for our trip and for all the time we'd have together that all I could do was laugh. Plus, I had only gotten two hours of sleep the night before so I was mostly delusional. The three of us had our Christmas clothes on and it was starting to really feel like the holiday season.
Presley traveled like the absolute rock star that she is and the plane didn't phase her at all. I was able to breastfeed her during take-off and landing each time, so she didn't seem to have any issues with the pressure and her ears. (Highly recommend doing this if you are ever in a similar situation!) And finally, we landed in Memphis. We were greeted at the beautiful airport by some happy faces - Tony's younger brother (Sean), Tony's dad (Mike), and Tony's best friend & his girlfriend (Chris and Kristen). We picked up Presley's car seat (which we checked in Moline at the beginning of our trip for free - thanks Delta!) and headed to Mississippi to Siano Appliances - which is where Tony's mom works. We picked up lunch (hallelujah, Back Yard Burger!!!!), hung out for a while, and then I nursed Presley in the back room where Presley finally got in a cat nap.
After we left there we finally made it to Tony's Aunt Kelly & Uncle Bob's home which would be our home-away-from-home the majority of our trip. Sean (who is in the Navy and lives in San Diego) was only in town for the first 3-ish days of our trip and we wanted to see him as much as we could, so the first part of our trip was spent in Memphis before heading to Nashville for a day and a half, then Chattanooga for two days, back to Nashville for a night, and then back to Memphis again for a few days.
This is all I can muster for part one of our trip - hopefully the second part will be a little more organized! I'll share some pictures, funny stories, and hopefully will be able to remember all the fun we had (minus New Years Eve... definitely don't remember all of that night... though I do know it was a good time!) while in Tennessee and Mississippi. Until then, happy new year and I'd love to hear how everyone spent the holiday!
So, I am attempting to pick up where I left off...
Wow, so the past few weeks absolutely flew by and Tony is headed back to work in the morning after a very wonderful two weeks off! I have been so spoiled with him home - he's helped out with so much that it will quite possibly be a rough transition back to real life. But I have to admit it will be nice to get back into a regular routine again.
I feel like so much has changed in these past two weeks! Presley has started to put herself into the sitting position and has started to pull herself up onto her knees using objects around the house. Both front teeth came in as well as one of her other top teeth.
The week has gone good with just me and Presley so far. I'm glad we had the weekend home just the 3 of us so we could readjust to home life after two weeks of living as nomads who were surrounded by amazing friends and family nearly 24/7. The past weekend was rough, mostly because Presley was very clingy and whiny - I'm guessing it had to do with the change of scenery, the fact that it was just the three of us, and her teeth coming in. When we were in Tennessee, we were always on the go and when we weren't, there were plenty of people to interact with at all times. By the time Sunday night rolled around, I was very low on patience, missing our friends and family, bummed my hubby was going back to work in the morning and honestly wasn't feeling very hopeful that things were going to go well this week.
And then I did something I hadn't done in a while. I try to send out a few encouraging text messages every week to about 40 friends and family members... but what was different is that this time I decided to put my worries aside and pray for their week ahead; I prayed that they could face their worries and troubles head on - that if they weren't able to change the problems in their life then I prayed that they could change the way they see it and improve their attitude. I consider myself a christian, but when it comes down to it these days, I am not holding myself accountable. I can't remember when the last time was that I went to church or had a conversation with God. Anyways, afterwards I just felt better and headed in the right direction. And so far, Presley has snapped out of her funk as well. (Currently giving her 2 opportunities to take a nap a day and I think that's helping!)
So let's rewind and start at the beginning of our trip.
We got up at a freaking UNGODLY hour on Christmas Eve to catch our flight from Moline to Detroit and finally to Memphis! My mom was on our first flight with us and then we split up (she was heading to Nashville to stay with my sister).
Once at the Detroit airport, for some reason, I was set on getting Starbucks during our layover. Let me draw you a picture: Tony and I were both hauling around two bags each that were jam-packed full of all our million items we would need throughout our time gone so that we wouldn't have to pay to check a bag. On top of it, we were taking turns carrying our heavy little independent nugget who thinks she deserves to crawl around on her own these days instead of being carried. Instead of taking it easy, I insisted on getting Starbucks - which we had to super speed walk (we call this "Disney walking" because that's how it was at Disney - we were always in a hurry to make it to the next attraction or meal or to catch our transportation, which was usually on the other side of the park...) to get there and back before we needed to board our next plane. We get there, and of course the barista was unpleasant because that's just my luck. So now, Tony and I were both hauling around two bags that were packed to the brim of all our crappy items we would probably not even need over the next 2 weeks because we are cheap asses who don't want to pay to check bags. On top of it, add a squirmy, happy, heavy baby we were taking turns carrying... oh yeah and a tall, hot Starbucks drink to the list of things we needed to carry. We finally get to our gate and I take the first sip of my drink (I have a thing where I am really scared I will burn my mouth on hot coffee so I hadn't really tried it until then...) and it tasted like body odor... I kid you not. Sooo, into the trash went my (roughly) $4 drink!
But honestly I was so excited for our trip and for all the time we'd have together that all I could do was laugh. Plus, I had only gotten two hours of sleep the night before so I was mostly delusional. The three of us had our Christmas clothes on and it was starting to really feel like the holiday season.
 |
| In case you were wondering, that is mistletoe hanging from my headband. |
Presley traveled like the absolute rock star that she is and the plane didn't phase her at all. I was able to breastfeed her during take-off and landing each time, so she didn't seem to have any issues with the pressure and her ears. (Highly recommend doing this if you are ever in a similar situation!) And finally, we landed in Memphis. We were greeted at the beautiful airport by some happy faces - Tony's younger brother (Sean), Tony's dad (Mike), and Tony's best friend & his girlfriend (Chris and Kristen). We picked up Presley's car seat (which we checked in Moline at the beginning of our trip for free - thanks Delta!) and headed to Mississippi to Siano Appliances - which is where Tony's mom works. We picked up lunch (hallelujah, Back Yard Burger!!!!), hung out for a while, and then I nursed Presley in the back room where Presley finally got in a cat nap.
After we left there we finally made it to Tony's Aunt Kelly & Uncle Bob's home which would be our home-away-from-home the majority of our trip. Sean (who is in the Navy and lives in San Diego) was only in town for the first 3-ish days of our trip and we wanted to see him as much as we could, so the first part of our trip was spent in Memphis before heading to Nashville for a day and a half, then Chattanooga for two days, back to Nashville for a night, and then back to Memphis again for a few days.
This is all I can muster for part one of our trip - hopefully the second part will be a little more organized! I'll share some pictures, funny stories, and hopefully will be able to remember all the fun we had (minus New Years Eve... definitely don't remember all of that night... though I do know it was a good time!) while in Tennessee and Mississippi. Until then, happy new year and I'd love to hear how everyone spent the holiday!
Sounds like you all had a ton of fun! :)
ReplyDelete