I cannot believe a whole month has gone by since I had a baby! I have had lots of help the last month as well. My mother came in for a whole week and then I had my mother-in-law for three weeks. I can also say that I have had help here in the last week for another total of 10 days.
Yes, we traveled to Houston for a 10 day trip that has been on the calendar for months. I was a bit nervous about traveling with a newborn and an infant but when I found out we would be flying back with my mother-in-law as well, I knew we would have extra help on the plane.
How did we minimize our travels? We only took luggage and a diaper bag. We had our parents borrow / buy car seats and strollers and I used the Ergo to travel with the baby. It was actually relatively easy, especially since Julianne is walking now.
The 4 hour plane ride was not so bad other than the fact that we had to wake up at 3am to get to the airport for a 7am flight. Whew…it was an early one for everyone but we survived.
We stayed the first 2 nights with my mother and pretty much spent our time outdoors. The weather has been GORGEOUS in Texas while it has been cold and snowing in Pennsylvania. Oh it will be hard to get back to cold weather. I did not even bring any shorts for Houston weather even though I KNOW Houston weather is quite volatile. At least I did not bring any sweaters. 🙂
Julianne loved running around the Galleria area park where the water wall is located. There were lots of people lounging and sunbathing. Julianne ran around and waved and said hello to all strangers. It was precious!
My child loves the outdoors and starts crying when we strap her in the car seat or go back indoors. Oh the joy!
It has been fun traveling with two kiddos in the car. I had not really had a chance to do that back home but it sure is challenging to make sure one child does not make the other child cry while driving anywhere. They are cute anyhow!
We have been enjoying a lot of good eats in Houston. I revisited Kasra, a great Persian restaurant. Julianne loved Persian hummus while grandma and her momma had delicious beef and chicken kebabs.
Look at Julianne spoon in basmati rice and chicken! We had a lot of the waitstaff and customers come by and say hello to her because she would wave at them or they wanted to let us know how well-behaved she was.
My mom has been able to have a little time with Kathleen. She was so surprised how much she had changed in the 3 weeks she had not seen her.
After the 2 days with my mom, we switched to Ryan’s family’s home for the next 5 days. We are happy that both our families live in the same city but sometimes trying to evenly divide the days while in town STILL tend to be a challenge. We will continue the rest of our week with my mom starting tomorrow.
My mother-in-law has been busy and opening boxes of toys that her kids used to play with. All the aunts were happy to revisit the Fisher-Price play food. Julianne thought she could eat it but she has slowly realized that she cannot. So funny. At one point the play cheese had to be put away because she was getting so frustrated with not being able to eat the “CHeeeeee.”
All in all, I can tell that Julianne has loved seeing family. She remembers everyone from Christmas and is very playful with everyone. Julianne learned how to walk at Christmas and the biggest venture next are the molars popping in her mouth. She has not been too fussy but she is if she does not get to rest during the day.
We have a big girl growing fast and she is loving every moment of it.
She also loves her little sister. We do need to keep an eye on her when she is around the “Bebe.” She loves patting Kathleen on the head and giving her kisses but sometimes she wants to poke her eye only out of curiosity.
Either way, both girls have been getting LOTS of attention from their nieces.
We have another 5 days in H-town before we need to head to cold Pennsylvania so we will be taking advantage of the outside time, perhaps with a visit to the beach and more time with friends and family.
It is amazing how smooth our time has been with a toddler and newborn. I feel blessed to have a lots of help but also blessed to have a pretty easy baby. Kathleen cries when she is hungry, sleepy or dirty but otherwise she is sleeping all the time. Using the Ergo has helped tremendously because it has kept her snug but as long as she is pressed against someone’s body she is happy and content. Would we not all feel that way? 🙂
