Happy New Year

Well, it has been a busy couple of weeks and it is high time I record some of it. We headed back to PA for the holidays on December 17. It was a very long day. We stopped in Detroit before heading on to Philly. DS did very well for a majority of the day, but he did have trouble settling down and getting the rest he needed because of all the sound, people, etc. By the second flight, he was getting pretty cranky...and loud. I felt bad for the people around us that were trying to rest. We were THOSE people with the crying baby that everyone secretly (or not so secretly) despises. I suppose they all have gotten over it by now.

We had a very nice time visiting with lots of family and friends. We didn't get to see nearly everyone that we would have liked to meet up with, but I suppose that is to be expected for a 3 week whirlwind trip. The holidays actually helped, though, because of all the Christmas dinners and a New Years Eve party we went to...which were all great fun!...we got to hit larger groups of people all at one time.

DS enjoyed his first Christmas. He napped during some of the present opening...as was expected. However, he will certainly enjoy all of the toys and books he received.

Amidst our travels, DH and I both somehow found time to catch a stomach virus that was going around, which put us out of commission for a day or so, forcing us to cancel our plans in the interest of not spreading the horrible bug on to the next unsuspecting victim.

I also did a bit of business while in town...allowing at least some of my traveling expenses to become tax deductible. That is always a plus!

DH spent some time working on his lectures to prepare for the upcoming semester. He is looking forward to another challenging semester with a whole new batch of classes.

We also found the time to visit my former place of work to see some of the people I worked with and to allow them to meet Noah. He was a big hit! And, it was so refreshing to walk through the halls of the community again after being away nearly 6 months. All was the same...except the carpet that miraculously changed from blue to red at some point during my absence.

We also had various breakfast and lunch dates. How wonderful it is to catch up with old friends.

We traveled back home to our corner of the country Friday, January 4. I had a friend that informed me of the existence of a beautiful thing called Herbal Teething Tablets made by Hyland's. Now, Noah really is starting to do some teething, so it wasn't completely unwarranted, but our main reason for using them was to just help Noah relax on the plane in order to get us all (and the rest of the travelers on the plane) back sanely. The tablets have some chamomile and some other herbal stuff in them that just help babies to relax. Noah did very well for the first leg of our journey without any extra help, but again he had trouble relaxing enough to get the rest he really needed. So, as we headed out form Minneapolis to Portland, he began getting extra fussy again...that was when we decided to break out the teething tablets. He did indeed relax and sleep some. When he was awake, he just sat on our laps and chilled out most of the time...aside from a short time at the beginning of our descent when the pressure was quite obviously bothering his ears. After we had landed, we had several of the surrounding people comment on how great of a traveler he is. We just smiled and thanked them while being silently oh, so grateful for our beautiful herbal teething tablets!

Also, during our flight, as we headed into Portland, we grew a little concerned that we wouldn't be able to land due to the storm that was creating severely heavy crosswinds. But, our pilot pulled up and swung around to attempt a landing on a different runway and amidst heavy turbulence, was able to land the plane smoothly. He got an applause from a plane-full of relieved travelers once we were safe and sound on the ground as we taxied back to the terminal.

Now, here we are, back in Oregon with lots of stuff piled around waiting to be put away. And I am once again out of commission with another bug that I have come to find out is Strep. That explains the horrible sore throat I'd been experiencing. What a way to start a brand new year.

Noah is getting caught up on Pacific Time again and is back to his 10 hour nights and 7:30 wake-up time and his happy and content self during the day. Hooray for being well-rested!!

We are looking forward to our next trip to PA in May for my brother's wedding...not so much looking forward to the actual traveling, but definitely looking forward to the family, friends, festivities, and fun!!