Home Again, Home Again

Well, we survived the trip to Denver. All I can say is, "I'm EXHAUSTED!" It gave me a taste for what it would be like to be a single parent. Every diaper change, every feeding, every nap, every bath, and every decision was all me. After delays on Sunday we didn't get home until 8:30, so to say that I wasn't prepared for another week is an understatement. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I'm happy to report Norah was a fantastic traveler. I had really visualized every step of the trip (handling all of our stuff to check in, going through security, boarding the plane), which really helped a lot. Norah was a trooper every step of the way. I fed her on the way up and on the way down, and both times she slep a while. When she wasn't sleeping she was taking it all in. Besides the delay, the trip home also went very well. During the delay we made laps around our end of the terminal, passing the same people along the way. Norah mastered taking tiny puffs from my hand, putting them between her tiny thumb and finger, and directly into her mouth. She also started saying, "da da da da," although it is not yet associated with Seth.

While in Denver we had SUCH a fun time catching up with friends and meeting babies. We really didn't do a whole lot, which was a nice change from previous Denver trips. We spent a lot of hours sitting around, watching babies, and chatting (which we're very good at). Griff, Birky and Gerbs are dear friends and I cherish every minute I get with them.

Here is sweet Xavier (4 weeks, left) and Leighton (11 weeks, right):

In addition to seeing the girls we also got to spend some time with Aunt Von and Uncle Dave. They came down to Griff's and hung out for a while before the three of us and Norah went to lunch. We enjoyed a relaxing, long lunch and some time walking around Cherry Creek. I was so happy it worked out to see them! When they were leaving we commented that the goodbye wasn't too touch since we'll be together again in a few weeks for the Garber reunion in Goshen.


We also got to see Ben and Sarah and their two girls Audrey (left) and Whitney (right). It was a short visit, but way better then nothing. Ben and I have so many memories of each other from growing up - it is now a lot of fun to get our kids together.




The hardest part of the trip was that Norah didn't sleep very well at night. I think it could have been a number of factors: different environment, she was battling a cold, and I've heard altitude can affect babies as well. So who knows, but I'll just say that the nights were a little rough. And on top of that, due to the time difference, the mornings were early. Saturday she was up at 5:15 Denver time, so we went out for a long walk at 5:30 to enjoy the beautiful weather and let the others sleep in a bit more. Hence my extreme exhaustion this week.

The goodbyes with my girls are always extremely hard for me. Seth I have toyed with the idea of moving to Denver over the years, and is still something we consider. But with my sister, Scott and the boys (and mom and dad for half the year) in Houston, the thought of moving to Denver is both very exciting and very painful all at once. We've also made good friends in Houston that we would miss a lot. I get a sick feeling in my stomach when I think about moving away from everyone in Houston, but at the same time I long to see the girls and our other friends and family in Denver more.

As usual, I'll try hard to push these difficult thoughts aside and instead focus on enjoying the present. Here are some more pictures from the trip, and a video of Norah dancing like a white girl.