Trip home day 6

As I write this, we are finally in Ohio! We're staying in cincinatti tonight then going to jungle Jim's grocery store in the morning, then going home! I am very excited and am going to be very glad to be off the road.

Yesterday we just hung around the hotel for most of the day. We took Sophia to the hotel pool, got take out and ate it in the hotel lobby, and generally just relaxed. I kind of felt the kind of exhaustion that I haven't felt since I was waking up every 3 hours with Sophia at night in the weeks following her birth. Thankfully, we had a nice hotel and the time available to relax.

Having a great time in the pool

With the hotel "christmas tree"

Today we checked out of our hotel in Nashville and headed to visit my friend Staci. Even if we haven't gotten to see all the friends along the way that I intended to see, it has been so nice to see the ones I could. Afterwards we went to see the Nashville Parthenon and visit the dog park next to it. It was a rally cool sight, and even though it was not a sunny day, it was a nice temperature and I had no complaints. 

Trip home day 4

Today is the 4th day we've been on the road! We're on the road to Nashville, TN right now and we've already been through New Orleans and Pensacola.

Sophia admiring the New Orleans view from our hotel room. 

The beautiful Christmas tree at our New Orleans hotel. 

My little roaming gnome in front of st Louis cathedral in New Orleans. 

She enjoyed pizza and our Brie platter with us! She ate little bits of Brie, fruit, cheese, spinach, olives and bread 😋

The roaming gnome in the french market

We always have a nice time in New Orleans. It'll be really great when Sophia gets a bit older and can walk and eat with less help. 

And here we are in Montgomery, AL at the house that F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda lived in. 

Trip home day 1

We left our home in killeen, TX at 4:30 December 17 and arrived in Houston, TX (after a couple stops, at least one wrong turn, and several rubbernecking slow downs) at 8:30. It took a while but we got everything and everyone taken care of and settled in. 

Namely this little pup. We accidentally booked a hotel whose website said no pets allowed (either expedia was mistaken or we forgot to check the ✔️Pets allowed box when we scheduled the reservation).  Luckily our friend katelyn lives in Houston and she took care of violet for us! 

Since we didn't put up a tree, I intend to take all the pictures I would have taken with Sophia's first Christmas tree with all the trees we "borrow" as our own during our travels. Here she is with her first one at the Best Western in Houston, TX.  

P.s. I know Sophia turned 9 months on the 15th and I didn't post any pictures! Truth is I was busy packing! I'll take a good one sometime this trip and make it her "official" 9 month picture. 

Christmas time

After growing up in the north, southern christmas always seems to sneak up on me. There's no snow. The neighborhoods are spaced out more so you see less lights. And because I haven't been working, I haven't been out in shopping malls and being forced to listen to christmas music. It's strange! But we're leaving for home in just 2 days, so I'll be seeing snow (and it'll be Sophia and Violet's first times!) and lights and family. Then I'm sure it will feel like christmas.

We went to the nature park BLORA where they have light displays this past week and for $5 we definitely got out money's worth of lights!

12 days of christmas

And a partridge in a pear tree

We even stopped at Santa's workshop and were going to get a picture with Santa, but Sophia was asleep. But they had a "Texas tree" so we got a picture of her with that. Note the boot, star, and skull decorations

She woke up as soon as we saw the "thank you" exit lights. Figures, right?

Recent pictures

Here are some recent pictures of Sophia:

My little artiste

She understands that your supposed to touch the iPad to make things happen. The hardest part of letting her "make art" is encouraging her to start touching the blank screen!

These were from a little play date Sophia had with her friend Mina (and her mommy Melissa). We mommies baked and chatted and the girls crawled around and played! Mina even taught Sophia how to use a sippy cup! I was so excited! Now that Sophia is 8 (halfway to 9) months old, I think it's time to introduce the concept of the sippy cup so we can start transitioning! These days, pediatricians suggest that infants can be transitioned off bottles by their first birthday, and should be no later than 18 months old. Who knew!

And I'll leave you with "best buddies" Sophia and Violet. Violet is so great with Sophia, I am so happy and proud. Violet never is mean to her (unless you count unintentional tail smacks when she is too excited) and Sophia is getting the hang of petting Violet nicely. What more could a mom ask for?