7 Months, 4 Weeks/ 2 Years, 7 Months

I know it's been very, very slow around these parts lately and i hope to remedy that in the next couple of weeks. As of last night, or early this morning, we returned from our thanksgiving jaunt to congregate with my entire extended family in Houston. We had a great time catching up with family we don't see enough, and watching our younguns entertain the group. Silas and Henry travelled there very well-- especially considering we flew for two hours and then drove an additional four. It was awesome to watch Henry interact and build on the bond he has with my Mother, Father, Aunt and Grandmother (that's Nonna, Gran, Tammie and GG for those in the know). And, it was amazing to see my 17 and 23 year-old cousins engage both boys. I don't think i would have known what to do with a 2 year old and 7 month old at their age-- especially at 17. High points of the trip included making turkey cookies; Henry's cool "monkey bed" and new monkey friend, Sid; driving the remote control digger all over the house; and riding a people-powered bike that will soon be gracing our Christmas tree as a gift-- although Henry doesn't know that yet!

Here was a beautiful shot from one of our photoshoots. This one is of my cousin Caroline and the boys. Next up-- the photo corps which did a stand-up job.



We wound up cutting our trip a few days short because of a case JT is working on. The last minute change left us with the choice of an Saturday early-morning flight or the 8 pm flight we took last night. Silas slept off and on during the flight, but Henry didn't fall asleep until the wheels were coming down to land. Both boys were wide-eyed the whole baggage-train-bus-car circuit but seemed genuinely welcoming of their own beds. Silas' sleep was impacted a bit on the trip and i think we're in the process of wading through some bad nights, but it was nothing like the Thanksgiving trip to Houston that Henry took 2 years ago. Those 30 minute naps and waking 4-6 times a night scared me off travel for quite awhile with him.

Since we didn't all get to bed until after midnight, having the boys miraculously sleep until 9 am was a true gift. Now that we're back, i'm working on Christmas shopping in earnest, and i've started to get our decorations up. Henry is excited to help me tomorrow night with the tree. JT never has been much for Christmas prep, so i'm excited to have a little helper that isn't wearing a grinch hat.