We're BAAaaack!

We made it back safely to Pittsfield, though it was a little jarring to go from this:



To This:


Luckily we've at least had some pretty skies in spite of the biting cold, icy walkways and seriously messy driveway. Our cars were frozen in and Brad had to take a sick day on Monday just to chop them out. The driveway never got paved, nor did the walkway TO the driveway from our place, so it's a slippery walk downhill to even get to the cars. I won' t be going many places alone until there is some serious thawing - probably May around here, lol. Eli likes to talk about snow - or "hnow" as he calls it (pronounced huh-no), but doesn't like to walk in it at all. A good "hnow-ball" now and then can make him smile though!


Everyone's been asking how our trip went, and all I can say is It. Was. Awesome. It was SOOOOO wonderful to be with family for six whole weeks - first with Brad's parents in Utah then with mine in AZ. It was nice to have so many extra loving hands to help with the kids. I am finally feeling "normal" again (well, a modified normal anyway!) and more up to the challenge of mothering two very little ones. I really think I had some of the "mama blues" this time around, though for me it manifested more as crankiness. While I'm still running around crazy all day taking care of things, I don't feel like I'm hanging out on the edge of sanity anymore, lol. So THANK YOU THANK YOU Moms and Dads and siblings for helping make this transition so much easier for us. I'm feeling positive again and finding joy on a daily basis with my little fellows.

It was sad to leave our UT family ....


But the AZ leg of our trip was sunny and warm. It was in the mid to upper 70's most of the time, and we were HOT =). I had to go buy some flip flops from Old Navy just to survive, lol. We made it to the zoo which may have been the hi-light of the trip for Eli. He excitedly made the signs for every single animal we saw (he got the zoo Signing Time video for Christmas so it was fresh and new for him). We also fed the "guts" (ducks) a bunch of times, and walked to the odd killer-whale mailbox in my parents' neighborhood. I always thought it seemed out of place, but now with Eli's love affair with whales, it was nice to have it there.

Eli even seemed to trade me in for a while and started calling my mom "Ma-ma." He had to start and end the day with her in her bed. They would cuddle with the dogs, eat cheerios, and watch cartoons. If my mom didn't get up early enough, Eli would bang on her door until she let him in! He also buddied up with "Ba-Ba" (grandpa) and sat at the computer with him almost every night to look at whales and sharks online. He seems to know he is the apple of their eyes and milks it for all it's worth - he got SPOILED for sure. I'm thinking, Hey! My parents NEVER made a habit of bringing me little toys home from the store every time they went, or let me go to Peter Piper Pizza every week and buy tokens for rides, etc and yet they do it for Eli - I guess it's true that grandparenthood is for spoiling =). Even Owen got attached to cuddling with dogs in the bed on this trip.

And remember my Four in the Bed post? Well here is picture proof... It's gotten a little better since we've been back. The boys both at least start the night in their own beds... but inevitably we wake up like this in the morning... and usualy I'm the one sandwiched between the kids.


So good-bye blue skies and warm weather for a time... we love you AZ!


We love you too, UT!