Thanksgiving Trip

Last Tuesday I started watching Julian.  It was definitely a challenge to have three little ones in the house under my care.  There were lots of diaper changes, feedings, naps and crying.  It will definitely make my days interesting!  Aric seemed to do well with the new addition, even giving Julian kisses during the day.

After Julian went home, we fed the kids and were on our way to El Paso to visit Ryan's family for Thanksgiving.  After much debate, Ryan and I decided it would be easier with two small children to drive overnight rather than during the day.  There were some tears shed, lots of caffeine ingested, the use of our laptop to view Baby Einstein videos and a need for earplugs, but all in all it seemed like it worked out well to travel overnight.

We had such a good time with Ryan's family over Thanksgiving.  We stayed just long enough to wish we could've stayed a little longer. (Hopefully they were thinking the same thing.)  With plenty of people around Ryan and I were able to get out and take a couple of breaks from the kids. Aric and Kellyn were able to bond (as much as a 1 year old and 1 month old can bond) with their Poppa, Nana, Uncle, Aunt and cousins.

Aric being inducted into the Polar Bear Club

Kellyn "Biker Baby" Peters with Nana

Downtime with Poppa

Sightseeing Waiting for Mommy and Nana with Poppa

Kellyn wearing her new "bling"

I did make some important discoveries on our trip:

-Having a tote bag containing: diapers for both kids, a large package of wipes, a changing pad, butt paste and hand sanitizer makes diaper changes easy while traveling with two small children.

-I like Luvs diapers.  I thought I liked Pampers and kept buying them for times when we used disposable diapers.  However, Ryan's mom picked up diapers for us and bought Luvs.  The first two days when I was using up the rest of our Pampers, I had to change Kellyns' outfit several times because of leaky diapers.  When we finally started using the Luvs, I didn't have to change her outfit once because of a leaky diaper.  I am a believer now and will be switching brands next time I'm at the store.

-Changing diapers for two kids (and three kids last week) destroyed my hands.  Ryan's mom has several types of lotion bottles sitting out around her house and I was able to try different brands.  I found one that I liked:

It immediately made my hands softer and kept them that way.  I have tried many different brands over the years and definitely liked the results after using the Gold Bond lotion.

And not a discovery, but I did get something that I've always wanted:

Ryan's mom gave that to me right before we left.  I've wanted a heart-shaped chili pepper wreath for a long time and now I have one. You can take the girl out of Texas...

Now we are back home and I'm thinking about Christmas cards, buying and mailing presents, setting up the tree, baking cookies and, sadly, the return to work in less than two weeks. 

Reality sets back in...