Chi-town

Oh my goodness! What a weekend!!!  We just got home from Chicago visiting family, and let me tell you how much fun we had!

We left Thursday morning, on a flight that took off around Jayce’s morning nap time.  Everything I had read (from “experienced” parent travelers) suggested booking flights around nap times or bedtimes, with the thought that the kid will sleep on the plane.  HAHAHAHA.  I have no idea who’s kid that would work for, but it definitely did not work for ours!  Though all things considered, he did GREAT.  We had a little bit of fussiness (maybe 45 minutes of the three hour flight, most of which was during the descent when Jayce didn’t want to sit still.  Overall, he played a bit with the iPad, “read” some books, ate some snacks, and walked.  Yep, Jayce and I spent at least an hour of the flight walking the length of the aisle numerous times.  He made many friends, and would always stop at the row with the two little girls.  Needless to day, he did NOT sleep a wink on the plane. 

We got into Chicago, and my mom met us at the airport.  She had driven in, which was super helpful as she brought the car seat and pack and play with her.  Which allowed us to pack everything else we needed for the long weekend into one suitcase!!! (Pretty sure that will NEVER happen again).  After we got our lone piece of luggage, we headed off for Aunt Sandy and Uncle Don’s house where we were going to be staying.  Jayce fell asleep for the last 15-20 minutes of the car ride…go figure.  We hung out a bit there, had some dinner, and put the little man to bed around 830 pm (which worked out well as it was 630 pm at home).  Considering the little man had only a 20 min nap all day, he was AMAZING.  Not too fussy, and just went with the flow.

Friday we attempted to go to the Brookfield Zoo after Jayce’s nap (he was soooo tuckered out from the night before we had to wake him up after 2hrs and 15 min!!! Well, we got to the zoo, paid the parking fee, and the skies opened up.  Downpour city!  So we sat in the car eating the picnic lunch we packed hoping it would blow over.  30-45 min later, we gave up and headed home.   We tried…maybe next time….After another 2 hour nap it was time for some more playing and hanging out with Uncle Jim and Aunt Paula who had driven in from WI.  Jayce spent the better part of an hour before bedtime running back and forth under Uncle Jim’s Legs.  Man, it’s easy to keep this kid happy!  Needless to say, he went down for bed without a fight that night.

Saturday was the day of the big party for Jake’s graduation.  Amazingly, Jayce took a 2 hr nap in the morning, and a 2.5 hour nap in the afternoon.  I don’t know what got into that kid, but we are usually lucky to get anything longer than an hour for his second nap.  He was wearing himself out playing non-stop!  He spent the party hamming it up with the uncles, aunts, cousins, and dogs (and even spent some time playing in the ice buckets).

Saturday night Jayce also got to watch the first period of the Blackhawks Stanley Cup Finals game (game 5).  He even managed to get the crowd up in arms!  He picked up the remote and started pushing buttons right as the National Anthem started playing.  5 or 6 words in, and the channel changed.  Oh man, the response he got from the 20 people piled into the basement was not the usual response he gets at home when he changes the channel.  It took a few minutes to "console" him and for him to warm back up to the part (there were no *real* tears, just shock at the fact that he hadn't been as cute as he thought he was being).  He also wasn't quite prepared for the loud shouts and cheers when the Hawks scored...It was quite different than watching hockey at home with daddy.

Apparently I'm related to these people.....

We flew home today.  The trip home was slightly better then the trip there.  We left for the airport around nap time, so Jayce got a 20 minute nap in the car.  The time in the airport was spent walking up and down the moving walkways (Jayce was enthralled with racing daddy [who had the stroller on the outside of the walkway, he and I were on it]).  The beginning of the plane ride was rough, as he didn’t want to sit still.  He was semi-entertained once we were allowed to use the iPad, but it took another 45 minutes until we were able to get up and walk around thanks to turbulence.  Once again, we spent the duration of the flight walking up and down the aisle.  He stopped at each row and tried to get the attention of the person in the aisle seat; and not nearly as many people were paying attention to him as he would have liked.  He finally fell asleep, during the bumpy descent into Phoenix.  Fortunately he was worn out, because he slept through me getting up, getting off the plane, and being loaded into the stroller.  He didn’t wake up until the shuttle driver told me I had to take him out of the stroller for the ride to the parking lot (thanks a lot man).  He did fall back asleep almost as soon as we pulled out of the parking lot though.

The remainder of the day has been falling back into our routine.  We had a good dinner time, and some awesome play time.  And for the first time in weeks, he didn’t fight his bath time, and even played with some bath toys.  We even managed to get some books and cuddle time in without a fight tonight.  *fingers crossed* that this version of Jayce is back for good!  The bed time battle was getting more and more difficult each week!

How far along: 30 weeks.  Baby is ~3 lbs!

Total weight gain/loss: before I left I was up abut 17/18 lbs....and am slightly afraid to step on the scale after the shameful eating habits I delved into this weekend...

Maternity clothes: yes, the vast majority of clothes are at the moment; especially for work

Stretch marks: I don't think I have any new ones, but it's hard to say

Sleep: this weekend was rough; but I have Jayce to thank for that.  Hoping to find comfort soon...but it's getting harder and harder

Best moment this week: Jayce actually gave the baby a kiss (and not a raspberry) when we were cuddling this afternoon

Miss anything: alcohol...my "kiddie cocktails" this weekend were just missing something
Food cravings: sweets
Anything making you queasy or sick: thankfully no
Have you started to show yet: yep, no denying I'm preggers
Gender predictions: it's a 50/50 shot....
Labor Signs: thankfully no, though the plane rides were a bit uncomfortable thanks to Braxton Hicks contractions
Belly Button IN or OUT: Nearly flat, but still in
Wedding rings ON or OFF:  wedding band on (though barely; thanks to flying and high humidity in Chicago), engagement ring still off
Happy or Moody most of the time: mostly happy, but frequently anxious
Looking forward to: working some more on the nursery!  The wall decals came in...expect an update soon-ish

crazy right?!?!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

-S