I have so much to be thankful for - my husband, my children, our families, our friends, a smooth move this year, Tom's career, my transition to full-time mommy. God has blessed me so!
Now for the highlights from our wonderful visit to Pittsburgh to see the Neuberger family.
Saturday - Drove about nine & a half hours to get to Tom's folk's home. The kids did wonderfully (and Madi too)! Thank God for a DVD player in the van. But really for the first four hours they watched the world go by outside and slept a little.
Sunday - Steeler Sunday!!! Tailgated with Tom's dad and Uncle Doug. Tom mixed up some great Bloody Mary's. Watched the Steelers crush the Raiders. Uncle Doug even bought me a new jersey - and it is my favorite player, #43 Troy Polamalu. And the kids received some spoiling from Granny!
Monday - Tom worked most of the day, while the kids and I stuck to the house. The kids played with Pup Pup and Granny outside in the afternoon before we headed to Aunt Pat and Uncle Skip's for dinner.
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| Jackson helps Pup Pup clean out his flower beds. |
Tuesday - A laid back day. Tom worked from the house in the morning and then we met our old Seattle friends, the Graham's (minus Aidan) for lunch. Kate and the kids then invited us over to their house for the afternoon. The kids played with Baron and Sammy while I caught up with Kate and got a tour of their new home. They are big Dallas Cowboys fans, so they were encouraging the kids to wear a Cowboys helmet... Sorry Tom!
Wednesday - Both Joni & Don had this day off, so we all were pretty lazy in the morning with the exception of Tom. He went into the corporate office again to work for the morning. Then in the afternoon we headed down to Phipps Conservatory to see their Christmas garden displays and trains (a big hit with both kids). And then we went to PPG Place in downtown Pittsburgh where there were ice skaters, a huge ginger bread house display, and of course, more trains. The kids had a great time (and the adults too)!
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| I love this face - not sure what he was doing though! |
Thursday - Turkey Day!! Unfortunately we were woken at 4:00 AM to a sick Morgan. She was running a very high fever. Tom, Jackson, Morgan, and I were all camped out on the couch for a while that morning, then Tom and Jackson headed back upstairs to enjoy a comfy bed. She really did good as long as she had Tylenol or Motrin in her. Mostly just wanting to be held. My poor girly! Thankfully her fever was gone by the next morning. Despite Morgan being under the weather, we had a wonderful dinner with family and friends (Don, Joni, Uncle Doug, Uncle Larry, Aunt Chris, Joel, Aunt Dee, Kate, Aidan, Baron, and Sammy). We also had a nice surprise visit from Uncle Mikey (Tom's brother)! He made a drive back from Maryland just for that night. He unfortunately had to drive back for football practice the next morning. So awesome to see him and he surprised all of us!! Jackson also got to open an early birthday gift from his Godmother, Aunt Jen. She gave him an "Elf on the Shelf". I had never heard of this before, but I think it is going to become a fun tradition. There is a book that comes with your elf, but basically, our elf "Norman" is here to watch Jackson and Morgan and report back to Santa if they are naughty or nice. Super cute! Jackson is starting to get the whole idea of Santa, but next year it will be even more fun. Thanks Aunt Jen! So it was a day of fevers, surprises, football (sorry the Cowboys lost Graham family), and great food!
Friday - This was supposed to be a super fun day... Granny had a big birthday party planned for Jackson. Unfortunately he came down with his sister's fever. She was back to her happy self, but Jackson was now battling the high fever. He woke us up at 5:00 AM with the crying and aching. Felt so bad for him. Most of the morning he laid in Tom's arms (cuddling with Daddy is not something he usually does), he had moments of being okay then followed by lots of crying - you could tell he just felt horrible. We really thought he wasn't going to be able to make it through a party, but by later that afternoon, he seemed to be a little better and up for some company. Everyone still came over (mostly Joni's side of the family, plus Don's sister, Aunt Carol), but it was a lot more mellow than we had planned. He did great actually despite not feeling 100%. He even helped decorate his cake with sprinkles and candles - so cute! He received some wonderful gifts - all of which he wanted to play with after he opened each one. It took forever to get those presents opened! By the end of the night, I thought he was doing great and would be back to his crazy self by morning just like Morgan had been.
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| Yes, he is only three, but he felt he needed more candles! |
Saturday - The plan was to get up around six, get everything loaded and get down the road by 8:00 AM. We woke to Jackson still having a fever and not feeling good at all. We all cuddled on the couch for a while and then he threw up on Tom. Not to go into details, but since he had really only had water or juice in the last 24 hours, he didn't have much to get up. This is the first time he has ever vomited - I think it really scared him more than anything. And he was so sweet, he was apologizing for throwing up on Granny's couch and on Daddy. Even feeling horrible, he was being such a sweet boy! We did manage to get ourselves together and got on the road about 9:00 AM. Jackson threw up one more time, but thankfully it was before we had hit the interstate and we were actually stopped at a gas station to fill up. We had a bucket handy so, no damage done. He then slept for a couple hours (and Morgan too). He woke up and wanted to eat some crackers and from then on, his appetite was back and his fever was gone. We made it back in great time again. We even got to see the second half of Uncle Mikey's game when we got home.
A great trip despite the bummers at the end of the week. We had a wonderful time - Thanks Joni and Don! The kids are already asking when they'll see Granny and Pup Pup again!
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