We're back from Georgia! We drove 10 hours to spend 3 days with Dan's extended family for Christmas, then drove 9 hours overnight (which is why it was shorter) to get back home at 5am Sunday. Phew! We had a wonderful time visiting, and the girls did GREAT with all the new people they didn't know/remember. Marissa played with Emily (who was our flowergirl) and Stephanie, talked everyone's ears off, and slept great for naps/bedtime. Arianna was surprisingly willing to let most anyone hold her, and she walked around and got into everything, especially their Christmas tree! Arianna did NOT sleep well at all (big surprise), especially since we all slept together in the same room. She ended up sleeping with me in our bed most of the time, which is fine for her, and fine for a little while, but when I can't move a muscle for 4+ hours, I HURT! We survived it though, and it was worth it. We hadn't seen most of these relatives since 2 years ago when Marissa was 1.5. The girls got some wonderful Christmas presents, and I got a gift card to IKEA that I can't wait to spend!
Let me back up a little: When my parents came out at the beginning of December, they brought presents with them, so before we left for Georgia, we had Christmas with just us four. Marissa was funny - when she opened up a present with clothes in it, she exclaimed "CUTE!" The girls got some wonderful presents from my parents as well, and so did Dan and I. We are so lucky to have two sets of parents (and grandparents) that dote on all of us!
Arianna was 10 months old on Christmas Eve. It's hard to believe. She wears 9 month or 12 month clothes, except for a few pants that are 12-18 months, since she's 2 inches taller than Marissa was at this age. She's walking like a 1.5 year old. Lol. She can stand up without pulling up on anything. She speed-walks away when she knows she's in trouble (like when we caught her playing with the Christmas tree in Georgia). She's still not saying much, but when she wants to, she never stops babbling! She's been signing "more" for a while, and I think she's getting "all done" too. She's finally starting to eat better, but is still picky. But at least she eats a lot of what she likes! I managed to bring frozen homemade baby food to GA, and I was surprised at how easy it was. I pre-mixed the fruit/veggies I had pureed, and so far she still has not had a drop of store-bought baby food. It's a dumb thing to be proud of, but I am. Lol. Not a drop of formula either. She's still nursing quite often (which I realized when we were in GA, since she didn't nurse nearly as much down there), but that's still fine with me. On the car ride home, she didn't nurse for 6+ hours, so now that I know she can survive (lol), I might start limiting her at night. She was still nursing TONS at night, simply because that was the easiest way to get her back to sleep during the 5+ times she woke up at night. But last night and the night before she actually only woke up once...so I have a tiny bit of hope! I actually got 5 hours straight of sleep - BLISS!
[edited to add: she went back downhill for a while, but the last two nights have been wonderful!]
She did the cutest thing in the car on the drive home. She woke up because Marissa was being too loud, so I climbed into the back seat, and wedged myself between the two car seats (not easy!). I put my hand on her cheek, so my arm was across her stomach. And she just grabbed my arm with her hand and held me there! Anytime she started to drift to sleep, she lost her grip so I took my arm out. But the second she realized it was gone, she woke up and cried. I was starting to worry she was in deep in a "Mommy only" stage, but since we've been home, she's totally been a Daddy's girl. It's so sweet how she lights up at him, and follows him around. Her laughter is so contagious and silly. She loves to giggle, and we all love to make her giggle, especially Marissa. It's so hard to believe that in 2 months we'll have a party for her!
We had a bunch of friends over for New Year's and it was tons of fun! My sister is coming for a visit soon too, and we're going to IKEA so I can spend my gift card! Then Dan's parents are coming for a weekend - I have a lot to do to get ready!
Here is a picture of our family on Christmas Day in Georgia:
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