Road Trip

I wish there were some funny stories to tell about our 8 hour, then 7 hour car ride to Shreve, Ohio and back.... but, I am so grateful that really, there aren't any.

Other than the old man/lady crabbing we did at jerky drivers, it was pretty smooth. Brooke slept almost the entire way, seriously. We stopped once, then got lost in Mansfield and had to stop again, if we hadn't gotten lost, one time would have been plenty! The babe woke up and I entertained her with a rattle, that kid LOVED it! Really, a butterfly on a rattle = pure bliss. Hilariously wonderful.

I was thinking if other people have these awful thoughts when placing their child's car seat before a long trip, or ever:

- If we get in an accident, and she dies, I hope I die too, so maybe we should be on the same side of the car.
- What would Jon do if he lost both of us? Maybe we should be on opposite sides of the car.
- What if Jon is driving, where does B go?
- What if I drive?

We got a hot van, and are still talking about how fabulous it was for us. I could climb back and forth from the front to back. It was such a smooth and comfortable ride with a lot of space.

We spent hours upon hours with Brooke's great grandma Sue and grandpa Walt on this trip, by the way, Jon put Blyn's car seat on my side, thank goodness I didn't have to make that decision. We talked about Dear John letters, great great great grandparents, pictures, sleep habits, farming, Lebron James, and babies. We even found a few cute family names along the way, Everett and Parilee, along with lots and lots of people who went by their initials.

I spend a lot of time alone, well, Brooke is on my hip, or bouncing with me, but I think a lot. I think about the blessing that family is to our family. And more than that, is I think how amazing it is who Brooke has around. Maybe it is normal, but it doesn't seem normal to me. Four great grandmas, 2 great grandpas, a great great aunt and uncle in the next town over and even more across states, great aunts and uncles all over, second cousins, some removed, etc. If this child needs a family member, she's got one almost anywhere. It is so special, such a sense of security that I hope she will grow up feeling.

She is still napping, almost 2 hours, she missed her morning nap, so figures! Last night Jon put Brooke to bed and it only took about 15 minutes until she was out- 7pm OH YEA! I fed her again at 10:30 (planned it) and she made it unitl 5:30, then we both slept until 8:45, sweet sweet girl. My little 12 week old punk, oh how I love her.

Ps- I want matching pajamas as a family this Christmas... totally dorky and awesome.