Being home with littles is the hardest and best thing in the world. It is constant and demanding and the sound of "mama! mama! MAMA!" sometimes make me cringe. But then we sit in the sunshine the front door lets in and play for hours and I think "well aren't I just the luckiest"
Moving away from home then returning to visit reminds me a lot of going cold turkey off of sugar. You don't realize how addicted you are to it. It is so much an integral part of your everyday life. Then one day it is gone. Your system goes through shock, you cry, you get angry, you search for ways to replace the hole it leaves. Slowly your body adjusts, the cravings aren't as desperate, you find new ways to cope with that need. Then one day you take a bite of chocolate. It is SO MUCH SWEETER than you remember. You can feel the sugar coursing through your veins. You remember how much you loved this substance and wonder how you ever lived without it for so long. But here is the catch, you only get that one bar of chocolate. It's just enough to remind you of how much you love it. Just enough to trick your system into craving it again and then, IT'S GONE.
Yep. That is pretty much what going home to Utah was like. A rush of everything wonderful and sweet, the joy of being surround by family and friends coursing through my heart. Then ten days later it was all gone, and I was left in major withdrawal while my system tried to readjust to the hole left.
None the less it was a wonderful trip and I would do it again in a heartbeat withdrawals and all.
We left early early in the A.M. from Baltimore because tickets from Richmond to Vegas are ridiculously more expensive. We are so lucky to have my cousin Mckell in DC we were able to stay with them the night before to make the early drive bearable.
The littles slept for the first 2 hours which was wonderful. The second two hours weren't half bad either. They got a little restless towards the end but all in all it went much better than expected.
We met grandma and grandpa Clayton at the airport. The excitement in the air getting off the plane was palpable.
Then ensued 10 days overflowing with parties and fun and family. We stayed up way too late every night just trying to drain every ounce of togetherness we could out of the day. There wasn't enough of it and it ended too soon.
We kept our trip a secret from Grandma Sharp which was not an easy thing to do. She came to mom's house on New Years day to see everyone and was quite surprised when we walked in the room. It was a sweet memory I will always remember.
I tried Swigg.. it wasn't as great as it was boasted to be.
And then it was all over and we were heading home. Don't be deceived by the smiles there were also plenty of tears.
When we got home to Baltimore the temps were below freezing. The wind chill was registering at -2. We were all tired and hungry and cold. When we finally made it to long term parking with all of our suitcases we quickly started loading into the car only to find the battery was dead. Sitting for so long in the cold had sucked all the life out of it. We bundled up in the few blankets we had in the car and Chris went out to find assistance. After an hour, a sweet prayer from Taycee, 2 sets of jumper cables and a bus the car was started and we headed home.
I will always miss family and I suppose that no matter how many time I have to leave I will always feel a little homesick. How blessed I feel to have such a home to long for.
Christmas morning with littles is pure joy. I love the patter of little feet running to see what Santa has left and the way their faces light up when they first see the magic that has happened while they slept. I may have 10 more babies just so I will have many many many more Christmas' with littles.
I should probably mention that one of the presents under the tree for Addison was a toy kitty that WOULD NOT stop purring. The kids could hear it from upstairs and Kaden was convinced Santa had left him a cat. That is why he asks "Where's that cat? Where's that cat?" when he comes down the stairs. Makes sense right? Puppy last year... kitty this year. However I assured him that Addison's fake kitty was as real as it would ever get in our house.
This was far and away her favorite gift.
The final gift was the biggest surprise. Unfortunately Kaden didn't quite take it as we expected he would.
I guess when you are 7 and haven't been to grandma and grandpa's house for over a year 4 days IS a really long time.
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