Triumphantly I return

In the category of new Rebekah tricks, she has decided that she doesn't like to use her pacifier normally. What I mean by this is that when she has the business end of the paci in her mouth, she needs to have the ring part tucked up under her nose. It is quite interesting and slightly dismaying. I don't really know why she needs that specific configuration, but it is causing a minor blister to form under her nose.

So my "vacation" went really well. We had a great time with family and friends. All of our planning and list writing really helped make the trip a success. We only forgot one thing: Swimmy diapers, which we had to buy so Rebekah could go swimming. She loves swimming. I think she would rather be in the water than out. So swim diapers are a necessity. We initially tried to use a regular diaper, thinking "it can't be all that much different". Well, I am here to tell you it is. You see, apparently regular diapers are made of some kind of material which sucks up water. In any form, regardless of whether it is coming from inside (i.e. from the baby) or from the outside (i.e. from the pool). After using the regular diaper to go swimming it was so full and heavy there was no way it was going to be able to hold any baby urine. I have never had a diaper THAT full. Ever. I don't know what the technology is that allows swim diapers to not expand when they get wet but still absorb urine, but I thank that inventor whole heartedly.

On the plane ride up there, Rebekah did reasonably well. She was about 10 minutes away from a melt down when we landed in Rochester, so if we needed to circle the airport waiting for an opportunity to land we may have had a significant issue. But as it was, she didn't really care about any of the toys we had, or the DVDs we brought or really anything other than wanting Mommy to hold her. She was very cranky that first day since she was woken up by us at 3:30 AM and didn't really have a nap until well after noon. Needless to say, she slept the entire ride to Auburn where we were staying. Speaking of sleeping in the car, that was the only way we could get her to nap the whole trip. There was one day when I rode around in the car with her for over an hour and a half just to get her to sleep. It was a fun day. If any of you are familiar with Central NY geography. I drove from Syracuse to Oswego and back again. It was a long drive. On the flight back, I think she was so exhausted from not sleeping and meeting so many new people that she slept most of the way back. This was a serious blessing. There was only one incident when we were landing in Atlanta where she was completely inconsolable because of her ears popping. We had the pacifier and the Tylenol, but it didn't really help.

Like I said, it was good to catch up with Jen's family. We used to be close to most of them, and I guess we still are, but it is different not living in close proximity to each other. I always enjoy hanging out with her cousins and aunts; they are really fun people. The wedding was beautiful and we had a good time, except for having to leave way early because of an absolutely done little toddler. Stephanie's graduation party was fun as well. I hope she enjoyed it. There were so many people there, more than half of which I had never met or even heard of. It wasn't too hot and there was good food, drinks, and conversation. Rebekah was able to crawl around and not be fussy most of the time which was good. The coolest thing that happened was that Rebekah was asked to be a flower girl in Amber's wedding in Charleston next May. We are very excited and happy for her and Evan, and almost as excited to have an excuse to go back to Charleston (like we need one). We are probably going to be renting a beach house on Folly Beach so that will be even more awesome.

We really enjoyed reconnecting with some old friends who we haven’t seen in forever and hanging out with my old college roommate and his wife. It was also very fun seeing some of Jen’s old friends from when she lived in Auburn. You know you have good friends when you can just pick up and talk like we've been living next door to each other when in reality we haven’t seen each other in years. It’s very good to have that connection with people.

We also were able to get professional pictures of the family done for free (thanks Delia!). Rebekah loves the camera and it shows in the pictures for sure. Unfortunately, I didn't get an electronic copy of the pics, so you all will have to wonder just how cute Rebekah is (trust me she's ADORABLE). We were also able to tour some historic church sites in Palmyra. This was probably the most peaceful and relaxing time of the trip. I wish we could have stayed all day. I know when we go back to NY next time, we will block off more time to visit there.

Anyway, that’s the major part of the "vacation" experience. We were very busy and we were going non-stop for 6 days, but it was worth every second and every instance of FBS (fussy baby syndrome). When will we be back to NY? I don't know, maybe not for a couple of years. I know when we do return, we will be just as busy again! But that doesn't preclude some of our NY friends from visit us here in podunk Alabama!!