This month held a lot of unexpected events for us. We unexpectedly found ourselves unemployed; it was a shock to me at first but David keeps reassuring me that everything will be ok. We're sure that God has a plan for our family and has a place that he wants us to serve. Right now we're still looking for that place.
We took the opportunity of having no immediate obligations to take an impromptu road trip to visit family and take Mac to meet everyone. We hadn't been to Chicago for 14 months and I hadn't seen some of my siblings and my grandma in that long, so I'm so thankful that we had the chance to go.
First we headed to WV to visit David's family. Mac has been smiling and chatting lately a lot, and I don't think he disappointed his grandparents :)
Mac saying goodbye to his granddad
We stayed in WV for the weekend and then headed up to Chicago, which is usually 10-11 hours further but took longer with Mac. He traveled like a champ, sleeping most of the way. I rode in the backseat when he was awake to keep him company and he cheerfully talked to me. We surprised my grandma and aunt, but my mom and sisters knew we were coming. It was the first time we had visited that it wasn't a holiday and we had no agenda or schedule except to visit with family and a few friends. We didn't do a whole lot but had a good week and got to spend time with everyone that we wanted to. Now we just need to quit going to Chicago in the winter - there's so much more to do in the summer!
When we left, my youngest sister came back with us and has been with us for two weeks. I'll miss her company and having girl time when she leaves tomorrow. We came back through WV on the way home and stayed over a day with David's parents again and were able to see other family and friends that day. Two days later we drove down to NC to visit my cousins while my sister was with us and David and I also popped over to see some of our best friends in the same town. We don't get to see them very often and I love to watch my friends' kids grow up and stay connected with them.
The weather has been like spring and we even made it to the beach this week for Mac's first time. It was windy though, so he stayed in his stroller out of the wind for the most part. He also celebrated his first St. Patrick's day this weekend.
He was a little tired when we took this picture. I made corned beef, cabbage & mashed potatoes and my sister helped with the Irish soda bread. I also made a pistachio brownie trifle with oreos. I've decided to make a trifle for each holiday for a whole year. Trifles are perfect since they mix cake AND pudding or cream. What's not to love?
Mac is not a snuggle bug. He likes to be played with, hold his head up and look around at what's going on, and he's been that way since he was born. I'm so impressed with the way that he traveled, although it didn't do much for helping us to establish a routine, and we added changing time zones and Daylight Savings Time into the mix. He's such a rewarding child since he gives the best smiles that light up his whole face when he's happy. I'm so thankful that all of our families except my one brother and his kids were able to meet him!
March 18, 2012 at 7:07 PM
That pic of u and Mac is gorgeous!!! You look
So beautiful! Glad you got awesome family time. :)