Visiting with family in the states

We arrived back in Germany 2 weeks ago, but I've just not taken the time to finish this blog and get it posted. We've been having quite a time getting Elly adjusted back to Germany time. It hasn't just been the jet lag, but also teething. Her first tooth popped through the day after we returned (11/24)!! I found it when we were walking through the PX and she was chewing on my finger. I felt something hard in there and sure enough it was her first tooth! It was the bottom left and just last night her second one popped through (bottom right). We had a rough night with very little sleep. I ended up sleeping in the recliner in the nursery while Sam snuggled Elly to get her to sleep. I was banned from the bed because with me beside her all she wanted to do was nurse constantly. When I finally left she went to sleep.

I think taking two stateside trips so close together really messed up Elly's sleeping schedule. Before we started the trips she would take a 2-3 hour nap each morning and sometimes an afternoon nap. She was also sleeping pretty well in her co-sleeper at night. Unfortunately, that's not the case now. For some reason she will not sleep without me physically staying with her. She will fall asleep right away when I nurse her, but as soon as I lay her down she wakes up screaming. The other day she cried for over 2 hours and the next day it was 1 1/2 hours. That was rough on this Mama!! It is so hard to hear my baby crying and not go pick her up. It's so hard to know what is best. We had several very hard days with me trying to get her to sleep again by herself. Finally, after talking to Mom (who is so wise, by the way ;) I just decided to work with her for awhile and let her get totally adjusted back to Germany time and move past the teething then slowly we'll get her back to sleeping by herself. I'm ready for her to be out of our room, but I have to just take it slowly. For some reason she has anxiaty about sleeping without me right there, so it'll be a slow process, but we'll get there eventually.

Even though we enjoyed our visits with family, I'm so glad to be done with travelling for awhile. It's truly exhausting and I'm happy to be home and getting ready for the holidays.

When we arrived back in Germany we discovered that several of our suitcases, along with Elly's car seat, were missing. We didn't have much of a choice, but for me to hold her on my lap for the drive home. I really don't like doing that, but our friend who picked us up drove all back roads, so at least we were not out on the Autobahn. Thankfully, the luggage was found the following day and delivered to our house.

Ellyanna is such a great little traveler. She's really wonderful on the plane trips...even as long as they are. For the longest stretch on our way home, Atlanta to Paris, we made a little bed for her on the floor out of airline pillows. She actually slept for several hours like that so at least she got a little rest. Otherwise, the only time she slept was when I was nursing her.

That last Friday at Fort Leavenworth was Sam's graduation for the class he was taking. Ellyanna and I attended that and then we were off to the airport. I was concerned about having enough time to get checked in, but everything worked out great. We even had time to grab some lunch before boarding the plane. We got into Pittsburg that evening and then drove on down to Fairmont, WV to spend a couple of days with my Grandma. We had a really nice time there, although Elly was not feeling her best. Friday morning she started coughing. I was so concerned that she was going to get sick because I had been sick almost the entire time in Kansas. Thankfully (and I think in large part to nursing) she only had a few days where she didn't feel real great and had some chest congestion.

Saturday we spent with Grandma. We went out to eat for lunch then went for a drive and ended up out out Prickett's Fort where we walked around a bit. Grandma had some Cream Horn cookies that I helped her fill since she has a hard time doing it with arthritis. That evening when we got back to the hotel Elly wasn't feeling very good. I gave her a bath thinking it might help her congestion. It really hurt my heart to see her so listless. She just sat in the tub with her head leaning on my arm. She was such a sick little girl that night. Thankfully, that was about the worst of it and she started to get better from there.

Sunday morning we went to church with Grandma. I was surprised to see Uncle Roger and his wife Ruthann there. It had been quite a few years since I'd seen him. It's always nice to reconnect with family. After a nice lunch at Grandma's and spending a few hours there we got ready to leave for Sam's parents place in Somerset, PA. It's always hard to have so little time, but when we have family spread out we have to share the time we have.

Once again on the way to Somerset we were so thankful for Tom-Tom. Several places the roads had changed and he redirected us. I'm sure we would have been quite lost if it hadn't been for that handy little contraption.

We had a wonderful time with Sam's family in Pennsylvania. Of course, one week was not enough, but we enjoyed the time we had. Ellyanna was able to get to know her Oma and Opa and I think they all enjoyed the visit. One day Sam and I, with Elly of course, drove to another town to do some shopping at Target and Kohls. That's something I really miss with living in Germany....the shopping. I'm not really into shopping that much, but I do miss the American stores.

The Friday evening before we left, Sam's Aunt Linda had us over for dinner. It was a nice evening spent with family. One of his cousins had a baby just a couple month younger than Elly. It was cute seeing them interact.

Sam's parents introduced Ellyanna to her first concert :) One evening we went to a Michael W. Smith concert. It was very nice, however, none of us thought about how loud it would be for Elly....we ended up leaving early.

Well, I could ramble on, but think I'll just post some pictures from the second half of our trip.

Ellyanna and I before leaving the room we stayed in at Ft. Leavenworth

I love her in this little outfit. She's such a doll!

Elly, me and Grandma at Prickett's Fort

Grandma, Ellyanna and Sam

Sam's parents, Elly and I out for a walk in Hidden Valley (Sam was there, but taking the picture)

Trying peaches

She's really not into food much yet

Aunt Linda with Sam and Ellyanna

Sam and Higgins trying on some clothes

Ellyanna taking it all in

Being silly

Sam and I took a picture with his "famous" Mom. (this poster of her is hanging in the lodge at Hidden Valley)

Ellyanna with her second cousin, Isabelle

The babies were so funny. They both were on their bellies yelling.

Opa and Ellyanna watching a football game

Ellyanna with Oma and Opa Thompson

Sam and Elly with Oma and Opa

All of us together