Christmas in Houston

I was going to combine the holiday posts into one, but I wasn't able to. Note to self and other bloggers: Don't try to upload 80+ pictures into one blog post. It probably won't work! The good news to you, the Reader, is that now you get to see ALL of the pictures- none are left out.

We took our first flight as a family to get there. It went pretty well- we were at the airport super early which I don't like- but that helped us not be stressed. The goal of nursing on the way up and down didn't work- Abby only wanted to nurse in the middle of the flight. She did scream then when her ears started popping on the way down. Our lifesaver was an old TV remote that we brought along for her to play with, and the magazines already in the seat back pocket.

We got to town around 11am on Friday. Grandma Connie and PawPaw Buddy picked us up and we went to their favorite local restaurant, Juarez for lunch. They know all of the waiters there and wanted to show of their granddaughter. We got to the house, unloaded everything and hung out relaxing for awhile. We took a walk around the neighborhood that I practiced my photography skills on for another post.

Saturday for Brunch we ate with Uncle Ben and Meredith and Abby opened some gifts.

She got the hang of ripping the paper pretty quickly.

And loved licking the bows.

YAY! Another singing dog. She literally has FOUR of these dogs now. But she loves them so it's all good!

In between all of this, it was raining pretty bad so we had to call the HCC Fighting Eagles Flag Football game, which was one of the main reasons we came to town. I've been on the team since it began in 2002. Liz and Donna were the original team captains, and they let me be one too since I was the only other girl playing. We decided to start the league after we all took a summer class at Houston Community College.

They made the shirts and we started the tradition. I was not looking forward to playing and being the only team captain remaining, so I was a little relieved when it was rained out. But I've gotten my strength back and we are rescheduling the game for later in January and I'll be ready this time!

Sunday morning, Abigail played with her first bowl of sugar free jello.

She loves toast. Then we headed over to Grandmommy's house for some time with her. We had french toast and watched little lady open a couple more gifts. We also noticed that when she doesn't wear her cloth diapers, some of her clothes are a little saggier that usual...

This is what I imagine my day looks like most of the time: me holding her up and trying to get her excited about something.

We got loaded up after that and headed to the airport for an afternoon flight. We got checked in and through security around 3:30, for a flight leaving at 4:30. It was delayed twice, and we finally left at 6:30. No problem- at least they had food to eat and we remembered to bring the beloved Juliette.

She really loves her friend Juliette.

This flight was easy- Abigail slept pretty much the whole time. Since this trip was so short and sweet, we started making plans for a longer visit (no plane ride involved!) very soon.