Home Sweet Home

We came back from Chicago on Friday and managed to sneak out before the snow was really a threat to our travel plans. Woohoo! We had a great trip. Everyone enjoyed themselves and we got to spend a good amount of time with our various family members (and even got the chance to see a couple friends too!). And I don't think we angered or offended anyone, which is always a challenge when we have so many schedules to try to manage, and so many demands on our time. Overall one of our better trips. Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to see my cousins Donna and Barb. I had really hoped for some time with them, but between being busy with the family and my being extremely tired (not only because of my pregnancy, but Alex's fun sleep schedule had its impact), I never had the chance.
We were glad to have the weekend at home before Andy started his work week. In the past we always came back from trips on Saturday or Sunday and jumped right back into the routine on Monday, and I can now see the real benefit to having some time before getting back to reality. It was far more relaxing... the boys were happy to play with their Christmas presents that we had left behind for our trip, Andy and I had some time to unwind and get things done (like the eight loads of laundry I tackled) and we are more prepared heading into the week. Plus returning to the warm weather feels like a vacation even though this is home now. I'm sure that the novelty of the weather will wear off, but not yet. =) We were also quite excited to return home to a giant stack of Christmas cards from our friends and loved ones; they were wonderful! Its always nice to get the quick update from our far away friends, and now more and more of our friends fit into that category. We miss you!
We have our usual plans for New Years Eve... watch a movie and hope that I can stay awake until midnight. These plans started when I was pregnant with Devin, and have become our status quo since. Not terribly exciting, but I am sure that we will enjoy ourselves. I hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year!!