Whew!

In her crib at Grandma & Grandpa Pierses. It was great!
Luci meeting cousin Kylie for the first time...they hit it off!
Love my baby!!
Happy with Grandpa Pierse.
Family photo!

Our 3 weeks of family visiting has come to an end. Luci has now been to both Iowa and Indiana to visit her loving grandparents. The flights to & from Indy went well for her...the flight home was challenging for her parents, but she was just fine due to the constant entertainment we provided. On the way home she had 2 poopy diapers and the airplane did NOT have a changing table...ahhh...the fun. So I actually put her down on my seat & managed to change it that way, but she barely fit & this certainly won't be an option next time we fly...so we are still brainstorming how to handle this...any suggestions?

After her 3:50am wake up call on Friday she was remarkably good natured most of the day. That night was a different story...she cried off & on from midnight until 5am...more on than off...and nothing was soothing her. Around 5am I decided co-sleeping was better than no sleeping...so for the first time ever I slept next to my baby on a bed. Luckily not all of the nights were like that.

On Saturday Clay & I left Luci overnight for the first time (well, my first time) as we headed to Chicago for our friends Liz & Craig's engagement party. I irrationally cried before we left, and for about an hour after we left...thank goodness Amanda was able to give me a pep talk or I may have may have asked Clay to turn the car around. We got to Chicago in time to take a bit of a nap (Clay napped, I closed my eyes and saw & heard Luci crying the night before), and then went out for dinner with Jen & Paul. It was SO great to be back in the city & hanging out like old times. The engagement party was so much fun we even went out a bit afterwards. I drank more than I have in well over a year and didn't feel super great on Sunday. Nonetheless we got up & went to church and made it out for brunch with Holly, Kristin & Jamie. I started to freak out a bit on Sunday morning but Holly talked me down from that one. I was still anxious to get back though...the drive back to Indy seemed to take FOREVER. When we got there Luci was in the highchair...she looked at me like it was no big deal...then got a HUGE smile...then burst into tears!! I missed her terribly, but just like Grandma Pierse had told me she would be, she was fine. The night was a big step for me mentally & emotionally...and Clay & I really had an opportunity to talk & reconnect a bit...it was great for us. So thanks to Grandma & Grandpa Pierse and to all of our Chicago peeps for making it such a great night.