we left thursday night after jb got home from work - he came for the weekend, then met us in houston the following weekend to take us back to austin. i figured it was easier to make the drive at night when emme could sleep at least some of the trip and we would just go with the flow where hollis was concerned. both of the littles did great! we only had to stop once for bathroom/diaper change/nursing/gas. i was able to pump in the car and give hollis a bottle the other time he wanted to eat, so that worked out well. emme had snacks and pointed out stuff on the drive for a while and then crashed. she also transferred into her bed at jj & kk's with no problems. love that girl.
my goal was to eat my way through lafayette, and i'm pretty sure i achieved that goal. i'm never in town for a prolonged period of time, so on any given trip i only get one or two of my favorites. this time, i got mom's gumbo, mom's etouffe, mom's red beans & rice, la fonda, marcello's, judice inn, alesi's, raising cane's, old tyme grocery, chris's poboys, keller's king cake, and even a few of my mom's egg sandwiches. i may be forgetting one or two things, but it was a delicious week, to say the least. thank goodness for breastfeeding, or i think i would have gained 10 pounds.
anyway. we went to mardi gras parades on friday night and saturday night. emme was a little unsure about things initially - a combination of super loud sirens announcing the parade, and it being later than her usual bedtime by the time the parade reached us. but, she rallied and did a great job yelling "throw me mister, mister!" at the floats. she also said "bye bye alligator" to each float as it passed, which is one of her recent catch phrases that i love. mom, dad, and jb caught tons of beads and trinkets for her, and she was in her element talking to random people and dancing to the marching bands. i kept hollis in the k'tan for the parades and was able to hide out in the car when he got hungry or super loud things were driving by. it was maybe a little crazy to bring a five week-old to parades, but he looks like a three month-old, so people didn't judge me too harshly....hahaha.
the rest of the week consisted of lots of visits with friends, some knitting, lots of eating, and quality time with kk, jj, and joe joe. emme absolutely adores her family and it is so much fun to see the amazing relationships they have developed. it is particularly gratifying to watch her with my brother - he is SO sweet with her, holding her and taking her around to check things out. she is fascinated by all the wind chimes and other fun stuff my parents have hanging on their patio. in particular she loves this cow jumping over the moon sculpture i made out of plaster with my face in eighth grade - she will ask joe to take her to "touch the moon" but when she gets there, she gets all shy and says "don't touch the moon!". it's a woman's prerogative to be contradictory, eh?
hollis had a tough time for the first half of the week. he went seven hours without sleeping on sunday and he gets SO upset when he's tired. poor boy. it was pretty exhausting to go go go all day and then wrangle an inconsolable little tot. but, around the second half of the week, he started learning/remembering how to nap and became a different person. he is starting to smile on random occasions - still nothing consistent, but man, it is pure cuteness.
anyway...it's now taken me three days to write this post and it's nowhere near as summative as i wanted, but if i don't publish it will never happen!
the rest of the week consisted of lots of visits with friends, some knitting, lots of eating, and quality time with kk, jj, and joe joe. emme absolutely adores her family and it is so much fun to see the amazing relationships they have developed. it is particularly gratifying to watch her with my brother - he is SO sweet with her, holding her and taking her around to check things out. she is fascinated by all the wind chimes and other fun stuff my parents have hanging on their patio. in particular she loves this cow jumping over the moon sculpture i made out of plaster with my face in eighth grade - she will ask joe to take her to "touch the moon" but when she gets there, she gets all shy and says "don't touch the moon!". it's a woman's prerogative to be contradictory, eh?
hollis had a tough time for the first half of the week. he went seven hours without sleeping on sunday and he gets SO upset when he's tired. poor boy. it was pretty exhausting to go go go all day and then wrangle an inconsolable little tot. but, around the second half of the week, he started learning/remembering how to nap and became a different person. he is starting to smile on random occasions - still nothing consistent, but man, it is pure cuteness.
anyway...it's now taken me three days to write this post and it's nowhere near as summative as i wanted, but if i don't publish it will never happen!
this was some time late in the week when i was somehow the only creature awake in the house. as the new mom who hasn't slept more than 2-3 hours in a row in almost seven weeks, i'm not quite sure how this happened....
valentine's day flowers from my sweetheart. this was our first v-day apart ever in 8 years!
daddy loves beads.
joe joe helping with parade action.
chubby boy - almost a smile. jb said he got more chins while he was gone.
a rare sight the first part of the week...
my niblets on mardi gras day.
ek's idea of an appropriate outfit for the parades.
zonked in the car ride home from houston.
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