Ok, I know it's been a little while, but I'll explain why.

1. Traveling with an infant. Wow. I knew it was going to be more difficult, but had absolutely no idea how hard it truly is. First, I was able to get everything packed that we needed in the proper bags and with the proper weight. Whew! So we were doing really well. We'd gotten to the airport on time and the line wasn't very long for security. Then we get up to the place where you put everything on the xray machine conveyor belt in those plastic tubs. We did shoes, our two carryon bags each, the laptop out, the digital camera out, coats and all in the tubs. Then I go to push the sleeping Claire in the car seat on the stroller through the walkthrough machine and the lady who's been standing there watching us unload our lives onto the belt says, "Ma'am, you can't take her like that through here....you need to taker her out of the car seat, then take the car seat out of the stroller, break the stroller down and then carry her through." I wanted to say, "Ma'am, you could have told us that 5 minutes ago instead of watching us unload all this other stuff and keep silent!" Anyway, I complied although I felt like I held up the line forever which is a huge bother to me.

Then on the way back, I was prepared. No problems through security. We get to the gate and now I'm finally one of those people that gets to board earlier than everyone else. So we're about to board and I realize that I am missing one of my bags. So Justin has to run literally run all the way back to security which was 3 elevators back to get my bag. To make matters even more embarrassing, it wasn't just a bag that I left, it was my breast pump with breastmilk inside. I can only imagine what the security people were thinking. So now, my precious time to board earlier than everyone else is gone. Justin makes it back and we are the last ones on the plane. Literally the last ones on the plane. So much for preboarding.

One good thing about this trip is that she slept the entire time on the plane both ways. I was so thankful that she was not the baby screaming on the plane where you can't shut them up and you can't escape because you're trapped thousands of feet in the air with no possibility of escape.

2. We're sick. Claire got sick first. Her first illness. She was coughing, and had a stuffy nose. To make matters worse, she's also teething. It's annoying enough when we get a stuffy nose, but when you're sucking on a pacifier and breathe through your nose exclusively and that nose is now stuffed up with mucus not allowing any air to pass through, it sucks. Not only for her, but for those that are taking care of her. Then, Justin came home Saturday night not feeling good. Two sickies that I have to take care of. No problem, right? Sunday comes and then I don't feel good. My nose has been stuffed for the past 4 days. Some good news though, Claire is getting better. Now we just have to be careful not to get her sick again since we're still sick.

So those are just two of the reasons that I haven't written lately. But we did have a fabulous time on vacation and my family was just overjoyed to meet and see her again. Justin got to fix my dad's computer and we had lots of fun seeing everyone and catching up.

Hopefully I won't take as long to post this time and will be feeling better.

Ok. I'm not really sure where this whole blog thing is going to go or how long it is going to last. I simply know I've never been that good at keeping a journal because inevitably the first entry is way too long and then I get bored and never write again. However, my motivation for this journal/blog is a little different so I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Claire is my main reason for the blog. See, she is just 5 months old and already I realize how fast she has grown and changed since her birth in October. I want to remember these precious times and look back on memories I know I'll forget. I've also been reading other popular blogs and think they're pretty interesting. Some good friends also recommended it, so here I am. I hope someone reads this someday and if nothing else I hope Claire will! The three of us are leaving for vacation tomorrow. Justin, Claire, and I are flying to Michigan so that most of my family can meet Claire for the first time. Understand, we live in Texas and most of my family lives in Michigan so they haven't been able to visit yet. I'm so excited to see them although I already can tell this visit will be different because it's not for me to reunite with my family but for Claire. It's just amazing how a baby changes your life so completely and so immediately!