On the Go

Imagine this:
7 weeks after having a baby.
2 weeks after hosting Thanksgiving (not really cooking, but hosting any way).
and 3 days after fully recovering from gallbladder surgery-
You, your husband, your month old baby, and your dog pack up the truck and travel over 2,500 miles in 3 days.

For me, it was all a bit of a blurr. The first night, I admit, I lost it. My body hurt, I was exhausted (the baby was still up every two hours) and I was tired after 15 hours in the truck. My poor husband! We stopped in Colorado for the night and then left early the next day.

Day two sent us through Colorado, Kansas and into Missouri. It was another 13 hour day and we were greated (late in the night) with open arms by Uncle Johnny and his darling family. Little Elizabeth couldn't get enough of the baby. She was so great with him. She'll be such a great big sister!

The next day we zipped through Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Our original plan was to stop once again (around 10 pm) in Ohio, but after hearing the weather reports we soon found we were barely ahead of the storm. We made the decision to keep on going to Pennsylvania. That meant we arrived there at 4 am. I didn't care though. I was just glad to be there and out of the truck.

I was amazed at how well the baby did. He is such a good boy! Of course at only a little over a month old, he just basically slept. The part that boggled me was that when he woke up he always had a smile on his face. We were lucky enough that with the tag team between dad and I, the baby hardly left the truck. I only changed him in the truck (again the benefits of having a very young and little baby!) so we didn't have to deal with filthy bathrooms.

Scroll down for a few of my favorites from our trip to Grandma and Grandpa Shillig's...

Once again, I am so amazed at just how "chill" our little man is! To be fair, Baby Layne was so tired and is normally THE happiest baby I've seen in a long time. So good of them both (one month apart) to put up with their Mama's!

Sharing secrets with Aunt Jillian.

Oldest and Youngest Shillig grandchild. She loves him and he is simply enamored by her.

It was so great for Baby Kurt and Aunt Stacey to finally meet! We sure love her and hate that we're so far away.

The new additions. They're going to get tired of these couple pictures pretty darn quick!

So small that they're right now pretty easy to hold at the same time.

Sharing awake time with Mama. I love that his time awake is more alert and engaging!

The nookie in the car seat and the crib. It's a rarity, but when it's in, he's a calm little baby cub.

I told you she was a happy baby. This isn't a scary face, it was actually right before a smile but boy, do I love it!

Reading time. We got these Dr. Suess books (0ur fav!) from Aunt Stacey and Hannah. Merry Christmas to us!

8 days in the truck total. 5,000 miles total. And this is the face I get. Wow. we sure are blessed!

After leaving Pennsylvania, we left super early and travled another long day through West Virgina and Virginia and stopped in at the Drake's in Tennessee. As many of you know, that's where Chase served his mission and we were lucky enough to spend the night and visit with them. We haven't seen Austin since he came and spent some time with us out in California when we were first married. They were so sweet to us and the "southern hospitality" sure is alive and well in Tennessee. We were so grateful for their hospitality.

The next day we once again left super early, this time traveling through the Carolina's to Chase's cousin Arron's place in Georgia. I was amazed once again at their hospitality. Their kids are so respectful, helpful and adorable. It's a shame we don't get to see them all that often. They were so great to set us up for a few days so Chase could get some quality hunting time in (he had only gone once in PA and returned with a beautiful grouse). He, Aaron and Brandon set out the day before we returned home and came home with two deer. Luckily he was able to strike a deal with the processor guy and we were able to take a load of yummy venison back with us.

After that, we set out for Texas. We traveled through Alabama, Mississippi and Lousiana before getting there. Once again, we were greeted with open arms. This time it was Jamie (Wiggins) and her husband Ben. We were treated to our own room and a yummy breakfast. What great people. Just like their family. The best people on the Earth.

From there we traveled one more day through Texas (that took the whole day in and of itself!) and New Mexico until we reached Arizona. Sadly, with all of that driving, though we were so close to home (it was 10 pm by the time we reached Flagstaff) we just didn't trust ourselves driving through the night.

Of course we couldn't leave Texas without stopping in Justin Texas at the Justin boot outlet. Dad and Grump had a fashion show at lunch.

Mama and Bubba looking at all the boots. We were just glad to be out of the truck for a moment!

So, all in all it was a total of 8 days driving (averaging 13-14 hours a day) and we visited (technically just drove through most of them) 15 different states. This little guy has been to more states in his lifetime than I ever had by the time I turned 30!

Now we're home, readjusting and enjoying the short time we have be

fore Chase leaves once again to California. We're playing with the idea of going up with him one of these trips soon. After all, after 14 hour days, what's a 6 hour trip to California? It's only two states away. Geez. Easy Peasy.

Love, J'me