Ellie's First US Tour: Ohio

Ah, back to reality.  Ellie and I returned earlier this week from a lovely two week visit in Ohio.  I haven't been home that long since I moved and it was, of course, Ellie's first trip to Ohio.  We had her baptized on this trip as well (see my last post on Ellie's baptism).  All in all, it was wonderful.  There were a lot of pictures taken during the trip so this will probably be a long post.  So grab a seat and don't say I didn't warn you.  :)

Unlike our flights to Omaha, the flights to Ohio were smooth with no delays.  Ellie traveled very well, sleeping the majority of both flights.  That was about the extent of Ellie's good sleeping habits, but more on that later.  Just like Iowa, I couldn't get over how green everything is in Ohio.  That is one thing I truly miss about living in the Midwest - the desert here in Arizona is so brown.  The weather was much more humid than we're used to, but it was much cooler.

Brian and I were able to get in a date night thanks to my parents.  As you can see, we were very excited.

Apparently Ellie wasn't too upset to see us go for the night either.

After a few days with just my parents, my Grandma Helen flew in.  She was supposed to have been in Ohio for Thanksgiving last year like me, but we changed her tickets when I was in the hospital.  It meant so much to have her in town to visit for the week.

Ellie getting in some quality time with Great-Grandma Helen.

Four generations of Schloss/Appel women.

Grandma Helen also taught me how to knit, something I have wanted to learn from her for a long time.

A little frustrating at first, but I eventually got the hang of it.  Then Mom decided to join in the frustration, I mean fun.

In the end, even our teacher got a little frustrated.

Not bad for my first try.

Ellie met her cousins, Nic and SAM, who were quite taken with her.

Perhaps SAM was a little too taken with Ellie.

We were lucky to snag a pretty good picture of all the grandkids during the trip considering they are all under the age of seven.

Aunt Kate was very excited to meet Ellie.  Rumor had it that she was willing to fight anyone getting in her way of holding Ellie.

Even my brother, Bryan, and his girlfriend, Leah, were able to come up for the weekend.  They met Ellie when they came to visit us in March during their spring break.

Ellie spent some time with her other Great-Grandma Bell.  The girl seems to like bling, as evidenced by trying to grab Great-Grandma's watch.

Ellie also found her toes on this trip.

She loves her Papa.

I also got a nice picture of my mom and dad with all the grandkids.  See, I told you the girl likes bling.  Or maybe it's just watches.  Or maybe anything shiny.

As I said earlier, Ellie somehow lost her will to nap and sleep for long stretches at night while we were in Ohio.  There were two good nights where she slept for a good 10-11 hours, but aside from that, she was up crying two to three hours after being put to bed, and was up every three to four hours for the rest of the night.  Looking back, I don't know how I survived those first months having Ellie home and the extreme tiredness that came with it.  I'm sure it had everything to do with not being in her own crib and we stopped swaddling her while traveling since she's on the cusp of rolling from back to tummy, but the lack of sleep is rough!  Luckily, I had lots of extra hands more than willing to hold Ellie if I needed more rest.

As it always seems to happen on vacation, Ellie and I both got sick while in Ohio.  She had a goopy eye towards the end of the first week, but it didn't last long and also spiked a pretty high fever the second week.  Luckily the fever only lasted a day.  I got sick with a stuffy nose, sore throat and achy ears the day before we left, and debated about staying longer.  I felt better by the end of the day and to my mom's dismay, I decided it was time to get Ellie and I home and sleep in our own beds.  I suppose Brian missed his girls, too.  :)

Our return flights to Tucson would have been fine had Ellie not been stopped up for the five days preceding the flight.  There's nothing like changing a poopy diaper at 35,000 feet in an airplane lavatory (don't you love how they're still called "lavatories"?).  Thank goodness for the pull-down changing table.  Unfortunately for me, she was in her last diaper when we boarded our flight from Dallas to Tucson, and about 40 minutes into a 2 hour flight, she did it again.   It must have been the change in cabin pressure.  Luckily for both of us, but mostly for Ellie, there was a four-week-old on the flight whose parents graciously gave me a diaper.  I love that my six-month-old wears the same size diaper as a four-week-old.  Of course I felt like the unprepared mother on the flight, but in my defense, the carry-on roller bag that had the rest of the diapers in it had been gate checked all the way through to Tucson.  Though I have to say, Ellie is a wonderful flyer and slept for most of the flights so I can't complain too much.  Brian picked us up from the airport and took the day off to help us get settled.  I have the best husband.

It's good to be home.