Adventures of Audrey & Lillian: Home in Philly!

Sorry for the absence! We made the big trip to Philadelphia last Friday, but didn't have internet when we got here...now that we are all hooked up, we are ready to check in again!

Our trip up went relatively well, except for our layover in Milwaukee. It really wasn't all that bad, but things just seemed to go wrong there! We flew on a small jet, 3 rows wide, which made the turbulence a little more exciting, and then when we landed, they couldn't get the jetway to connect to the plane. Lillian decided that would be good timing to start crying for the first time and Audrey announced that she had to go potty, quite desperately. So we had to make the trip to the back of the plane while everyone else was in wanting to be in the aisle waiting to get to the front. Once we got back to the bathroom we found that the lights would not come on because the plane was parked, so Audrey refused to go to the bathroom. So back to our seats. Then, for some reason, Audrey panicked a little when she saw the cockpit door open on our way off the plane and refused to continue walking forward. Instead of waiting a second for me to talk to Audrey, the flight attendant decided to "help" by grabbing Audrey's hand and trying to drag her off the plane. Audrey was not impressed and the flight attendant ended up just grabbing her and carrying her off the plane! We had more adventures in the airport, including the bathroom being closed and Lillian spitting up all over me leading to the adventure of me trying to change my shirt in a bathroom stall while wearing a baby carrier and dealing with two kids! I was very glad to get on the plane to Philly and Audrey and Lillian calmed down and went to sleep.

When we arrived in Philly, Audrey was very excited to find Michael at the airport waiting for us. And her Nana was at our apartment for the first two days for a quick visit.

We got to explore a little bit, and went to a really neat place called the Smith Memorial Playground. It has a 24,000 square foot mansion that was built in 1899 for the purpose of being a playhouse, how neat is that? All of the rooms are set up with different themes. It's really a great place, only for kids 5 and under, and free! In the summer they have a massive outdoor playground and water park for kids 10 and under.

We are settling in well at our new apartment. Audrey is adjusting pretty well to her new bed, and loves having her own room and play room. Lillian will hopefully be sharing Audrey's room soon, but for now she is sleeping in our room. Audrey was sad to be sleeping "all alone" last night, but she went back to her room after a few minutes. It's a big change for all of us - Audrey was used to sleeping with me since Michael left for Philadelphia last year.

Audrey is so happy to have her things back and to have her family together. She is much more settled and happy. She acts up somewhat from time to time, but is really doing great. Her imaginative play is advancing so much lately and is hilarious to watch. She plays and sings to herself happily, and tells us that Goldilocks and Dora are playing with her.

I am going through a big adjustment too, learning to handle two children. Everything seems to take me a long time right now. Lillian is still easy, but she loves to eat and that takes a lot of time and results in a lot of diaper changes as well. At her check-up yesterday she had gained 28 ounces in 20 days and grown an inch! She was 9 lb 0.3 ounces yesterday. I am having a lot of fun, but we definitely have our moments - like trying to get from the apartment to the car and Audrey jumping into mud puddles and soaking her socks within moments of leaving the building! But I am so happy and content to be here and try to enjoy all of the crazy moments.

As far as photos go, all I have are a few that I took on my phone and a couple I took this morning. Hopefully I will be a little more organized this week.

Explosion in the play room!