Stateside!

We got back into town Wednesday after a full two weeks of traveling. Whew! It was great and so much fun and full of so many different experiences... and we are still unpacking, cleaning, finding our "normal life" stuff around the house, and getting our sleeping clocks back in order!


My favorite phrase from Eva since our return home has been, "Momma home! Momma home!", closely followed by her newest expression of excitement, "Oh my!" (pronounced 'oh maui.') She did splendidly with the Mosbo grandparents while we were away and transitioned back home really well (so far), which of course helps us transition too. It was great to have a break from parenting and all the daily 'normal life' stresses, and I have to say it's also great to return to our normal life and to our little girl who is growing and changing and expressing herself more every day. I like that balance - enjoy time away, and enjoy the returning.


We have SO MANY great photos from our time in Thailand, and so many great stories! It has been fun to share some tidbits of our travels with others, but it is hard to sum up all we did - and it is surprising that it already seems so far away and long ago. We were lucky to have Tim and Megs show us all over and plan out our itinerary; looking back, it balanced out into a fantastic tour of seeing the country's various regions, doing touristy and every-day Thai stuff, and having a great balance of both fun and down time with our crew of friends, too.


I hope to get more pictures and stories online from our travels soon, but for now, the three of us are all getting used to life back in Chi-town. I feel very lucky that we got to celebrate ten years of marriage, having awesome siblings/siblings-in-law, and having great friends this way - yeah for "Toyland!"

Cabin 2009

Our last big trip this summer was to a cabin in Wisconsin with my parents for the week. Eva was there last year, but didn't fully appreciate the wide outdoors, boat rides and new house to explore at just three months old. This year she LOVED our vacay up north; especially all the time with Grammy Lou and Gramps, kissing all the pretend animals in the yard, and standing with her face in the wind at the front of the pontoon boat. Even though we had some cooler than normal temps (so yes, that is a fleece jacket that Eva is wearing in several of the pictures), she got to swim, ride and help drive the pontoon boat, "fish" with dad, take walks, blow bubbles, and have lots of fun inside the cabin too.

Peter and I also had an amazing week - a big break from "normal" life thanks to our two almost full-time grandparent babysitters. We loved sleeping in/getting up to run when we wanted, taking walks into town for coffee and email breaks, going out for a movie date at night, and having more time to enjoy Eva along with help from more hands around to do all the other day to day demands that life brings. Having family and friends excited to help out with a baby/toddler is something that I never understood until I experienced it as a (relatively) new parent; there are few things more supportive and meaningful at this stage in our lives. And there is nothing quite as sweet as watching your child be loved unconditionally by others who love her too - we're lucky.