the beginning of the Christmas journey.

I desperately want to document our Christmas trip to Indiana, but I just cannot seem to find the time.  However, I am going to start right now!  I don't have much time, but I am going to do my best to get some details written down.  Okay, Carter is now crying (he had his shots today), so this is as far as I'm going to get for now!  Talk about irony.....

Okay, crisis averted.  Fifteen minutes of snuggling and he is back asleep again.  Phew!

Our trip started on the Thursday afternoon before Christmas.  Olivia went to school and had her "Happy Birthday Jesus" party and I got everything organized while she was there.  Andy cut out of work early and got the car packed so we were ready to hit the road right about 4pm.  Our plan was to drive to Oklahoma City and stop for a dinner and nursing break, and our plan worked out.  Olivia snacked on Goldfish and watched 'A Dora Christmas Carol' with her headphones while Carter slept.  We took a long stop for dinner at Cracker Barrel (mmmmm!) and got everyone in pajamas and diapers for the next chunk of driving.  It was nearing 8 at this point and we were hoping Olivia would fall quickly to sleep.  It took her about an hour with some fussing involved, but eventually she fell asleep.  Carter cried a little so I topped him off with a bottle (b.c he didn't nurse too well during our dinner stop).  Everyone had full bellies and was sleeping soundly by 9ish. 

We drove as far as we could on that tank of gas.  I think that took us to 1am or so in the morning.  Everyone slept, including myself, without interruption and Andy drove us like the champion daddy that he is!  The gas stop woke everyone up, as expected!  We took that opportunity to let Olivia stretch her legs a bit in the car and change Carter's diaper.  I then pumped and gave him a bottle while we started driving again.  The fact that Carter takes a bottle completely revolutionized our road-trip!  When Olivia was a baby we had to stop each time she woke up and wanted to eat, which took so much extra time.  This go-round I simply pumped before his expected nursing times and then when he would begin to fuss I would crawl to the back and give him a bottle!  It was amazing!  Good thing we didn't know any better the first baby, or we would have thought Olivia was a challenge! 

Anyhow, the kids did fantastic and were still sleeping soundly around 4 or 4:30 in the morning when we stopped at a hotel. We needed gas again, which I knew would wake everyone up and I was terribly uncomfortable, so I "called uncle" and pleaded to stop at a hotel.  At that point we only had about 3.5 or 4 more hours to go, but I just couldn't handle it anymore!  I needed a bed!  It was probably the biggest waste of a hundred bucks we have made, but we stopped and got a room till morning.  We did take advantage of the breakfast buffet, which is nice with a toddler, but all in all we were only at the hotel for about 5 hours! ha.

I can hardly believe how wonderful both kids did while traveling.  Carter only fussed a few times as he was falling asleep and Olivia was very happy as long as she had books, snacks, movies, and mommy's attention!   I always enjoy reading about how other families handle driving adventures, so there is our recap.  Our theory always involves doing as much as we can through the night!  It is so much easier to drive with sleeping children than to turn around every 3 minutes to hand someone something in the back seat!  Luckily, I have a husband who does great with staying up all night (he does a lot of night flying for work, so I think that helps).  I didn't drive at all on our cumulative 31 hour road trip!

Once at my mom and dad's, we helped them get their GIANT tree put up and decorated.....

Christmas Eve was an evening filled with church and getting ready for Santa!

we stopped by and visited Great Grammy on our way to church

Olivia opened one present for her and one for Carter that night when we got home.  In Jordan tradition, it was a pair of pajamas for them to wear that night!  My mom always did this and I think I probably always will too!

Papa helped her get the stockings all set,

and the cookies and milk placed.

all set before bed in their matching pj's! 

The next morning their stockings were full, the cookies and milk were all gone, the Meyer family had arrived, Santa had left lots and lots of goodies, and the madness began!

To be continued.......