It's Great to be Home

I was in DC last week for a work conference. Travelling for work just isn't the same for me anymore--I used to be so excited about it, but now that I have James, I just miss him so much that it is hard for me to enjoy myself. Thankfully it was four straight days of flights, exhibits, sessions and running from here to there, so I was pretty occupied.

I got in very late on Saturday night, and asked Chris to just wait for me in the passenger pickup parking lot at the airport. I knew James would be asleep in his car seat, and I didn't want to wake him up. Walking towards the car in the parking garage, I could see Chris turned towards James and my heart swelled up so big to see both of them that I almost cried right there.

I thought a lot this weekend about how difficult it must have been for Chris when he was with Emerson and he was travelling all week, only to come home to his wife and newborn son on the weekends. In those early days, James' growth week to week must have seemed astounding to Chris.

Even just being gone for four days, I was amazed to see the new words, phrases and things that James picked up while I was gone. Now he is making everything plural, calling the cat "Beans" and Gino "Ninos" and his Little Bear show "Bears." He is also consistently calling me "Mommy" instead of "Mama." He also learned how to say his name, which ends up sounding more like "Jeans" than anything.

The other really cute development is that he is saying "no" a lot. Here is a little video of the "no" thing.



I missed Chris and James so much while I was away. I am so thankful that Chris doesn't have to travel anymore, and that we can be a family together every night. More and more I think that the way my parents raised me is the way I want to raise James and the new baby--with a strong emphasis on family time, like meals together and weekends at home.

Oh, and a note on the new baby, we have an ultrasound scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, so we'll see if we can find out if James will be having a little brother or a little sister. All of the nurses that I work with are telling me it is a girl--we'll see! I love my little boy--he is an amazing, intelligent and sensitive little person, so I would be perfectly happy with another one. Chris on the other hand is just dying to have a little girl--I'll keep you posted!