Lil Landis Fam: Year 3, Weeks 15-19: Vacation, Thanksgiving and Amelia’s First Wedding

Forgive me for my lack of writing, we were on vacation the week I was supposed to be getting caught up…so I didn’t get caught up! But we are back now and I make absolutely no promises! With the holidays coming up, it is bound to be spotty and a little unpredictable, but we are always trying. So, let’s see if I can remember anything at all about the last few weeks…

Week 15: October 25-31

Halloween week, which is not a holiday that we celebrate, was a long week for me. On Monday, Pam came to watch Amelia for my long day and I had Swedish meatball pasta bake ready to go in the oven for dinner. It was the first time we had it and it was QUITE good, definitely a keeper. While we were relaxing in the evening we watched a show and booked an airBNB, which I am actually sitting in right now as a type, more on that later, probably next time!

Tuesday was Jonathan’s test, I just realized that I haven’t written since then! Craziness! He took his test, finished early, felt good, went to get Amelia at my parents and hung out with them for awhile. After he came home and got Amelia to bed he chatted with his parents as well, then I finally got done with work and we got to start our post-test life!

Wednesday was a great day off. We finally rented our car for vacation, Shem came over for ham fried rice for lunch, and we had. A nice, relaxing evening. Thursday was normal and I worked the weekend, so Jonathan and Amelia came to see me on Friday after Jonathan was done with work, then he went and worked on the bathroom in the evening!

The rest of the weekend was pretty jam-packed full. Jonathan had lunch with Cory on Saturday before band, then went to play for church and Amelia stayed at Mom and Dad’s. When we all got home after church, there was soup ready in the crock pot! The perfect Saturday meal! Sunday morning, Jonathan made breakfast, then he and Dad spent some time pulling out trees and bushes from around our yard. In the evening, the Landis’ came over, so they were there when I got back from work and Jonathan made a fantastic dinner for all of us! Steaks, foil potatoes and green beans…we all loved it, even Amelia, who has started eating real people food!

Week 16a: November 1-5

This was Shem’s last week home with the family, so we had dinner at the Haas house! I did some running in the morning to get ready for vacation and also got my hair cut. Tuesday was Election Day, so Amelia got to go vote for her first time…it was a pretty crappy day out, so she had to be very bundled up…not something she enjoyed!

Amelia was sick for about 8-9 days with just a runny nose and some discomfort, I wasn’t sure what was going on and since we were headed out, I wanted to make sure she was okay, so we took her in to the doctor’s, just a cold, but hey, at least I knew! This was also the day that we figured out what we wanted to do on vacation AND found out that Jonathan passed his test! WAHOO!

Thursday and Friday I worked short days, Jonathan went to band and we spent a lot of time packing and getting ready for our first vacation since our honeymoon AND our first vacation since we had Amelia! Destination: Houston, Texas. We have friends, David and Alicia, who live there with their twin boys, Joshua and Isaiah, so we went down and spent a week with them! Such a blessing, since traveling with a baby involves a LOT of stuff, some of which they had and we didn’t have to take!

Week 16b and 17: November 6-14

Saturday morning we woke up, I made some hash for breakfast, Mom and Dad came and picked us up and we went to Pittsburgh to catch our flight out. We were there in plenty of time and had a really smooth time getting through security. They were super accommodating for Amelia and she flew like a champ! Barely any fussing, and when she did, it was only because her little ears were popping! Once we landed and picked up our car we went to Whataburger because we hadn’t eaten since breakfast, then we got to the Guess’ just as the boys’ first birthday party was wrapping up! We got to catch up with David and Alicia once the kids were down and just soaked up being there! In the morning, we woke up, went to church, got Chipotle for lunch and the brewery/Papa John’s for dinner…everything in between was spent allowing Amelia to catch up on sleep and allowing us to catch up with each other and have good conversation…the theme of our trip!

Monday was our big exploring day. We went to the Space Center museum and got to take a tour of the space center, which was really incredible, then we went to Galveston to see the Gulf, do a little shopping and eat some seafood…we also got some of the best ice cream I have ever had! Amelia did really well at the museum, only episode was the result of an explosion from an experiment they were doing with some kids, caught her off guard and she was NOT happy! After that we stayed away from the guy blowing stuff up. Now the beach, she just LOVED the beach! She loves water of any kind, so we were not surprised! She was so sweet and just incredibly happy!

Tuesday was our zoo day, which was actually a lot of fun! I can’t remember the last time I was at a zoo and it was the perfect size for our family right now. We got to see everything and Amelia waved at everyone, human and animal, that she saw, it was absolutely adorable. She just loved the whole thing, other than the Cheetah statue. That’s right, there wasn’t a cheetah, so Jonathan took her up to the statue and she just started yelling, we have no idea why. That evening, Jonathan and David went and picked up Afghan food for us to try. It was incredible! Very flavorful and nothing like anything I had ever had before. I was a little hesitant since new food isn’t really my thing, but I think we were both very impressed!

Wednesday was our last full day there, so we spent it relaxing and looking for souvenirs and a skyline view! We went out for breakfast, then headed to shop. We went to this big, fancy mall and found some Christmas ornaments, which is our official family souvenir, and then went for a hike and finally found a good place to get a picture of the skyline. It’s a little difficult in Houston because it is so spread out, but Jonathan sought out the cute little park area and we got to see it! On our way back to the house we went out for Tex-Mex, because when in Texas, you have to eat Tex-Mex, right? It was delicious, I won’t even lie to you! It was a massive amount of food and I wasn’t even sad about it!

Thursday morning we said goodbye and headed to the airport. We wanted to get breakfast after we were all situated at the airport and ready to go, but by the time we found a Wendy’s to eat at (there were no breakfast places), they were serving lunch food, so that’s what we got! It served us well and we finished up right as we were boarding, it was a little stressful, but we made it! Dad picked us up at the airport, then Mom came over after conferences and we had Subway and told them all about our trip!

Friday was supposed to be relaxing. We were thinking about going shopping, but decided, nah, we will just stay home. Amelia had a more difficult time on the flight than she did on the way there, we will just relax. Well, Thursday night she woke up screaming and only relaxed and went back to sleep after I gave her some Tylenol. Friday morning she was a mess, cried almost all the time and just was not herself, so we took her to the doctor (again) and she had her first ear infection, poor baby! So we stopped and got Arby’s, then took her home and went in to get her antibiotic. After we knew what it was and could treat it with Tylenol and the antibiotic, we were in the clear! That night I had a spa night at Faith’s, so Jonathan and Amelia just relaxed at home and I enjoyed spending time with the girls! It was a product party, so I ordered some new stuff to try on my eczema, which has been really bad, the stuff might be helping though, we will have to wait and see!

On Saturday we got some shopping done…x2. I went grocery shopping in the morning, then we went shopping to get Amelia some clothes that fit! Girl is fully clothed now and they fit her comfortably…WHEW!It was also her 10 month birthday, so there are photos of that below! Sunday was a home day, we had maple brown sugar baked oatmeal and just spent the day relaxing and getting ready for going back to work and real life, which none of us really wanted to do after our awesome vacation!

Week 18: November 15-21

First day back and I think everyone in our house was sick. I started with a cold on Friday, Jonathan joined in the fun and Amelia was still fighting cold/teething/ear infection/possible thrush, so we were a mess. It was Pam’s day to watch Amelia, so she got to be at home, which was a HUGE gift! I had one dinner plan, but scratched it and tried a new one - corned beef and noodles, which ended up being incredible and SO easy!

It was a long week, and Jonathan just helped me out SO much. On Monday I got the call that they needed help on Wednesday in exchange for me being off on Sunday, now, last time I did this I said I wouldn’t do it again, but, here we are! I agreed because it helped us with family stuff...but it really didn’t help with exhaustion, getting back into work and feeling pretty crappy, so it was a long road for me, but Jonathan was awesome. Cooking is my thing, I love it, I get joy from it and I feel like I am contributing in providing for my family. Jonathan and I have a lot in common, but this interest is NOT it! I couldn’t even start the grill, Jonathan does all of that, but I do about 99% of the cooking. On days that Jonathan gets dinner ready I usually have it prepped and ready to pop in the oven, it’s just how we work together to make it work! Well, Jonathan stepped up and helped me out. Wednesday was supposed to be enchilada day, but it’s tough to make enchiladas when you’re at work until 6, so Jonathan prepped them Tuesday night even though he didn’t want to and I actually cried when I got home and he told me! (Did I mention I was tired?) So that was awesome. Tuesday and Wednesday we had our electric worked on to get the apartment and main house combined, so Jonathan did a lot of work in the apartment those days, Dad even came to hang out and brain storm on Wednesday for a little while! It was a good few days for Jonathan, we are getting really excited about the upstairs and figured out exactly what we wanted to do, so that makes us very excited!

The rest of the week was just as exhausting. I worked Monday-Saturday, 60 total hours, Jonathan went out of town Thursday and Friday, so I had Que Pasa with Mom and Dad on Thursday night and enjoyed some time with my baby girl. She was tossed around on Friday, but Jonathan came home, so that always makes all of us happy!

Saturday Jonathan played and I worked, so we all got home after church and I was absolutely stressed to the max. We had a TON of stuff planned for Sunday - men’s breakfast, Landis lunch and Dickerhoof thanksgiving dinner - so obviously, I had a lot that I was thinking about. We cleaned the house, got things a little bit organized and had the house ready for visitors! Sunday morning I wasn’t much better, but we pulled it together and made Oktoberfest stew for the Landis fam lunch. We enjoyed our time with them and had some good conversation and time catching up and celebrating together. Dickerhoof Thanksgiving was a blast. We loved seeing everyone and it was the first big family get-together since Miss Amelia joined us!

Week 19: November 22-28

Monday involved a lot of doctor’s appointments and trying to relax a little bit. I got some shopping done and actually did get to relax for a minute or two. We had spaghetti and enjoyed some time together as a family in the evening.

Tuesday was normal, Jonathan and Amelia came to visit and did some shopping for me, which is always helpful! Wednesday was Amelia’s dermatology appointment. She has had a cyst on her neck since she was born, which has not been concerning at all, but her nurse practitioner wanted us to get it looked at to figure out what we needed to do to get rid of it. The doctor was great, had no concerns with it and said there is absolutely no rush at all! Whenever she can lay still for it they will just scrape it off, so no worries at all! After that we went shopping, which was a blast, and got Moe’s for lunch! Amelia is a great little shopper and we enjoyed shopping as a family, honestly, just a fantastic day in the middle of the craziness.

Thursday was Thanksgiving! I worked 9-2, which went really well, and then we had Haas Thanksgiving! It was so much fun, we had a great time introducing Amelia to my aunt and her family and just loved being together with our family. Friday I worked 10-6 and got a lot of stuff done, then we had dinner when we got home and got to talk to our friends, the Steigers, which was incredibly refreshing.

Saturday my cousin got married! So we enjoyed every single minute of Amelia’s first wedding experience! She did not go to the ceremony…but she LOVED the party and all the attention she got! Sunday I started to feel sick again, just as I was getting over my cold. I was also sick Tuesday and Wednesday, but thought I had treated the mastitis I felt coming on, but Sunday I was just down and out. Exhausted, unmotivated and just plain whooped! So I napped, Jonathan worked on the apartment, I made us some bacon mushroom pasta and we relaxed, got ready for the week and spent time as a family. It was a great ending to a great week!

We have so enjoyed the Thanksgiving season with Amelia. She makes everything better and more joyful, we couldn’t be more thankful to be where we are right now! The holidays are so much fun and we are trying to find the balance between doing stuff and protecting our time at home as a family. It is such a precious balance and all three of us thrive when we are at home, it just simply our favorite place to be!