I have to apologize... I've been horrible and haven't posted about our amazing trip home yet! We had a blast and are now back in the UK (yep, all of us!) and in the swing of things again. Poor Li has had a hard time re-adjusting to the time change coming home, but did awesome on the way over there. She immediately switched to US time without even blinking, and did great... even when we changed time zones again once we were there (from Texas to Washington and then back). It's always been harder to ease into the change here than it is when you go back to the States, so I expected it. The first few nights she would go to sleep at her normal bedtime (9 pm), then she'd wake up at 11 and want to play (and I mean PLAY) until about 1 am or so... who cares if Mommy has jet lag right? We managed though and things are pretty much back to normal, except for the random wakings in the middle of the night (about 2 or 3 times per night for about 15 minutes) that I think are due to her teeth...
Anyway, I'll give you a rundown of our trip!
We left on Friday, the 6th and flew to Houston... Liara did amazing! She wasn't fussy at all and was so perfect on the plane! We had requested a bassinet on the plane (GREAT for babies up to 6 months or so, Liara squeezed in because of her low weight and I lied a little about her height lol). That really came in handy as she took one and a half naps in it and played in it quite a bit. We won't get to use it next time, and it kind of makes me sad... although on the way back she didn't really lay in it hardly at all. We got to Houston and spent the afternoon and evening at Nic's parent's house. They had set up Nic's baby crib up for us and bought a whole new bedding set for it (SO cute and sweet of them!), which was really nice! We went out to eat that night at Central Texas Style BBQ (best place for BBQ in Houston... it's one of President Bush Sr.'s favorite places to go, and I don't blame him! PLUS, they are who catered for our wedding... although we had Cuban food, not BBQ). The McManus family came over to visit (neighbors that have been family friends for a super long time) and came with us to dinner as well, which was nice! Then we came home and went to bed!
Saturday we got Billy's Donuts (I love that place!) and just poked around the house with Nic's family. We got to spend some quality time with Abraham as well (our dog!) which was really great, we've missed him! We mailed off Liara's visa paperwork before we flew out to go to Washington that afternoon. Liara did good again, on both flights (from Houston to Dallas and then from Dallas to Albuquerque and then Seattle) although for the last hour or so, she was pretty ready to get off the plane. I don't blame her... I had had enough myself! On top of that, she got her first tooth on the plane! She was a champ and wasn't even fussy about it! We got there and met my family there and then went to Ihop for some food :) It was great to see them and everyone was so excited! My mom and her friend John went back to the airport to pick up my grandparents while Nic, Li, and I joined my sister and her family on the ride back to their house to start getting everyone ready for bed. We waited up for Great and Grandaddy to get there and then went to bed ourselves.
Sunday was my Grandparent's 62nd Wedding Anniversary! We baked them a cake, and sat around listening to stories about how they met... they still are so sweet about it and remember every detail. I love that my grandmother's response to my grandfather asking her to a movie was "I'd just as soon do that as eat a bug". How is that a positive response?! Lol. It meant yes though, and here they are, 62 years into marriage with four children, eleven grandchildren, and eleven great grandchildren later! The Wurst's also came over to visit and say hi (again, longtime family friends), and Cindy brought these DELICIOUS treats that were so good... I'm going to have to figure out how to make them. As far as I know, it's just rice crispies, butter, chocolate, peanut butter and marshmallows rolled into a ball... but I'll have to ask. Yummy. The guys spent the day working on a new fence for Raime (my sister) so that they can get a new puppy! Liara chose Sunday to start waving hello and goodbye too, so it was a great day all around!
The 9th was spent working on the fence some more and then taking a nice relaxing drive around Lacey and Olympia (the area my sister lives in). We ate lunch at a sidewalk hot dog vendor, which was really yummy too!
The 10th was also spent working on the fence, going back and forth to Home Depot, and running general errands (like going to the bank to reset the pins for our cards, since we hadn't used them in 3 years and had NO idea what they were anymore! Lol).
The 11th was the day that my Grandparent's flew to California and was another hot day (the whole time we were there it was hot and sunny!) so we went to Target to pick up some new clothes for Liara :) and then went to the beach! Nic, Joey (my brother in law), Raisa (my oldest niece, who's 10) and Taylor (my other niece, who's 5) got in the water to cool off while Raime, Mom, Dax (my nephew, who's 2 1/2) and Liara sat on the beach watching. We had bought Liara some really cool netting things (See pictures) that you put fresh fruit and stuff in and Liara absolutely loved them. We brought her some pears and she sat happily and munched the whole time! It was perfect for getting her to enjoy the beach without shoveling sand in her mouth the whole time!
The 12th we spent working on the fence, napping, and having good Mexican food at Puerto Vallerta. It wasn't the best Mexican food by any means, but when you haven't had it in so long, it was good enough! :)
Friday, the 13th, was a busy day! Cris (Nic's mom) called to let us know that Liara's visa had come in... WOW that was fast! I love how efficient they are in the US! We took everyone to Volunteer Park in Seattle (an awesome park with a water pool for the kiddo's to play in and beautiful coy ponds and flower gardens!). We had a picnic lunch there and went for a walk afterwards where we saw a guy sunbathing naked! Lol... Raisa thought it was gross. Haha. We let Liara get in the little pool thing and she had a great time splashing around, as did all the other kids. After that, we went to see the troll under the bridge (another sight in Seattle... it's pretty cool) before heading out to Pikes Place Market. We were pretty bummed when we got there, as they had closed it down for the night for a charity event, but we still got our picture with the pig. :) We ate dinner at Pikes Place Bar and Grill which was really yummy, and then as we were making our way back to the car Nic and I took a walk on the boardwalk to look for the spot where we almost had our first kiss. I say almost because Nic was chicken and was waiting for me to make the first move. It was quite romantic though, and brought back a flood of good memories for the both of us.
The 14th we went to the Snoqualmie River to go swimming again, as it was another super hot day (there's no air conditioning there, they don't normally get 97 degree days like they did while we were there!). It was nice and cool and we had a great time!
The 15th was SUPER HOT... we spent the whole day sitting in front of the fans in the house until it was cool enough to go outside and play in the pool (in the shade!). We then got to play badminton and catch and just enjoy each other's company since we had to leave the next day. We saved re-packing for night time when it was cool... then were amazed at how much extra stuff we had picked up while we were there, including some books from when I was little and a bunch of my childhood memorabilia.
The 16th was spent flying back to Houston (Liara was great again!) and then driving straight to Galveston after dinner with Nic's parents. We were staying at the Hilton in Galveston which was really nice... the pool there was great and we had an awesome view of the beach as well.
The 17th was a pretty fun day... I had thought that Nic had to be in his conference all day but it turns out I was off by a day, so he didn't have to do anything until about 5 pm, so we got to hang out with him and have lunch together with his parents who stayed in his uncle's condo right down the street. Liara got her second tooth (so now she has both her bottom front teeth!) and again, was a champ about it. That night our friend Viktor was supposed to come over to hang out with us, but his car broke down on the highway, so we went to go help him out, spending 2 hours on the side of the highway. That wasn't so fun for Liara, as I wouldn't let her out of her carseat the entire time because I was afraid we'd get hit or something and she wouldn't be strapped in. I know, I'm anal. Oh well.
The 18th, Nic was in his conference from 7-about 5, so I spent the day with his Mom. We swam in the pool at the hotel and then ate lunch at Landry's (mmm, mmm, good!). Then Viktor and his girlfriend Carrie came over to hang out with us later that night. They went for a beach walk with Nic that night while I stayed with Liara since she had gone to bed, so I got to catch up on some sleep.
The 19th, Nic was in his conference again until about 3:30, but once it got out we all went to the beach (Nic, Li and I and Nic's parents). I had the horrible experience of watching my baby be pooped on by a seagull. I nearly lost it and went crazy on those damn birds. It wiped off though, and didn't get in her face or anything... so I guess I should just move on. I'm still mad about it though. Haha. We spent some time at the beach before returning to the condo where Nic's parents were staying to go swimming some more in the pool there. It had a giant alligator in the pool for kids to play on which was pretty cool and one of those big mushroom fountain things. Liara had a good time :). We were supposed to check out of the hotel the next morning, but we decided to go ahead and return to Houston that night, so we checked out early and drove back to Pearland (his parent's live there).
The 20th we relaxed a little in the morning, before getting ready for the party the next day. We set up the big coverings and tables, hooked up the misting machines and giant fan, and I bathed Abraham so he wouldn't be stinky and gave him a little trim so he wouldn't look like a wild dog. :)
The 21st was the party that Nic's parents threw for family and some friends to come meet Liara. It was an ALL DAY affair (I'm meaning from 10 am to 10 pm) and it was HOT! All in all, about 100 people came, which was crazy... but to be expected really, as everyone wanted to see her. I'm just glad they didn't go ALL out and only invited close friends and family. I have to say I'm proud of myself for sharing my baby so much that day, I'm not very good at that. It was really hard letting so many people hold her, but she did great. By about 6 though, she had had enough and pretty much just wanted me or Nic to hold her. I was happy to oblige her... I sure had missed my cuddlebug! It wasn't supposed to be a shower or anything, but people brought gifts anyway and she has enough clothes now to last her the rest of the year! She also got some new toys too which was fun. It did make packing a challenge, but we got everything home and are enjoying all her gifts, so thank you everyone!
Sunday, the 22nd, we went to church with Nic's parents, then went to lunch with one of my very best friends (Jamie... she came to visit us here for my birthday the year before last... I think there's a post about it!) and her boyfriend. She's never really serious about any guy, so it's nice to meet one that she's really comfortable with and has kept around for over a year! Ben was really nice, we enjoyed meeting him too! We were going to go and use some of the gift cards that we were given at the party afterwards, but then ended up having some downtime in the afternoon instead since we were exhausted from the party. Liara thought that downtime would be best put to use by learning how to pull herself up to standing on ANYTHING... and she did a great job.
Let's see... Monday, Liara turned 7 months old. We spent the day with Nic's family again, and then headed over to my other best friend's house (Edith, Angel and their daughter Kamila) to spend some time with them. We ate dinner (yummy chinese!) and just hung out with them and Edith's sister (Emy, David and their son David Paul). It was nice to catch up with them and get some one on one time! That night there was a huge thunderstorm, which was nice... we'd missed them over here! It hailed even!
Tuesday, the 24th, we spent the morning writing thank you notes, packing and getting ready to leave, then we went to lunch with Nic's parent's (Olive Garden for the win!) before leaving for the airport. We flew home, getting back on the 25th. Liara did great on the plane again, but man... none of us want to see another airplane for at least a couple months! We were sad to leave the US but glad to have our own little house back. Liara was excited to see all of her toys again, and her own room (and rocking chair!) and immediately starting REALLY crawling on Thursday. She was glad to be home :)
That's the jist of what we did on our trip home... we crammed in as much as we could! We're talking about making another trip home in December now, for Christmas! I hope it works out, I would love to be home for the holidays!
I've tried to load the pictures like three times now and they won't load... so I'll try and post them in a separate post for you to see!
She was really looking them over and running her fingers over the patterns on them... she's so curious about everything!
She wanted me to stop taking pictures and play with her! She's so super sweet!
Here she is sound asleep after church (and lunch), still in her pretty dress. Thanks Aunt Marsha!
Here's my pretty girl in her pj's before her party... I think her hair may be my color instead of Nic's! 
Here's Liara playing with her reflection. It was so cute to watch her wave and smile at herself!
Here's Li walking around in the pool... she LOVED the water and was so happy whenever she was in it!
Here's Daddy, Grandpa Tony, Liara and I in the pool at the condo with the alligator.
Here's Liara with her grandparents... We had a great time in Galveston with them.
Here's Liara and her grandad... she was telling how big the fish he caught was. ;)
Here's Liara, Nic and I at the beach in Galveston... post seagull. :/
Here's Nic and I with Liara, showing her how to get all sandy!
Liara and her sweet Daddy... She's so silly sometimes!
Liara with her Grandpa Tony... he just LOVED her!
Liara with her Grandma Cris... she was awfully smitten too :)
Here's my mom, Taylor, Liara and I, Raisa and my sister, Raime.
Here's our newest family portrait that Nic's cousin took for us... I adore this picture.
Here's Nic, Liara and I with the Pikes Place Market pig... I miss Seattle!
Here's the troll under the bridge. It'd been ages since I've seen him!
Here's Li with her Daddy in the pool at Volunteer park... she had a great time!
Here's the pool that is at Volunteer Park for the kids to play in. It's about 2 feet in the middle, and like 6 inches at the edges... perfect for kids! It was a great place to have a picnic!
Here's my mom and Liara... she really wanted some of those chips!
Here's my sweet family! From the left, Nic, Liara, Me, Mom, Raisa, Grandaddy, Great, Dax, Raime, Joey and Taylor... Oh, and we can't forget about sweet Sam at the bottom!
Here's Uncle Joey holding an exhausted Liara... she was OUT!
Here's my Mom (Mamo) and Liara reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Liara loves that book.
Here's Liara giving my grandmother (Great) some sugars... they were so cute! They even matched each other, not on purpose of course :) This was Great's 62nd anniversary!
Here's Liara and my beautiful nieces Taylor and Raisa. They really loved playing with her :)
