Emma and I had the opportunity to go to Chicago to meet Leah! Jonah stayed home with Daddy and Emma and I left from church to make the five hour drive to Uncle Andrew and Aunt Abby's...or should I say it should take five hours. The trip started out well until Emma insisted on going potty. I knew she didn't need to but we stopped anyway at a Wendy's. I had packed lunch so we didn't need to stop to order food, but as soon as we opened the door I realized that someone had vomited and they literally had taken a hose to the bathroom. Every surface was dripping with water and it smelled like vomit. And, you guessed it, Emma announced that she didn't need to go. Ok, I took a deep breath and acted like it was no big deal. We got back in the car and kept driving. Emma took a 20 minute nap and then we hit traffic. We sat in traffic, going a maximum of five miles an hour for about 40 minutes when Emma needed to go potty. Thankfully, there was a rest stop just ahead. We made it in time and got back in the car to continue sitting in traffic. I was no more than a tenth of a mile from the rest stop when a truck driver yelled in my window that I had a flat tire. I pulled over and sure enough, it was flat. Not just flat, but shredded...going one mile an hour for 100 yards...I really would love to know what happened. As I was getting my phone out to call AAA, a van pulled over to help. A sweet man traveling with his wife and two small kids helped change the tire. The spare was flat, but he had a pump and got it filled. Then he noticed the spare had a patch on it and was not comfortable with me driving the rest of the way to Chicago on that tire. He got us going and stayed with us for another 45 minutes of traffic until we got to an exit. From there, Mike found a Sam's that was still open with the tire we needed. A half hour later we were back in the car and got to Chicago only to sit in another hour of traffic there. By the time we got to Andrew and Abby's, I was an emotional wreck. I looked at Leah and went to go to the bathroom and wash my hands. It was then that I realized I had gotten ticks on the side of the road while changing the tire and they were crawling on and attaching to me. There was one in my hair, one on my neck, and one on my leg. Andrew carefully removed them for me. Finally, I got to hold my sweet little niece I had been waiting two months to hold - worth every second of the drive!
We had a wonderful visit and left the next morning to come home. Emma was AMAZING on the way up. She was a champ and didn't cry or whine with the traffic or the tire ordeal. She made up for it on the way home. She screamed and cried for me to hold her the majority of the way home. Along with that, we hit another hour of construction and an hour of traffic in Indianapolis. Seven hours home...
Amidst the craziness, I only snapped a few pictures. Abby took more. Emma was so happy to hold Leah and help feed her. She had a great time with Sam and they invented "Kaboom Hugs" - essentially body slam hugs! I wish we lived closer!
I was so thankful for the MANY ways the Lord protected and provided for us on the trip and enjoyed every second of my time with Andrew, Abby, Sam, and Leah! We can't wait to see them again, but we can wait to make that drive again!
Jonah got a hold of this roll of paper towel. It was so cute that mom and I did not have the heart to stop him. He had so much fun.
Uncle Ben and Aunt Erin had Emma over for dinner and to play. She was so excited to go see their house and spend time with them!
Emma enjoying her cone from Fritz's
Jonah playing in the church nursery.
Enjoying time playing in the pool
Lots of Playtime!
Jonah enjoyed the train and wooden cars.
Jonah wasn't so sure about the pool. He finally figured out that he could splash and that seemed to change his mind.
