HHI 2015, Part 1

Before I start the play-by-play, I just have to make a little note...  This is one of those times where I reflect and note that this time last year, I only had 3 boys (and one on the way, but just newly on the way).  And this year, here we are with 4 boys.  The miracle of adding to the family and then immediately feeling like it could never have been how it was before is just astounding.  I think about last year and I miss Jansen.  I can't imagine life without him.  It's always been like this, each time we add a new one, it right away feels like they've always been a part of our family.  Ok, that's the sappy beginning, but I couldn't move on to the details until I mentioned this phenomenon that has been top of mind for this sentimental momma.

The Journey South
This year, we took a slightly different travel plan.  Doug had the fabulous idea of using some airline points on an airline we rarely use to fly Jansen and I down South and he would drive the remaining four boys.  Sounds like he's crazy, right?  But his thinking was that two days of driving with 3 boys that are used to adventurous traveling without mom was better than two days of driving with 3 boys plus an infant who may or may not scream 50-100% of the time traveling with mom (and having to stop to nurse every 4 hours).  Well, he was right.  This was absolutely the way to go.  And I just have to applaud Douglas for being the great dad he is to take on this challenge, run with it, excel at it and enjoy it.  

The 3 oldest boys and their daring dad took off after church on Sunday.  I received this quick pic from a stoplight shortly after they got on the road (lunchtime and the first DVD)...

They drove 7 and 1/2 hours and only stopped once!!  Yes, folks, that's even with a 3 year old who was recently potty trained that didn't even have an accident.  Despite their moms genes, these boys have bladders of steel!!  They arrived at the hotel just on the Southern side of Charlottte, NC around 8pm.  The hotel staff gave them cookies upon arrival.  They were pleased (and sort of look like they own the place).

Is this not the cutest??  Tav and Penn shared a bed!!  

Unfortunately, there was one snag in the day.  The night before Tavin said his foot was hurting and we discovered an abscess on it that looked to be infected.  On Sunday, it just grew worse (bigger and more painful) all day.  Poor Tavin...this kid always gets hit with the most random issues (yet thankfully mostly minor).  He did a great job dealing with it and Doug managed the pain with ibuprofen.  Thankfully he slept well that night and was the trooper he always is with these types of things.  

Now, Jansen and I had a different kind of day with a very quiet house.  I got SO much cleaning done and my last minute packing and prep.  It's kind of a treat to get to leave the house in such good order when leaving on a trip (usually it's too much of a whirlwind to leave things in the nice way I would like to), but all day my heart was with the majority of my family on their car trip (I like road trips and I LOVE being together as a family).  My friend, Kylie, came over for dinner and to stay the night and then take Janse and I to the airport at the terribly early hour of 3am.  Yeah, she's a super sweet friend!  I slept terribly because my body and mind knew I had to get up so early.  Oh well!  We made it to the airport in good time and were met with lots of lines and waits and made it to our flight only a little bit before the scheduled boarding time.  Our flight was 5:15am.  Janse was in a daze (poor thing, was probably so confused!).  He was quite wakeful for the crazy hour.  I fed him on that early flight and he just fell asleep in my lap after nursing.  So precious.  His little belly was up again mine the whole time and I could feel him breathing in and out.  Needless to say, I loved the sweet opportunity to snuggle my sleeping babe.  As we approached landing he woke up and we took a little selfie for Daddy.  

Shortly thereafter I got this picture of the boys devouring breakfast at the hotel.  I was filled with pride.  How awesome is Doug to have these three boys well-slept, up and at'em and eating breakfast at 6;30am?  

The boys got an early start because they had to pick Jansen and I up at the airport in Charleston, SC and then we drove the last 2 hours to Hilton Head Island all together.  Here's a quick photo I got after we were reunited.  Looks a lot like the day before except that you can now see J's car seat in the shot too (and my heart was at ease because we were all together again, but you can't see that in the picture).

We stopped for some Chick-fil-A just outside our destination and then arrived at the home we were staying at around 1pm.  After Doug unloaded all the gear, he and Tav headed out to an urgent care facility to get Tavin's abscess lanced and get a prescription for antibiotics (talk about a fun start to vacation...Tav was in pain, he and Doug waited there for over an hour to see a doctor and then had to get prescription....oh well, in the meantime, I got the house all situated and set up while they were out).  Jansen and Penn napped hard after the long journey, so Koen and I were on our own while Doug and Tav were out.  After I unpacked and set things up, Koen and I played Uno.  We took a selfie for Daddy (Koen wanted to do funny faces).

Between the pain he had endured the last few days, the long trip with less sleep than usual and then having something literally cut off of his foot, poor Tav was fragile to say the least.  He and Doug had to wait at CVS for awhile for the prescription and in between major meltdowns, Tav found this hat and Doug got this priceless photo.  Tav is an amazing kid.  He was so brave with the lancing and he always tries to have such a good attitude about things.  Doug calls him a "joy box" and I think this picture just sums that up.

When Doug and Tav got home, he took the 3 older kids to the beach.  Tav wasn't allowed to go in the water and had to keep his feet covered.  He was not happy about it and after the hard day, it was just too much to handle for too long, so they returned quite quickly.  We fed the kids and got them bathed and to bed and then we had pizza and finally had a breather, a moment to realize we were on vacation and then we collapsed in to bed!  Earlier in the evening though, I nursed Jansen at his regular 7pm time.  When I was done he gave me the sweetest loves and kisses.  My phone was handy and I just held it out and shot away as I enjoyed the sweet nuzzles.

Isn't that amazing??!!??  I love these boys.  The little moments like nuzzles at bedtime and the big experiences like vacation at the beach are all so wonderful.  I'm so blessed to have these boys, these busy, busy, busy (I'll add a fourth "busy" since I have four of them), busy days.  Looking forward to making memories and being away and having more time to just soak up our family time this week on Hilton Head Island!