We're Back!!!

Were back in Arizona... but let me pick back up where I left off in my blogging. We packed all of our stuff up from our month long stay in Cape Cod with my family and after a few tears and some really hard good-byes we got on the road to Pennsylvania for Christmas and a few days with Derrik's family.

Opening presents with MeMaw and Poppy's side of the family

Ryder with Uncle Tommy

They crack each other up apparently :)
How we found Turbo when we went to get Ryder up from his nap to go to Papi's house

Ryder finally starting to get the hang of this present thing!

Ryder with his pile of gifts from Papi's side of the family

Think he needed three different Christmases?! We have been overtaken by toys!

The rest of out trip was really low key. The holidays were pretty much over at this point and everyone was back to work and school. We were glad to be able to have just a few extra days with everyone and truly enjoyed our time there!

Auntie Robin and Noah trying to entertain Noah at Taylor's basketball game

He's in the basket if you can't find him

However we did get some bad news while we were in Pennsylvania. The lady we are renting our condo from called to tell us the condo had been broken into. They smashed Ryder's window and took quite a bit of stuff. We lost Derrik's XBox 360, his XBox bag and controller, all his XBox games, our DVD case which also had photo cds in it, our digital picture frame, tool box, and $150 worth of a sewing machine and supplies for it that Derrik got me for Christmas that I never even saw! The fact that people have the nerve to do stuff like this just pisses me off. How do people have the nerve to go into people's homes and just take their stuff?

On Wednesday Ryder and I flew back home from Pennsylvania to Arizona. I was a nervous wreck about this flight with Ryder. We had an hour and a half flight, an hour and a half layover, and a five hour flight (this last flight was also past his bed time!) Our first flight he was amazing! Ryder had a seat of his own which we always love. Not only did he not cry at all, but I also only had to pull out one coloring book for a few minutes because he entertained himself with plane seatbelts, windows, safetely phamphlets, and snacks the whole time. We then had to tackle our layover which is usually difficult because their is small spaces with cranky people all around that don't want a kid playing in their personal space. Lucky for me our gate had a play area in it! It had two little play houses and a few little boys his age playing in them!!! I got some Chili's to go and sat and ate it while Ryder played. This was amazing! I knew our trip was going way to perfect at this point. We got on our second flight which was sold out of course. When we get on a lady is sitting in our seat. I went to the back of the plane had to dig out my boarding pass to prove it was my seat and then the lady wants me to take her MIDDLE seat so she can stay with her friends. Yeah No Chance Lady! So now the two ladies in our row have an attitude with me because I kicked their friend out of MY seat. Ryder decides to immdiately be fussy because of all the waiting we had to do for our seat with me holding him. He pretty much started screaming at the top of his lungs immediately (I can only imagine what the people on the plane were thinking knowing how long our flight was!) All I kept thinking was please get up in the air so I can give him his blanket, paci, and DVD player. Of course the pilot come over the speakers telling us we had a 5-10 minute delay while they de-iced the wings of the plane. I know 5-10 minute is no big deal with the delays some people deal with while flying (i've experienced it), but when you have a screaming sixteen month old 5-10 minutes feels like an eternity! I was holding out on the blanket and paci because I felt like if he had it with his DVD player he'd zone in and calm down, but at this point I had no option since electronic devices weren't allowed at that time. I gave him his pacifier and he crashed! We both fell asleep for about an hour. I woke up to both my arms all tingly and realized they fell asleep. I didn't dare move and wake Ryder, but literally couldn't stay still. My arms hurt so bad! Ryder then tossed and turned on me for about another hour. He started getting fussy with not being able to get comfortable so I put his DVD player on. He danced like a crazy man to Yo Gabba Gabba for a while. We then did a little play dough time and before we knew it we were landing!!! I was so proud of myself for surviving the flight. I then had to figure out how to push the stroller, carry my purse, Ryder's toy bag, our suitcase, and a carseat. Somehow I did it and we made it to a line to get in our taxi Derrik had reserved for us. (We couldn't leave the car at the airport because Derrik flew out three weeks before and the price for parking would have been insane!) Of course we had the meanest lady in the taxi with us who made rude comments about "another baby" and how she "just listened to a baby scream for hours on a plane".... I hate rude people like this!!! Ryder was great on the twenty minute car ride home.. especially given the fact is was pushing 1 a.m. at this point (3 a.m. Eastern time which was what Ryder was on at the moment). I was super nervous being home without Derrik since our place was broken into. I'm a pretty big baby about being home by myself in the first place so this made it even worse.

I survived obviously and Derrik made it home to us on Friday afternoon after an awful drive across country with the car and pets. He left after he dropped us off at the airport on Wednesday afternoon. He hit a major snow storm and had to keep stopping. He told me he counted 26 cars in ditches from sliding off the road. I'm so happy he made it home to us safe and sound :)

Zero degrees on his drive!

Our nasty car when he got here

We've spent the last day getting groceries in the house, bags unpacked, toys put in their new places, catching up on sleep, cars washed, and just simply getting settled. Ryder did amazing once again adjusting to the time change! I have one more load of laundry in the dryer to put away and then we are completely settled :)

Ryder playing with his new golf clubs

Apparently he needs a lot more practice!!!

Thank you to everyone for your hospitality, your wonderful Christmas presents, sharing your time with us, and for always being there for us! We love our families SO much! We miss you all and hope you can come visit us very soon!!!

Go Eagles!

As of right now they are losing 27-7

We are sure Ryder's Papi is yelling at his Eagles and his Poppy is lovin' his Cowboys!

At least one grandpa is happy :)

Prayer Request: As I am sure most of you know at this point, Derrik's grandmother, NiNi, has been diagnosed with lung cancer. Her doctors are very hopeful that she can pull through this, but it's going to be a tough road to get to the other end. She had her first round of chemo on Monday and has been pretty sick the last few days. Of course this is expected, but still is awful to go through. Please say a prayer that this treatment plan she is on will cure her of her cancer and that her spirits stay high through these tough times.

We Love You NiNi... Get Well Soon!