Phillip and Jennifer +1: Visit Home

I had planned to travel out to Boston when my older sister Erin had her baby. Her due date was in early December, but her OB told her to expect to be induced around Thanksgiving. So I planned to take Felix with me and stay for three weeks and I convinced Phil to come with us for a few days while he had a few days off of school. Erin was induced the day before we flew out on November 20th and Charlotte Mae Bradford was born that evening!

We arrived at 1am on the 22nd (Thanksgiving morning) and later that morning I went with my mom to pick Erin and Charlotte up from the hospital. Then we went over to a friend of the family's house for Thanksgiving dinner. I was so impressed that Erin and Charlotte came! Not too surprising though that Erin took a little nap (with Matthew) on the couch. So sweet.

I couldn't get enough of this baby girl. She looks exactly like her brother Mason and has very dark hair.

The day after Thanksgiving we were able to borrow a car from our friends (thanks Boyles!) and headed down to CT to visit Matt, Cara and the kids. It was so much fun to watch Felix interact with his cousins and he loved them and their awesome toys!

getting a hug from Aunt Cara!

On that Sunday after Thanksgiving we said goodbye to Phil and my mom and dad. Felix loved getting to spend so much time playing with his older cousins and their books and toys. It was so fun to see Mason and Matthew play with Felix. Mason especially loved Felix and was always looking out for him. Whenever he would come home from school or a friend's house his first question was always "where's Felix?" These three boys are growing up so fast.

playing upstairs before bed

It's always fun when I get to spend some quality niece/aunt time with Kira (who will be 16 this summer....CRAZY!) I can't get over how awesome she is. She's beautiful, fun, kind, generous, adventurous, and loyal. I never really think of myself as old(er), until I talk to Kira and realize how out of touch I am with popular culture and what "the kids" are into these days. But don't worry, she filled me in, so I'm at least able to hold intelligent conversations about One Direction.

(Kira decided the ribbon needed to be on my head)

We had a lot of fun in Belmont. It was nice to be able to be back "home"... the house I grew up in, the house Phil and I lived in when we lived (in the basement) in Belmont , and Felix's first home. There's lots of great memories there and I cherish those weeks spent with Erin and her kids. Here's a few more pictures from our trip...

(we tried to send pictures to Phil everyday so he wouldn't miss us too much while he was alone in MI)

watching the guys working in the yard

Felix discovered the mudroom with all the shoes pretty quickly. Tere were always stray shoes around the house.

playing in the backyard

he did this to the books everyday...sometimes with help from his cousins, but mostly he was the mastermind behind the madness

trip to the park while the cousins were at school

Felix mastering the wine/scowl/squint face

Before (including the scowl/wine/squint face)

After

These boys love their baby sister

Felix discovered his love of hats

playing on my air mattress

Nana came back!!

helping Nana with laundry

Then we had to go home. Leaving was very bittersweet. Bitter because we loved being with cousins and family, but sweet because we reunited with Daddy!