trip to Jessie's

I left late Friday night to fly to North Carolina. I was stocked with ear plugs, an eye mask, snacks, and a very good book.

Well, I couldn't sleep on the long flight. So thank heavens for a good book!

This is why they call it the red-eye...


The upside of having a 3-hour layover in the wee hours is that the airport is largely empty and so there are more photo ops.

And you might even catch a beautiful sunrise! (Atlanta)

Of course, it was all worth it! This adorable little girl always has her hands up by her head.
She almost never cries, and even when she does, it's more like a warning system -- something akin to a smoke alarm with low batteries -- one little ping at a time to give you a chance to react. It's quite endearing. Plus, she's unimaginably tiny, also very endearing.

My parents were still here and we overlapped for one day. Mom made a wonderful dinner. I went out shopping with her for a little while. I slept with Mom and we stayed up late (really late) talking in bed. It was like a sleepover of the best kind, especially since I haven't seen my parents since last Thanksgiving!

Dad trying to orchestrate a photo shoot with Smeagel. Mostly fruitless. But he's so accommodating, so involved, and so generous that when he makes a rare request, no one has the heart to turn him down, even if it looks hopeless from the start.

Bella and I have been buddies. Today I took her to Monkey Joe's, an inflatable climbing, jumping and sliding heaven.

The other day we went to the grocery store together. She brought her "silly guy" and strapped him in next to her in the cart. With that and a cookie from the bakery, she was good for a long shopping trip. We've eaten breakfast together, read a lot of books, and had some puppet shows.

She's still a doting big sister.

Yesterday, we went out to do a couple of errands. Timm wanted us to fill up the van before the gas stations ran out of gas, which has been happening here since Hurricane Ike hit the Gulf Coast. (We also stopped by the pet store and Target.) It proved to be too much for Jessie, so she took more naps today. Good call.

But just for reference, look at how tiny this girl is!

Only two more days...