I left here:
To go here:
So I could do this:
Ever since that sweet baby has been born I have been dying to cuddle her and sniff the top of her head. I basically lived on those pheromones the entire week and oh my gosh I am so totally in love with her! Ahhh it's so good to have an infant back in the family and I should have done a better job of cooking and cleaning and helping with the dogs more but I just wanted to snuggle this little one with all my might! Tim and Whitney are such natural parents and it's been quite the journey to get to where they are. It's not often that you can hold a miracle made up of thousands of prayers in your hands!
Whitney is an incredible hostess as well. My room had fresh roses and a sweet package of Madeleine's. Those roses just exploded with beauty and I enjoyed them all week long!
A new baby is an adjustment and that's just as true for the fur babies of the family.
Going through the drive-thru in the Mustang with the top down and two golden retrievers in the back was so fun. The dogs got way more attention than the car! We tried out the Chick-fil-a Tik Tok hack of a spicy chicken sandwich covered in Polynesian sauce, with macaroni & cheese and buffalo sauce dribbled on top. It's dense, but it is indeed delicious!
Oh we had some fun with that car!
Whitney introduced me to vanilla scones from Trader Joe's that ended up becoming a bit of an addiction. We talked and talked, shopped at ate at Chopt (several times). I need to buy stock in that place because especially when traveling, I crave a crispy salad with tasty dressing and Chopt fit the bill. This sign in the bathroom made me smile:
When the streaming release of the Barbie movie was pushed back a week, encouraged Whitney to see it in the theater. She'd been concerned a baby would disturb other people in the theater but found one with completely open seating. When we arrived, there was one other mother there with her 8-month old and she was visibly relieved we had a baby in tow as well. I've seen this movie several times now but this scene where America Ferrera talks about how impossible it is to be a woman hit home as I watched those two mothers working so hard to soothe their little ones.
I happened to be holding that sweet, sleeping baby when this iconic line was delivered:
With that miracle in my arms, and thinking of the journey of motherhood ahead for my sister, I cried and cried at the truth of that statement. I'm so glad I got to experience that with Whitney!
Whitney analyzed my coloring and turns out I have a lot more warm tones than I thought I did.
I have a whole host of shades I'm going to be looking for when I'm out shopping. For now, I'm going to try out these eye shadows:
Whitney and Tim are also amazing to my kids and were there to offer love and support as I caught up with them on phone calls and video chat. The girls listen to them in a different way than they listen to me and I'm so grateful to have them in my village... because it takes a village! Speaking of villages, Birmingham is such a cool place! I loved the walks and drives we took and how kind everyone is. My first full day someone smoked me out as being from "up north" and guessed Wisconsin. She said it was something in the way I say my "ig"s.
After a lovely visit, duty and home called. Check out this lush wall at the Birmingham airport:
The flight home was dreamy- flying through some of the fluffiest clouds I've ever seen!
It's always good to come home, but it's especially good to come home to Chicago. I love O'Hare and aside from the hall of flags, there's a piano right where the terminals split and I was treated to lovely music as I headed toward baggage claim.
Also spied this lady and now I have new life goals. I hope when I'm old, this is how I travel because she is clearly completely comfortable in her skin and living her best life!
My time in Alabama was such a great visit- made even better by the fact I was going to be seeing everyone again in a couple of weeks for the baby blessing!
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