We Did It!

Ben and I have made it to Houston! And we're EXHAUSTED. It's such a long trip and the jetlag is really hurting us both, but I'm finally awake enough to share some overdue pictures.

Packing for a 7-week trip was a lot harder than I expected, especially since we need clothes for almost every climate for 3 people. It was even harder with a certain someone "helping" me by unpacking everything before we even left!


Sunday was the big travel day and we woke up at 3am for our 6am flight. Poor little Ben had no idea what he was in for! He said goodbye to Daddy outside the airport in Singapore at 4am. To give you an idea of how long the day was - we saw 2 sunrises and 2 sunsets, all on the same calendar day.


By 5am he was voicing his displeasure to anyone who would listen.


A few hours later we were well on our way to Toyko and someone had perked up a bit.


After a couple more hours we had rearranged the carseat so we could both stretch out a bit and get a nap.


Altogether, the first flight was as painless as an 8-hour flight with a toddler can be. Ben was happy to go through all of his toys and was very well-behaved.


We had a 4-hour layover in Tokyo, which wasn't exactly fun, but Ben got to run out a lot of energy and make a playground out of empty chairs. I was happy to follow him anywhere but hauling around a stroller, two bags, and a heavy carseat made me look forward to the next flight so I could put everything down!


Ben discovered his belly button :)


The flight from Houston to Tokyo was not quite as easy. In fact, it was about 12 hours of sheer torture, but not because of Ben's doing. A few hours into the flight, actually about 30 seconds after they served dinner to me and the girl next to me, Ben threw up all over himself and his carseat. I cleaned him up as well as I could without ever getting up since the girl seated next to me (and blocking the aisle) proceeded to eat her dinner without so much as a glance our direction! Once he had fresh clothes on he was doing much better but we had to live with a stinky carseat for the rest of the trip. We both got a little sleep but 4 hours before we landed, the sun came up over the west coast and the light and activity kept Ben awake for hours. He finally crashed again just before we landed in Houston.


FINALLY in Houston!! Ben had reached his limit! He was such a trooper to make it through the long trip. Grammy and Grandpa Shepherd picked us up at the airport and thank goodness brought us jackets because the weather was much colder than Singapore.


Once we got home and settled, Ben found the most interesting playmate of all. He has followed Abby around since the minute he rediscovered her and she's been surprisingly tolerant of his attention.


He also loves my old rocking chair from when I was a kid.


We've gone to the park each day so Ben can enjoy the cool weather and the slide.



This is how we can tell that the jetlag hasn't let up yet (apart from the playtime with Mommy from 11pm to about 3am) because as soon as we start pushing Ben in the swing he nods off. I hate to see him so tired but we both have to adjust our sleeping habits.