And a (very belated) Happy New Year!

Ah, home.

My bed. My pillow. My son's bed and pillow. My food. My drinks. My oven. My books. My computer.

Ah, my computer.

The little guy seemed to feel the same way. As soon as we got back home, he walked around collecting all his toys and stuffed animals and blankets and sat down in his chair covered in them. It was so funny to see from a boy who doesn't usually seem particularly attached to any toys!

Things are finally starting to settle back down into a nice routine after our three week vacation. We arrived back home last Thursday at 2:00 in the morning, thanks to some flight delays (making it a 15 hour trip from the time we left my in-laws to the time we walked in our door). The little guy did amazingly well for a 20 month old confined to a carseat or lap most of the day. I wouldn't describe it as "fun" by any means, but it was about as well, if not better, than could be expected.

The holidays were definitely fun, though. We spent a week and a half with my parents in Manitoba followed by a week and a half with my in-laws in British Columbia.

Fun, yes, but also very sickly.

My husband Isaac had a cold for the first couple days.

Then my youngest sister got the flu, which she promptly passed on to my second youngest sister.

My son Jacob got it next, resulting in a Christmas Eve spent alternating between sleeping and throwing up all over his dad. (I admit it, I wasn't complaining when, after spending an hour napping on me, Jacob woke up, squirmed a couple times, asked for his dad and promptly threw up all over him.)

On Christmas morning, my sister-in-law's cat had to be put down.

My grandpa died a couple days after Christmas, the same day my grandma left our house to head back home to him. She says it's a guilt she'll have to learn to live with for the rest of her life (my grandpa was in a nursing home - my grandma has taken care of him every day for years, and finally she takes a trip away and he dies before she gets back - which is not her fault at all but no one has yet been able to convince her of that).

The day we left Manitoba to head to BC, I got my husband's cold, which ended up being the worst cold I have ever had. The plane ride was miserable thanks to my clogged ears, which didn't unclog until the next day, and I spent the next few days blowing my nose every five minutes.

After I got my husband's cold, I got my son's flu and spent the day throwing up.

Then my sister-in-law got the flu.

Then my other sister-in-law got the flu.

Then my mother-in-law got the flu.

Then - surprise! - my father-in-law got the flu.

My sister-in-law also got the cold I brought with me, spending a few days attached to the Kleenex box herself.

And just to end the trip off with one more thing, Jacob hurt his ankle and spent the next two days limping around. (He actually thought this was hilarious though - even immediately after it happened, he tried to walk, fell, laughed, tried to walk, fell, laughed, tried to walk, fell...and then cried. And then it got funny again later when it didn't hurt so bad - especially when he tried to run and ended up with this funny limping run that usually resulted in more falling.)

Oh, and Isaac also gave his cold to his aunt as well, who we stayed with overnight on the way to and from Manitoba.

I think that about covers our sickly holidays. It was crazy, day after day of someone being sick (or worse) - but it did force us to spend a lot of time lazing around the house instead of doing all of the activies we had planned to do. Which was nice, I think. And despite all of the illness, I'd still definitely say that our holidays were fun.

The two visits were so different. There was my family, which this year included my parents, my grandma, and my four younger sisters (7, 10, 12 and 23). Jacob got a bus that (very loudly) sings The Wheels on the Bus, a truck that (very loudly) makes various truck sounds, and many other things. Jacob attached himself to my youngest sister (who is only 7 years old), following her around everywhere. My poor sisters are jealous of both my son and my husband, as they both take some of my attention away from them, but I did try to spend as much time focusing on them as I could. It's hard to live so far away from them when they're so young.

Then there was my husband's family, which included his parents and two younger sisters (19 and 23). Jacob got a lovely handmade quilt/activity mat, some wooden toys, and many other things. Jacob was fascinated by my youngest SIL's bedroom, which was unfortunate because he wasn't actually allowed to go in there - so every once in a while he'd run off in that direction giggling madly because maybe this would be the time he could get in there unnoticed! He really needs to work on the quiet aspect of sneaking away to get into trouble, silly child. He mastered the stairs while at their house (we don't have stairs in our home so he hasn't had much practice), rolled his first bowling ball, learned how to peal an orange, and - his father's proudest moment so far - began to recognize and say "hockey". He's a true Canadian now!

Now we're back home, disappointed anew that we live so far away from both families. I do hope that will change someday - but for now, we all live where we live and will make the best of it, visiting whenever we can.

I hope the holidays were good for you all, and I wish you all the best in this new year.