Return to Houston

It was a little hard to believe, but we hadn’t been to Houston since Riley was 5 weeks old. This is mostly because Nola has been in New Orleans since before Thanksgiving.

We’re not sure she’s ever moving back.

Just kidding, Nopsi!

(I think.)

We went back to Houston this past weekend. Our main reason was to get together with our friends Adam and Erin and meet their new baby, Henry, who was born in January.

We also got to hang with my parents, who both happened to be there. (Nola has since returned to New Orleans.) Nopsi hadn’t seen Riley for two months, so he was really glad this weekend get-together worked out.

The last time we drove to Houston Riley slept the whole way there. These days he doesn’t sleep great in the car; we’re lucky if we get 45 minutes out of him when we’re on the road. So before we left I loaded him up with toys and hoped for the best.

He stayed true to form and only napped for about 40 minutes, but he was content the whole time he was awake. Note the empty toothpaste box in his lap in the pictures above; that kept him entertained longer than I thought it would.

We arrived mid-afternoon on Friday, and it was just the five of us until Adam and Erin came over the next afternoon for a BBQ lunch. Nopsi was so glad to see Riley when he got home from work, even though it wasn’t for very long. (Gotta stick to the routine!) But they had plenty of quality time together, spending a good amount of the weekend out on the balcony. That son of mine truly loves being outside, and Nopsi was only too happy to oblige.

 

Adam and Erin showed up around noon on Saturday with Ashton and Henry. We had such a great afternoon with them. Both of their boys are too cute, and Erin couldn’t believe how big Riley had gotten. Ashton had fun running up and down the stairs, while I got lots of cuddles in with Henry. You really do forget how small they once were.

Riley was fussier than usual while we were in Houston since he was out of his element, but once he was finished eating his dinner and upstairs getting ready to have his bath, he did just fine. (Outside and water: he loves them both!) He splashed away in the tub and then squirmed and giggled as he was getting into his pj’s. One last bonding moment with Nopsi on Sunday and then we were back in the car again. Why do these visits always go by so fast???

Riley must have really tired himself out playing with Nopsi because he went against his norm and slept for TWO HOURS in the car on the way back. Kenny and I could not believe it. (And the timing worked out for us to stop for lunch at a place we’ve been wanting to try, where Riley sat in his own restaurant highchair for the first time. More on that later!)

Thank you so much, Nola and Nopsi, for letting us come visit and for hosting a fabulous lunch for all of us on Saturday. We had so much fun!