we are home! in MN! woot! we left charlotte on monday morning and made it to MN on tuesday evening. we made an overnight stop in indianapolis again, to stay with our relatives. the drive was pretty decent. only had one big slowdown and other than that, it went well. i was again reminded of how not baby-friendly traveling can be. L was an absolute trooper and slept/played most of the time. only had a couple crying fits, but nothing unbearable - seriously, she was in the car for 12 hours on two days and only cried like an hour total. that's good, in my opinion! the reason i feel traveling is not always baby-friendly, is that i can never seem to find baby changing stations in any of the restrooms at the gas stations we choose. we must choose the stupid ones or something. so i always end up changing her in the car before i feed her in the car. oh well.

it's really good to be home. to sleep in my own bed. and to put L to sleep in her crib! i do miss my aunt and uncle, and the slightly warmer weather, but i did miss MN and am very glad to be back. we've been adjusting to the time again. poor L has had a hard time of it and always wants to go to sleep at 600pm! we try to stretch her out to 700pm! mostly so that she sleeps until 700am and i can get an extra hour of sleep!! i've also spent a good portion of the week unpacking and re-organizing all of our stuff. we have a bunch of stuff that we need to store - a couple packed bags of max's civilian clothes and un-needed gear. the basement is still a mess with all of our stuff strewn about. but i have good motivation to get it done....i got a new kitchenaid stand mixer for christmas (thanks kyle!!) and i told myself that i can't use it until i got things more organized and put away!!!

max made it to afghanistan this week. i was able to talk to him a few times on the phone while he was on his way. and i have gotten a few messages from him, letting me know he is there and getting acclimated. he seems to be doing well, figuring things out over there and getting used to the country, the climate and the schedule.

L had her 4-month check at the dr this week. she is at 13.0 lbs (in the 30% percentile for her age) and is 25 1/2 inches long (in the 85% percentile for her age). she is doing really well. developing and growing right where she should be. she was great at her appointment, happy as can be. and then they gave her the shots. the dreaded shots :) and she screamed, of course! oh babies and getting shots. you always feel so bad when they scream so much and yet you know that shots are good for them and aren't the end of the world!

there are a few pics from when we were leaving north carolina. and then there a few from yesterday. enjoy!

with her great-great-aunt kathy and great-great-uncle david!