William at 3 months

William turned 3 months old last this past Tuesday.  Here are some stats about him:

1. He loves to sit up.

2. He has started talking to us.  Just noises, of course, but he sure likes to express himself.  Mostly he is happy, but sometimes he grumbles.  (Just ask Vickie.  He was complaining up a storm when we went trick-or-treating at Phil's office.  Apparently it clashed with his feeding schedule.)

3. He spits up all the time.

4. He likes to nurse, he likes his binky, and he doesn't like bottles (but he's going to have to learn to like them when I go back to work on Monday).

5. Sometimes he sleeps really well at night.  Sometimes he sleeps in his crib all night.  (Usually this depends on whether I nurse him in the rocking chair, or take him back to bed with me).

6. He loves his sister.  Especially her hair.

7. He likes to grab: sister's hair, clothes, and his binky.  Or someone's hand holding his binky.

8. He recently learned to suck his thumb.  This usually also involves lots of chewing on him hands, looking for his thumb.  Or, he sticks his thumb into his cheek a bunch.

9. He weighs over 20 pounds (probably, since our scale isn't necessarily super accurate).

10. He fits in 12 month tops, 9 month pants, and 12-24 month socks.

2 months

William is now 2 months old.  Has the time flown by for everyone else?  It feels like its only been a couple weeks since he came home from the hospital. Perhaps because I don't do well when sleep deprived. 

But, that's changing, since William now sleeps through the night.  Well, if he ever decides to go to sleep.  Last night, I fell asleep with him wide awake next to me, happy even though it was dark.  As long as he has his binky, he's usually pretty happy.  Once it's dark, and he falls asleep, he'll stay asleep until morning.  Or, if he does wake up, he goes back to sleep as soon as his tummy is full.  Which means I get lots of sleep, and I'm starting to function again.

Plus, I've started reading my scriptures (more) regularly, which helps me not get so irrationally angry.  I'm almost through the New Testament.  I'm pretty sure I started the New Testament about when I got married; at least, I know I'd started the Bible.  I started it before Dan and I started dating.  So, over 6 years ago.  And, I'm getting close to the end, so maybe by the end of the year, I'll be finished.

Emily is talking all the time.  It still surprises me when she comes up with things on her own; when did she stop being my little toddler?  She has a pretend bunny that shows up all the time.  Sometimes I am asked to carry it.  Last week at her tumbling class, I offered to hold it since Emily was going through the exercises with her hands looking like she was pretending to hold something.  Another thing we've heard from Emily is "The Wizard did it."  Apparently, the Wizard is a little girl.  She does bad things.  We've asked Emily to talk to the Wizard about her behavior.

Emily is posing.

Yates Cider Mill

A few miles north of my parents house there is a cider mill, called Yates Cider Mill, which we would visit every fall.  The cider mill was built near the Clinton River, and used a stream to power the mill.  The mill wheel is still there, and when I was a girl I would watch it creak as it slowly rotated, spilling water as it turned, while we waited in line.  Inside the mill it was always packed, and we would watch the workers as they filled giant wooden forms with crushed apples.  The press would be lowered, and the golden cider would start flowing to be bottled up and purchased by folks like us.  With warm donuts, nothing was better than cider from Yates Cider Mill.  Without the warm donuts, it was still the best.

When I went out to college, I eagerly purchased cider when it appeared in the grocery stores, and was bitterly disappointed when the Utah cider fell so far short of what I remembered.  Cider varies in taste depending on the apples used, and the apples in Utah were nothing compared to the apples from Michigan.

I've carried the tradition of Yates Cider Mill to my new family; Dan is a firm believer in Yates as well, which is good, because I don't have to convince him to buy me cider.  And we've started a new tradition, of taking pictures in the old wagon they have parked in the grass, near the goats.

Yes goats.  You can buy them food, and feed them if you wish.  And there are stands where you can buy hotdogs, or hot nuts.  They also sell apples, and pumpkins, and there is a fudge shop.  Complete with marble slab and you can watch them turning the fudge over and over until it thickens into the deliciousness that is real fudge.

 

And the last few years, there's been a pony ride. Emily got to ride the pony this year.  She loved it.  She insisted on riding a small one (there were horses and ponies).  Her Daddy walked beside her, but she did just fine holding on to the reigns.

Starting Preschool

The first Tuesday in September was a big day for kids all across Michigan; after a long, hot summer, school started again.  And here at the Boling house, we started school as well: preschool for Emily.  I've been thinking of teaching Emily at home for a while (since about when she turned 3) but have been putting it off until the start of the school year.  Since I've worked in a couple daycares, I know what happens in preschool: it's mostly play time, with a little lesson or art work thrown in.  So, we are doing lessons at home, and we've gone to the library's storytime with friends, so Emily can see other kids her age.

Emily loves school.  She loves the personal attention, and she usually enjoys the lessons.  Our first day we started by learning to write her name.   I used a free website to print off her name to trace; Emily wasn't very into tracing the letters, but we practiced them on the back (while she also drew pictures).  Then I wrote her name in maker on some construction paper, and she painted it.  She painted again, since she wanted to do another painting, but the second time she wanted to write her name.

 And since William is almost 2 months old, and we haven't shared many pictures yet, here are some recent ones:

Emily and William playing with her Phineas and Ferb dolls.  Emily does the voices.

Aunt Jeanie sent William a sweater that she knitted for him.

It has a lion on it to match the lion toy she knitted for him already.

Brave Girl

Emily is scared of the dark.  She doesn't like to go to our bathroom by herself, since when the lights are off, it is very dark (there are no windows in the bathroom, or in the hall outside it).  This usually leads to frustration on both our parts, since I insist she can go to the bathroom by herself (since she is capable of doing all bathroom-related tasks by herself, and I forget the lights are off), and she says she needs me. 

A few days ago, she was doing her usual potty dance, and I told her to go, and she, as usual, ran over to the bathroom, got as far as the dark hall, and came back.  I was in my bed, from which I can see all the way to the bathroom, nursing William.  She ran back and told me there were monsters.  In a moment of inspiration or desperation, I told her they were friendly monsters.  She marched back to the bathroom, loudly addressed the monsters, and turned on the lights.

Today the kitchen light was off, and I could hear her singing to herself from the living room:

I'm not scared
Brave girls are not scared

I peeked in while she was singing those lines over and over, and saw her pushing past our trash can to get to the light switch.  She looked up at me, still singing and then finished with:

Brave girls are not scared of anything

William Thomas Boling

Monday evening, at 5:41, we welcomed William Thomas Boling into the world.  Monday was the day after my due date, and my doctor, who worked that day at the hospital, had told me to come in for an induction if the baby hadn't come already.  I woke up early, fiddled around on the computer, and then woke Daniel up right before we were supposed to leave.  We got to the hospital a little after we had planned, but it was still before 8 AM.

The other times I've gone in to have a baby, they've made me wait in a triage room to see if I'm actually in labor.  This time we went straight to the delivery room, and I got changed, and they started dripping meds into me to start labor.  Later that morning, I'd hardly progressed at all, but I had progressed enough for the doctor to break my water.

Lunch came and went.  I hadn't eaten breakfast, since I'd originally been scheduled for a c-section, and I knew that I might end up having one anyway, since attempting natural birth after a c-section isn't always successful, and the baby was probably close to being too big to attempt (he was, actually, above the recommended limit, but we didn't know that yet).  Daniel went off to get lunch while I got an epidural, and he came back with a tray loaded with food.  He claimed I had told him to come right back.  I might have, especially since I like to know where Dan is when I'm stuck in my hospital bed, and he knows I get anxious if he's missing.  But during labor I was denied anything but ice cubes, although my nurse was willing to give me juice when I first got there, but the juice was sadly all out.  I watched Dan eat and mentally cataloged all the things I was going to have as soon as the baby arrived.

Around 2 my active labor finally started.  I'd been having contractions, but now they were finally getting something done.  Around 5, I was fully dilated, and Dan was asleep on the couch.  He'd been working lots of long days, and he'd gotten pretty run down.  After contemplating throwing my ice cubes at him, I asked the doctor to poke Daniel.

My doctor, as I've mentioned, was the doctor I've been seeing for months, and the nurse who was attending me for the delivery was his nurse from the office, who always took my weight and blood pressure every week.  It was awesome having the two of them there the whole time.  Plus, they are both fun people, and Dan got along great with them.  So, they woke up Dan, and told me to call them when I felt like I really needed to push.  Dan started making phone calls, telling people the baby should come in the next couple hours, and I started feeling like it was time.  The doctor and nurse came back in, and started prepping for the baby.

A few pushes later, and the baby was out.  I was frankly shocked how fast it was.  They wrapped a blanket under him and set him on my tummy.  That's a ten pound baby, the doctor told me.  William was big, and he was dark purple, but he moved a little, and then he started to cry.  Soon he was a nice healthy pink, and the doctor was asking Dan and then me if we wanted to cut the cord.  We both said no, cutting umbilical cords not being something either of us wants to do.

Soon they took William across the room to get clean, and the doctor asked for guesses on weight before they measured William.  I jokingly said 11 pounds.  We were all surprised to find he was 11 pounds, 4 ounces.  His head was 15.5 inches around, a whole inch and a half bigger than both his sisters, and he was 21.5 inches long.

A very big baby, but a very content to sleep and cuddle baby, too.  After a couple days in the hospital, they released us Wednesday afternoon.  We are so happy to have our little boy join our family.

Up North

Last week we attended a family reunion in the north-west corner of the lower peninsula of Michigan, at Boyne Mountain.  Boyne Mountain is a ski resort in the winter, and it has some fun things to do in the summer, as well.

Tuesday we went to Castle Farms, which is an old show farm, which has been converted into a "castle."

It was very pretty, and the kids all enjoyed exploring the gardens. 

There was a fun garden maze, with miniature trains running through it.  We spent lots of time there.  The kids even got to meet the "engineer."

We also saw many of the rooms.  The farm was originally a show farm for the head of Sears to show off all their cool farm equipment, and they had cattle and horse barns. 

I'm standing on the top of where they made the ice cream.

Daniel outside the farm manager's office

After some period disrepair, it has been restored, and the barns have been converted to reception halls, and I'm pretty sure a couple more have been added on.  Castle Farms now does tours and hosts weddings and receptions.

We had lots of fun, until Emily fell for the third time in less than an hour, banging her head pretty bad.  Then we all left.  Dan and I had to fill out an accident report.  We kept an eye on her on the way home, even stopping to make sure she would still wake up and walk around (she fell asleep right when she got into her carseat, possibly from the two hours or more of walking around we had done that day).  We got to take a ferry on the way home, which I had never done before.  Emily completely missed it, since she was zonked.

The next day we went to the beach in the early afternoon.  The water was about air temperature, which was just above 70 degrees. 

The kids got in the water, I got in the water, and Pappy got in the water.  Most people complained about how windy (and thus a little chilly) it was, and we eventually abandoned the beach for a heated pool. 

But the water was great at the beach.  Once you got out about 10 feet it was just soft sand underfoot, and the water didn't get deep; I wadded about 40 feet out with a couple girls, and it only got to my knees.

Thursday we went to a discovery center, which had, among other things, reproductions of ancient sites, and reptiles the kids could get to hold.  Emily loved the gecko.  It wasn't nearly as horrible as the snakes.

This monument has stones around it, that have dates, or months on them, and times. 

A reproduction of how people walked through swamps in ancient England.

The kids also loved playing on the playground at the resort, and I got some things at a couple local towns, including Petoskey, which is a beautiful town, right on Lake Michigan.  It had an awesome downtown, and a JCPenneys, and a Lowes. Oh, and a JoAnn Fabrics.  I think I could be happy there, except for how far it is from everyone else.  And Emily really enjoyed getting to spend so much time with all her cousins.  Between our trip up North and all the time we got to spend with cousins here at home, I think she is all caught up for a while.  Although, she did ask for her cousin Jill today.  She sure loves to spend time with her friends!

A Dragon!

Just over a week ago, on Friday, Dan and I got some groceries from the store. Along with the rest of the food we picked up, we git a small cantaloup. When Dan saw it, he protested, and went to switch it for a different (larger) one. They were all small. Still not completely happy, he put it in the cart.

You and Emily can share it for breakfast, I said.

I can it it for breakfast, he countered. There isn't enough for two.

The cantaloup was small, but it was still a pound or two of fruit.

You can each have a reasonable sized serving for breakfast, I insisted.

We got home, and per usual, Dan brings in most of the groceries while I put them away. I tucked the cantaloup into the fridge in the bottom shelf, above the full produce drawers, between the eggs and the bread.

The next day, I was in the kitchen, and Emily wanted food. She pulled open the door to the fridge, and saw the cantaloup.

I should probably insert a couple comments here. First, Emily loves cantaloup, but they are usually at least twice as big, and it had been a while since we had gotten one. Second, Dan had just watched a cut short film with Emily a couple days before. The short film was about the characters from "How to Train Your Dragon," in which the dragons all fly off to their hatching grounds and have eggs. Round eggs. Rough on the outside. Maybe a little like a cantaloup.

"A dinosaur egg!" Emily exclaimed, and lovingly grabbed the cantaloup. Another comment: she also loved to watch a show about a boy who sees dinosaurs. Sometimes they have eggs. 

Over the next couple days she varied whether it was a dinosaur egg or a dragon egg. I asked her what kind of dinosaur was inside (since she'd seen lots of different dinosaurs on TV). She told me it was a baby dinosaur.

I let her carry the egg around, because, really, what could happen to it? Plus, I don't really like cantaloup.

That afternoon we went on an expedition with Emily's cousins, her Aunt, Dan's parents, and his Grandma. We took two cars. The dragon egg came, too.

We ventured out to find ponies at the local state park, and ride them if possible. Failing at that, we went to the playground at different park. Emily had fallen asleep sometime in our quest, but still held her egg, nestled in her lap.

The egg also joined us when we went to church the next day. It got to wait in the car during services, but Emily carried it along when we stopped to visit Tabitha afterward. By this point it had acquired a nice metal "nest" (by which I mean a bowl which I had forgotten at the Memorial Day breakfast the week before). Emily (okay, with some encouragement) told Tabitha about her egg. Then she ran off with her cousin, ultimately to pick peonies from one of the nearby graves. Dan stopped them after they both got one, but Emily was headed back for another.

On the way home from church we asked Emily what kind of dragon was in her egg. (It was definitely a dragon by now.). Dan and Emily settled on a pink dragon, with spots. I glared at him about the spots part. Because I had started scheming, and I didn't have polka-dot pink fabric in my stash.

At home she toted her egg around some more, until Dan convinced her that it should go back in the fridge. I should interject another comment: Dan and I had both reminded her that the egg was, in fact, a cantaloup, and it was going to get eaten. Dan in particular was adamant about the eating part. He is very fond of cantaloup. It was one of the reasons I had started scheming on the way home, because he was insisting on eating the cantaloup, and she so obviously loved it.

At home I drafted a pattern, and got to work. I took time off to have Sunday dinner in the afternoon, but besides that I spent most of the day sewing.

Just before I finished my project, I got Emily to get her egg out again. It would hatch soon, I assured her. We found a spot where she and her cousin could wait. I hurried back inside to finish. Fifteen minutes later I woke Dan up from his late afternoon nap, wrapped up the project in a towel, and went back to where I had left Emily. It was raining, she was gone, and so was the egg. Further searching found them in GranB's truck while Pappy got ready for our trip the next day. The egg was tucked up on our stuff in the garage. We collected both the egg and the girls, and found a spot to watch it hatch.

This fuzzy picture is of Emily drying off her egg.

The egg was wet, so we rubbed it dry. First Emily tried, but the egg didn't hatch. Then I tried (and using some of my superior sneaky skills) and it hatched.

Emily was delighted, and shocked. It isn't often that pretend eggs give you real dragons.

Just so you know, she loves it.

For Me

Here is a rundown on what I bought for myself in New York City.

1. A couple maternity shirts.  Since my first two kids were born in the colder months, I am finding I don't have much to wear this summer (plus I purged my maternity clothes of anything I didn't like last time).  So, I've been hunting for more shirts, and I found a couple cute ones.

The green shirt is from Gap; it was on sale, and they had a discount on sale stuff that day, so I got it for less than $8. The collared shirt is from H&M.  I had no idea they even had maternity.  It was less than $20, and it is really light.

2. Fabric.  We had to go to a couple fabric stores while I was in New York.  The first store we went to, Purl Soho, was aimed at quilters and knitters, and I got some quilting fabric.  They also had Liberty of London fabric, that I looked at longingly, but couldn't justify spending most of my budget on (it's about $40 a yard).  They have a craft blog that has fun ideas, and it was really fun going somewhere that I've read about online.

[image location]

I got a half yard of fabric to use for the quilt I am making for the baby.  I also got some fat quarters I loved.

The second fabric store we went to was Mood, which is the store they always go to on Project Runway, a show Jeanie and I like to watch.  I didn't know before I looked up the store on-line, that it was a discount fabric store.  Which makes sense, since the show producers want to stretch their budget.  It was awesome.

[image source]

It is actually three floors; you come in on the main floor, in the middle (which you have to take an elevator to get to, which elevator is operated by a person, since it is an old elevator).  The main floor has most of the apparel fabric.  I noticed "silk" on a lot of the signs.  There were lots of pretty patterns, and I found their selection of tie silks, which was exciting, but I didn't get any.

Next we went upstairs, which is where they have their suiting fabric.  I ended up picking out some soft wool, in a purple herringbone.  I got just over a yard, enough to make me and Emily skirts.  Next we went down to the main floor, to the ribbon section.  I got some purple velvet ribbon to trim Emily's skirt (and some extra, because it wasn't very much a yard).  I also picked out some pretty pink ribbon, and I got some cotton tape, which I plan on using to make into tags for the back of the clothes I make, like I saw on this blog.

The bottom floor was upholstery fabric.  I looked longingly down the stairs, but didn't go down there, since I knew I would want to get something if I did, and I was spending a bunch (the wool fabric was pricey).  They also gave me a discount card.  Which is pretty awesome.

3. An umbrella.  I really like my umbrella.  I bought it off a guy on the street, and paid less than I would back home at Wal-mart.  Of course, it quickly became apparent that my umbrella was not great quality, but it kept me dry while it rained most of Monday, and Tuesday morning.  And it is very pretty.

4. Hair pins.  I found these at Forever 21, which does have a maternity section (which I learned about a month ago, from another blog), although we never made it to the store with the maternity section.  The one we did go to said it had one on its sign, but when we asked, we found out that they were getting a maternity section, but didn't have one yet.  But, I found these cute hair pins, and they only cost me a dollar a pair.

I wore the white ones to Jeanie's graduation on Sunday.  When I took them out of my hair, I slipped them onto the neckline of my dress, and forgot about them.  And then washed my dress.  So a little of the paint chipped off in the wash, but they started out looking like the other two pairs.  Jeanie got matching ones.  So we can be twins.

New York Trip

[image source]

I flew to New York City last Friday.  The flight to New York was rough for me, since I usually get sick on planes, and I didn't think I could take my air sickness medicine because I was pregnant.  Plus, the plane was just a little commuter plane, and I got pretty nauseous when we were landing.  By the time I made it to the baggage claim, where I was supposed to meet Jeanie, I was shaking.  She came and found me, and then we waited a little until I felt better.  But, I did get to see the Statue of Liberty as we flew over it, which was neat, especially since we never made it to see it once I was on the ground.

[image source]

We took the subway from the airport (which is all the way on the East side of the city) to Uptown, which is on the northern half of Manhattan, near Central Park.  Our cousin, Melissa, lives there with her husband, Anthony, and two little boys.  Melissa is actually finishing a post-doctorate at Harvard, so she and the boys are usually in Boston most of the week, but she was home last weekend.  It was really great to see my cousin again.  I haven't seen her since my brother got married, which is probably about 9 years.  Her two little boys are very cute.  The oldest has curly blonde hair, and liked to sit next to me and give me things.  He was just the age Emily was when we moved into our current home, and it was fun to see what he was like and remember Emily when she was so little.  Their second little boy is about 7 months old, and very skinny.  He liked to be held, and didn't seem to mind at all being held by people he didn't know (like me).

[In Central Park, with the Cleopatra Needle behind me.  The Cleopatra Needle features in some books I like to read, by Rick Riordan.]

Saturday Jeanie and I went to Central Park.  We saw the castle, and the boat pond where little kids sail their remote controlled sail boats.  We would walk until I got tired, and then take a break and just talk for a while.

[Jeanie and I sitting in a turret on the castle in Central Park.  The castle used to be a weather station, now they let you wander through it, for a small suggested donation.]

After Central Park, we went over to Union Square, which is on the southern half of Manhattan.  There was a dance parade going on, and we sat in a cafe and watched it when I got tired again.  We also walked through the farmers market, and I looked at the wool some of the farmers were selling.  And we went shopping, since Union Square is one of the shopping centers.  I'll fill you in on what I bought in another post.

[The subway station near Radio City Music Hall.  We loved the Art Deco look of the building and the subway pole.]

After Union Square we headed back up to Uptown, and stopped by a burger place that my cousin and her husband had recommended.  They just happened to be having dinner there, too, so we walked back to the apartment with them.  Their two year old wanted to walk with me, and his dad very sternly informed me that I needed to keep a tight grip on his hand.  Anthony was very diligent about watching out for his boys.  The oldest would sometimes follow him around the apartment, wanting to be with his dad.  Very sweet.

Sunday was Jeanie's graduation, which was taking place at Radio City Music Hall.  Jeanie was supposed to get there at nine, so I went over with her, and stood outside until they let in the guests at ten.  I got a few comments from people who didn't think a pregnant lady should have to stand for so long.  Apparently they let in old people about half an hour before the rest of the guests, but they never told me where I was supposed to go to get special accommodations, just that they did offer them.  Jeanie made a point of asking for me when she left me with the rest of the people waiting to get in.  So, I stood for almost an hour, but I sat for a long time inside, so I didn't feel too bad.

Jeanie graduated with her LLM, or Masters in Law.  And she graduated Cum Lade.  I was very surprised to hear them announce it, and later Jeanie told me they hadn't told the LLM students that they would graduate with honors.  Most LLM students are international, so they announced the country they got their first degree from when they called their names.  Jeanie wasn't the only one from the United States, but there weren't many who were.

Jeanie's good friend, Sonny, came to the graduation as well, and we sat together.  After the graduation, the three of us went over to Jeanie's school, where they had a reception.  After the reception, Sonny took off (he was tired, poor thing, he usually sleeps in until the afternoon on Sunday).  Jeanie and I walked over to the Lincoln center, and I took pictures.  Then we went back to my cousin's apartment.  We had a nice dinner with my cousin, and then watched her kids while she and her husband went to hear one of her former professors talk somewhere.  They put their baby to bed before they left, so we got the older boy to bed, and then didn't have to do much until they got back.  I called Emily and Dan on the ipad; Emily gave the phone lots of kisses and hugs.  She does that to people on the regular phone, but since we were video chatting, I could see what she was doing.

[Jeanie at the Lincoln Center, which is very close to her school, Fordham.  This is where they do Fashion Week in New York City, and where the final runway competition on Project Runway takes place.]

Monday Jeanie and I slept in late, and then left the apartment after noon.  We went out to eat in little Italy, to celebrate Jeanie graduating.  Then we went shopping again, in the garment district.  And we took pictures in front of the giant needle and button statue.   Monday evening we went out to Brooklyn so Jeanie could see an apartment; it ended up being a great apartment, and she will be moving there soon.  The girl she will be rooming with is getting a PhD in English literature, and she is 28.  They hit it off right away.  And one of Jeanie's friends from law school lives just a couple stops away on the subway, so Jeanie will be close to her as well.

[The Manhattan LDS Temple.  It looks really short compared to the other buildings, but it is actually pretty big.  It is also right across the street from the Lincoln Center.]

Tuesday I mailed a big box of baby and toddler clothes my cousin had given me, which was mostly stuff someone else had given her.  Jeanie took the subway with me until my last connection.  They had cancelled the subway train that we were supposed to take (multiple trains run on the same track; they split onto different tracks later).  So, we waited and waited, for about 40 minutes, until Jeanie saw a subway worker, and asked him what was going on.  He suggested we take a different train and try to transfer later, and then once we were on the train, they made an announcement about what to do to get to the airport.

[Standing by the needle and button statue in the Garment District.  Across the street is Parsons, a design school, where the competitions for Project Runway take place.]

Jeanie got me on the right train to go to the airport, and then I transferred to the airport shuttle by myself (it only went one way from that station, so it wasn't hard to do).  I got to my terminal, checked in, and got in line for security.  Then they announced that if we wanted, we could walk to a shorter security line, and a bunch of us followed them.  They had us walk most of the way around the building.  After I got through security in the new location, I had to walk all the way back through the terminal. Apparently the first security line was right next to my gate.  I got to my gate about 5 minutes before we were supposed to board.  But we didn't really board for probably about 20 minutes.  I decided to try to board early, since I was pregnant, and when I flew out to New York, I was all the way in the back, and I think I almost hit people in the head with my carry-on.  The aisle between the seats is not big, and I am.

[Jeanie in front of the needle and button statue.]

The gate attendant turned away a couple people in front of me, who I guess were trying to board before they were supposed to, but he didn't bat an eye when I gave him my boarding pass.  The flight back was great, I felt much less sick, maybe because it was a bigger flight.  I didn't have any problems landing, which was wonderful, and we actually got to Michigan about 35 minutes ahead of schedule.

Dan mixed up what time he was supposed to pick me up, so he called to tell me he was in the cell phone lot, right after I got off the plane.  He had brought Emily with him, and we all went out to dinner together on the way home.  I really enjoyed my time in New York City, and seeing my sister, but I also loved coming home.