Boston and "Bumpily things"

This trip to Boston was Drew's first long car ride, obviously. As I mentioned before, it was 8 hours of driving. We had this bright idea to leave at 3am and get some driving under our belt while kids drifted off back to sleep. Drew, being only 3 + weeks old is nursing about every 2 1/2 to 3 hours during the day, but at night has been able to go 5 hours some nights. Stopping every 2 1/2 to 3 hours would make our trip much, much longer. So I was hoping we could head out and not have to stop for at least 4 hours if the gas made it. That part worked, but part of our plan failed. The part where all the kids drift back off to sleep. Drew, who always sleeps in his car seat and anywhere really, woke up every 45 minutes or so and cried for 10 minutes. That doesn't seem so bad, you might say. True that he didn't scream for long periods, but it was just enough and often enought to keep the rest of the car from getting much sleep.

Fortunately, there were no break downs from the big kids from being overly tired and we got some naps in that afternoon. Drew was pretty fussy most of the weekend. The baby who usually sleeps anywhere and can be laid down at home to hang out would barely let me put him down at all. Luckily, there were more than a couple people wanting to hold him.

The trip back was during the day. We were prepared to stop every few hours and prepared for some screaming. Turns out this guy slept like a log the entire 8 hour trip, and I had to talk Brian into stopping for his regular nursings even though the kid was zonked and not making a peep. If they don't get the milk during the day, they'll make up for it at night, you know. So the trip home was smooth as silk, with two out of the other three kids napping, except for the dash board warning lights lighting up like a Christmas tree about three hours from home. With some prayers we made it home and got the van fixed yesterday. The amazing part was that it was caused by a recall and was free to fix. What an answer to prayer!

You may be wondering at this point, What in the world is a "Bumpily thing?" Well, Isaac coined this phrase when he moved to a big bed. He called whatever we used to stop him from rolling out of bed, be it pillows or a rail, a "Bumpily thing" and I thought it was funny and so called it that too. Here is my big boy taking care of his brother at the house we rented.
He climbed up with Drew and lined the bed with pillows, AKA "Bumpily things," so his brother wouldn't roll off. I didn't tell him that this little one isn't rolling yet. No need to dampen to boy's spirits. He thought he was saving his brother. I LOVE those guys! Brian says the boys have me a bit wrapped around their fingers. I say, Let them! It won't last forever. They will grow up and turn my hair gray soon enough.