I will always remember our little yellow cottage in Texas fondly. It was a pretty great place to live for a couple of weeks, and we enjoyed our time there as much as possible.

Jamie’s birthday came and went–we celebrated with take-out Italian and a cake I made, and witnessed an absolutely incredible lightning storm that made the night feel like the 4th of July. We were having fun with Miles, taking him on walks and getting to know our sweet little baby. But the minute we heard that we were approved to go home, we jumped in the car and left as fast as we could. Truth be told, we were already packed up and at the gas station, with the car pointed towards home, when we got the call. (We were expecting it.)

We were ecstatic to (finally!!) be leaving, but we were also slightly terrified of the 19-hour road trip that lie ahead. Jamie and I and the dogs have traveled across the country together and the four of us are used to long road trips. But adding an infant to the mix would surely shake things up. Not to mention we were starting the trip exhausted from newborn-baby quality sleep. Miles had to eat every two hours. And each feeding took about a half an hour. And then there were the painful gas episodes he had at night that left him crying and/or screaming. What would that be like in the car?

We hoped for the best, said goodbye to our sweet little home away from home, and got in the car. Miles went right to sleep. And he continued to sleep almost all the way to Tennessee.

We fed him whenever we stopped for gas and then he went right back to sleep until the next stop. He only had one meltdown and that was 9 or 10 hours in when we were about 15 minutes away from my aunt’s house near Nashville–and he was easily calmed as soon as he got his bottle. We were surprised at how easy it was.

We had originally planned to spend the night in Tennessee but we ended up just staying for dinner and a visit. We figured that Miles was probably not going to sleep at their house after sleeping all day and that we would be up with him all night. The thought of having to drive 8 hours in the morning when we were exhausted from that was not appealing. So we decided to push on. But not before Miles got to spend some quality time with his great aunt Tracy and Uncle Roy and his cousin, Alice.

It was so great to see them and we had such a nice time. It was a much-needed respite from the road. I was, and continue to be, overwhelmed by how incredibly welcoming and loving our family has been with Miles. He is so loved by every one, and we have gotten so much support.

So, after Miles was showered with presents–my Aunt Tracy made him the most beautiful blanket to match his nursery–and we got fed and refreshed, we got back in the car to finish the drive. Miles went to sleep when we got in the car and slept the remaining hours (still being fed every time we stopped) until we got home at about 8 a.m.

I’m pretty sure I cried a little when we finally pulled into the driveway. Words can’t express how good it felt to be home. We had almost forgotten what our house looked like and what it felt like to be amongst our things and to sleep in our own bed, on our own pillows. It was absolute heaven to just sit down on our couch. And with our brand new baby boy. Life doesn’t get much better than that.

Jamie and I have been on plenty of road trips, but never one as rewarding as this. Now that we were home, we could take a deep breath, look back and marvel at what had just transpired over the last month–and thank our lucky stars for the privilege and honor of getting to share our lives with Miles.