At the risk of speaking too soon, I'm going to say that I think we are finally getting back to "normal" around here after our "holiday" trip. Yes, it has taken almost two full weeks to get here, but we were gone for 16 days so it might even take a bit longer for us to recover.
Why so long? I have a few theories:
Theory number 1:
Sleep deprivation.
While on the road, Emma decided that she did not want to sleep in the pack-n-play we bought specifically for such. So, we ultimately just purchased a pack-n-pack. It's a good thing we brought the trailer with us.
What is a VERY tired couple to do after a long day of driving when every fiber within and without is aching for sleep? The answer: whatever it takes. For us, this meant letting Emma sleep in the bed with us. This is something WE don't like to do but that Emma LOVES. I inevitably wake dozens of times in the night just to make sure I'm not smushing her. She, on the other hand, usually sleeps like... well, a baby.
But...
Emma, who had been sleeping very well through the nights before we left, reverted to waking up 4 to 5 times each night while we were gone even though she was in the "big" bed. I put the quotes around "big" because, in our travels, we were almost always sleeping in full to queen sized beds in cold and drafty rooms. We have definitely become rotten from having such an awesome king-sized bed at home this past year. I say all of this so you will get the idea that we were getting even less sleep than our already sleep deprived selves were used to.

Theory number 2:
Germs.
Robby and I both had a pretty bad bout with Mr. Cold's bug around the end of October/ first of November time frame. It had us both on the ropes for weeks. Emma was just fine. Bless her. So, we were excited to have finally gotten back on the road to health and knew we were going to need every ounce of energy we could muster to make this drive. Well, imagine our excitement when we made it all the way to South Carolina, Birmingham, Fort Worth, San Antonio, Dublin (TX), Decatur (TX) and then back to Mineral Wells(TX) without a sniffle or cough! Yippee! The first half of the trip was a success. :D I guess my feeble mind was thinking that if we made it to Christmas that we would be in the clear.
Nope.
Despite all of our efforts to repeatedly wash our hands and feverishly clean with Clorox wipes, we still managed to pick up my little nephew's cold. And, like a multiplying white elephant gift, we managed to pass it along to Robby's mom on our way back through South Carolina. I apologize to anyone else along the way who may also have been the recipient of this lovely case. We tried to cut down our visits with folks after we realized we were sick but some people were unfortunately exposed.
Theory number three:
4,490 miles and NO RADIO. Yes, you read that right. No radio. Or CD. Or DVD.
Just....
the bouncy and delightful sounds of Emma's pull toys for TWO FULL WEEKS AND 4,490 MILES!

Take a close look at the stuffed toys behind Emma's head in this picture. When they are positioned in front of her she is able to pull on the little doohicky and it will play a song. There are only four different tunes and, after so many repetitions, each one will

HAUNT.

YOUR.

DREAMS.

......hmmmmmm. Perhaps I did speak a little too soon in saying things were getting back to normal. I think I will take those extra few days please.