I hope you all enjoyed your Labor Day weekend! The holiday weekends always seem to fly by faster than regular weekends, don't they? This one was particularly fast for us because, thanks to his current training situation, Mike didn't get the holiday off work, but also because we had some family in town and we were busy having a great time visiting with them!
Our Saturday was spent doing chores around the house, sneaking in some husband+wife snuggle time while Addie was napping, and preparing for our guests. My dad flew out to see us along with his parents (Addie's great-grandparents!) who haven't been out here to visit us before. They arrived at the house right around dinner time, so once we had said our hellos and introduced my Nana and Papa to Addie, we all chowed down on some tasty Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo Stuffed Shells before heading up to bed.
Sunday was mostly spent passing Addie around and listening to her cooing and babbling up a storm! The weather was gorgeous, so we took everyone on a nice walk around the neighborhood and in the evening, my dad took over the kitchen and made us an amazing dinner. Unfortunately, Mike had to head back into work on Sunday night, but I got to spend the whole next day with my family! The weather was beautiful again on Monday, so I took everybody a few miles down the highway to the Lejeune Memorial Gardens and we got some great pictures of Addie with her great-grandparents!
I'm so glad that Addie will have these to look back on when she gets older! :)
The next weekend, I packed up Addie, all of her gear, and some snacks (yet somehow managed to forget to bring any extra clothes for myself...) and made the drive down to Atlanta to see our good friends James and Megan get married! If I'm being completely honest, I really didn't know whether I was actually going on this trip or not until the moment I backed out of the driveway on Friday afternoon. 8+ hours by myself in the car with a baby that HATES being in the car sounded like my own personal hell, but Addie really blew me away and did great on our trip. I timed the start of our drive with the start of her long afternoon nap, so even though she woke up when I put her in the car, she went back down in about 30 minutes and slept for the first 4 hours! She woke up after we passed through Columbia, SC (about the halfway point) so I stopped to change and feed her and we were back on our way. She took another short nap, but otherwise we passed the time by singing songs and she played with some of her favorite toys. The last 45 minutes of the drive were a little dicey... Addie was totally over being in the car and she didn't hesitate to let me know! Navigating Friday night traffic in Atlanta with a screaming baby is now #1 on my list of things to NEVER do again, but we made it through!
My amazing mom met me in Atlanta for the weekend and watched Addie while I went to the wedding Saturday night. The whole thing took place at a beautiful old mansion called The Estate, and I cried through the ceremony, stuffed my face with great food (sliders, tacos, and shrimp & grits!), sipped champagne, and danced the night away with wonderful friends :) Even though this mama can't hang like she used to (I was home before 11), it was so nice to have a whole night of grownup time to myself!
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| When your hair is curled AND you have heels on.. A mirror selfie is a must! ;) |
Megan and James, may your marriage be as beautiful and as full of fun and love as your wedding was!
The next morning, we met up with my friend Carol, her husband Josh, and their son Samuel for some breakfast and coffee so they could meet Addie. Carol has been one of my best friends since I moved out to Jacksonville three years ago. We were so sad when they moved to Charleston, SC last year, but now that I've tackled an 8 hour drive with Addie, 5 hours will be a piece of cake and I can't wait to go visit them! After breakfast, we said goodbye to our friends and to my mom and hit the road to head home to Jacksonville. Addie did just as well on the drive home as she did on the way out, and the trip seemed to go much more quickly the second time around! Once we were about 30 minutes away from the house though, Addie was OVER IT and I really don't blame her. Thankfully, daddy was waiting with open arms, a clean house, and Chipotle for dinner! I picked a winner ;)
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| We sure do love our grandmuddie!! :) |
For as nervous as I was about our big road trip, it really couldn't have gone any better and I came away with three new pieces of knowledge:
1. Slamming water at a wedding while everyone else is slamming shots makes for some very interesting (and amusing) people watching ;)
2. Singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star/The Wheels On the Bus over and over until your throat hurts and your voice cracks is as miserable as it sounds, but you WILL do it if it keeps your baby happy!
3. There really is NO place like home :)
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| Is she a little mini Mike or what?! |
Next up for the Beards... My baby turns four months old on Wednesday! WHAT?! I'm really looking forward to getting her on the scale at her check up on Thursday, this girl has really packed on the chunk lately! Other than that, we have no big plans whatsoever for the next couple of weeks and I'm looking forward to falling back into a regular routine with my little family :)
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