Phew! What a week! Jameson and I (along with my sister Stephanie and her daughter Madelyn) just got home from a six day vacation in Georgia to see my dad’s whole immediate family and introduce the babies to everyone. We had such a great time (even though it also really wore us all out) and I’ll always be so thankful that we had the opportunity to do it. Such great memories, especially getting to introduce the babies to our Grandma and Grandpa — their great-grandparents!
My mother-in-law was actually the one who set the whole trip up for us. She had lots of extra frequent flyer miles from all her business trips so she was able to book us flights for practically nothing. And we got to fly first-class on the way to Georgia, our first time ever! I can’t even tell you what a blessing Daniela was for her generosity and help. We never could have made this trip happen without her.
I was so nervous to tackle a major vacation without Alex, especially because it was Jameson’s first time flying and first time being away from home for any extended amount of time. But honestly, like most things, it wasn’t as hard as I worried it would be. Both four-hour flights there and back went very smoothly (I’ll probably write up a separate post later with some tips and tricks I learned about flying with a baby) and Jameson adjusted pretty easily when we arrived. Praise God! Getting through the airport with two babies, two strollers, two car seats, two diaper bags, two duffel bags, two pack ‘n plays, and my camera was a bit of a crazy circus act (especially when we landed in Atlanta and there’s that whole nutty subway train system you have to take), but we managed on our own!
The first day of the trip was super mellow. My grandparents picked us up from the airport mid-afternoon, we drove through some nasty Atlanta traffic, and then just hung out at their house for the evening. My Aunt Nancy and Aunt Peggy came over to meet the babies, and so did my cousin Nicole.
Friday was a beautiful day. It was perfect weather so we headed to a gorgeous local park with my Aunt Nancy, our cousins Nicole, Vincent, and Ronnie, and our second cousin Dave. We had a yummy picnic lunch, went out for dinner at O’Charley’s where we met up with our other cousins Jamie (& her husband Stephen) and Carlie, and then later went to my Aunt Nancy’s beautiful new home for some birthday cake for Stephen.
We spent Saturday just hanging out with my grandparents at home during the day. Stephanie and I took the babies for a walk around their gorgeous neighborhood and fell in love with all the pretty houses. We don’t have homes like that in Arizona, that’s for sure. It was really funny too because at one point on the walk, I started noticing this weird sound that I wasn’t familiar with. It kept constantly happening and finally I looked around and was like, “Okay, what is that?!” only to realize it was the wind blowing through the trees! We just don’t have big areas of trees like that where we live hahaha. Whoops!
Saturday night we had plans to go out with our cousins Jamie and Nicole for coffee and dessert. We left the babies with Aunt Julie and our younger cousins and headed to a really nice restaurant for a few hours. It was nice to spend time alone with Jamie and Nicole, but I was a nervous wreck the entire time. It was the first time anyone has ever babysat Jameson besides Alex (and even then it’s only been for like an hour at the most and only two times haha) and he was already being super clingy to me the whole vacation because of all the new people and surroundings. I felt so off-balance without him and was constantly thinking about him and what he was doing. My Aunt Julie said he did great aside from one 25 minute crying session (ugh, my poor baby) but I don’t think I’ll be leaving him again for any extended amount of time for awhile. I guess I’m just not cut out for that type of thing. I’d much much much rather be with my baby.
Sunday was my grandma’s 76th birthday! We had a big party planned for the whole family, but right when everyone was arriving around 3pm my poor grandma got so sick with a nasty stomach bug. The rest of us still hung out and had dinner and chatted but Grandma spent her party in bed except for when we sang “Happy Birthday.” As she would say, poor Uncle Wiggly!
Monday was our last full day in Georgia. Steph and I took the babies to Marietta Square with Aunt Nancy, Aunt Peggy, and Cousin David. It was this cute little square park in downtown Marietta with little shops and restaurants all round the edges. We walked around the park, went to a sweet old fashioned candy shop, a super cool vintage store, and had a delicious lunch. Such a nice day out!
Unfortunately, our last night was rough. Stephanie caught the same stomach bug that my grandma had and got hardly any sleep at all. Several of my cousins got it too and even today my grandma just told me that two more family members have it. What a mess. My grandpa had to take Steph to Urgent Care the morning of our flight for anti-nausea meds and an IV drip for rehydration. Luckily she was well enough to make the flight that evening but what a stressful day! Thank God I bypassed that illness and the babies stayed healthy too. I don’t know how else we would have managed the Atlanta airport and another four hour flight.
Overall, we had a great time. There were rough patches for sure (naps and sleeping at night for the babies were a hassle, the time change threw us all out of whack, Jameson was teething and super clingy, and that yucky stomach bug of course). But I’m still so glad we could go. I’m so glad my son got to meet his amazing great-grandparents and a whole bunch of other awesome people who love him so so much. We’re very blessed to be a part of such a wonderful family. I know he won’t remember the trip, but I always will. ❤
Milk with a Meal 