Up, Up, & Away!

As you're reading this, Natalie and I are flying the friendly skies to Nashville, TN to visit my godparents.  I am so excited to spend some real, quality time with them.  Our visits are few and far between and I intend to remedy that situation immediately.  They are amazing, Godly people and I want Natalie to spend as much time with them as possible.  And their sweet daughter is newly pregnant so they need to get in some practice with the babies! 

Here they are at my wedding.  Don't you just want to squish them they're so cute!?!  Oh I cannot wait to get there!

Matt will be joining us on Thursday and then we'll be driving down to Gatlinburg for the remainder of the week for a family reunion with his side of the family.  I am less than thrilled about this trip...but the cabin looks amazing so I am trying to be optimistic.  Perhaps the view will make up for awkward silences and snide comments?  I'll let you know.  At least I have that great excuse now for when I don't want to do something..."I'm so sorry I can't go to dinner with you guys!  But it's Natalie's bedtime.  Maybe next time?"  Nursing saves me again!

Hope y'all have a fabulous week!

Back Home Again...In Indiana

A few weekends ago, Natalie and I made our very first trip home to Indianapolis to visit family.  Since Matt happened to be in Hong Kong for work, it was up to me to take command of the first long road trip with an infant.

And can I just brag on my little girl for a second and say that it went so well?  I mean, I woke her up at the butt crack of dawn, she was fussy for maybe 2 minutes in the car, and then she slept for 3 hours straight without making a sound.  She then got a little fussy...but as you might expect, the drive from Northeast Ohio to Central Indiana has some stretches of road where there is no civilization in sight.  Weird.  I know.  So we went about 10 more minutes and when I was about to pull over, Natalie fell back asleep.  Score!

I had about 40 minutes left in the drive before I had to stop to feed/change her.  Perfect.  She was not at all pleased when I put her back into the car seat for the remainder of the trip, but 20 minutes of screaming on a 5 hour trip I can handle.

We stayed at my parents' house that evening.  Natalie did beautifully in the pack 'n play and only woke up once during the night because she is freaking houdini and escaped from the baby straight jacket (aka:  sleep sack).  It was actually welcomed, though, as I had picked up Matt from the airport that evening so she got to see him sooner than expected.

Natalie with my brother!

The next day, we traveled to Bloomington for a wedding.  But beforehand, we were able to catch a quick bite with Miss Shaina and her husband.  The visit went so quickly and by the time I knew it we had to go.  We had the best time and I cannot wait to make it down to visit her again.  Plus, Natalie keeps asking me when she gets to see that pretty lady again....

The wedding was so beautiful!  It was outside at the bride's parents' house which was so gorgeous.  Unfortunately it rained that day...but the bridal party was so easy going about the whole event.  Check out my sweet friend Mallorey and her rain boots she sported for the ceremony.  So her.  Just perfect.

The next day I hosted a small get together for my friends and family to come over and meet Natalie.  It went so well and for the most part....Natalie was a peach.  I'm so proud of her.  She had a very full weekend and was really well behaved.  But you could tell on Monday she was happy to be home and in her own crib. 

The whole trip did leave me feeling very confident in our ability to travel together...and I cannot wait to make it back home again!

Recap...continued!

We spent Monday wandering around the city of Austin.  It is such a neat place!  I wasn't feeling super great so we didn't get to do as much as I would've liked, but I think we'll definitely be back.  Lots to explore!

The baby LOVES pizza!  All I was eating was dry cereal before this.  Weird?  I think genius.

Before we left, we scooted over to the University of Texas to take a peak.  Amazing!

On our way out of town, we stopped at a Southern Living recommended BBQ joint called Saltlick.  It was a super cool ambiance, but honestly, we were less than impressed. 

After lunch, we headed south again in route of Houston! 

Tuesday we spent the morning lounging around the hotel.  The weather was a little icky so our plans changed a bit.  We decided to head down to the Space Center.  Although there was a lot of stuff designed just for the kid in mind, we thought it was totally worth the drive and the money for the tour. 

We even got to see Mission Control!  How cool is that??

Here I am with Neil, a fellow Purdue grad.  We're tight.

Before leaving town on Wednesday, we checked out the Water Wall.  What a neat sight!  I bet it would be a perfect place for a picnic on a nice day.

I wasn't scared...I was just getting soaked!

We drove back to Dallas and had a few hours to kill before our flight.  We drove downtown a little bit and we also headed out to Arlington to check out the new football stadium.

Overall, we had a fantastic trip.  Texas is truly a state all it's own and I can't wait to go back!

Everything's Bigger in Texas

Finally, finally I am going to recap my Texas trip!!  Yeah!!

Matt and I flew down to Dallas on a Friday evening after work earlier this month.  The flight was nothing short of interesting as I tried a new drug said to "knock me out."  Unfortunately I could not get comfortable on the plane.  I would describe it as someone giving you a sleeping pill and then not letting you sleep.  I was miserable.  And drugged up.  So Friday = Fail.

Saturday though = BEST DAY EVER.  Want to know why?  Because I got to meet Shabby Princess!!  She's been a bloggy bestie of mine for some time now and I simply could not wait to see her face. 

No surprise, she was the cutest thing I have ever seen.  And hilarious.  Exactly like I thought she would be.  We had a lovely meal and then ended our visit with my first trip to Sprinkles!

 

I seriously cannot get over her cuteness.  Sad face that she does not live closer :(

The remainder of our evening was spent at a wedding for Matt's cousin.  She got married outside.  In Dallas.  In June.  It was 104.

But it was beautiful.  And Lauren was the most gorgeous bride.  Just gorgeous.

The rest of the wedding was indoors, thank goodness!  We had such a lovely time visiting with family we hardly ever get to see. 

Sunday morning we headed south!  First stop...Dublin, TX.  What's in Dublin you ask?  Well, the Dr. Pepper factory of course.  To say Matt loves Dr. Pepper is the understatement of the century.  It's definitely his go to drink....and in Dublin they make it with pure cane sugar...no high fructose corn syrup here.  Apparently it's great.  Honestly, I'm not a huge fan.  Don't tell Matt, okay?

We got to take a tour of the bottling factory and hear all about the history of Dr. Pepper.  Hubs was in his element for sure!

After our quick detour, we headed down to Austin!  We saw a live show that night at The Continental Club which was really neat.  I have no idea who we saw, but Matt was into it so I was happy.  Plus they sold Doritos at the bar so this pregnant woman was pleased at punch!

We finished our night with a yummy dinner on the patio at Moonshine.  Delicious! 

Next up, Baby R. throws up in every major city in Texas.  

Just kidding.  

Well, I'm not kidding, but I'll save you those details.

For real next up....more Austin and Houston!

Texas Trip!

Morning friends!!

We got a wedding invitation in the mail last week from one of Matt's cousins. You know what that means??

Vacation!!

In June we'll be heading to Texas...my first trip to the Lonestar state! We'll be around the Dallas area...but plan on making our way to Houston and possibly the beach while we are there.

So my question for you dear readers. What's a girl to do in Texas? Where should we eat? Any can't miss attractions that we just have to see?? Besides The Shabby Princess, obviously, which will clearly be the highlight of my trip!

Matt's mama grew up in Texas so he's been there plenty of times and knows his way around. And he is incredibly stoked about Whataburger?? Who knows. But it better be good the way he's talking it up.

source

Other than that, I'm stumped. So help me out! Been there?

Superdog!

Last weekend, Matt and I headed off to Chicago to visit my sister and her husband! We had just a fabulous time and I cannot wait to go back!

We arrived late Friday evening and didn't really do much but head to bed. That bus ride sure does take it out of you! As an aside, can I just talk a second about the passengers of the Megabus? We had a young man, maybe early college age, sitting across the aisle from us. Here is just a taste of what we got to enjoy during our 6 hour trip:

• our very own rendition of Fireflies
• witnessing the conducting of an orchestra (we heard later he was taking out the soprano part in his head and changing it around...apparently he's in the choir)
  
• overhearing all about calculus and physics homework (who does homework on a Friday night?? Sad boys who will never, ever have a girlfriend. That's who.)
• hearing every street we passed relayed over the phone to his friend when we got near the city

By the end of the trip, I was completely delirious and found all of this hilarious. And we heard Fireflies 4 times over the weekend which made it even better.

Saturday we got to spend some quality time with this little man!



He had his very own Milkbone that he carried around with him all the time. He wouldn't even let go of it when he was chasing the tennis ball! So cute!


But my favorite thing about Mook was when his ear did this:


Family portrait!



This is as close as Matt got to Mook. Although his allergies weren't acting up, he didn't want to risk it. The joke all weekend was that Mook loved Matt the most and they were the very best of friends! You can tell by Matt's face that he didn't agree.


We spent the day playing board games, eating yummy deep dish pizza, and watching the Colts win! We also went to dinner and got to enjoy this deliciousness for dessert!




Sunday was pretty much more of the same...board games, leftover pizza for lunch, more football, just a wonderful relaxing weekend with family. Couldn't have been better.

We left Monday morning to go back home and spent the evening recouping from the trip. Isn't it funny how sitting on your butt for hours can make you tired? Weird. But we're back...and back to work...and ready to plan our next visit :)

I shall leave you with a few more pictures of Mook. I know. I am clearly puppy obsessed and I MUST HAVE ONE NOW!