Last week I wanted so badly to post about my excitement over my upcoming trip to Utah to visit my family. The only problem was, it would have ruined the big surprise for my Mom-who had no idea we would be showing up. If you know me, you know that it was very hard for me to keep this surprise under wraps. I just didn’t talk to my Mom the week before, for fear I would let the cat out of the bag. My wonderful Dad knew, he and I planned the whole thing carefully so my trip would fall on a weekend that the whole family would be around. I wish I had pictures of the look on my Mom’s face when my Dad waltzed into the kitchen with Reesey in his arms(I was hiding around the corner:). She did a double-take and realized it was her 2nd granddaughter, whom she hadn’t seen since birth. I believe she cried “How do you have Reese?!” and then I came around the corner and gave her a long hug. It was priceless!
Basically my trip was 5 days of just spending time with family and letting them get to know sweet Reesey. I was really scared about traveling alone with an infant. Especially since I still didn’t feel like I completely had a handle on how to calm Reese down when she gets really worked up. Plus, we were going to stay in a new place, with no swings or bouncy chairs(which are my fall backs for when I just can’t handle the situation anymore). So all in all-it was a little frightening.
My Pediatrician told me I could give Reese some Tylenol for the flight if I needed to, so she would sleep through it. However, I didn’t really like the idea of drugging up my infant just so I wouldn’t have to deal with her. It seemed a little extreme. So I brought it in case I absolutely needed it, but I didn’t end up using it at all. Reese was a dream. She slept for most of both flights and the layover in Las Vegas. I think next time I will try to get a direct flight though, or at least one where we don’t have to get off the plane. Hauling a 13 lb infant, a diaper bag, purse and sometimes a car seat on and off the plane multiple times is not fun. I think that is probably my biggest complaint about the whole trip, becoming a human pack-horse. Other than that, and trying to breastfeed on the plane(don’t get me started on that) it was totally a piece of cake! I had many people comment to me how good my baby was on the plane. Whew! Thank goodness I wasn’t one of those moms with a screaming infant the whole time, it’s one of my worst fears.
We spent the week at my parent’s house, where once again I was pleasantly surprised when Reese fell asleep so effortlessly and quietly in a pack-and-play for nearly every nap and bedtime too! Which is weird because since we’ve been back in Cali she seems to have regressed, and cries when put down for a nap in her crib. Figures. I think Utah agreed with Reese. It was like she was a completely different baby! I got in a lot of visiting time with my sisters and Mom, and Reese got held a good deal of the time. She started doing some new things while we were in Utah including;
clasping and playing with her hands in front,
hugging her giraffe luvie to sleep,
making a lot more cooing and happy noises, staring to roll to her side a little, standing up for a second or two when you hold her on your lap, and when on her tummy she holds her legs off the floor.
She got to meet for the first time both sets of great-grandparents, two uncles, two aunts, and one cousin.
When Reese was born the person I thought she looked most like was my Grandpa Walker, and this was the fist time they got to meet.
My brother Jace, sister Aubree, her daughter Rhianna, and my Dad and Mom.
Reese and my grandma Noni.
Isn’t my mom a hot grandma?
We also got to see my parent’s new house that is under construction. The next time we visit it may be finished and have my family already living in it. The piece of land they are building on is gorgeous! It’s completely surrounded by trees, and from the main floor of the house you can see over the treetops down to all of Utah Valley. No matter how much building goes on in that area, I don’t think they will ever feel crowded up there on the side of the mountain. The house itself has so many things I would love in a house of my own. I’m so glad that my Dad and Mom get this chance to build one last house so they can have everything they’ve always wanted in a home. It will be such a fun place for our kids to play at when we come to visit.
I even managed to get in a traditional Chili’s lunch with my best girlfriends, whom I love more and more as we get older.
I feel like Reese and I really bonded on this trip. Before this I totally loved having a baby, and being a mom. But now I am so in love with her little personality, her chubby cheeks, the funny faces she makes, and the way she falls asleep in my arms. I feel like I got to know my baby on a whole new level, and I’m not sure why it took going on a trip with her to see so may things I hadn’t seen before. Most of all I love that she has a little bit of me and a little bit of Mark in her, and she’s ours.
I also feel so powerful now, whereas before I felt so helpless sometimes. Reese has definitely been calling the shots for the past 2 1/2 months. I have just been catering to her whims. Now I feel like I’m more in control, and I know I can handle her. It’s strange how this trip made me feel like such a better mother.
