king-dred spirits: Travels

Yes, yes...I know it has been forever since I last posted on here. Yes I know you are all dying to read about our little family. Of course, I don't really know who all does read this, or if anyone does anymore because I am so lame at updating it. I promise to throw in lots of cute pictures just to make up for my absence =)

So Jared and I were wanting to take a trip out to New Mexico to see my grandparents. Aaron came too of course, couldn't leave the little man to fend for himself for a week without us. We scheduled the trip so that Auntie Heather could come as well, which was wonderful. The four of us packed into a rented Jeep Grand Cherokee (again, having a baby means you bring lots of extra stuff)), and headed out on I-8 towards Alamogordo. We decided to split the trip into two 6 hour days or driving rather than subjecting the little dude to a 13 hour day on the road. Oh, another thing about babies and road trips...you stop a lot. You stop for the normal things, like fuel and food. You also stop for baby meals every couple of hours. You stop for diaper blow-outs. You stop for sanity because the tiny travel companion just can't take it anymore even though Mommy has been reading to him, giving him toys, singing ridiculous songs about barnyard animals and body parts (Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes...really people). Luckily Aaron did much better than I was expecting, and had maybe one major break down per day around the end of the drive. There are also these wonderful teething tablets that were recommended to us by one of Jared's coworkers. They are all natural, have no side effects, and work wonderfully to help baby go to sleep. No, Aaron was not teething...don't judge us.

So we finally got to Alamogordo, and Aaron got to see his great-grandparents again. There were out here visiting the week after he was born, but I doubt Aaron can remember that far back. Mama and Papa loved on him soooo much. My Grandma even had purchased a few toys, and my Grandpa had assembled a walker for Aaron despite the shifty instructions. We spent 4.5 wonderful days with them, and we ate so much good food. There were waffles (twice!!), a pot roast, mashed potatoes by Papa, rolls, meatballs, this delicious chicken dish that I need the recipe for, a wonderful meal made by Heather (another recipe I need), and biscuits and gravy. The latter is wonderfully delicious, but not too kind to my insides, and thus not too kind to Aaron's either (stinky baby). We also got to see a lot of family, and Aaron did well with everyone. Some of our friends now live in Alamogordo as well. Sean is stationed at Holloman Air Force Base, and his lovely fiance Heidi just made the move out there as well. We were able to get together for dinner, and just catch up for a bit.

Some of the best parts of the trip were getting to see Aaron smile at my grandparents, and get to interact with them. He also now adores Heather. He always gives her a big tooth-less grin and a few laughs as well. As with any baby, the more they smile at you, the more you try to get them to do it over and over again. This may involve chasing after your nephew while your sister is holding him and making crazy arm gestures while you say "I'm gonna get you". This was not caught on camera, though it should have been.

Sadly, we had to head home, which is always very difficult. My grandparents have become such a deep part of my heart that leaving them hurts quite a bit. They are amazing, which I am sure everyone thinks about there grandparents....but mine are better =)

The ride home was even better than the drive out there, minus an overnight stay in a lame-o Best Western in Yuma (BEWARE!!). Heather had trash from the previous guest in her room, along with hair in the sink, and socks under her bed. Blah.

During our trip, Aaron decided that he loves to roll over onto his belly so much that he also wants to sleep like that. This still kinda freaks me out because of all the info about SIDS prevention, but you can't keep a baby from rolling onto his tummy if that is what he wants to to. And believe me, that is what Aaron wants to do. He did encounter one problem though. On the trip, we used his play pin as a crib. Those soft sides are very forgiving if you roll over into them. A wooden crib at home, however, will hurt your head if you decide to roll to closely to the rails. I had put Aaron on his back in the crib after changing his clothes, I turned away for maybe 2 seconds and heard pathetic crying. Silly baby had rolled over into the railing of the crib and wasn't too happy about it. Oh...and for some reason he seems to have forgotten that he does indeed know how to roll from his belly onto his back. I have seen him so this many times, but now he just cries pathetically until you roll him over yourself. Hmm.

All of us together