During Spring Break, the kids and I took a little trip home.
And this time, we flew.
On a plane.
Sweet mercy.
The days leading up to the trip were filled with fevers and snotty noses and trash cans overflowing with tissues. I got two shots and felt like a human being again. But as I recovered, Rhys got a fever.
Does anyone's toddler, other than mine, just get random fevers? Rhys is king. He's always done it. Maybe he's growing teeth. Or getting taller. Or he got a paper cut. Only God knows. And of course, he got it days before we left.
Bless him. He totally crashed in our bed the day before we left. O.U.T. Out.
Thankfully, the fever broke and we were able to go home.
Before any trip, car or plane, I hit the dollar store and check the clearance aisles at Wal-mart or Hobby Lobby. The kids get backpacks filled with cheap and, hopefully, time-consuming entertainments. This trip I found Valentine crafts for almost nothing. They were giraffes with stickers for decoration.
I think Aubrey Kate was in high heaven.
Chris gave us his iPad too. The movies held Rhys' interest for ten minutes. Each. He scrolled through all three of them watching literally ten minutes at a time. He got stickers too. And a new dollar store superhero. All of those also gave us about ten minutes each. Thankfully, when all those ten minutes added up, we were preparing to land.
Once home, we set about seeing family. I have zero pictures of my family reunion. My mother's side. I grew up with my mom's cousin, Pam, and her family. Along with Pam's brother, Jeff, and their parents, Uncle Royce and Aunt Lou.
But this reunion was the first time I had seem them since before Aubrey Kate was born. Maybe six years?
We had a lovely time visiting! I hope we will see them more often. I was too busy, well, visiting to take pictures.
And trying to keep Rhys from climbing the walls.
Our next scheduled family event was my SIL's baby shower! Aubrey Kate had been DREAMING of this shower for MONTHS!!! I'd told her she would get to come with the big girls to our big girls party. That she'd need a fancy dress. That she would get to take her new baby cousin a present.
And my girl...she was OVERJOYED!
She picked out a perfect blue dress (from several options I gave her). Sweet, sweet dress with a little ruffle with pink flowers. So very Laura Ashley.
Reminded me of a very unfortunate dress I wore to my seventh grade Valentine's dance. All kinds of roses and mauves and very, very large ruffles. But not to be outdone by the floral, I also wore thick tortoise shell glasses.
What a vision I was.
But my daughter...she WAS a vision. I couldn't take my eyes off her. Sitting there, like a big girl. She even put her napkin in her lap and smoothed it down just as a proper lady would. She was, and is, simply a beautiful miracle. And on that day, my heart and love for her grew.
Seemingly without even noticing how much I simply wanted to sit and stare at her, Aubrey Kate became the belle of the ball. Realizing what was happening, I whispered to Aunt Meredith that I felt certain Aubrey Kate was about to offer her "assistance" with the opening of gifts.
And Meredith added jewels to her crown by welcoming the assistance.
Not sure how many of her own presents Meredith opened and how many Aubrey Kate actually opened. I'm going with 40/60 but it could be closer to 30/70.
After the presents, Aubrey Kate started rounding up family to take pose with for pictures.
Can we just meditate on that for a moment? My girl, who can't be bothered to smile or look at a camera most days just began pulling family up by the hand and taking them to her chosen "spot" for a photo.
Sweet mercy.
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| Aubrey Kate and Meme |
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| Aubrey Kate and Gigi |
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| Aubrey Kate, Aunt Meredith and Gigi |
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| Aubrey Kate and Nana |
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| Aubrey Kate and Momma |
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| Aubrey Kate, Momma and Nana |
For the gift portion of Aubrey Kate's participation, she picked out three of her swaddling blankets she uses for her dolls and gave those to her new cousin. They were her blankets as a baby so I thought it was a precious gift. From one miracle girl to another. She was so excited to give them to her.
Oh my heart.
Such a blessed day.
Oh! Along the wall, the shower hostesses (who did an AMAZING job) decorated with some pictures from Meredith's childhood. Surprisingly, my husband was in there.
How adorable was he! And high five to the GENE POOL! Aubrey Kate looks just like her daddy. Look at those CHEEKS! Rhys has those cheeks too. Not the eyes, which makes him look more like me, but PRAISE BE, he got the cheeks.
They ARE, without a doubt, the most kissable cheeks. Ever.
And double OH! I forgot to share the pictures of the outfits I made for my niece. And I have I mentioned how stinkin' excited I am to have another baby girl to spoil! Cause I am. A lot.
For some reason, I never took a picture of the LBD I got her. I found the dress at Hobby Lobby and sewed pearl buttons on for her necklace. Because all little girls need a LBD and pearls.
Clearly.
The rest of the trip was just good ole fashioned family time. And eating. Because that's what we do in my family.
I think that's enough for one day. Going through the pictures alone could take you ten minutes.
Which is the length of Rhys' attention span. Seems perfect to me.
Next time, y'all!
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