First Long Road Trip

On Friday, we left to head up north to South Bend to see our families and celebrate Bobby's nephew's 3rd birthday! The longest Natalie had ever been in the car is around Terre Haute to see the doctor, visit Bobby at work, and going out to eat at Cheeseburger in Paradise with Bobby's family. Every time she had gone for a car ride, she slept for the 10-20 minutes we were in the car. We had a full car for her first trip: Bobby and I, my mom, Natalie, and Rusty along with back storage area full of our stuff and my mom's things.

I would say I packed pretty well for our first weekend trip away from home since having the baby and I didn't forget anything, which is a major accomplishment in itself. Since newborn clothes are so tiny, it was definitely easy to pack her clothes in our suitcase! It was definitely different packing a breast pump and several bottles, but I loved it!

It usually takes us 3.5 to 4 hours to make the trek from Terre Haute to South Bend, but this trip was slightly different because we met Amanda and Matt for dinner at the Melting Pot in Greenwood for Matt's 31st birthday. Natalie slept the 1.5 hours to Greenwood with only one slight cry when the car had stopped at a stoplight, but then she remained sleeping during the entire 2.5 hour meal. I had to take her out of the carseat and wake her up to feed her and mom changed her before we headed out for the rest of the trip. She then slept the next 2.5 hours to South Bend! She was such a good baby and loved the car ride, so hopefully that continues since we travel quite often!

While we were home, my mom and dad got up with her at night on Friday and Saturday, which was awesome because on Saturday night I was able to sleep for probably 8 hours uninterrupted! It was the best sleep I had had for the last 9 months or so and I can't thank my mom and dad enough for that! They loved every minute of it also because they love Natalie so much! I love seeing my parents as grandparents...they are AWESOME! On Sunday, while Bobby and I went to Preston's birthday party, my parents watched Natalie.

Great Aunt Krista

Since we live so far away from family and friends, Natalie was able to meet a lot of people for the first time! She met her Great Aunt Krista, Great Uncle Charlie, Great Aunt Judy, Great Aunt Kelly and Mike, Great Aunt Lori, Sandy and Marlene (2 of my parents' neighbors that watched me grow up...Marlene has even seen my dad grow up in the same house), Jillie and Jaxon (my best friend and her 8 month old son), Charles and Shirley (great family friends), and Nan (my mom's high school friend). We had a great visit with everyone and Natalie was so good through it all...she's only a tad bit used to being passed around from person to person :)

The trip back to Terre Haute was good, not as good as the ride to South Bend, but we definitely have a good little traveler on our hands! We only had to stop once for her before we got on 465 in Indy because she needed changed and wanted to eat. Once she was done eating and was cleaned up (first diaper that leaked up her back just a tiny little bit) she was as happy as can be and fell right back asleep for the rest of the drive to Terre Haute! We could not ask for a better baby...she is absolutely perfect!

Natalie at 3 weeks and Jaxon at 8 months

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