Leaving on a jet plane (for the first time)

As many of you know, Van and I flew to Utah two weeks ago to visit with my family, see my cousin Kris get married and introduce Van to everyone. I was nervous about flying alone with an almost 8 month old (who was flying for the first time) as I did not know what to expect. I almost burst into tears when the mean old lady at the American Airlines desk told me she would not give Derek a gate pass to see us off. In her words, "Gate passes are only given in special situations and I know you think this is a special situation BUT it is NOT." Then she was going to charge me $50 for my bag being 3 pounds over the limit! 3 POUNDS!!!! I wanted to be like, "B$@&*, I've packed the bare minimum for me and my child to get through 6 days away from my husband and you may not think this is a "special situation" but it's about to be!" But, I was a lady. I bit my tongue, smiled and said, "what can you do ma'am?"

I'll tell you what she did, she had me take out a stack of cloth diapers (burp cloths) and put them in a Target bag (which ripped btw) along with a ziploc full of odds and ends for Van that I got to carry onboard with me along with my diaper bag (which was fully stocked for both our flights and layover) and a 23 pound baby.

THANK YOU MA'AM.

Then we said goodbye to Derek and we were on our own. And thankfully, the hardest part was behind us. Van was awake for the first hour of the first flight to Dallas. He drank a bottle during take-off, stared at everyone around us and pretty much banged on everything around us. Then I put the Baby Bjorn on and he immediately fell asleep for the remainder of the flight! He was awake for our entire hour layover then fell asleep again before the second plane even took off. Thank you Jesus! I prayed so hard for an easy trip out there.

The week went by so quickly. The next day was my cousin's rehearsal dinner then Friday was the wedding. And the rest of our time was spent catching up with our amazing family and eating lots of delicious meals. I don't know about all of you but it seems that whenever we go out of town we always eat so well. Maybe it's because I don't cook at home and always want a salad or some sort of protein and a veggie but when I am on vacation - I let loose!!

I didn't take the best pictures this trip since I was having so much fun but here are some of my favorites.

My cousin Kris as he steps to the front of the aisle. I've never seen him so happy!

My handsome date

My Uncle Karl and Aunt Debbie (Uncle Karl officiated the wedding - he also married me and D!)

Saying the I do's. I love weddings.

My cousin Kurt with his two little ones Damon & Sierra

Keith and Lindsay

It's the husband face!

Aunt Lydia and Uncle Phil - where I get my Spanish blood from!

My beautiful Godmother

Johnson Mill

Uncle Dave & Aunt Denise - how we miss them.

Me (in my Rent the Runway dress) and Van

Van and Sierra playing tug of war

Let the Par-Tay begin.....

My bebe was so good. He really made being a mommy easy for me that week. He got a ton of compliments about how laid-back he is and how happy he always seemed to be. That's my little man............how can you not LOVE his sweet, sweet face?!?!