9 + 10 Weeks

As my maternity leave (too quickly) winds down to an end, I find I'm spending nearly every waking moment with Sydney because I know this transition isn't going to be easy on me. I can't help the pity party -- she's just such a sweet baby, my little partner-in-crime.

Weeks 9 and 10 of our little love's life was filled with excitement, and she had a jam-packed schedule meeting a LOT of people - in Minnesota! Kind of on a whim/kind of planned, I decided to drive back so that Sydney could meet some family and friends. Why? Because evidently my idea of fun is driving 35 hours in a car with a newborn. That, and the first time we would have been back in MN is at the end of May for our friends' wedding in Brainerd, MN, and due to our hectic work schedules the trip is going to be very short, which would've meant no one would've been able to meet her. So, Syd and I packed up and away we went.

The drive actually went really well - once we were past Sterling, CO. The plan was to stop every three hours to feed Sydney (and get gas, go to the bathroom, get food, etc.), and on my very first stop, after getting gas and feeding Sydney, I was just putting her down on her Boppy Lounger when she suddenly threw up. Everywhere. All over herself, all over me, all over the backseat (of our relatively new car, mind you), all over everything. Of course that would happen. There was a good minute or two (or 10) that I thought of tapping out and going home, but instead I just cleaned her off, cleaned out the car, took her inside an unsavory McDonald's bathroom and cleaned her off more, changed her, changed myself and continued on.

The normally 13 hour drive took me nearly 17 hours.

Blurry moment after Barf Gate 2014

Look at her -- she was so happy. It's hard to be upset when you have a face like that looking back at you!!

But like I said, the drive overall went really well, and Sydney was such a champ. She played in her car seat until she fell asleep, and when she awoke she never fussed (thank goodness!) and instead just looked out the window and watched flat Nebraska slowly pass her by.

(No, Mom, I did not take this while driving.)

We finally arrived at my parents' house around 11:30 PM, and I. was. exhausted. So what better way to cap off a full day of driving than to crawl into bed and pass out, right? Wrong. No, I had to give Sydney her one last feeding for the night and then put together her Pack 'N Play, which lead me to my Major Mom Meltdown #2. It was a complete shitshow, and it didn't help that we had never taken it out of the box it came in, let alone attempt to put it together, so everything was stiff and packed very tightly. To say I was frustrated is an understatement; I was downright seeing red -- thank goodness Sydney can't understand curse words. In fact, Sydney got so bored waiting for me to put it together, she fell asleep right on the bed.

When I finally got the thing set up (around 1:30 AM), I was baffled. Graco, are you people serious? Not only do I feel the 'crib' (if you can even call it that) is completely unstable, but WHAT THE SHIT. Whoever configured the pieces of that thing should be fired immediately, and the person who wrote the directions on how to assemble should pack up their shit right along with them. And anniesprklz from Amazon reviews - you and I have vastly different ideas of what is "easy to set up, easy to pack up, very sturdy and/or very light" because I literally have the complete opposite opinion than you.

Sydney, however, remained unfazed by her Fischer Price doll crib and slept like the sweet baby she is for the entire week.

The rest of the week was fantastic, and Sydney was able to meet so many family members and friends on such short notice -- thank you all!! I was very happy I made the trek back because now we won't feel terrible running in and out of MN at the end of May.

Here are the pictures from the week (warning - there are many, many, MANY pics). Enjoy!

Babies meeting babies

An awkward hug from Grandpa Bill

Watching the snow monkeys at the Minnesota Zoo!

My dad is a volunteer at the MN Zoo, which is one of my favorite places in the world, and clearly we had to go visit him while he was working. Sydney loved the zoo! #justlikemama

Grandpa & Grandma Kraft

I love this picture. My dad is absolutely the best man I know, and I'm so blessed to have him as a father!

Meeting Auntie Kortney!

And Uncle Kyle

And adorable cousin Kennedy!

Hanging out with Grandpa Greg

I cannot stand the cuteness that is our niece. KK, your Auntie Sarah loves you SO MUCH!

Meeting Great Grandma June & Great Grandpa Glenn

Fun with Grandma Diane

Hello, Uncle Paul!

Mommy, can we go home now? I'm tired.