The Allens: Very Big Visits

This is Peyton Elizabeth Hartley. She is six years old and a Mommy in the making. She was SO excited when she heard that she was going to have a baby cousin. And she waited so patiently all those months for the cousin to arrive. She wasn't even deterred by the fact that is was a boy cousin. Then she waited patiently for a whole month for her Daddy to take her across the country to see her baby cousin. Oh and the horrible 4 1/2 hour wait in the airport - she was even patient during that. But when she woke up the morning after they arrived and found out that Aaron was still sleeping for another hour, her patience ran out. It was time for her to see that baby!

She was SO sweet with him! You just wouldn't believe how gentle she was! And so helpful! She bathed Aaron, fed him, did tummy time with him (bless her heart), held him, watched him while I was able to get stuff done and just generally occupied him. It was wonderful for us and so fun to watch. I am just thrilled that she got to come.

Now, clearly, Aaron wasn't always sweet for her and I hated that, but it didn't slow Peyton down. And even when he cried, she soothed him so sweetly. She's a natural.

We didn't just spend the whole weekend looking at Aaron, though. This picture was taken at the zoo! Aaron's first big outing! He slept through most of it, but the rest of us thought it was pretty cool.

Peyton even let her dad hold Aaron once. He seemed to like his Uncle Doug alright.

At the end of their visit, we embarked on quite an ambitious journey. We took Doug and Peyton to the DFW airport. It's about two hours away and we weren't sure how that would go. Aaron loves riding in the car, but that's quite a trip for a boy that's never ridden for more than ten minutes at a time. He did SO well! He fussed a little at the beginning, but then was quiet the rest of the journey. He was so good that after we dropped off Doug and Peyton we decided to go eat. I love Abuelo's and there is one just ten minutes past the airport in Hurst. We'd come that far, why not go a little further, right? And, gosh, if we're going to be in Hurst...

Look who got a surprise visit from Aaron! Mimi and Grandad were so thrilled to see him that they thought they'd just keep him while Jory and I went to eat. Aaron got a little fussy, so Grandad put him to sleep. How precious is this?

We ended up spending the afternoon there and it was super nice for all of us! What a good day. We then hit the road for a long drive back to Tyler. Aaron did well until the last 20 minutes. At that point, we'd been gone for ten hours and he'd spent a little too much of it in a car seat. He proceeded to let us know that he would prefer to be home. On the one hand, it's awesome that he only cried 20 minutes out of a ten hour day. On the other hand, have you ever been in a small car with a screaming baby for 20 minutes???

Anyway, while those are two very exciting visits in one weekend, we also had another big event last week. Our first play date!

This is Charlotte Hovis and her mom, Jennifer, invited us over Thursday. How nice is that? Aaron and Charlotte didn't notice each other much, but the Mommies had a GREAT time!

I need to do a good update on Aaron. He is changing so much and I feel like there are new discoveries every day! I get waylaid, though, by the fact that I'm only on the computer when Aaron's eating. That means that any updates are done one-handed and it's a tedious (and time constrained) process. I promise to get a good update done this week. In the meantime, here are some cute pictures.

I love this! Doesn't he look so thrilled to be in Daddy's arms? He loves his Daddy. In fact, the sleeper he's wearing in this picture says 'I love Daddy'! I think it's SO cute! (Plus it's Ole Miss colors!!!)