Holli's First Visit to the SOUTH Was Filled With Lots of "Firsts"

Caitlin and Holli surprised me last week by flying in and staying for a week-long visit to Louisiana!  OK...Can I tell you how HAPPY I was?!   This was Holli's "first" visit to to the south and she would experience LOTS of "first" on this trip!

                        It all started with her "first" airplane trip from Cleveland to Alexandria...

               And what a good little traveler she was for her mommy, sleeping all the way here.

Every morning, I got to snuggle with my 6 O'clock baby again!  I never knew I could LOVE 6 O'clock in the morning so much.  I would eventually get up and give Holli some tummy time and let her listen to Pandora Radio while her mommy caught up on her sleep...

Robby and I sure enjoyed holding her and rocking her every night too...

                                                     He rocked them BOTH to sleep!

Another "first" was sleeping in a BIG baby bed.  At home, she was still in a small bed in her parents' room...

She also got to meet some new southern friends and family...

                                              Uncle Ryan Poo and Ally finally got to meet her!

                                                           So did her great-grandmother.

                                          And two of Caitlin's really good friends, Tabitha...

                                                                       And Payton.

                                    And Sissy just LOVED having another baby around!


And, of course, Caitlin wanted a few Louisiana foods that she had missed while living up in Cleveland...

                                                                            Crawfish...

                                                                        And fried fish.

Parker Ann also couldn't wait to cuddle with her little cousin again...

On Sunday, Holli got to go to church for the first time too...

She also wore her "Cute Louisiana Outfits" while here too...

                                                                           Alligators...

                                                                         And crawfish!

And she started smiling a lot while here too (I'm sure it was because she just LOVES the SOUTH!)...

And then too soon, a week had come and gone and it was time for my girls to return north.  This had been a WONDERFUL surprise and I felt like I could now make it to the first week of June before seeing them again...In person, that is; I'm sure we will have plenty of Skye dates in between!

                                    Caitlin had to snuggle with us on her last night here too...

I'm not gonna lie; it was difficult putting those girls on a plane at 6 O'clock the next morning and yes...there were tears.  I suppose there will always be tears until they move back closer to us.  I snapped one last picture of Holli that morning before we left for the airport...

Look at those chubby little cheeks!  She had changed so much in just the week that she had been here with us; I cannot imagine what she will look like in another month.

Next up is Ryan and Allison's wedding, so I need to get in high gear and finish up all of my Mother of the Groom duties.  That should keep me busy until these girl return for the festivities!