To Grandmother's House We Go

We took our first trip with baby Violet. I geared up for it with no small amount of trepidation. I've built a cozy, safe little nest for us here in Olde Atlanta. I have everything I need at my fingertips - extra diapers, plenty of clothes, a washing machine for said clothes when the triple threat of pee, poop and spit up occurs simultaneously, etc. We have a nice little routine going. But all that was going to change this weekend.

This Saturday, we celebrated the 90th birthday of Matt's grandmother and Violet's middle namesake, Betty Wolfe. Aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws, they were all coming to town and every last one of them had a standing appointment to hold Violet.

Great-Grandma Betty with the newest Loughman.

Friday morning I spent most of my spare time running around the house, gathering supplies. This baby requires at least three times the amount of luggage I do! Matt got off work early and we were set to hit the road in time to beat traffic and make Violet's next feeding. Instead, we left just in time to sit through one of Atlanta's worst rush hours. I nervously watched the clock as it ticked nearer and nearer to the baby's mealtime. Sure enough, in bumper to bumper traffic on the Downtown Connector, sweet Violet woke up and could not understand why dinner wasn't being promptly served. Soon she was wailing, prompting me to start crying, forcing Matt to beg that one of us at least pull it together. Every person that dared call my cell phone received and ear-full of my anxiety. It was bad. But, just as Matt promised, Violet fell back asleep as soon as we broke out of traffic and we both survived the journey without anyone starving to death.

Then it was time to meet the family!

Brooke meets her newest cousin. Looks like she approves, which is more than I can say about the first time Brooke met me. I don't think she liked the idea of any other girl taking up her Uncle Matt's time and attention. But never fear, we worked it out and now we're good friends. Good thing, too, because Violet takes up plenty of Uncle Matt's time and attention!

The awesome thing about this weekend was how everyone pretty much turned into a grandma for a day. As in, they all wanted to hold Violet, regardless of her mood, as much as possible for as long as possible, and nothing she could do was short of adorable. Nicole won the prize for calming the fussy baby down while her exhausted mom went downstairs and ate dinner. Just look at that baby face! Is that one contented child or what? Also, we weren't short on baby horror stories either (crying for three months straight, anyone?) which made me feel enormously better about my life.


All in all, it was a great weekend. Happy Birthday, Betty! I hope you had a wonderful weekend celebrating with friends and family! And now that I've managed it once, I think I can handle another road trip out of town. As long as our destination comes equipped with plenty of baby gear and a grandma or two!

Out for a stroll with the fam...