To Vermont and back again

We successfully made it to Vermont and back!  It involved many, many hours of obsessive planning on my part, and what seemed like about enough baby clothing and gear to outfit an entire Babies 'R Us store, but we did it.   

On the two plane rides to get there, Dylan slept for only about 30 minutes total, and he did fuss a little bit, but I think he did about as well as you can expect a baby to do on such a big travel day.  He had his own seat on the plane, which he didn't use much, but we were really glad to have the extra room.  Dylan was kind enough to hold off on having a tantrum until we got into the rental car and were on the way to the hotel.  Then he melted down big time and had his biggest screaming fit ever, but at least he wasn't bothering anyone but us.  

First plane ride!  They even gave him a pair of wings.

 We were pretty worried about how Dylan would sleep in a strange hotel room, but he slept like a champ.  We did break down and pack the exercise ball (and pump) that we use every night to bounce him to bed, which seemed kind of crazy but was totally worth it.  We took a risk and decided to use whatever crib the hotel had.  What they brought looked like a scary metal prison crib, but it had a nice clean mattress and worked just fine, especially since Dylan still sleeps swaddled and doesn't move around much.  The room also had awesome blackout curtains, which probably helped with naps and keeping him asleep in the morning--we tried to keep him on our Texas time-zone schedule, which meant getting him to sleep until 8 a.m. East Coast time, which he did!  I think I even had to wake him up one morning.

Quick diaper change at the Thursday night cook out

Dylan got to meet tons of adoring friends and family members, and it was pretty nice for us to be able to pass him around to have a little bit of a break.  We were also fortunate to have a great babysitter--a friend of the bride's family-- who took care of Dylan during the rehearsal dinner and wedding ceremony.  We decided to have her watch him at the same location where we were the whole time, just in case he flipped out (and because I still had to be the one to feed him), but he did fine with her.  It was VERY strange to try to give someone babysitting instructions for the first time.

Hanging out at the "camp" on Lake Champlain

The bridesmaids (can you tell I've been indoors with a baby all summer??)

The happy couple and their awesome personalized wedding arbor

We did have Dylan out and about during the reception; Jeromy wore him around in the front carrier for a while, where he eventually conked out.  

Enjoying the reception

Dylan and I with his Grandma "JMo" and his great-grandmother Titus

I guess we were ALL pretty exhausted by the time it came to head home; Dylan magically slept for most of both flights...in his car seat!

All tuckered out on the plane!

It was a wonderful trip; Vermont was beautiful and the wedding events were all just perfect...and most of you know I'm picky about wedding stuff. 

That said....we're pretty relieved that we can now just stay close to home for a while!