Where in the world have I been lately?!

Sorry for not posting for such a long time. So what's new? Well, Abby Kate and I just returned from a trip to Kentucky where we spent some quality time with her Grami and Pawpaw and some family and friends. It was a great visit. The only bad part was the airline travel. AK didn't like to sit for that long without anything to look at. She hardly cried, but that's because I was working (and sweating) the whole time, trying to stop her cries before they started. And trust me, they were going to start. She had all kinds of grimaces going.

On the way back, Mom went to the airport with me and helped me all the way to the gate because she had to fly out of town for business the same day. (Thanks, Mom! I wouldn't have made it without you.)

So we're sitting there killing time at the Starbucks in the Louisville International Airport. I decided the ask for a cup of hot water to warm AK's bottle before we boarded the plane. [I still breastfeed Abby Kate, so I had spent the last few days pumping extra milk for our air travel. It was especially important to have it on the plane as it stops her crying immediately.] So anyway, I took the bottle up the the counter and asked for the hot water. The worker (a young woman) took the bottle and said, "oh you're like the third person who's asked me to do this today." So I figured she knew what she was doing. Wrong. She unscrewed the top before I could stop her and half the bottle spilled out all over her and the coffee machines. Wonderful. I was so sick to my stomach! But there was nothing I could do. She kept apologizing (not really meaning it). She said, "was that formula or just milk?" I guess she thought she could just fill it back up with milk or something. I smiled and laughed a little inside before telling her it was breast milk. You should've seen the look on her face! She started screaming, "Oh my God, Oh my God!" It was priceless. I just walked away with my half empty bottle.

All that to tell you I ended up having to let AK stuck on an empty bottle for 50 minutes(!) to keep her quiet on the last leg of the flight. It was one of those Playtex bottles with the plastic baggie, so she wasn't sucking air or anything. It's just that she knows the difference between the pacifier and the bottle, so I had to trick her!

But we did have a wonderful visit while in Kentucky. We hung out at home with my mom and dad and Brian and Carrie and William. It was so cute to watch William and AK play together. Here are a few pictures from our visit. I have more to post, but a lot of them are on my mom's camera, so I'll have to post them later...






I also drove up to Lexington for my friend Kate's baby shower and to visit my friend Julane.







Abby Kate got to meet her maternal great-grandmother for the first time.



She also saw her other great-grandmother, my dad's mom.




A few friends came by to see her including my long-time friends, Sarah Kinser and Lyndsay Smith. On Sunday, Abby Kate had her second photoshoot with my friend, Sara Floyd. I'll be posting some of the beautiful pictures she took in a later blog entry.

<< REWIND TO BEFORE OUR KY VISIT
Before we left on our trip, Mike and I took Abby Kate to the beach for the first time. She liked it, we think. We put her toes in the sand - and in the (freezing) ocean for a second. Watch for yourself! (Presenting my first ever uploaded video...)








And you're probably wondering what Mike's been up to lately since all I've posted about is Abby Kate since she was born. Well, he's been doing a lot of studying and a lot of flying, too. He had his solo flight a few weeks ago and did great. He's been learning aerobatics and formation flying for the past couple of weeks. We're still not sure when he'll be done with this part of his training, but we expect we'll be finding out where the next move will be by Mid-March. So stay tuned!