Have Baby, Will Travel

Well I’ll start with an apology and excuse… Sorry no posts but… we had a baby!

So I’ll briefly get everyone up to speed and share some of the all important photos along the way.

We survived the first week at home with great sleeping stretches, lots of naps and a ton of help from family and friends.  Rayleigh seemed to adjust to the breathing world and is sleeping at least four hours at a stretch in her cradle.

After our company dwindled down we had fun acquainting ourselves with our new love- which included all the normal new parent things- starring, holding, watching with baited breath (for what I’m still not sure) and of course all the “firsts”-

Bath (in the Kitchen Sink)- (August 19)- Her umbilical cord fell off on her 1 week birthday and we bathed a somewhat unhappy baby the next evening in the sink.

Walk to the park-(August 21) In Daddy’s arms with Uncle Karl and friends Wes and Aily- while Mom and Autumn took in a concert

Restaurant Outing- (August 23) To Samantha’s Cafe for brunch- also where we tried out the Sleepy Wrap- to which her Dad is now addicted!

Trip alone with Mom- (August 25) To a doctor’s appointment while dad worked and stayed home to receive our freezer -special thanks to Mimi and PopPop for this amazing gift that will get years of use!

Trip to Daddy’s School- (August 26) Kevin had a welcome BBQ for Graduate students that she and I attended as well, Kevin even “wore” her during the meeting- she was a pro at this learning thing, slept the entire time.

County Fair experience (August 26) Our little family went to the Washington County Fair – Again, Kevin wore her- which although she was dressed warmly added a layer of warmth and helped trap heat from Dad! We enjoyed much fair food and played the ping-pong fish game and won 6 fish- which we traded in for 2 larger fish.  Sadly we are now down to one- as Rayleigh had another first today, the death of pet when one of the fishes had to be “buried at sea.”  On a side note, I was thoroughly impressed with this fair- across from one of the bathrooms was a “comfort tent”, which had separate areas for changing babies and breastfeeding moms- complete with rocking chairs!

Second Doctor’s visit at the 2 week mark revealed her stats to be(August 27): height 21.5″ (97%), weight 9.2lbs (97%) and head circumference 14″ (90%).  The moral of the appointment- we are feeding her just fine as she is growing like crazy!

First Road Trip-(August 27-September 1) We left Hudson Falls on Friday and drove to Riverside, Pa for a two day visit with family and friends from our home town.  Saturday we enjoyed a brunch with Kevin’s family.

On Sunday we went to a special church service for Kelsey’s Church at the Catawissa Boat Club- there we got to visit with a lot of Kelsey’s family friends and her Uncle Darrel. After church we visited with Kelsey’s Aunt Kathie and Uncle Dick and then headed towards New Enterprise, PA.

In the “cove” we visited Sunday evening with her brother Kevin and his family.  Rayleigh met some more cousins- Kyle and Keyan.  Monday we visited with Kelsey’s other brother, Shawn, and his family including cousins Mason and Tristin.

Monday night we visited with Rayleigh’s other surviving Great-Grandmother Lois, Kelsey’s maternal grandmother and uncle Rory and his wife Nancy who were visiting from South Carolina.  Tuesday morning we headed off to Meadville for the last leg of the trip.

In Meadville, we met Kelsey’s sister and niece for a delightful lunch.  Later that day we visited many of Kelsey’s cousins who live in the area, including Mike, Andy and Linda and their boys Teddy and Steven as well as Kelsey’s Aunt Marcia and Uncle Calvin.  Rayleigh was getting a little tired till then but at this point we’d done about 700 miles in the past 5 days so we couldn’t be upset with her! We left there and headed towards home.  We stopped outside Syracuse and spent the night in a hotel, Wednesday morning we drove to RPI for Kevin to start his first day of classes!  Rayleigh and I hung out and took naps in the lounge while he got “learned”. On the way home that afternoon we stopped and visited with friends in Saratoga Springs- Natasha and Rory.

We arrived home Wednesday evening on Rayleigh’s 3 week birthday, she had traveled a total of 1,200 miles in the previous 6 days like a trooper.  We are so excited to have such a wonderful and precious baby.  If you didn’t get to meet the baby girl on this trip rest assured there will be more or if you feel adventurous- or a little out done by the baby- PLEASE COME VISIT!

Yesterday (September 4) we set off for Bethany Beach, DE for Rayleigh’s first beach adventure (and another 420 mile car ride)  She took the 10 hour trip wonderfully and we are excited to try out the ocean later today. I will post more pictures and another post about our holiday weekend in a few days. Until then we hope everyone has a fun and safe holiday!

Here are some more photos just for good measure, Enjoy!