Nashville April 2011

Last weekend, we headed downt o Nashville to visit my husband's family and introduce the baby to his "southern roots." We were there last when I was 27 weeks pregnant.

For the most part, it was a relaxing weekend but when we arrived home we wanted to crash in bed for 48 hours. Traveling with the baby let us see everything as if for the first time, but at the same time our minds were constantly occupied. Even sitting outside on the deck enjoying a drink meant watching the baby as he tried to swipe at it.

One of the main reasons for the trip was that Matt wanted to run the Music City 1/2 Marathon. We were there cheering the runners along in 2010 and that's when Matt decided he would run this race in 2011. So he trained starting in January and here he was in April running his first major race. We couldn't have been prouder. Unfortunately, Friday night was a bad one for the baby (who was a restless sleeper on this entire trip) and we slept in, the baby & I, Saturday morning. This meant we missed Matt running at the 4 & 8 mile markers. I was so sad because I promised him I'd be there and he said that at 8 miles he was feeling some pain and could have used my winning smile (I made that last part up).

We tried some new places on this trip ... we had an early Mother's Day breakfast for my mother-in-law at Marche Artisan foods and breakfast sans baby at Frothy Monkey. And we enjoyed ... seeing our nephew run the Kids Marathon at LP Field, walking around Centennial Park, watching our nephew's baseball game, and eating BBQ. My in-laws were thrilled having Wesley for 5 days (and nights), he was a really good little boy on this trip, smiling and playing and not displaying any sort of separation anxiety as I passed him off.

At Marche for Breakfast

At Centennial Park

Getting BBQ

At LP Field for Kids Marathon

After the race with his celebratory coffee

At the baseball game - go Indians!

Cousins!

How we traveled with the baby?

The flight was short and we stayed with my husband's parents so this was a good first trip for the baby. My in-laws bought a car seat (it paid for itself on this visit alone), and we brought an umbrella stroller. We packed 1 small canister of formula and bought the rest there (including baby food). We also brought 8 pocket diapers and extra inserts for night time and that was perfect since we used my MIL's washing machine (a lot). I bought a tie-back travel high chair and it worked, but the baby was happier being fed as he sat on the floor or in someone's lap.