Baby "Pistachio" Blog: Visiting Family

After the New Year, Jason and I looked at picking a week in January to travel down to Maryland and PA to introduce Bree and to visit with some of our family members. My extended family always gets together for a big family reunion in Ocean City, Maryland every Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, so we decided to use the reunion as a great excuse to take off a few extra days from work and make it a nice long vacation. First stop was to visit my childhood best friend and Bree’s Auntie Kirsten! We stayed with Kirsten for a few nights and had a blast just watching the two of them catch up and play. Kirsten stayed with us for a week after Bree was born, so boy to see the difference in Bree from then to now was incredible! Kirsten got to see Bree attempt to eat her rice cereal, laugh, and giggle. It was awesome seeing the two of them play and bond. It makes me wish that Kirsten and I lived closer so that Bree could play more with her Auntie Kirsten, but there’s always vacations and skype. I’m trying to convince Kirsten to have a joint birthday party for Bree’s 1^st birthday and Kirsten’s (dare I say it) 30^th birthday. Their birthdays are only a few days apart. I think Kirsten’s more excited about Bree’s 1^st birthday, than her own (but then again, I don’t blame her….I think I’m skipping my 30^th birthday this year too..ha) The visit gave us a chance to see Kirsten’s house, meet some of her friends, and reconnect with her adorable lab, Dusty. We can’t wait to invite her up to the new house to have some more Bree and Auntie time!! Here are some pictures and videos of their play…super cute!

Bree and her Auntie Kirsten - striking a pose!

Learning how to order dinner on-line

Playing around :)

Mommy, Auntie Kirsten, and Bree

This is my absolute favorite picture of them!!

From PA, we drove down to Maryland and spent some time with Jason’s parents and my parents. We also got a chance for Bree to meet her great Grandmothers and great, great Aunt Mimi on Jason’s side, her great Grandmother, and Great Aunt on my side. She also had a chance to visit with Jason’s best friend, Heather, and Jason’s high school friends, Ed, Erica, and their little son Robert. We also took Bree to the cemetery where her great Grandfather on Jason’s side was buried just a few weeks after we discovered we were pregnant with Bree. It was a sad visit knowing that Jason’s grandfather wouldn’t be able to spend time getting to know Bree, but it was also inspiring to know that we can still keep Jason’s grandfather alive by the stories we tell about him to Bree. We decided that since he was never able to see Brianna; that we would leave one of our favorite pictures of her as a gift to him on his tombstone. We’re hoping to keep that a tradition as she grows up and changes. Seeing Brianna play with her great Grandmothers and Great, Great Aunt was a lot of fun. You can tell they just absolutely fell in love with her the minute they saw her. And she lit up with the amount of attention and love they were showing her. We are so lucky to be able to introduce her to multiple generations of family members. What a blessing! I know that Bree’s grandparents (both sets) had a fabulous time visiting with her! It’s always fun to see her interact with her Grandmom, Grandpop, Gigi, and Pappy. She plays differently with each one of them, but seems to love their attention nonetheless. She received several new and cute outfits from her Gigi and Pappy (she can now wear them, now that she’s almost 7 months old). I really think I’m starting to fall in love with this developmental stage. She’s laughing and giggling and totally aware of other people around her! What a fun stage to be around.