The Ireland's: The Ireland family goes to Baltimore

Last weekend we had the opportunity to visit Chris' grandparents in Towson, Maryland- just outside the Baltimore city limits. We always look forward to going up to visit, but this trip was extremely special for us all because it was the first time that Nanna and Poppop (Chris' grandparent's- Robert and Doris Ireland) were able to meet Avery and Micah. This was such a special weekend and I'm sure we have a thousand pictures from our time there, but I will try my best to pick out some of my favorite photos to share with you. It was also Avery's first time on an airplane and she did absolutely fabulous! We are so proud of our little monkey! Here is a recap of our weekend.

Saturday March 12: What a long day! We woke up at 5am to get ready for our trip and I have to admit, I was a bit anxious about flying with Avery. I didn't want to be "that passenger" with the screaming baby. I was also really nervous about having to nurse her in public since I have made it 4.5 months without having to do so! We woke Avery up (2 hours early) when my dad arrived at our house around 6am to take us to the airport. Our first flight from FL to ATL went so smoothly. I nursed Avery after we boarded in hopes that she would still be eating during our take-off. Unfortunately, we were a few minutes delayed on the ground and she was therefore finished eating and had no interest in her pacifier during the take-off. I was worried about her ears since she wasn't sucking on anything, but she didn't seem bothered at all. I had to laugh because I had myself all worked up about having to nurse her on the plane and it turned out to be NO BIG DEAL! This plane was super small and we were seated in row 17- the last row on the plane. There were two teenage boys next to us, probably around 15 years old and they loved Avery. The best part was when they looked over to find her under my nursing cover eating- they immediately looked the other way and it was obvious they were quite uncomfortable- but we had a good laugh! Avery fell asleep for the last 20 minutes of the flight and didn't even flinch when we landed. After a 2 hour layover in Atlanta we were back on a plane, which was much bigger this time, and I was able to successfully nurse Avery during our takeoff. She slept maybe 30 minutes on this flight. Guess what else? For those Real Housewife fans- Bethenny Frankel was on our flight from Atlanta to Baltimore. Pretty cool, huh? Avery didn't make a peep on either one of our flights that day. She did so well and we were so incredibly proud of her!

{Avery's very first time on an airplane!!!}

{A's first time in the Atl airport!}

{Finally asleep on the last flight of the day!}

Ed, Cheryl, and their dog, Holli, picked us up at the airport and we made our way to Nanna and Poppop's house. Avery fell asleep almost immediately once we got in the car- poor thing was absolutely exhausted! Unfortunately, it wasn't too long of a nap and when we woke her up when we got to the house she let us know it! We walked inside and were so excited for her to meet her great-grandparents when she had the biggest meltdown to date. Seriously, we have NEVER heard her cry the way she did on Saturday. She was absolutely exhausted and just wanted to keep sleeping, but we had so many people who wanted to meet her for the first time. Not only was she getting to meet Nanna and Poppop, but she was also meeting her Uncle Dick, Aunt Lori and cousins David and Andy. Uncle J, Aunt Adriane and Micah were all there waiting for us to arrive as well- so she had quite an overload of people waiting to greet her when we walked through the door and boy she lost it! It took us a while to calm her down and after a good nap she was ready to meet and greet. We enjoyed the evening visiting with family and were sad to see Dick, Lori, David and Andy leave. It was so great catching up with them and we are so glad they were all able to visit for the day.

{The Ireland girls- Avery is the first Ireland girl born into the family in about 80 years!! Here she is with the rest of us who have all married into the family. She is a true Ireland female!!}

{Poppop with Micah and Avery}

{Nanna and the babies}

{Nanna sang Avery to sleep- it was so sweet!}

{The Ireland boys with the Ireland girl.... They aren't too sure what to think of having a girl in the family now!}

{Cousin Andy with Avery}

{Cousin David and Avery}

{Nanna, Chris and Avery...Avery was ready for bed by this point.}

{Tummy Time!!}

March 13th and 14th: Sunday and Monday we just hung out at the house and enjoyed each other's company. On Sunday, Cheryl, Adriane and I went to the mall for a few hours and got some cute outfits for Micah and Avery. The boys were on baby duty and enjoyed the time with their grandparents. On Monday, Justin, Adriane, Chris and I went to Trader Joes for a little while but that was our only outing. We spent a lot of time trying to capture every possible picture of the babies and their great-grandparents and just relaxed while enjoying time with family. Monday night was quite interesting... Everyone was in bed except for Ed, Justin, Chris and myself. We were all sitting in the den watching T.V. and talking when we saw this grey little mouse run across the room. OH MY GOODNESS!!! I was up on the couch in a heartbeat. To make a long story short- we (and I mean the guys while I watched from an elevated surface) spent the next 1.5 trying to capture this mouse and came really close, but in the end, it got away. Let's just say I didn't sleep very well that night.... Oh! Nanna and Poppop also took us all out for lunch at a place called Bob Evans and we had the best burgers! Thanks, Nanna and Poppop!!

Tuesday March 15th: Our long weekend ended way too quickly. The Birmingham Ireland's and the Florida Ireland's had to say goodbye around 10am. We were sad to leave Nanna and Poppop, but we had a plane to catch. It worked out so well that we were all on the same flight back to Atl. Justin, Adriane and Micah sat in the row directly in front of us. The best part about the flight was that there were about 6 empty rows behind us so we were able to freely walk around with the babies and change their diapers easily. Both Micah and Avery did great on the flight. Again, I nursed Avery during take-off and she did fantastic. I still can't believe I was so nervous about feeding her on the plane. I wasn't uncomfortable at all! We landed in Atlanta and headed to our next flight. We were only 6 gates down from Justin and Adriane, but had to say good-bye quickly because they did not have much time before their flight back to Birmingham. We had a 2 hour layover which of course was delayed some and that meant that I had to feed Avery BEFORE we got on the plane. Nursing Avery in the airport was the only time I was really uncomfortable and out of my comfort zone. Thankfully, we were in a fairly private seating area behind a gate desk, but still, I was slightly uncomfortable. Not long after 5 we finally boarded the plane and then had to sit in line for take-off for about 45 minutes. Avery slept the entire time we were waiting to take off and then woke up about 5 minutes into the hour long flight. This was the only flight where she was a little fussy, but Chris was able to stand up with her and that seemed to help. We had the best weekend and were sad that it went by so quickly. Hopefully we can make another trip up to see them again soon!