We just returned from our first trip to Missouri. We left on March 14th at 8 am and Olivia did GREAT on the plane! I was so worried she wouldn't be her sweet laid back self but she was exactly that! We lucked out on the flight to Chicago and got a row of 3 seats so we were able to put Olivia in her car seat in the window seat! She didn't really sleep a lot but was very content. Most people said they didn't even know she was on the plane! She was so good! We got her out every once in a while but when it got to bumpy we put her back. She enjoyed being snuggled and looking at all the people (we were right across from the bathroom, we saw LOTS of people) and she got lots of compliments too. When we got to Chicago we had to run to get to the next gate and made it just in time. We weren't able to get an extra seat on that flight but that was OK, it was only a hour long flight and Livvy and I snuggled and napped most of the flight. When we finally got to Missouri after 8 hours of travel we were exhausted and ready to see my parents. They greeted us at the airport along with my best friend Kim and her little family (Livvy's future husband and in-laws LOL!) I was nervous that Livvy wouldn't sleep very well, or that she would be on Alaska time (3 hours behind) but she went right to sleep and woke up the next morning right on time just like she was in Alaska...no problems! The first day we took Livvy to Bass Pro Shops AKA Kevin's favorite place to be in Springfield. She slept the whole time, must not have been as excited as her daddy to go LOL! her hat says "my first fishing hat" too cute!We went to my mom's work and met lots of her co workers and the residents there too, Olivia got LOTS of attention and lots of ohh and ahh's, she was a hit! We did a lot of running around and eating out. On St. Patrick's Day my sister (Olivia's Aunt Sissy) came to visit from Kansas City. We also went to Church that evening for a nice potluck dinner and then a short bible study in which Olivia decided she was tired and wanted to scream the whole time (how embarrassing!) Everyone there was so excited to see Livvy, and us too :) They all thought she looked just like Kevin (so do I). On Thursday, my sister, Mom, Olivia and myself had a girls afternoon and went shopping. I was in desperate need of work clothes for my internship this fall. I still have about 10-15 lbs to lost to be back to pre-baby weight...I WILL DO THIS! So I found some great sales and got lots of good stuff. We were all very tired and more than ready to go home after that. We finally got to enjoy a nice St. Paddy's day dinner of Yummy corned beef and potatoes...I could have eaten my weight in that! So good! On Friday it was a GLORIOUS 75 degress that day, it was the first time Livvy has been able to go outside in a sleeveless dress, no blanket and no socks! It was so awesome! My sister had to leave to head back to KC. We took off to Branson to do somemore shopping. We stopped at the Lee outlet and found LOTS of good deals! We then went down to the Branson Landing we stuck Livvy's feet in the fountain and watched a really funny couple of guys who do percussion using plastic barrels, it was a lot of fun! We ate at Famous Daves a yummy BBQ place (which Olivia slept through). After dinner we decided we needed some fudge from the fudge place. They were making a caramel nut fudge while we were in there and they gave us HUGE samples. We shared a bit with Olivia and she loved it. After we left the landing we were off to our show, we went to see a Beatles tribute band called "Liverpool Legends". It is a group that was put together by George Harrison's sister Louise, so you know it was good! They showed clips and had lots of interviews with Louise. Olivia LOVED the show, as did all of us! The singers sounded and looked just like the Beatles, it was so much fun! During intermission Louise came out and answered questions from the audience. It was really neat! During the show they invited everyone to come out into the aisle to dance. We took Livvy out and all took turns dancing with her and singing to her.
After the show we got to meet the singers and even had Olivia's picture taken with them, Paul even gave her a kiss! On Saturday after our wonderful warm day the day before, the temperature dropped and it started snowing and sleeting...welcome to Missouri! the next morning we headed off to Ash Grove for Olivia's Baptisim. We wanted to do it in the Church we were married in by the Pastor who married us but for some unforseen circumstances we were unable to do it at the church. We were blessed to have been accepted by the congregation who had never met us and yet made us feel so at home! Pastor Bill Havens preformed the service and it was very nice. This is the dress she wore. It is a ver special dress as it was the dress that both my sister and I were baptized in and it was made by my nanny out of my mom's 8th grade graduation dress. When Kevin got her dressed he was telling her how special it was and the story behind it. It melted my heart to see her wear something so special for such a special day. She looked beautiful! The next day after two of it being cold and snowy it warmed up to a wonderful upper 60 degrees again! We thought it was funny seeing my Dad wearing a jacket because it was "a little chilly" and there was a "slight breeze" we thought it felt great compared to the -14 temps the day before we left Alaska. We enjoyed the warm weather! My Uncle Mike and his girlfriend came over for dinner one night and brought Olivias some really cute clothes and also some yummy homemade chocolate cupcake with Irish Cream frosting, it was so yummy! That night Olivia started started grabbing a lot of things. She grabbed a pop can and was bringing it up to her lips, good thing it was empty! We had a great time and as always great company! Thursday afternoon brought an end to our vacation. We were lucky to get an extra seat again on the flight from Springfield to Chicago but our flight was late leaving due to winds in Chicago (it's not called the windy city for nothing!) We were told most of the flights in and out were delayed so we had hope that our flight to Anchorage would be too. Before the delay we were to have a two hour delay. When we arrived in Chicago, Kevin took off running for the next gate to see if it had been delayed too and let me with Olivia to gather all of our belongings and head across the airport to meet him. We ran to our next gate which happend to be all the way at the other end of the airport (why can't things be easier sometimes?). When I got to the gate area Kevin was at the check in counter and low and behold they were boarding!! They told us they didn't have any open rows and we could have to hold Livvy the whole flight on our lap. As we were starting down the gangway the ticketing agent called us back and told us that there was a row with two open seats and if the man next to us wanted to he could move up to that row. He happily agreed once he saw we had a baby :) It turns out that there were actually quite a few open rows on the plane due to people missing their connection. Olivia slept the whole way home and I was worried she wouldn't sleep that night. She did although she tried to wake up at 5 am (8 am Missouri time) I just kept putting her paci in and she slept until about 8:45! After that she was back on her Alaska schedule. We were so glad to be home and thankful that we were able to make the trip to show Olivia off and most of all have her baptized!
Here are a few other pictures from our trip.
Livvy and a big brown bear on one of our many trips to Bass Pro
Mommy and Livvy at Bass Pro
Daddy and Livvy at his favorite resturant Cracker Barrel
Livvy and Miss Rhonda (Kim's Mom) She has brain cancer so it was important they meet!
Livvy and Mommy
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