Out of town and Duke's first two little teeth came in

Is there really any better time for a baby to be teething than the 6 hour drive home from visiting family out of town? Yes, baby Duke's two bottom teeth have poked through! An exciting milestone to always remember but it isn't always exciting to live through. At least in my experience, teething is pretty miserable for the baby and everyone else around but it's nothing fatal. Everyone survived and the hardest part is over. Now to wait for the next ones to make their painful reveal.

We had a great visit with Matt's brother Ford and his wife Christina. They have children very close in age with ours so it's a lot of fun to see them all together. Skylee and Sterling are a year and a half apart and it's really cute watching them play like big girls now. Baby Duke and cousin Kal are only 19 days apart which makes it super special to see them together.  Matt's parents, Bill and Martha also came in from AL for the weekend and brought along Martha's mother whom we know as Nonna. I know it's harder to travel with Nonna but I thought the timing was great for her to come along and have some more memories with her. She's 93 and her health has been better as well as her memory but she still has a little spunk in her that makes us all laugh. I love her witty comments about always having room for a cookie or chocolate ice cream. I had the opportunity to take a lunch plate to her and she said "Service with a smile. I like that." It was cute to see the big smile on her face as she said it. I had hoped to capture more pictures with her but we only managed to get one with the baby boys. And even that picture was a challenge because when we asked if we could take her picture she was a little reluctant but we snapped a quick photo anyways and I think it's quite precious! 

Ford's house was packed with fun things to do with the kids and we had great January weather to enjoy outside playtime! The men took the girls fishing while the ladies stayed home with the babies to enjoy a little down time on the beautiful front porch sitting in big rockers overlooking the lake.  After fishing, Skylee got to ride with the daredevil Sterling on the toy Hummer. The girls jumped together in the bounce house, played in the backyard on the play yard set equipped with a big slide and swings. I love seeing Skylee develop doing everything her sighted cousin does. Pure joy to this momma's heart! 

We really couldn't have asked for better weather! Friday evening we got to enjoy a glass of wine sitting out by the backyard fire pit next to their lighted pool.  Mimi made cupcakes and shared her new favorite cake mix by the Cake Mix Doctor! They were so yummy and I can't wait to try making them at home sometime...maybe a fun valentines day treat (saving the link here for my own future reference http://cakemixdoctor.com/).   Skylee was in heaven and talked about the trip the entire drive home and no doubt bits and peaces of the visit will come out in her conversations for weeks and months to come.  

Great Nonna with Baby Duke and Baby Kal

Skylee Going fishing

Girls can have fun too!

Cousins