Stella's First 4th of July - Trip Home to Natchez!

Happy 4th of July! Stella had a lot of firsts this weekend! We celebrated her first 4th of July, her first trip to Natchez and her first trip to the lake!!! Packing for our first road trip was hilarious, I must say. Please keep in mind, we did not take a little 4 door car...we took our Tahoe, so we thought we'd have plenty of room for traveling. WRONG. With our beloved pups, we have to bring our big kennel with us wherever we go, which takes up the ENTIRE trunk space where the third row of seats would have been. Stella goes in one captain's nest seat and I go in the other next to her, with a multitude of bags dispersed between us and our seats. The best part, though, were the looks we got when passing people on the road with my big pram stroller stuffed in the front seat. It looked like we were traveling cross country! I really wish I would have gotten a picture of that!

We had such a good time over the weekend and got to see SO many people!!! We spent most of our time at the lake where Stella was such a good baby. She went to whoever wanted to hold her and barely made a peep. We've got a covered porch at the end of the pier and she was content to stay outside with 2 fans blowing on her for a good while. Of course, she was dressed in her Kelly's Kids bathing suit:)

We had so many visitors this weekend!!! Sarah D and Ryan (who are expecting a little girl of their own in October) were Stella's first Natchez visitors and brought with them the MOST special gift - a handmade quilt made by Ryan's mom, Mrs. Eddie, especially for Stella. It is so beautiful!! We were instructed to USE the quilt and not keep it up on a shelf - so we did! It went to the lake with us and Stella loves it, I just don't have pictures of it right now:)

Tori and Mary Margaret also came to visit - Stella was so excited to meet 2 of her aunts:) We can tell who can sunbath and who stays inside with a newborn, can't we?? I'm 'not so secretly' jealous of your beautiful tans, girls!

Matt, Stella and I got a good family picture at the lake - something I really wanted to do! When we are home  by ourselves, there is no one to take a picture of the three of us, and i'm not about to try using the self timer - that just gives me a headache thinking about the effort!

Stephanie and Andy (soon to be Mr. and Mrs. Andy Guida!!) also came by for a visit! Steph and I, long time friends, were talking about how crazy it is that I have a baby and she is getting married next week and how time FLIES by...wasn't it just yesterday that we were making our own TV food show in my kitchen with do-rags on our heads and aprons on while Bill took silly photos of us??? Didn't we just get through with our Drivers Ed class??? Stephanie, we can't wait to see you next weekend on your Big Day - yay for weddings and babies! By the way, if there were a contest, we'd win the "I Own the Biggest Pair of Sunglasses" Award!

Che Che had all three of her grandgirls together and somehow we got a precious picture with EVERYONE smiling, even though the eldest grandgirls had a big day filled with swimming pool fun, lake swimming, boat and tube riding and splinters:(

We also had a special visit from our friends Holly and Parker - and look at what a wonderful, special gift they made for us - a hand-painted plaque for Stella's room!!! I say "they" because Parker proudly announced he "drilled the holes", so we must give him credit! Holly is one fabulous artist, isn't she?? She's also the graphic designer for Kelly's Kids so I've missed her while on maternity leave! Their beautiful gift is proudly hanging directly over Stella's bed!

We've got more pictures from another camera coming shortly - if I can ever find it!!! We had a wonderful weekend followed up by an even better milestone that occurred today - Stella's first SMILE!!!! Again, if I can find my camera, I'll hopefully get to snap a picture of her smiling for her baby book. Let's hope I didn't leave it in Natchez!