Asher's First Trip to the Lou...

Asher made his first trip to St. Louis and was finally able to meet some of the most important people in our lives! So exciting! It was a busy and long few days. I've learned that traveling with a baby is not so fun. Not only was our car completely packed with all the stuff we had to bring, but just being in a new place with not a whole lot of familiarity was hard for the little guy.

We spent the majority of our time with Steve's parents, but managed to get a little time in with friends as well. It was sooo good to see everyone! This will be a post with lots and lots pictures!

Some of the highlights of our trip:

Taking Asher to the arch for the first time. We lived in St. Louis for 6 years and rarely went down to the arch - I even worked just 2 blocks away for 4 of those 6 years. It's kind of one of those things that once you've seen it the first time you don't really need to go back again. Anyway, so after not having been to the arch in a few years I was reminded of how just amazing it is. I just can't imagine all the thought and planning that went into constructing something so amazing.

He also got to meet Grandma Rodriguez for the first time and as expected all she wants to do is spoil him rotten! She's so excited to finally be a grandma! It's the moment she's been dreaming about (and all we've been hearing about) since Steve and I even started dating. I think she has more items for a baby in her house than we do!

I'll admit it was a bittersweet trip for me. Seeing our friends was so great, but it made me so, so sad that our little boy won't grow up surrounded by the people that matter the most to us. It's so sad to know that Asher won't get a chance to really get to know the people that know us best. I hate that our friends have, or are having kids and Asher won't grow up with them. Moving back to St. Louis is something that will most likely never, ever happen for us though, and I'm okay with that, just sometimes a little sad about all that we're missing out on.

We got to spend time with Nathan and Jamie (check out her cute little baby bump) and we are so, so excited for the addition that will be coming to their family in January....a little girl! We can't wait to meet the little beauty! It was so good see these guys and to be able to spend some time with Erica as well.

We also go to see Nadia and she was completely smitten with our little guy (who am I kidding, she's smitten with ANY baby). Next time we see Nadia it will be on her wedding day. We're so excited for her and Justin!

Thankfully, we were able to get together with Tim and Amanda for a quick visit before they left town for the weekend (coincidentally, they were coming up to Madison). Asher loved Amanda! It was cute to see him get all snugly and flirty with her! It was the first time I've ever seen him make it really obvious that he liked someone. I dressed Asher in his favorite neck time onesie that Amanda had made him and she stocked us up with some more that she had made for him! Prepare to see lots of pictures of Asher with cute polka dot neck tie onesies on in the upcoming weeks!

Asher also got to meet old man Freet while we were in town. I think it was the first time that I've ever seen Dan hold a baby, and he did pretty good. It was really cute to see him get so excited.

Last, but not least, I got to see one of my favorite people in the entire world. No matter what, a trip to St. Louis is never complete without seeing my amazing friend Missy. I so wish we would have had more time together, but I'm so grateful for the time we had and for her amazing margarita's that force me to pump and dump. Ha! Ha! Love you SO much, Bodum!

It was so good to see everyone! Now that we have a baby our trips to St. Louis will be a lot less frequent than they have been in the past year. It's just to difficult to plan and pack for the baby and I was surprised by how difficult it was for Asher to adjust to getting out of his normal routine. We are looking forward to heading back to town to see everyone in October for Nadia's wedding though!