Colter's first vacation!

We just got back from a wonderful time down in California. I'm the first to admit I was totally nervous about traveling with him since he has been rather fussy lately with the reflux. I pictured several worst case scenarios including him screaming at the top of his lungs with the fasten seatbelt sign on. He seriously did amazing on both legs of the trip. I was totally shocked when he fell asleep while I was sitting down with minimal bouncing (we still bounce him to sleep on the exercise ball). He slept for an hour and forty minutes the first flight, and about the same on the way home. When he was awake, he was totally content looking around and watching people. The only bump in the road was a fairly serious blow out. Luckily I had randomly thrown in a shirt right before we left and luckily we sat next to a woman who was traveling to babysit her grandkids so she wasn't grossed out by the massive amounts of wipes and dirtied clothes less than a foot away from her.

We spent most of the time hanging out at Ben's parents' house. On Sunday, Ben's parents had an open house where around 35 people (most of the same people that came to our wedding) came to celebrate Colter's arrival. He got spoiled with some super sweet outfits and some cash (we're hoping to get a bike trailer) and was loved on my lots of people.

The main highlight of the trip was watching Ben's grandparents with Colter. I have never seen them so happy before. His grandma, Zona, just couldn't get enough of him.

Reality comes quick after trips like this .. I got super spoiled with a couple naps, lots of downtime, and amazing food.

Here are some photo highlights:

One reason why God created dads.. to do things like this with their sons..

Tried out the "cool guy" shades.. not a fan!

4 generations of Crowl men

The Crowl ladies

A beautiful sunny walk:

Look at this sweet face:

Thank you Mary & Greg for your hospitality and for your unconditional love for us and our son.