What A Weekend- Part 2

This past weekend, we had MUCH going on.  If you haven't read Part 1, I'd start there! That basically sums up Saturday & Sunday.  On Monday morning, we woke up in Sumter, SC.  I set my alarm clock for 7am and when it went off on Monday morning I went into the kitchen to get Kate's bottle ready.  She usually wakes up sometime around 7 and she is more than ready for her bottle when she does wake up.  She has about the same amount of patience as her Daddy, which is not much.  So, I poured her formula and put it in the bottle warmer.  Then, I went back into the bedroom to make sure I turned my alarm off instead of just pushing "snooze".  When I came back out to check on Kate, she wasn't in her crib.  Hmmm....  I walked back into the living room and saw that Charles was holding her.  He said that she was making some noises so he went ahead and got her up. :) I'm sure she WAS making some noises, but I'm also pretty sure he didn't mind having to get her up!

We had a big day ahead of us so after eating a great breakfast together, it was time for Kevin, Kate and me to make our way to Columbia.  We packed up our car and hit the road.  We planned to meet Kate's birth parents at the Columbiana mall at 11.  We ended up getting to Columbia a little before 11, but we went ahead inside because it was yet again time for Kate's bottle.

Her birth dad and his sister got there first.  Kate's birth mom and her family were running a little late, so we got to spend about 30 minutes with just her birth dad and birth aunt.  He fed Kate her bottle, which was difficult because since there was so much going on around her she was looking EVERYWHERE. Pretty soon, Kate's birth mom,  and her birth-mom's dad, step-mom and two sisters arrived.  Kate was smiling at everyone and of course couldn't keep her eyes off of the carousel that we were sitting near.

We spent some time visiting with the entire group, ate lunch, and took tons of pictures together.  Then all of the extended family left to do some shopping and let the 5 of us (Kevin, Kate, her birth mom, birth dad, and me) spend some time together.  We decided it was time to go visit Santa... but when we got there we discovered that Santa was on a lunch break.  So, we headed back to the food court and we all exchanged gifts and had a great time visiting.  We decided to give Santa another try and stood in line for what seemed like HOURS just to get a couple of pictures.  Kate was pretty tired by this point, so no smiles, but at least she didn't cry!  

We also got a picture of Santa with the 5 of us (Kevin, Kate, her birth parents, and me) and one of just Santa with Kate and her birth parents.

After leaving Santa, it was time to go.  We said our good-byes and packed everything back up in our car.  Our visit lasted a little longer than we had planned, but we enjoyed getting to see everyone and letting them spend time with Kate.

Our intentions were to go straight home but after a phone call from my mom, we decided to "stop by" their house to pick up one of our Christmas presents- 2 apple trees!  It was a bit out of the way, but I know they loved seeing Kate.  We were only there for a short amount of time but we'll be back on Sunday for Christmas!

And finally, we got home around 6pm after ALL of our weekend travels.  It was a crazy, busy, even exhausting weekend, but it was tons of fun.  I'm thinking that THIS weekend will be just as crazy, and busy, and definitely just as fun.