Asher time!

It feels like forever ago now, and the reality is it's been less than two weeks, but I'm finally getting to posting about our trip to Florida to meet our newest nephew.  For those of you who don't know, Jeff and Liza have been in the process for a long, long time to become parents.  Last year they lost their son in Ethiopia around 6 months (I believe) due to an upper respiratory infection.  Had he been in the US receiving our standard of care, this shouldn't have happened.  It was a rough period of grieving for them (which I'm sure they are still working through at times!) and then shortly thereafter they had a baby girl taken away from them in a domestic adoption due to the birth mother wanting more money.  This happened within a couple weeks of the baby being born, and again, grieving began.  It's certainly not easy to understand the Lord's path and direction sometimes.  And it's certainly not a given that we should or will.  But when I look at the beautiful baby boy that Jeff and Liza are now parents to, I can't help but see God's faithfulness in their lives.  What a joyous event!

So - that being said, Asher came back to the states with Liza mid-August and I couldn't wait to get out and meet this little miracle.  Reid and I were going to leave Christian and Micah behind for this quick getaway, which I was also excited about.  I don't get to spend one-on-one time with Reid too often, seeing that he is the second baby, and I was looking forward to it.

The plane ride definitely was the part I was most nervous about, but thankfully on the way out Reid did amazing!  My friend Julie had suggested the Ergo carrier to force him to sleep if need be (worked like a charm) and a buckle type blanket that my friend Alissa graciously helped make!

Bye-bye!  Time for Momma and Reidees time and Daddy and Micah time.  (Side note:  Christian had a fun filled weekend planned with Micah and WORE.HIM.OUT!  Lincoln Park zoo for 4 1/2 hours Saturday followed by Ed Debevics.  Apple Orchard on Sunday followed by dinner out at a Mexican restaurant in Geneva!)

We were blessed to have our own row of 2 on the plane which also helped immensely!

Reid's eating place for the time in Florida.  Clearly he was sad to not have a booster seat or high chair to sit in...

Meet Asher!!!  Such a sweet little guy who loves his food!

Superman saying goodnight ;)

The next morning Reid and I headed out for a run and play time while Jeff, Liza and Asher headed to church.  Due to our hectic travel schedule and their double service commitment and hour long drive, I decided to stay back.  It was a good move, and despite Reid taking a tumble and messing up his face a bit (you'll see in below pictures) it was nice to let him run around after being quite confined the day before.

It was really fun to watch Asher and Reid interact.  Asher seriously would light up when Reid came in the room, and I think that helped my case with him as well :)  If he didn't connect me to that other kiddo in the house, I'm not sure Asher and I would have bonded, haha.  I was also able to get a taste of Reid playing the "big brother" role and it was fun to watch.

Once both boys were awake from their naps we headed out to the closest place possible to see some water.  One of the perks of being a Floridian.

How can you resist that sweet face??

Me and my sweet boy!

Love watching Reid playing in the sand/water!

Reid photobombing my only family shot.  Oh well!

Reid has taken to holding two people's hands while walking, and I thought this was a cute shot :)

Daddy and his boy.  So, so sweet!

The next morning, the first thing on the agenda was a little Dunkin Donuts run in their PJ's.

After a DD trip, it was time for the pool.  Yes, that's because it's still 89 degrees with humidity in Florida in October!

Cousins!

That night we headed out to a Mexican restaurant for dinner.  We were able to get one group shot that was decent, though it shows the massive amount of food that we had!

And I HAD to get an Asher and Aunt Kelly picture.  This is the best I got, as he was lunging for Liza almost the entire time I was holding him :)  It's okay, I understand buddy!  She's your Momma!!

I loved watching the two playing together.  This was a fun way to end our time with the Florida Fords.  Bubble time on the patio!

 I had to wake Reid the next morning to head out to the airport, and while that wasn't ideal, Reid seemed to be okay with it. :)  That is, of course, until we got on the plane.  Thankfully we had a 3 seater row to ourselves (God was definitely smiling down on us!) as well as a said buckle blankie and baby beethoven.

It was a wonderful time visiting with Jeff and Liza and spending time with Asher.  I loved watching him and Reid interact, and it truly just made me desire that we lived closer than some 1200 miles.  At least we'll get to see them again late December.