And Then There Were Three: Emma Vance, Meet Emma Vance...

Emma Vance and Emma Vance

So we've had perhaps some of the busiest few weeks ever (but it always feels like that, so no change there!), and I'm trying to process everything that's happened. One of the better events was that we visited my family in Florida, and Emma Vance got to meet her namesake.

Ryan booked a shoot for November 6th through 8th in Orlando, and, despite the bad timing (being the few days prior to our house closing), we decided to take advantage of the opportunity to visit my grandmother, Mrs. Emma Vance, and E.V.'s cousins in Winter Park. It definitely added stress to an already stressful time, but we've been wanting to travel to see our families anyway and the chance was there, so...

Here's a recap of the three days we spent in Florida:

E.V.'s first flight was, well, uneventful (thankfully). I was super worried about her being a typical screaming baby, so I packed an arsenal of things to avoid such a situation. After an extra-early morning wakeup, lots of new things to entertain her pre-flight, and a well-timed bottle, Emma Vance passed out a few minutes before we took off and didn't open her eyes until after we landed. (Hallelujah!) My back was extremely achy by the end of the flight because I was scared that if I moved too much she'd stir, but it was worth it!

We brought Emma Vance's birth certificate just in case...

...but we didn't end up needing it, so she ate it instead. At least it was put to good use. :)

A 10:45 a.m. flight meant an EARLY morning for everyone.
Everything takes so much longer with a baby!

While we waited to take off, we looked out the window...

...and played with our toys...

...and ate our toys. (Typical!)

One bottle, and she was out!

I let her drink in her sleep while we took off so she wouldn't awake to stuffy ears.

And she's down for the count!

When we landed, she woke up to get her wings!

Taking after her frequent-flyer dad. :)

We grabbed the rental car and headed to my grandmother's house to introduce E.V. to Mrs. Emma Vance. Grandma was a little excited, so she was waiting for us with her front door wide open. :)

My mom had decided to join us on our trip as a surprise, so after Emma Vance met Emma Vance, we asked her to hold the baby while we got our bags...and when my mom popped out of the car, my grandma was surprised and, er, confused...ha! Gotcha!

Paying attention to the baby, totally unaware...

"Who is that?"

"Gotcha, Mom!"

(Explaining all the deception.)

Then we hung out a bit before putting E.V. down for a nap. (It had already been a LONG day!)

My grandma's dog, Jasmine, was surprised to see everyone. E.V. was ob-sessed and kept reaching for her,
but she's a little old lady herself, so we spared Jazzy the grabbing and pulling that would've ensued.

That night we met up with my brother, Tony (who was meeting E.V. for the first time), Jill and the cousins for dinner.

Charlotte and Grandma trying to decide what to eat.

E.V. and Dad trying to decide what to eat. :)

Lilli coloring quietly, as usual! :)

(I don't know who's more surprised!)

Lilli wanted me to take her picture, which meant I had to take everyone's...
except Jacob, who I suppose was "too cool." :)

Charlotte

Nathan

Everyone was passing the baby around...

...and Nathan, who LOVES babies, wanted to hold her. (I can't blame him!)

So he did (with Grandma Vance's help).
Sidenote: Charlotte was NOT happy about all this attention on E.V. and when asked if she'd like to hold her,
she replied, "No! Holding babies is the worst."
God bless Tony and Jill when she becomes a teenager! :)

(Kids always seem to love rocking her in her carseat.)

The next day Ryan had a meeting, so my mom, my grandma and I took E.V. to downtown Winter Park to walk and shop. It was a little chilly, but the park is gorgeous so it was nice to stroll and peruse the windows. We stopped at a Parisian cafe where Ryan surprised us by joining us for lunch.

"I know I'm cute, but please no more pictures, Mom!" ;)

E.V. entertained herself on the ride down by practicing her bottle skills.

Staying warm!

Surprised to see Dad...

...and so excited, too!

(Entertaining the baby by playing with the camera while everyone shopped. Ha!)

(She was in such a good mood that we took a million pictures. Obnoxious parent alert!)

The park in downtown Winter Park that runs along Park Avenue...whew. That's a lot of "parks!"

Getting sleepy on the ride home.

When we got home, Ryan had beat us by a few minutes and was taking Jazzy for a walk when we pulled up. He is so sweet and thoughtful I had to snap a picture of him.

Also, Grandma's friend, Theresa, stopped by to see the baby.

That night we went over to Tony and Jill's house for dinner. We ate, the kids played with E.V., the girls and I colored, and we took lots of hand-me-downs off of their hands! :)

Charlotte drew this picture of the two of us. She said that she was going to give me
a bun because, "Aunt Talie, you always wear your hair in a bun!" Two thoughts:
1. Dang. What's that saying again? From the mouth of babes?:)
2. Does my niece secretly think I'm a geisha? Really, look at the drawing...

(Charlotte discovered that she could instantly see herself with iPhone pictures, so...)

We went home the next day, so it was mostly filled with packing and prepping. We did manage to grab lunch at Boston Fish House (a sort-of tradition) and visit with the twins one last time (since the big kids were in school still). We snapped a few last pictures of Emma Vance and Emma Vance, and our quick visit to Florida was over. Sad.

Four generations: Emma (Mann) Vance, Daria (Vance) Aquilio, Natalie (Aquilio) Shove, Emma Vance Shove

On the plane ride home, E.V. fussed just a few minutes while taxi-ing, which was super stressful. Right as we took off, though, she did manage to pass out. Crisis averted.