The Waddle Family: Emma's first Cross Country vacation

Hello everyone! We finally made it over here and are half way settled. Our trip was fantastic. We went through 14 states!! Emma is a world traveller already at the ripe age of 3 1/2 months. We tried to get a picture in front of every state sign but she was sleeping through some of them. Can you believe that Georgia doesn't have state welcome signs? We looked for them when we entered and when we left. Nothing. The one state I was the most excited about too. We were chased by tornado's through the south and finally got stuck in one going through Columbia, SC. We had to park under an overpass to avoid the golf ball sized hail. Scary stuff, let me tell ya! Dustin of course thought it was the coolest thing ever and wanted to get out and take pictures but I wasn't feeling the same! We stopped in San Antonio of course too and introduced Emma to our city of love. Allison and Mikey met us there. They drove down from Oklahoma just to see us! It was a great time. We also stopped in Phoenix to see Dustin's Aunt Joy and the rest of the Olanders. We had a wonderful visit with them and can't wait to go back and stay again! While in Phoenix we also stopped to see my dad and his wife Diane. We stayed at their house while in Phoenix and really enjoyed our visit with them too. They had a birthday party for their dogs while we were there so we (myself, Dustin, and Emma) got to meet all their friends. We had a fun time showing Emma off to everyone. In fact, I picked up a new thing to tell my daughter from one of their friends named Yvonne. She called Em Delicious! I quite agree so Emma is now my deliciously adorable little girl!

After we left Arizona, Em got her very first cold and it was awful! Our fist time having a sick baby and on the road. I have to say that was the worst part of our trip. We both were worried sick! Out in the middle of nowhere and trying to find a hospital or urgent care or something so we could find out what was wrong with Emma. There was nothing within at least 200 miles of us. We stayed in a town called Ozona, Texas that night. The next day after we had all not slept a wink Emma finally started to get a little better. Her cold didn't completely go away until after we got to Virginia but Dustin and I learned a valuable lesson in caring for a baby. We both agreed that we had never felt so helpless!

We had a ton of fun and a couple not so fun moments on the road. But, we made it and are thankful we are here. Our temporary rental house turned out to be a little less than stellar but I can see light at the end of the tunnel. We have found a house in Dublin that is just what we are looking for. It is new construction and it has a little bit of land. We look forward to raising a family there and making it our own! Plus, it is right next door to an old colonial mansion that I will get to stare at daily! It is a bed and breakfast for those of you that want to come and visit and get a taste of the old south! I have toured it before and will tell you it is absolutely beautiful!!

Well, I should go for now. I will give you another update soon and if I forgot anything in this one, I am sure I will post something more later since I don't want to leave out any fun details!