Utah! (Girls ONLY!)

On the 22nd of October, Norah and I flew out to Utah to visit my best friend, Ashley, who is expecting her first baby in just a few short weeks! We had a wonderful time and were sad to leave, though the snow and freezing temperatures have not been missed. :) One of the highlights of our trip was the baby shopping! After Ashley's shower Joe gave us permission to go buy everything she still needed... Which we gladly did! Baby Girl Shawcroft is going to be living in style! It's so fun to go shopping with the intent to spend a lot of money, lol! I was living vicariously through Ashley by showing her all of the things that I had and/or would have loved for my first baby. Surprisingly, we still managed to stay under budget!

This was Norah's very first time on a plane! She did so great.. We got a lot of comments like, "What a beautiful little girl!" (Thank you, I know. :) and, "I didn't even know there was a baby in front of me!" (Yes, she's an angel :).

To start the vacation we got to tag along to Ashley's 35 wk. prenatal appointment. Not only did we get to hear her baby girl's beautiful heartbeat, but we also got to share in the excitement of her doctor announcing that things are progressing. :)

On Saturday we drove to Ashley's baby shower which was hosted by her friend, (also named) Ashley. She came away with lots of beautiful baby gifts and solicited baby advice. :)

Norah was so happy in the cold weather! Before we left for our vacation I bought her a hat and mittens and a new little fleece jacket from Old Navy. She looked so adorable that I almost wish it will get chilly enough in NC for her to be able to wear them again! :)

Dear Cafe Rio Grilled Chicken Salad, I had missed you so much - and you were every bit as good as I remembered. Please move to NC soon.

Dear Taffy Factory (not pictured...I was too busy eating taffy to get the camera out), You make the best taffy ever and I think you should move out here, too. Maybe you could carpool with Cafe Rio?

Towards the end of our trip it started to snow! Norah got to see her first snowstorm and seemed fascinated with it. It was beautiful and left the mountains covered in white. I miss the mountains!

Norah loved Ashley and her baby belly. ;) It was the perfect seat!

Norah also loved Inga, Ashley and Joe's dog, and spent a lot of time crawling after her. Inga seemed to be a little scared of Norah's enthusiasm. ;)

When she couldn't catch Inga, Norah played with the next best thing... Inga's toys. I plead the 5th as to whether Norah chewed on any of them...

On Sunday we drove down to Orem and had a wonderful visit with Norah's Great-Grandma Fitch, and her Aunt Danielle and Uncle Chad. Grandma looks amazing and we can hardly believe she's 95 years old!

Danielle and Chad look great, too! We're so excited they're moving so close (Atlanta) next year! They kept Norah laughing and entertained while we visited and will definitely make great parents someday! :)

I had to take this picture of Ashley, barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. :) We made and stocked her freezer with a TON of freezer meals for when the baby arrives. It was SO much fun to have someone to cook with! :) She looks amazing and has done a beautiful job on decorating her baby's nursery. Now all it needs is a baby! :)

Like Mommy, like Daughter. Good thing she can't open bottles. ;)

Look at how excited she was to chase Inga! I love her expression! :)

The only negative part of our trip was the return! Our first flight was delayed so we ended up missing our connecting flight in Chicago and had to hang out there for a few hours before we could hop on the next one. Then, once we boarded the plane our pilots were MIA! After about forty minutes they finally arrived (their previous flights had been delayed) and we took off for Charlotte. Thankfully, I had packed Norah's food in my diaper bag and not in our checked luggage so she had plenty to eat. I was so proud/amazed that Norah, despite being SO tired and in her stroller for so long, was still happy for the flight.

So now we're home and it was SO great to see my boys! It seemed like they'd grown in just the week we were gone! Justin was able to take some time off to watch the boys (a couple of good friends covered the days he had to work) and they had a great time hanging out, "Like dudes" (as Jackson says...:).