Jacob's First Trip to the US!

On April 1 Matthew, Jacob, and I boarded a plane to take Jacob to the US for the first time!!!  I was giddy the whole cab ride to the airport, and it didn't even phase me that it was barely 5am!  I was a little nervous about how Jacob would do on the 9 1/2 hour flight from Paris to Atlanta.  After doing great on the short flight from Clermont-Ferrand to Paris, I relaxed a little. 

 The 'before' picture, sitting in the Paris Airport.

The timing of the flights worked out really well with Jacob's eating schedule, so that I could feed him during take-off in hopes of avoiding any pressure change/ear problems.  We were lucky enough to be given bulk-head seats and a baby bassinet that hooked onto the wall in front of our seats.  Not so luckily, there was another baby beside us.  The poor baby and his mom had started in India with a 10-hour flight to Paris, then the 9 1/2 hour flight to Atlanta, and then they would finish with a 4 hour drive to their home in Charlotte.  The 9 month old baby screamed pretty much the entire flight.  Even with the screaming right beside him, Jacob still managed to sleep some.  And when he wasn't sleeping, he still did great.  Matthew and I took turns standing and walking with Jacob whenever possible to keep him content.  Jacob was amazing, and had all of the French flight attendants on our Air France flight wrapped around his little finger.  :) We couldn't have asked for the trip to go any smoother!

My mom, grandmother, and grandfather met us at the airport in Atlanta.  It was so great to see their smiling faces waiting by the baggage carousel!

After a really rough night (9 1/2 hour flight + 6 hour time difference + first time not sleeping in his own crib = very confused/grumpy baby- all. night. long.), Matthew's brother, Mike met us in Atlanta to help drive us to Clayton (we had too many bags to fit in my mom's CRV!).  Since Mike and Matthew's parents never made it to France for Christmas, this was the first time Jacob got to meet his Uncle Mike.

We drove up to Matthew's parents' house in Northeast Georgia to some very impatient grandparents who have been dying to love on this little boy since November 24!

And the family love didn't stop there!  Matthew's grandmother, uncle, and his uncle's wife all drove down from Kentucky to meet Jacob.  I would say they drove down to see us, but we all know who they really came to see!  Sunday, Matthew's other grandmother, another uncle, his wife, and their 3 children came over for lunch.  I have waited so long for Jacob to be surrounded by family!  It was such a great feeling to see all of the love they have for him.

Jacob with his great-grandmother and second cousins.

Sunday afternoon we drove out to the lake to visit with some of our closest friends (in fact, David is the one responsible for introducing Matthew and I!).  I only wish we had more time to visit with David and Betsy.

What a great first weekend back home. We spent almost 4 weeks in the US, so there is lots more to come!