Home Sweet Home

Well, we survived. I can't tell you how many times over the weekend I heard "you sure are brave"... but I think my brother Kent is the brave one! He generously offered to let us ride with him, not knowing what he was getting himself into, I'm sure. The trip over on Thursday wasn't too bad. The kids were very well behaved the entire eight hours in the car. Allie pretty much slept (which I kind of expected) and JD didn't get whiny until the last two hours of the trip. Even then, it wasn't too bad as we were able to distract him with Elmo and Mickey DVDs. The trip home on Sunday was a little worse. Mainly because we had such a busy weekend and JD was tired and slightly cranky. It took us nine hours to get home and I almost cried when we turned into our neighborhood I was so happy to be getting out of the car! Sarah was a tremendous help in keeping JD occupied and happy (well, as happy as possible) in the car on the way home! I do have to say, though, thank goodness for McDonald's! On the trip there and the trip back we stopped at McDonald's for lunch and let JD run and climb on the playground to get some energy out.

There's so much to say about our weekend. It was hard on several different levels. Yes, it was hard traveling with the kids and I couldn't have done it without the help of all my family that was in TN. We stayed at my grandma's condo, which has two bedrooms and my parents stayed with us. JD, Allie and I all slept in one room, which I was kind of hesitant about because JD is used to having his own room and is a fairly light sleeper. Thursday night was awful. JD insisted on sleeping in the bed with me. I swear he would have rolled out of the bed at least 10 times had I not been there to grab his ankle and pull him back (which he slept right through... guess he's not as light of a sleeper as I thought). So I was pretty much on high alert all night. Allie woke to eat around 2:00 AM and then had a blowout at 3:00 AM so I had to change her PJ's in the middle of the night, while JD cried. Finally around 3:30 AM, JD laid his head back down and went back to sleep and I was able to get Allie back to sleep around 4:00 AM. I was pretty tired the next day....

Friday was an interesting day. Later that evening we were supposed to be getting some nasty weather so we decided to drive down to my brother's house in GA in the morning so we could take JD to the fire station, returning to TN before the snow/sleet set in. It was my hope that we could do that in the morning and then go straight to the nursing home to see Grandma Marge. It didn't quite work out that way. The snow started right as we were pulling in to Merv's driveway.... around noon! Boy did it accumulate fast! We did take JD to the fire station (I'll do a separate post with lots of pictures for that) and then hit the road immediately to go back to TN. A trip that normally takes us about 30 minutes took us over an hour. The roads were horrible. Even the interstate was at a crawl. When we got back to TN we quickly realized that my car, not being 4 wheel drive, would not make it up the large hill to my cousin's house to drop Kent off. So poor Kent got dropped off at the bottom of the hill so he could walk up. I felt so sorry for him heading off into the snow, which was coming down pretty hard still! Luckily, my cousin's neighbor had 4 wheel drive and was able to pick him up as well as my aunt who left my cousin's house a little too late and was stuck. He car couldn't make it down so she was sitting in her car waiting to be rescued. Needless to say, we didn't get to visit Grandma Marge as her nursing home is also at the top of a very large hill. We pretty much settled in for the night when we got back to Grandma's condo!

Friday night was a little better. JD cried and cried for an hour and a half when I put him in the pack-n-play for bed but he finally conked out and slept all night, which he desperately needed.

Saturday morning we got up and helped JD make his very first snowman (I'll also do another post with lots of pictures of the snow). Mid-morning my dad took my car out to check the roads. He was able to drive to the top of the hill without any problems so, after JD's morning nap, we bundled up and headed to the nursing home.

My grandmother got to meet Allison, she even held her for a few minutes. Grandma didn't want her picture taken, which I can understand, so I don't have any pictures of Grandma Marge with her first great-granddaughter, but I'm just happy she got to meet and hold Allie. JD wasn't too sure about the whole nursing home scene. He was very happy, though to drink all of Grandma Marge's juice when she offered it to him! When we could occupy JD no longer, my parents took him (and Allison) back to the condo and I sat with my grandmother. Later, Merv, Angie, Kent and Sarah came and sat with us. And a little while after that, Merv and Angie left and my mom and dad came. I got to spend about 5 hours with her, just talking and napping, but it wasn't enough. I can't tell you how hard it was to leave that evening, knowing it was probably the last time I'll get to see her. Saying goodbye was so hard but I'm so thankful that I got the chance to hang out with her for just a little while.

When we got back to the condo, JD was having a ball. My cousin Beth was there with her little boy, Tyler. JD and Tyler play really well together and JD was also having fun with Uncle Merv and Aunt Angie. Grandma Marge's condo was certainly lively that evening, complete with two teenage boys having a snowball fight in the front yard (Beth's other son Derek and my nephew Josh). After everyone left JD went down for the night without a fight and slept all night long.

Sunday we got up, packed our stuff and headed home. I am happy to be home and happy to be getting JD back into his routine, but really bummed that I didn't get to visit with family as much as I wanted to. I only saw my cousin Beth twice and that was for a total of about 30 minutes. I only saw my nephew Brad once for a total of about 10 minutes.... and I only got to spend one afternoon with Grandma Marge when I was really hoping for two.... but I'll take it.

So, how do you occupy a toddler on a snowy morning in an elderly woman's condo? Walker rides with Elmo, of course!