Kaylee,
I, "Grandma" write this two weeks from the date Oct. 13, 2010, the day I brought you home to Lebanon with me, until Sunday Oct. 17. Leading up to picking you up from your mom I was concerned how you would do being away from your momma and daddy for the first time. I have made sure I could see you at least once a month since birth and luckily a few times only a couple of weeks passed before seeing you but it still concerned me that you might not be ready to be with me alone. I am jealous of the grandparents that have their grandchildren living close by because I miss seeing you grow and Bug you are growing every minute. Ok, back to the trip to Grandma's house. I spent the weekend before we picked you up fixing up the extra bedroom and putting out some dolls and things that your momma had growing up. One doll is a doll given to me by one of my favorite aunts in 1964, one day you can take her home and give her "Bug" hugs. Uncle Quinten and I made a trip to Target to pick up needed items and some munchies that both Uncle Quinten and I picked out as well as the list you momma sent me to make sure her "Bug" was taken care of. I always heard babies don't come with directions but you did:)
On Wednesday morning your Great Grandma, Uncle Quinten and myself "Grandma" headed east to meet you and your momma in Newport, TN. As I drove the three hours to pick you up I was excited to see how you would act meeting us at the Cracker Barrel. Your Great Grandma beat me out of the van and you smiled at her but you won my heart when I squatted down and when you saw me you came to me smiling and gave me a hug. You saw your Uncle Quniten and I leaned you over to him and you gave him a kiss. We ate in Cracker Barrel where you ate more than I did, you had a little off of every body's plate.
When we finished eating I let you walk around inside of the store and you did pretty good not touching everything and I finally bought you a Rudolph the Red nose reindeer head band. It took us several minutes to get all the stuff momma had packed for you...toys, highchair, books, clothes and a cooler of homemade food just for you. We loaded you up in the van and you were fine sitting in the back with Granny and momma told you good bye. As we drove out we put the CD that I bought you in Gatlinburg that sings songs with your name added in and we played it for over and hour and a half before you fell asleep. Your Great Uncle Bubba who lives in Crossville wanted us to stop by his church so he could show you off. I wasn't for sure if we should considering you had just been asleep for thirty minutes but I am glad we did because you had a blast. When you first saw Uncle Bubba you kind of cried but he took you and talked to you like you know who I am let's go have fun. After he took you around showing you off we went into the church gym where you played on mobile toys, kicked a ball and made sure Uncle Quinten had a basketball to shoot with. You would run and swing your arms and I was afraid you would fall but you did extremely well. Uncle Bubba took you to meet some other people and you didn't like that so you cried and really anytime a stranger came up the whole time you were here you went to pieces.
Once were arrived at grandma's house you walked around checking out your room and petting Sophia and Argon. You spent a lot of time watching your Uncle Quinten play videos and you talked to the fish. I fed you supper then we went outside for just a few minutes where you watched the leaves blow around. Bath time went really well as you played and tried to hand Argon your bath water. You are such a good baby, I was concerned that at bedtime you would get upset being in a strange room but you went straight to sleep. Thursday morning we were up at 7:00 and you were hungry! I fixed a big breakfast and granny came and joined us.
After breakfast you and I walked Argon around outside then we loaded up and headed to town. We stopped by grandma's work but you really didn't like seeing people you don't know. We met grandpa at Ryan's for lunch and you ate more than I did once again. You had a young boy waving at you and you would just nod your head at him. After lunch we went to Wal-mart where granny pushed you in the stroller and then you walked around some. I bought you a pair of tennis shoes that your uncle Quinten picked out. Once back home you took a small nap then we played ball outside with uncle Quinten.
At supper we watched the DVD of Elmo and the ABC's and I let it keep playing so after you finished eating you would walk around but once you heard a particular song come on you would go back into the breakfast room and just stand there watching. You did really good not bothering things but when you did pick up something all I had to do was tell you once to put it down. You do seem to have a thing with remotes though:)
Friday we spent the day at home, we played outside several times, picked up walnuts or should I say you watched me and granny pick them up. You rode in a wheel barrel while granny pushed. Great Uncle Bubba came as did great great great cousin Nancy and Marvin to eat lunch with grandpa, grandma, uncle Quinten and granny at granny's house. Uncle Bubba brought you some Halloween stuff and you were scared of the Mickey Mouse pumpkin and a stuffed pumpkin but you were scared of both. You kept trying to go up granny's upstairs so Nancy put the pumpkin on the stairs and you stopped dead in your tracks when you saw them on the steps. After lunch we all walked out back and watched uncle Quinten and grandpa run a gas car on the racetrack they built. You walked around and Uncle Bubba messed with you by running through the field. At night you and I would play in your room and you would bring me books to read. You went to sleep really well this night as well.
Up once again on Saturday morning and started off with a big breakfast, then a walk outside with Argon. We picked up granny and drove to Mrs Batey's house (long time family friend) and I just knew you would cry the whole time once you saw her but you didnt. Everybody loves Mrs Batey and you picked up on her kindness immediately as well. Once we left there we drove to the Castle Heights Campus, (where grandma & uncle Bubba went to school)where Oktoberfest was going on. We pushed you around for the first few minutes and then on the football field we put you down but you weren't sure of the type of grass. Finally you started walking and off you went following the sound of the music. You danced and danced and even would stop to see if people were watching you. Next year you will be able to do more of the games and I hope to have you here every October. Once back at the house it was just playing outside or inside and you discovering new things. I showed you a picture of mommy and daddy when they first met and you look at it and smiled. Then you walked around the house saying momma. You didn't sleep good at all this last night and I think you were missing home.
Sunday morning I got you dressed up and we headed to church but you had already been up since 5:30 and only took a half hour nap. You were more vocal and not happy unless we went outside. Once we got to church you dint like the fact a lady stopped to talk to you and when we went into the sanctuary you walked down the isle to the stage. We made it through the start of the music and you started fussing so I took you to the nursery but you cried and cried, they tried to get you to play with the other kids but one little girl came up to you and you looked at her and screamed:( I decided enough was enough so I took you and drove you around and you fell asleep just a half mile down the road. I drove back to church and you slept in the van while we waited on grandpa and Uncle Quinten to come out. After church we ate at Gondola one of our favorite restaurants and then we headed to meet your momma and daddy in Newport, TN three hours from Lebanon. I had packed your supper foods and we stopped at Krystal's to get us all something to eat at the rest area just east of Newport. Your momma came walking up the sidewalk and I had my back turned as I put you down I could feel your body stiffen up and you said "hey" to you momma and went fast towards her. She hugged you the took you to see your daddy who was waiting his turn and you went running to him. You love your momma and daddy and they love you very much. We all sat at the picnic table eating and watching you walk around exploring this new area. I hated to tell you goodbye but you were back where you belonged but I look forward to doing this again soon.
I had sent my digital camera home with Kaylee, so I went back and picked out some of my favorite pictures from her trip!
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