Thursday, July 10, 2008

Trip To Chattanooga

I must admit that I have been lax in posting lately. Taylor has not been napping well and that is usually the time that I take to write. She is actually not asleep right now, but at least she is quiet and hopefully she is on the way to being asleep. I think she is transitioning from two naps to one and it has been difficult. She has been going down okay for her morning nap, but the afternoon nap is a struggle. She just lays there and fights it. Yesterday she only got one 30 minute nap in. She was so tired by bedtime. If she would sleep longer then I would consider dropping her morning nap altogether in hopes that she would take a long afternoon nap. It doesn't always work that way though. Sundays are good days to test that theory since she doesn't get a nap in the nursery.
Well, that was just a preface. Now on to the meat and potatoes. My friend Lyndsey from church went with me and Taylor to Chattanooga last week. We decided to go up there and get out of Daniel's hair so he could get some work done on the kitchen. The biggest improvement that I could see when I got back was that he had painted the laundry area including the cabinets. The rest of the work he did was detail stuff that wouldn't make that much of an impact to just anyone. It does look better though. We still have the floor and the lighting to do, but that will come later.

We had a great time in Chattanooga. We drove up on Monday and got there just in time for Taylor's afternoon nap. Taylor did really well on the drive up. While in Chattanooga we did some shopping. I took Lyndsey to the mall and a couple other places around the area. Alicia let me borrow her stroller so I wouldn't have to bring mine with me. That was really nice. On Tuesday we went to one of the places where I used to work. A lot has changed in the past 6 years. There are not many people left there that I used to work with. I did get to see the ones I was closest too though, which is what mattered.

On Wednesday we went to Alicia's house to swim. She has a baby pool and a kiddie pool. My best friend Tina and her baby Caleb were also there. I tried to put Taylor in the kiddie pool with Rebekah because Joshua and Caleb were both in the baby pool, but Taylor would not sit down. I think it was a little too deep and too cold for her. She is very picky about the water temperature. When I put her down in the baby pool she was happy as a lark. Joshua didn't stay in there long though. He crawled out and was wanting Alicia. He seems to be on the clingy side lately. Part of it may be because he is teething and doesn't feel well. Taylor ended up staying in the pool longer than anyone. She loved it!

On Thursday we went down to visit my grandparents in Huntsville. This is my grandmother who I mentioned in one of my previous posts has Parkinson's. We recently found out that she doesn't have full fledged Parkinson's but has Parkinsonism. She is doing some better. She is eating better on her own and is using a walker with help. She is continuing to gain strength. She does have issues with balance though and still needs help with basic things like taking a bath and getting dressed. I wanted to take Taylor down to see her great-grandparents while we were so close. It is only 2 hours from my parents' house as opposed to 6 or 7 hours from ours. I was so glad that we went. They really enjoyed Taylor and she warmed up to them really well. I wish that I had not forgotten to take my camera. I could have gotten some cute pictures.

On July 4th we had an early dinner at Alicia's house. Once again the kids had fun playing together - especially Rebekah and Taylor. Rebekah treated Taylor like a miniature version of herself. She didn't understand that even though Taylor was walking, she was till small like Joshua. She thought that Taylor could do all of the things she could do. It was really cute watching them though. Alicia has a precious picture of her playing ring-around-the-rosies with the girls. Here are some pictures that I took while we were there.

Taylor loves playing with balls

Lyndsey hangin' out with the fam



It is impossible to get all the kids to smile for a picture.



I thought this was sweet with Rebekah putting the big squeeze on Joshua and Taylor.


Grandmommy and the girls


Aunt Alicia and Taylor



Taylor enjoying the baby pool


Sisters and cousins



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