So much to talk about...

Me, the girls, Diane and Gary the day we had to leave.

Tate and Keely having a good time and beating the heat with barley any clothes
Tate and her papa sharing some goldfish one evening before bed. Tate ate like a champ while we were gone. YEAH!!

I don't even know where to begin with this post but suppose I will talk about the vacation. As you can imagine we had a great time and it was so nice to get to spend so much time with Tate's foster parents Gary and Diane. To the girls they are Nana and PaPa the girls are as crazy about them as they are about the girls. While we were driving to the air port all Tatum could say was "PaPa going with us on the air plane?" It's hard to explain to a 2 year old that we are leaving and won't see them for who knows how long. We hope it won't be long and are planning to get together again around the new year weather it be in Mississippi or in Branson where we often meet. Our last days in Mississippi were spent getting ready to head back home. On the day we had to leave another family came to see Gary and Diane who also adopted a baby that they fostered. And it really is amazing that they too are from Nebraska. Grand Island to be exact and we had known for about a year and a half that they too adopted from MS but had never met here in Nebraska. We decided that it was pretty bad that we had to go clear to MS to actually get to meet each other. It was so nice to finally get to meet them. I always love meeting new people and especially when I can talk for hours about adoption because they too know all about it. They have a almost 6 year old and also the 1.5 year old who Gary and Diane also fostered. We got to sit and talk pretty much the whole morning and wish that we could have stayed and visited longer. We had to leave for the airport right after lunch. Unfortunately, Keely fell asleep on the way to the airport and it was evidently enough nap to fuel her for the ENTIRE flight home. Needless to say it was a very long flight with her wanting down and not understanding why she couldn't get down and run around. Plus I got some ice water in a cup during the flight and with all Keely's craziness the water got spilled in my lap, Keely's diaper must have gotten slid over to one side too much and she peed on my leg, and to top that all off Keely chocked on her chocolate milk and spit up all over her and Tate's blanket. It is very funny to talk about now but I was never so glad to see Scott and my brother at the airport. Now don't get me wrong I love the girls very much but was in need of a few minutes to take a deep breath when we got off the flight. Luckily Tate slept the whole flight. Since getting off the plane our lives have been very busy. When we got home we all got in the swimming pool and swam into the evening. After the girls went to bed I stayed up and got everything ready for out long day of appointments on Thursday in Omaha. We had Tatum's first appointment at 10am and it lasted until almost noon. That was the feeding and growth appointment and they were very happy with Tate's progress and we don't have to go back for 4 months as long as things continue to go so well. So as of now a feeding tube is nowhere in our future, thank goodness. We had lunch at the hospital cafeteria then headed to another hospital for Tatum's trans cranial doppler which is an ultrasound of her brain. She did great and let them do their thing. It only lasted about 20 minutes then we were off to get blood drawn to check all her counts. When we finally got to see the hematologist all the results from the tests were in and all was good! I was so glad that my brother went to the appointments with me and was a big help in entertaining Keely while I talked with all the doctors. After returning home we tried to relax and swam out in the back yard. Friday my brother wanted to go and look at cars at all the different lots here in Lincoln so that is what we did ALL day. Scott's mom and her husband came to stay the weekend with us too as they had another granddaughter playing in a tournament all weekend. The girls stayed at the house with Scott's mom and napped. After nap time they took the girls to a indoor play area and from the sound of things they had a great time. That evening Scott tried his hand at making ribs on the grill as good as Gary's that we had in Mississippi. They were very good but he still needs more practice! Saturday we got up kind of early and got ready to go to Madison which is a little over 2 hours away to a family get together with Scott's birth mother's family. There was a lot of people there and tons of little kids. It was nice to see everyone and also to meet some new people that we hadn't met from that part of his family. Today we all slept in and it felt great! Around lunch Scott's mom had to go to another game and the girls napped. I decided to go out and swim and invited my neighbor lady over since I was out their by myself. It was such a relaxing afternoon out there and some much needed lazy time. We were out there literally all day until supper. I am now paying for it with a badly burnt face and shoulders but it was so worth it! We ended up having the neighbors whole family over and grilling out for supper. I am so glad that this week is going to be a little more quiet. Well until the end of the week at least. My sister is coming on Thursday to stay the weekend. Friday Scott's dad and step mom are coming to Lincoln to spend the weekend for the 4th. They will be getting a motel that has a great pool and also had a kitchenette in it and a grill outside so we will probably be spending quite a bit of time over there. It's going to be a great time and has been so long since we have got to see them. Sorry I haven't posted so long but now I think I have you all caught up and if there is something I forgot to talk about please let me know. Have a great weekend!

Keely and Nelson becoming buddies! Hopefully we can get to know him and his family better since we all live here in Nebraska.