Tennessee...

Thursday November 3rd, 2011 my Uncle Dean passed away. Friday morning we loaded up the boys & the pups & we headed to Tennessee to be with my Aunt & other family.

The boys once again did great on the drive. Google maps said it was a 7 hour trip & we made it in 8 hours with the change in time zone.

The view on our way to:

We stayed at my Uncle Rick's place, my Aunt had a house full when we arrived. Although we were there for not so great reasons, I was happy that our boys were finally getting to meet their Great Aunts & Uncle & some of their cousins. I am very sad they didn't get to meet my Uncle Dean & heartbroken my Uncle never got to see them in person.

Caden with our cousin, Braelyn (4years old) 

The boys being fed by their Great Uncle Rick

Caden, Garren, & Kellan

My youngest (currently) cousin, Blakely (17 months)

Blakely checking out the boys

Caden & Blakely

He's just too cute!!!

My Aunt, the boys Great Aunt Buffy having a chat with them :)

 I was actually a little scared to see my aunt, although I was there to see & be with her. I don't handle death very well myself & I just can't imagine losing the person I had spent my entire life with, especially as sudden and as young as she did. I have always been extremely close with my aunt (&my uncle), so I knew seeing her initially was going to be heartbreaking. I guess I wasn't sure I'd know the right thing to say.

Well the trip was a little harder on the boys than I had anticipated. Not only did we change time zones but the the time changed while we were there also, throwing the boys off schedule my 2 hours. Not to mention being out of their element, sleeping in different beds, all the activity with my uncles kids, & the new people holding, feeding, & playing with them. They didn't nap or sleep well & were fussy. Tuesday night, in the middle of the night Caden woke up crying & was really congested. I put him in bed with us propped up on a pillow so he could breath better. An hour later Garren woke up with the same congestion but his nose was running. I took him & laid on the couch with him propped up. About 3 hours later Kellan woke, also with the same symptoms. I put Garren in his swing at this point & sat & rocked Kellan, while Donna & Caden stayed asleep in the bedroom. Everyone was awake again at 6am so I made bottles & fed them all, then called the pediatrician to see if we should come in. The pediatrician said yes, so we made the decision to head home & miss the funeral service for my uncle :(
With the boys being born so prematurely they are at higher risk for RSV, a respiritory infection that would land them back in the hospital. We felt it was better to play it safe & since the boys were already having a hard time settling in away from home, we thought they might rest better & feel better back in their surroundings.

We enjoyed seeing family & spending some time with each of them. I wish we could have stayed longer & also seen my Aunt Pam who I haven't seen in many years, my cousins Dean & Kari, & my grandmother.

The view on the way home:

The boys did pretty good on the way home too, well up until the last 2 hours anyways. Once the sun started to go down you could here the congestion building back up making it harder for the boys to breath. We gave them nice warm bottles as soon as we got home & they each slept through the night once again. Even babies prefer their own bed :)