No, we have not found a home in Bristol, yet- sorry if the title is misleading. :)
We visited Lily's first home last week, possibly her favorite home of all.
That's right- Aunt Manda, Uncle Zack, Kyler, and Noah time!
Since apparently I live in North Carolina (I always forget. Weird, I know), it is a 9 hour drive. Ugh. Thankfully, we broke it up with a night in Knoxville on the way there and back. So, we got a little Noni-Bop-Anderson time sprinkled in (Sissa was at work).
Lily was AMAZING in the car for the first 3 hours from Knoxville to Alabama. Seriously, amazing! She slept for ALMOST 3 HOURS!!!!!! I have no idea who this kid is, but I think that maybe she is desperate for a sibling playmate and is trying to convince us that we could possibly survive another kid. Not, soon- don't get excited. But, the final hour that she was awake, she was EXHAUSTING. She could literally not handle her excitement: "When it says, three, zero, zero, then we will be there. Mama, where is Manda? Mama, it says two, one, five. I want three, zero, zero. I love Uncle Zack. Will Kyler and Noah be there? Mama, I need Manda." Etcetera, Etcetera...over and over for AN HOUR.
It was worth the wait- Aunt Manda had so many surprises waiting! Pom Poms, paper clips, marbles, Princess stuff, craft things, beads, lots of hugs...
***Disclaimer: you will see the blue jacket and the same pair of pajamas (Dora ones from Aunt Manda) over and over. We were there longer than one night, she has millions of cute clothes, and we do laundry. She is just persistent and stubborn and loyal?. Hence, the same jacket and jammies.***
***Also, if you are one of my Alabama friends and didn't know we were in town/are sad you didn't see us, please understand I love you and would have loved to hang out...but, we are really crunched for time when we are there...plus, there is no way I can take Lily away for even a second. It would get violent and ugly. :) ***
Lily wasted no time, just jumping right back in where she left off. She loves her cousins.
Making pink cupcakes. With pink sprinkles.
The picture doesn't do the size justice. This huge tub of popcorn is in my brother's pantry. My brother eats popcorn every single night. EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. I remember seeing the bowls sitting on the counter every morning growing up, so this has been a pastime for years. Lily clearly has his genes/influence, because she always wants popcorn, now.
There was a lot of stuff like this happening- Lily wearing cute outfits from Aunt Manda, while eating yummy treats from Aunt Manda. While Mama played on her phone.
So much attention and love.
Seriously, she FORGETS about me. It is precious. Heartwarming. Perfect.
THIS girl. LOVE this girl. Hughes and I caught the shrimp, trying to be good sports, and when the cook got to Lily, he pretended like he was going to throw it, and she opened her mouth! So, he threw it. And, she caught it! Several times!
My nephews are adorable and just let her do whatever she wants, even if it means walking around holding her hand. (Um, Kyler is going to be 16 in April! When/How did that happen?).
Relaxing.
Had to make a few stops and grab some essentials.
(I literally turned my back for one second and found her in the cooler).
It is a rough, rough life to be a Bishop.
Her other Mama.
Playing some video games with the boys. And eating some Oreos.
Carousel.
She doesn't realize that she barely fits in her old chair.
My brother is the BEST. Please notice that Zack has a rope tied around his waist, a scarf around his neck, and is holding maracas. There were lots of parades. I love my brother. How did I get so lucky???
It is hard to explain how just, at peace or something, we are when we are there. Lily is in her element, the happiest I ever see her, when we are there. I think it is because they were as much a part of her DAILY like as we were, and it has to be reassuring to know that they aren't just gone forever. Maybe she got nervous that one day Hughes and I would just disappear?
We love them and are homesick for them, already.
This post is about the Bham family, but I had to sneak in a picture of Noni and Bop. Lily is obsessed with their cuckoo clock (she has a new love affair with time, in general). My parents don't at all encourage it or spoil her.
Video of the shrimp. Too cute.
She was happy to be back there.. When she walked in my door for the layover, she told me she would only be here one night.... Going to see Aunt Manda and Uncle Zack. :)
ReplyDeleteIt is just too much. I love the shrimp, her chubs in her old chair, Aunt Manda and Uncle Zack spoiling, grabbing some beer, the parade...LOVE!
ReplyDeletejacob has been obsessed with time for a while also. and numbers, as in amounts of things. it doesn't get better. EVERY time we get into the car to go anywhere he wants to know how long. how many minutes till we get to kroger? how many things do you need to get there? how many places do we have to go today? it is exhausting, i agree. because i don't always know the exact minutes, and if i guess wrong, no good. also, if i say we need 12 things at the grocery, once we hit that number, he lets me know. too bad if i think of something else we need...ugh.
ReplyDelete