Thank you for visiting my blog! If you are visiting because you have experienced a pregnancy or infant loss, let me say that I am so very sorry. I started this blog shortly after our Baby Grady was stillborn on November 12, 2008. Please visit the sidebar below called "Labels" to find the topic in which you are interested, or just read as your heart desires.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

A Trip Down Memory Lane

First of all, thank you so much for all of your sweet, encouraging comments and emails regarding my last post. I feel much better. I appreciate all of you who read here, whether you are an official follower or not. I'm really not about the number of followers... My main goal is sharing my life and heart with all of you. So, thanks again for reading!

--------------------

Last week my girls had a mid-winter break. They have two days off every year in February which is nice. We didn't have really big plans, but we did take a little trip down memory lane.

We lived in Lilburn, GA for six years. We had a wonderful preschool where both girls attended. Jessica started in the 18-month-old class and continued until she was four, turning five, and ready for Kindergarten. Emma Grace only attended for one year in the two-year old class. But to tell you how special this place was, when we moved to where we currently live, I continued to drive her almost an hour each way to school two days a week. I didn't want to change her in the middle of the year. They loved Emma Grace and had helped us pray her through her severely premature birth. They knew and appreciated her and her life. I didn't want to just walk away from that. It doesn't hurt to mention that going down there two times a week really helped me keep my sanity. We had moved to a small town in what is definitely considered country for me. I would take my coolers and cold bags and shop at my old grocery store, meet my friend Mary Beth at our favorite mexican restaurant for lunch, and visit convenient stores like Target and Walmart to get essentials and fun stuff.

They are on a different school calendar than we are, so off we went for a visit.

Jessica's teachers, from her 18-month-old class, Mrs. Jill and Mrs. Suzanne, are still there! When we arrived they were hula-hooping with the littles because it was too cold to go out. Wish I'd gotten a picture of that!



This is Jessica's favorite teacher, Mrs. Dorothy.



She taught Jessica in the four-year old Franklin class. Franklin, the stuffed green turtle, would occasionally make a trip home with us for our adventures over the weekend, but not before he got a bath in the washing machine!

And this is Mrs. Kathy, the director of the preschool.


She took us in their teacher resource room/break room and hanging on the cabinets are all of our past Christmas cards and Emma Grace's birth announcement. Too sweet!

I love where we are now, but I sure do miss these sweet, wonderful people!

After we left the preschool, we drove by our old house in Lilburn. This was mine and Gib's first house.



When we lived there it had just a standard garage door. You know the kind with the square windows going across it. The new owners thought this one would look better. I don't.

This is Mr. Willy (the name affectionately given to the tree by Jessica).



Jessica used to love climbing in this tree and just sitting there. Literally, just sitting. She still gets a bit sentimental when she sees it.

We were then off to visit a very special person. This is Nanny Bill.




Her first name is Billie and all of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren call her Nanny Bill. So do we. Gib and I rented her basement apartment for about 18 months right before Jessica was born. (We might still live there if we hadn't had children - we loved it that much!)



We loved living with her and her husband. He unfortunately passed away ten years ago, but we have great memories of being in their home. They took us in as if we were family, and we have kept in touch. She calls us her adopted grandchildren, and we call her our adopted grandmother. She's such a blessing in our lives. And I love to visit her house in the winter...I love the sound of the furnace when it kicks on. It brings back great memories. That may sound crazy to you, but certain sounds, smells, songs, etc just do that to me. (This is where we lived when I read The Notebook and have the great, rainy day memory)

We left her house, went to an appointment on the way home and then to meet another blog friend in real life. I'll blog about that soon. It was a full day, but it was a great feeling of tiredness when it was over.

--------------------

Lord help us...Emma Grace is on a steroid (and an antibiotic). She had a cold a couple of weeks ago, and it has settled in her chest. Again. She coughed for three hours last night, after Hycodan cough syrup, Vick's rub on her chest, two breathing treatments and two hot steam showers. I took her to the doctor this morning, so thankfully we have some meds to help her start to mend. But steroids do not do her, or us, any favors when it comes to her behavior. This has been her hardest winter in about four years. Needless to say, I'm ready for spring!!!

Love,
Tonya

5 comments:

  1. It's so exciting to see the houses I've heard so much about! This was a wonderful post; I loved hearing the nostalgic warmth in your voice. Beautiful pics!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for sharing a bit of your past. Those are truly some beautiful memories.

    ReplyDelete
  3. First glance, Nanny Bill resembled your mom to me. It's fun to "go back" isn't it? Hugs all around!! Sal :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Tonya,
    You know me I always love to learn more about you and your past... Who doesn't love to hear about those fond memories... that was great.
    3 of the 5 kids have a stomach virus... our Texas trip isn't all we had hoped, but I think that they are on the mend, thank the Lord. I will be praying that sweet Emma Grace beats tht cold quickly, that always makes me nervous when it settles in their chest, I know I feel better once they are on something.

    I am praying for you sweet friend... We will catch up one of these days... sending hugs... missing our precious boys:)
    Sara

    ReplyDelete
  5. What sweet memories! Thanks for sharing.

    I'm so sorry that Emma Grace is having a rough time. Praying she gets 100% better soon.

    love you friend,
    ebe

    ReplyDelete