This year has started off fantastic! We have a new grandson to celebrate, Toby James Bedigrew. I can not express all the emotion that comes with having our grandson named after the son we lost. The day Pat asked our blessing in naming his son Toby, Jim and I were speechless. You don't have to know me well to know that I'm not usually speechless. We were taken by surprise. Hadn't even considered this possibility. There have been a lot of tears, but they are tears of joy. As a mother I could not be more proud of my sons. They have always kept their brother Toby in their hearts and now he has a namesake. And the tears are flowing again. I thank Pat & Kat from the bottom of my heart. You will never give us a gift greater than this. His arrival was a bit early and we had to grab everything and head to Texas in a big rush. He did wait for Gramma & Grampa to arrive before making his debut. I was very emotional about holding my precious grandson. And I had to wait until the next day. He is the most beautiful little boy and we are very happy to welcome him into our hearts. His big sister, Elle, was as impatient as we were for his arrival. She kept wanting to "go to Mommy's work". The first visit was so fun. Elle wasn't sure who Mommy was holding when she got there. She asked "Who's that?". I'm not sure what image she had of what Baby Toby was going to look like, but that was apparently not it. She does, however, love her little brother and was very good at "shushing" everyone because he was sleeping. I think Toby and Elle look very similar, but they are different. We were able to spend a couple of weeks with them and tried to help out with things. This meant spending time at Little Gym & Dance with Elle along with some cooking, cleaning, feeding and snuggling. It's so very hard to be a distant grandparent. Technology makes it easier now, but there is nothing better than holding your grandchildren and I miss that every day that I'm not with them. Here are just a few of my favorite photos from our trip.
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| Big Sister |
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| So Precious |
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| Grampa Time |
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| Real Love |
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| Gramma and her boy |
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| Finally |
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| Super Baby |
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| One week family photo |
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| Happy Gramma |
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| Cheese |
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| Who's holding me? |
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| Chillin" |
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| She loves him |
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| Smilin' for Uncle Derek |
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| Are you ready for some football? |
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| Me & Mommy |
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Garbriel, my Protector
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| Lowes with Uncle Derek & Grampa |
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| At the playground |
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| Dance Show |
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| Oobleck...so much fun! |
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| Making cake with Gramm |
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| Chasing Elle |
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| Silly Goose |
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| Big Sis |
