Aunt Lynda's House

Our first week with Lily was spent at Aunt Lynda's house. We could not return to our home in Kansas even though it was was only 90 minutes away because we had to wait for the paperwork to go to the state Interstate Compact for the Protection of Children (ICPC) offices in Topeka and Jefferson City. Essentially they had to say it was OK for us to have our daughter and to take her across state lines.

Aunt Lynda was gracious to open her home to us. She let us stay in a spare bedroom on the second floor. We had our own bathroom and could use the other spare room up there as well. We would spend our daytime hours in her living room with Lily and try to sleep at night in two twin beds upstairs. We had purchased a porta-crib for Lily which we set up between the two beds.

We picked up Lily on a Friday (January 20, 2006) and had to work out a routine as best we could for when we were at Aunt Lynda's. Because Lily was certainly not sleeping through the night, Laurel and I would take turns in feeding, changing and holding her.

Laurel had to go to work on Monday because she was responsible for planning a major event that would happen that Thursday. I had to let her sleep as much as possible so that she could get up and be on the road by 7:00. She would get back each evening at about 6:30. Aunt Lynda helped out lots during the day and was always doing laundry, fixing a meal or holding Lily so that I could take a nap or a shower.

Lynda explained to Laurel and I how to use the remote on her television. It was not working correctly so she had figured out what combination of buttons to press to make it work. On one of my shopping trips for diapers, I bought her a new remote and programmed it for her. She was thrilled that she could just push a single button to change the channel or raise the volume.

Laurel and I also noticed that her doorbell didn't work. I told her about our doorbell and she thought that it would be fun to have a doorbell that would play songs. I went to the local Lowes store and bought her a new doorbell and installed it. She was so excited that she had to show it to everyone who came to the door.

Lots of people came to visit while we were at Aunt Lynda's house. Many relatives visited to meet Lily for the first time. Lynda and I spent lots of time talking and getting to know one another.

On Thursday, January 26, I got the call from the social worker that the ICPC paperwork had come through. Grandpa L was already on his way when I got the call to take Lily and me home. We packed everything in the van and made our way home.

Thank you, Aunt Lynda! We couldn't have done it without you. You will always hold a special place with our Lily Rose.