Grammie and Pappie

Welp, we are officially having withdrawl at the O'Neill Omaha residence today. This is the first day without Grammie and Pappie here since last Tuesday.

God Bless them. They came to stay while Camille started Kindergarten last week--to help out while we all settled into our groove....oh yeah, and I suspect largely because they love our kids to pieces and didn't want to miss out on this monumental milestone. Arriving Tuesday night, we got to see the whites of their eyes until Sunday afternoon.

We loved every moment.

And there were so many moments to love....seeing Dad tirelessly line up and organize all of Livvy's little pet shop animals....hearing Camille say Sunday afternoon with all of the sadness that she could muster, "But Pappie, you can't leave. You have to stay here".....having their young energy fill our lives.

And then, of course, there are the two-sided conversations that Grammie and Jack have together. I LOVE them. Mom has had them over the past five years with all of the kids when they were not yet able to speak for themselves. The story lines she weaves entertain them...and me...for hours. I think it is one of the things I will miss the most about having children who are babies.

Here's just a few snippets of the lengthy conversations that we so love:

At the crib:

Grammie (looking down at Jack in his crib): "Whatsa doin' down there?"

Grammie as Jack (GAJ): "Say, 'Well, Grammie, I don't know. You put me here. What am I doing down here?'"

Changing a diaper:

Grammie: "Whoa, you gotsa load. Yes. You are soaked to the brim. Yes you are."

GAJ: "Say, 'Grammie, you are always talking about loads when you change me. Load, load, load. That's so embarrasing.' Say, 'Don't talk about my loads in front of everyone, Grammie.'"

At 11:00 p.m., when Jack suddenly comes to life:

Grammie: "Yes, Jack, I see you are awake. Yes, those eyes wide open. Not even close to shutting. Nope. "

GAJ: "Say, 'Yep, Grammie. Time to party. My sisters are sleeping and I have all the attention. Yessir. All I have do do is wake up and all you have to do is do whatever I want to do. Yep. I set the schedule.'"

See how lucky we are? Do you see why we miss Grammie and Pappie's presence this week? Does this leave you hungry for more? It does me.