The drive was not bad today. We left Atlanta around 12 noon and stopped twice. We used those opportunities to fuel the car, ourselves and Ella as well as have potty breaks.

Honestly, Ella has been doing a great job. Sure, she fusses now and then because she’s a baby! But overall, she has been doing fantastic! And thanks again to Grandma West – – that DVD player is amazing! Ella sure loves to watch her signing videos and Baby Einstein. Now and again, we did catch her sleeping too.

We did pick the right itinerary for our journey home. Just as we arrived at our hotel today, Ella started to fuss. She had been in the car for about 6 hours total and she was done.

The meltdown started, but as soon as I started pushing the stroller, she paused. The lobby lights and sounds made her stop and check out the surroundings. Even the elevator ride to our room on the top floor made for something more interesting than the car. As soon as I got her out of the car seat and laid her on a blanket in the room, she was SO happy!

I think that was a simple and subtle way of letting us know that she had reached her travel limit for the day.

We are at the Sheraton at Music City in Nashville. Once again, we ended up with a great room. The highlight of Nashville trip was having Keith, Tracy and Christie Mitchell visit us (we met them in the NICU the first week that Ella was born last July). They drove an hour from Dickson, TN to come and see us. And of course, everything was good because they brought BBQ for dinner in our hotel room. We had a great time hanging out.

Sitting on the patio of the hotel room was surreal. Wait a minute…we are in Nashville, TN with Ella Renae?!?! We just love her so much and can’t believe that it has been 10 months and we are finally on our way back home.

Tomorrow, we are headed to St. Louis, MO, a 5 hour drive. Please continue to pray for safe travels and good weather.

Thanks for all the love and support.