the flood

hello blog.

long time no see.

i do have a reason for my absence.

we were hit by the great flood of Nashville.

it's being referred to as the "flood of a thousand years", as in that's how often a flood like this might occur here.

we woke up on the morning of May 2nd to someone banging on our front door, telling us they were evacuating our neighborhood and we had 5 minutes to get out of our house.

bobby and i thought that this woman must be a little loopy and was completely overreacting.

yes, it had been raining a lot, but we are in Nashville. we are not near an ocean, or even any really big lakes. just a few rivers here and there.

so Bobby went outside to go check things and out. when he came back about 10 minutes later, the water was already knee high across the way.

enter panic mode.

i grabbed diapers and milk and Caleb.

Bobby grabbed Bella - crate and all.

we walked out the door saying:

"do we set the alarm?"

"do we even lock the door?"

we got loaded into the car, and my amazing husband had enough sense to stop us right then, grabbed my hand, and said a prayer.

(have i ever mentioned how much i love this man and how lucky i am to have him?)

we tried to go to my parent's house. they live 5 minutes away, and we couldn't get there. every road there was already under.

even the interstate.

enter major panic mode.

we called my aunt and uncle, who also live close but up on a hill. they were so amazing and gracious. they let us invade their home, even though they had no electricity and part of their ceiling had caved in from all the water.

so we stayed there that day and night. when the electricity finally came back on, we stayed glued to the news coverage, which constantly showed our neighborhood, completely under water. it looked like our house was at least 3 feet under, maybe even more.

we went to bed feeling sick, uneasy, and completely helpless.

the next morning we drove over, just to see what was going on, and we were completely shocked to see that the water had already gone back down, and we could get into our house.

the water had been right around 3 feet deep all through our lower level. almost everything that was on our lower level had to be thrown out.

here is a picture looking down the sidewalk from in front of our house. that is my sofa on the right, just sitting out on the front lawn.....

the trash in our neighborhood accumulated so quickly. it was absolutely unbelievable to see how much there was.

here is husband standing in the middle of it all, to show just how much there was.....





they quickly started tearing the house apart. floors ripped out...walls knocked down...cabinets yanked out.

this is a shot of part of our living room and dining room.....



when the guys were knocking down the walls, they didn't want to take this down. so they hung it in the middle of the living room and left it there for everyone to see.....



it was such a great reminder in the midst of it all.

it is hard to watch your house being torn apart. it is hard to see your stuff sitting outside like garbage. it is hard to see the toys that your baby played with a few days earlier thrown into a trash pile.

every time i thought i had accounted for everything we had lost, i would remember something else that was gone.

not the material things. as much as i really liked some of our things, that wasn't what really mattered.

we lost pictures. Caleb's baby book. Caleb's newborn handprints and footprints. my maternity journal. our wedding album.

but as hard as the last six weeks have been, we are ok.

we have amazing family and friends. they showed up for us in ways that absolutely floored us. we are so grateful for each and every one of them.

we have an amazing God. He watched over us and protected us, and we are continually blessed by His faithfulness.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,

and the flame shall not consume you.

For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

Isaiah 43:2-3

a very merry birthday

we celebrated Caleb's 2nd birthday on Saturday with some family and friends.

it had barely rained all month, but on this day, for our outside party, the skies decided to let loose.

the party started at 12:00.

the very heavy downpour started at 12:00.

oh yeah, there were tornado warnings too.

so the party moved indoors, and almost everyone was still able to make it.

we had a fabulous time.

husband set up a tent on the deck, and stood out there and grilled away.....


little man stood at the front door, watching the rain, and waiting for his guests to arrive.....




while everyone else ate some yummy lunch, Caleb ate his spoon.....


and played peek-a-boo with it.....


Caleb loved the bags that his presents came with.....


and when we all sang happy birthday, he smiled and clapped.....


.....our singing must have been really excellent!

birthday party

yesterday, little man was invited to a birthday party.

this little guy is one year old.....

how cute is he?

he truly is a little miracle.

we are so thankful that he is here, and we are so glad that he and Caleb are so close together in age. i hope that they get to be good playmates for each other as they get older.

the children were each announced as they entered, as princes and princesses. they each had their own seat awaiting them with a crown to wear.

we kept little man contained to his stroller for as long as possible.....

we were able to sneak the crown on for a quick picture before he realized it was there and tried to eat it.....

here is the birthday boy eating his cake.....

and obviously enjoying it.....

because he is smart and he knows that cake is yummy.

when Caleb turned one, he threw his cake on the ground.

and the ice cream.

i thought something might be wrong with him.

i mean, who does that?

he still doesn't seem too interested in sweets.

Bobby doesn't like sweets either, so i guess Caleb gets this from him.

i like sweets, so this makes me sad.

still, i love the little man (and the big man), with or without sweets.....

it's very rare that Caleb and i are actually in a picture together, since i seem to always be behind the camera!

yeah for birthday parties!

it's back

football, that is.

i have a love-hate relationship with the sport.

we are BIG titans fans around here, and we are blessed enough to be able to go to a lot of the games, which is one of my favorite things to do with my husband. we have had the same seats ever since our stadium opened, so we have sat with a lot of the same people for years. we have made a lot of friends; we have watched their children grow up; we have tailgated in all kinds of weather; we have cheered and yelled until we went hoarse; we have won, and we have lost; and we have had a whole lot of fun.

now for the hate aspect of the relationship. football is on at least 4 days a week - if you count college (which in this house, we definitely do). so once the season starts, it STARTS. it is here with a vengeance. there is rarely a time during the season when our tv is not either showing a game, or showing a program that is talking about a game. i understand that this is a great love of Bobby's, so I try to go along with it and stay in good spirits, because Bobby is a great love of mine. but in all honesty, by february, i will be counting down the days to the super bowl. not because i will be excited to see the game, but because that is when the off-season begins, and i will have 5 months of a sports-free atmosphere in our home (except for the pro-bowl, and march-madness, and nba playoffs, and the occasional golf tournament, and did i say 5 months sports-free? i don't know what i was thinking).

anyways, last night the titans played buffalo and won, so to kick off the season, we had a few people over. we grilled a LOT of food, and watched the game. i was having too much fun, and forgot to take any pictures until the end, so.....

here is the newest member of the family, my little nephew, not-watching the game.....


and here is Bella with her daddy (who, of course, is watching the game).....


**disclaimer: in all fairness to my husband, i must point out that the amount of sports that i am claiming is watched by him may be slightly exaggerated for dramatic effect. **

reunion

we went to my high school reunion on saturday. hard to believe that it's been 10 years, but like i said before, it's a different clock!

anyways, we had a great time, and it was really good to see everyone. i wish i could say that i kept in touch with people better than i do, but i honestly only talk to my friend, Catherine, on a regular basis. at least now that i'm on Facebook, i'm doing a little better!

here's a pic of Catherine and me. she's been my best girlfriend since we were 6 years old (we went to the same school for grades 1st-12th together). she was my maid of honor, she was there when i was in labor with Caleb - you name it, she's been there for me! i love this girl!


here is my cute hubby with me.


and here we are with my other girlfriend, Katie, and her husband.


here's to another 10 years!

chapter one

well now you know why we're here, so let's get to the good stuff!

let's start off with a pic of my two favorite men boys.

we have been enjoying our hot, hot, hot summer thus far. Bobby has been working more nights lately, which has given us a lot of quality daddy-time during the day. we've been able to spend some fun, leisurely days at home together, which has been wonderful. Caleb thinks that his daddy is incredibly silly, and i love watching them play together and listening to all the giggles.

today i visited my good friend, Shawna, at the hospital. she just gave birth to her third boy. that's right, numero tres (the others are age 2 and 4)! she and i are about the same age and have been married about the same amount of time, yet they have two children more than we do. that completely blows my mind! i thought we were busy! anyways, the baby was precious, of course, and she seemed to be doing great. she's a wonderful mom, i just wish we lived closer together so we could see more of them.

seeing her newborn was yet another reminder.....

.....of how not-newborn Caleb is.

my baby boy is very much a toddler and is into everything to prove it! just when i think we have the house completely baby-proofed, he will find something else to show me that it most certainly is not. it's hard for me as a (pre-mommy-days) designer to let go of my decorations and accessories only to make room for the countless primary-colored plastic toys, but i am adjusting, and it is well worth the sacrifice!

when i got back home from the hospital, Caleb was in his highchair having his lunch.

let me tell you, when this little boy saw me, he gave me the sweetest hello that a mommy could ask for. i got smiles, squeals, clapping, kicking - you name it, i got it! i see daddy get these kinds of hellos all the time, but since i'm usually around, i don't get them as often. well, it most certainly did my heart good!

ok - I hear my pillow calling my name.