life these days

.....is busy. hectic. full.

we have been living with my parents since the flood.

we are so grateful that there is room here for us. little man already knew this house so well, so it wasn't as big an adjustment for him as it might have been. he has his own room here, and although the house was already slightly baby-proofed, he has shown us that we had a lot more work to do in this area!

we have gotten as settled as we can for now, and have gotten into a new routine here.

our house still sits with the lower floor completely gutted. still no walls. still no flooring. just concrete and studs.

most of our things that we were able to save sit in a storage unit.

there is a lot to do after a flood. a lot of meetings, applications, paperwork, phone calls, and on, and on. some days we feel ok. some days we want to scream.

we have learned how this whole FEMA thing works. we never thought we would be using any kind of program like this, but here we are.

we always thought that we were completely covered with all the various insurance coverages: medical, car, homeowners, life.

we didn't have flood insurance.

we didn't think we needed it.

we were wrong.

we have yet to meet anyone affected by this flood who was covered.

we refer to our life as "before the flood", or "since the flood".

we will think of something, or look for something, only to remember that it "drowned".

we are in a state of not knowing exactly what is ahead. we are not exactly sure of when we can start rebuilding, or how long it will take.

we are not sure of when we will have a home again.

if you know me well, you know that this is driving me crazy. i want a plan. i want a timeline. i want to know what to expect. i am a nester. i need a house to clean, and decorate, and love.

it's a good thing that i have a God who knows the big picture. i am asking Him to remind me of this a lot these days.

i also have a wonderful man by my side, who helps keep me calm, and focused, and sane.

not to mention a bouncing 2-year-old, who keeps me smiling, and laughing, and busy!

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!

two

happy birthday, baby boy!

two years ago today, your nervous mommy and daddy were sitting in a hospital room waiting for you to make your appearance.

how did you go from this.....


to this.....



while we blinked our eyes?

you have forever blessed our lives, and made us into this little family that is so precious to us.


here are some things you are up to these days.....

you do not like to see shoes left out. you will carry our shoes to us, one by one, for us to put away.

you must wear a onesie under all of your clothes, because you like to take your pants off.....and then your diaper as well. not sure what we will do when you master the onesie snaps!

your favorite foods are fish sticks, bread, cheese, bread, hot dogs, bread, grapes, and bread. but really, you are not a big eater and would be fine with a milk-only diet.

you still refuse a sippy cup, but we just found out you are tongue-tied, so maybe this is the reason?

you like to play under the kitchen table.

you like to get out all of the tupperware tops and make piles. in the middle of the kitchen. while i cook.

you like to watch thomas the train, little bear, winnie the pooh, diego, and dora. you give dora kisses on the tv. i try to not get jealous.

these are some of your nicknames: little man, baby boy, doodle bug, sweet boy, punkin' head, curly fry.

you love being outside.

you could swing for hours.

you babble in your crib a lot before you fall asleep. apparently, you just have a lot to say. i love to listen to you, because you always sound so happy.

you like to throw bella's ball for her.

you HATE having your teeth brushed. you would think that we soak your toothbrush in gasoline by the way that you act!

if you are not wearing shoes, you will not wear socks. you put your foot up to your mouth, grip the sock in your teeth, and then yank it off.

you clap all the time. anything that makes you happy gets a clap.

you bite your nails. who knew kids could do that this early?

you hate for us to fix your hair. and who can really blame you.....it's not easy! there is a lot of it! (mommy is trying to convince daddy to let us cut it. i think he's caving in!)

you like to give open-mouth kisses, and you love to be hugged.


we love you so very much, baby boy!

a fashionista

Caleb has come up with a new fashion statement that he likes to sport these days.....



the off-the-shoulder-onesie.

husband is none too thrilled with the fact that his only son likes to expose his shoulders like this, but i assured him that he will grow out of it. unless, of course, we are still making him wear onesies as a teenager!

good night, sweet boy

on any given day, Caleb might:

- leave numerous bite-marks on my legs.
- kick me when i try to put him in his highchair.
- throw the food that i just made him onto the floor.
- have 101 tantrums. for no reason.
- pull my hair.

on any given day, i might:

- not demonstrate enough patience.
- raise my voice.
- burn his grilled cheese sandwich.
- not have enough energy to throw him and swing him the way daddy does.

but at the end of the day, when it is just the two of us alone in his room, i hold him in my arms and say his night-night prayer. he presses his nose up to mine as i whisper the words, and when i open my eyes, he smiles his wonderful, sweet smile at me. he places each of his hands on each of my cheeks, and pulls my face towards his, and proceeds to plant his open-mouthed kisses on me. after each one, he giggles that sweet little laugh of his.

and in all of this, i can feel him saying, "we're gonna be just fine, mommy. cause i love you, and you love me. so just forget about all of the yuck from today, and tomorrow, we'll do it all again, maybe even a little bit better."

and he fills up my mommy heart with his kisses. and he holds my love in his little hands.

good night, sweet boy.

**********************************************************

i'm linking up for Emily's Tuesdays Unwrapped

a fantabulous Easter

we had such a wonderful easter.

the weather was perfect.

the food was yummy.

husband had the entire day off of work.

we were with family.

and we got to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. what could be more wonderful than that?

we gathered at my parent's house. they just finished having a new and much bigger deck built on, so there is no furniture or anything yet. that equalled one enormous playground for little man.

he ran all around that thing as fast as his little legs would take him.

and since he does not like the way grass feels (i think this has to do with his sensory issues), we decided to hide the eggs on the deck and let him have at it.....

he did not want to put the eggs into his basket. he wanted to make a pile of them next to the basket.....


and then he discovered that there were snacks inside, and he had to try them out.....


and on a sidenote: my husband would like to make sure that everyone is aware that the outfit was my idea, not his. he simply went along with it because he's a good guy like that!

and here is my brother sporting another wonderful fashion statement.....


at least the basket was used for something!