Saturday

Today we went to Gardendale for our nephew's, Tucker's, baseball games.  The weather was perfect, and we had a great time!  Afterwards we went to Stix, which the kids love.  John Henry ate most of his food with chopsticks.  He did a good job!  I look horrible in this picture, but I'm pregnant so that's my excuse. :)

After Stix and naps, we went to 4D Farm for a birthday party.  The kids had a blast playing.  They loved this huge sandbox.  I had to scrub the dirt off of them when we got home.  They were so dirty!

Friday

This morning when we woke up, Macey's hair was so wild!  It never looks like this in the morning, but she has been sleeping on her Minnie and Goofy and I think she rubbed her head on them all night.  It was matted and it took a while to get out!  

We went to visit Ben, Bec, Kate, and Baby Luke today.  Laudan and I met at the Hannah Kate sample sale where we ran into Kat and some other friends.  I didn't get much, but it was fun!  Laudan drove JH and Macey back to her house in her van since she didn't have big kids with her.  They think riding in her car was the best thing ever.  They've talked about it all day long. Macey even said she likes Laudan's car better than Kurt's car.  :)

Catie and her boys came over to Laudan's too.  They are so sweet, and all the kids had so much fun playing together! 

Macey wasn't into getting her picture taken.  She moved her bow in front of her face and wouldn't push it back.  For some reason you have to click on the picture to see the whole thing.

John David, Bec, Macey, Timothy, Kate, John Henry, Ben, and Baby Luke

Thursday

In October of 2010 Kurt found a little green lizard, an anole, at his office.  He brought it home and we put it in a tank for JH to look at over the next week or so.  That was 1.5 years ago and Bill is still living on my kitchen window.  (He lived in the basement for awhile, but it was too cold for him.  I wish he would move back down there!)  I looked it up the other day and anoles can live for 8 years! Thankfully Bill is pretty low maintenance; we just feed him crickets from the pet store once every 2 weeks.

The day we got Bill: October 28, 2010.  

Today Macey decided she wanted to hold Bill.  I would never let her before (I don't get near Bill), but today I let her.  She was brave for about 3 seconds, then she started screaming and shaking her hand to get him off.  :)

JH always loves to hold Bill!

Wednesday

I said I was going to add a picture everyday, so here are today's pics.  I had to get photographic evidence that JH was eating fruit.  He doesn't eat any fruit.  He loves broccoli and some other vegetables, but he refuses to eat any fruits.  I bought this apple that is naturally flavored with bubble gum (no clue how that happens), and he actually ate it!

He was pretending to be a dinosaur attacking its prey. :)

Tonight I let them play with the muffin liners I bought yesterday at Publix.  I thought it would keep them quiet for a min, but they fought b/c Macey kept stomping the ones JH laid out.

The past 7 months

I was looking through my old posts last night, and I got really mad at myself for not keeping up with the blog!  John Henry and Macey are changing so much and are so funny.  I wish I had been better about posting!  So I am starting now.  I am going to try to do a bulleted list of our past 7 months.  

-Probably the biggest day of the past 7 months was March 1.  It was Macey's 2nd birthday, and the day we found out we are having another baby!  I was talking to my friend Emily on the phone and mentioned that I felt sick. She asked me if I was pregnant.  I was sure that I wasn't, but I started getting kind of stressed the more I thought about it.  Kurt and John Henry were at t-ball practice, so I decided to take a test before they got home.  I was fully expecting it to say "not pregnant," but it said "pregnant" immediately.  Since it was Macey's birthday, I had a gift wrapped for her so I wrapped this paper as well. I let Kurt open it.  

He was shocked!  The baby is due November 7th.  We find out next Tuesday if it's a boy or girl.  John Henry says he wants to make sure he is getting a baby brother. :)

-We went to Disney World in April for John Henry's birthday.  As soon as we found out we weren't going to be able to go in November, we booked a trip immediately.  The kids had a blast and they are now obsessed with Disney World.  Macey loves Goofy and Princesses.  She goes nuts when she sees the beginning of a Disney movie with the castle.  JH is more laid back about his obsession, but he asks all the time when we can go back.  I wrote a whole post about Disney.  I just need to add the pics!

-John Henry finished PK4 and will go to Kindergarten in August.  What happened to my baby?!  He loved his PK4 class and teacher, so he is going 2 days a week this summer to play and see his friends.  This is a picture of JH and the boys on the last day of school.  That morning I asked him 3 times to put his shoes on and even put them by the door, but he didn't put them on.  I didn't realize until I got to school, so I made him  go in and take pics without shoes.  He was so embarrassed!  Right after this picture, he burst into tears and I took him home with me to go get them.

-John Henry played t-ball this year.  We had the sweetest, most patient coaches ever- Rusty Daniel and Kurt!  JH liked it and had fun, but he got bored quickly. Macey thought it was the greatest thing ever.  She likes to get my purse and shoes on and tell me she's going to t-ball.  She would scream, "Hit the ball Day Day. Run!  Good job!" It was so cute.  We had our t-ball party tonight at 4D Farm (our coach's farm).  It's a great place, and the kids had so much fun.  JH loved loved the animals, and he and Macey got to ride a horse.  When JH was Macey's age I tried to get him to ride a horse and he was terrified and refused.  That totally fits their personalities- she's a daredevil and he is so much more reserved!

-We went to the beach with Kurt's family for Memorial Day.  Macey refused to be in the cousin picture, but I still think it's adorable!  I love Tucker and JH. They look so happy.  :)  The other pic is the kids with their beach toys I let them pick out at Target before we left.  I made them wait until we got to the beach before they opened it. They were about to lose it. :)

- Macey is still a honey badger.  :)  In fact, she earns that nickname more every single day!  My awesome awesome sleeper has gone on a napping strike this week!  I am dying.  I make her stay in her crib for 2 hours while she plays and rolls around and chews holes in her new pacis.  I am trying to just put her in bed at the same time everyday and pray she starts napping again!  The good news is that she is going to bed around 6:30-7 when she doesn't nap, but I need the nap!   Macey is fearless, funny, loving, sweet, mean :) (If you tell her no, she growls at you.  She loves to hit JH), independent, wild, and strongwilled.  I love this kid!  Macey does not meet a stranger.  She will go up and hug people she has just met.  John Henry would never ever!  She and JH are complete opposites.  Macey has my sleeping habits (until this week :( ) and Kurt's personality.  JH has Kurt's sleeping habits (neither require any sleep) and my more calm personality.  

I turned my back for about 2 seconds and she colored the couch.  Thank goodness it was washable.  Or maybe I wish it weren't b/c I hate that couch! 

My new van!  The funny thing is that Macey doesn't like it.  Kurt got a new MDX when I got my van and she always asks to "ride Daddy's car" and not my car.  She says his car is her favorite. :)  

Throwing chewed pacis away.  This only lasted about 5 hours before I caved and gave her 2 for bedtime.

A lot more has happened, but I am tired and going to bed.  I need to do an update on John Henry. I am going to try and add a pic everyday this week and update at least once a week!  

Catchup

I wrote this in February I think, but I am just going to post it without pics now.  I know I will never get around to putting those in!

***

This post makes no sense b/c I am writing everything I can think of that I want to remember. And I'm watching The Firm as I write. :)

It has been awhile since I posted! I had good intentions of doing a post everyday that last week I posted, but John Henry had a bad asthma attack the next day and was in Children's Hospital for a few days. It was scary, and I am so glad to know all the warnings signs now. Hopefully he won't get that bad again!

I didn't realize he was having an asthma attack b/c he was just coughing. I took him to urgent care here b/c I thought he had bronchitis, and they said he was perfectly fine, no wheezing at all. I took him home, gave him a breathing treatment, and about an hour later I realized that he was having trouble breathing, but I didn't think it could be that bad since they doctor said his lungs were clear. I took his oxygen saturation and it was 86 (which is low, it is supposed to be around 98-100%). I called the doctor in Birmingham, woke Macey up from her nap, and drove really fast down there. It was nothing short of a miracle that they had an appt. 1 hour from when I called.

He was listless and very pale when we got to the doctor's office. By the time we got there, his oxygen was 81. They rushed to give him breathing treatments and steroids to get his oxygen up while I panicked! We got to leave to run Macey to my mom's house, then went back to the doctor's office. When we got back there, he started throwing up and his oxygen was back down so we went to Children's ER. He was admitted for 2.5 days. It was a long 2.5 days; he did not like sleeping with an oxygen mask! Laudan brought him lots of toys, and he loved all the attention. I was so glad to get home and sleep my own bed. I slept with John Henry in the hospital bed for 2 days. :) I do have pictures, but they are on Kurt's work computer so I will have to post them later.

Macey is almost 2 now! She is just as wild as ever. The child does not stop going while she's awake. She never sits still. I think she is such a great sleeper b/c her body has to rest after not sitting still all day! Macey is still so easy to get to sleep; I just lay her in her bed. Lately I have started feeling a little guilty about doing that when she knows JH is downstairs, so I have started rocking her for just a minute. It doesn't calm her down though b/c she is constantly trying to tickle me, putting 2 pacifiers (she calls a paci a pa) in her mouth to make me laugh, kissing me, or hidding Ga Ga (her tiny baby she takes to bed) and says, "Ga Ga, where are you? Oh, there you are!" She is just a nut! It is so funny.

Macey will not watch tv at all. She has just started watching the beginning and end of Mickey Mouse and loves the hot dog dance. I am hopeful that one day she will watch the whole thing and give me a break! This is a typical day with Macey-

Macey and JH get along so much better now. They used to fight constantly, and they definitely have their days, but for the most part they play well together now. Today John Henry and I went to Target and he said, "It's been a long time since I've seen Macey. I really miss her." Then tonight at a birthday party, he got 2 balloon animals. He gave one to Macey when we got home without us telling him to. I was so proud of him! (Sharing is not his love language :) ) When Macey wakes up, the first thing she does is ask about "Day Day" and run to give him hugs and kisses. He calls her "May May" or "Mace." I love hearing them call each other their little names.

This picture is one that John Henry drew at school. He talks about the tornado all the time, and they play tornado at school. He doesn't seem too scared of it, just curious. He does always ask if and when another tornado is coming to our house. I am a tornado freak now. I was putting the helmets in our storm shelter the other night, when I realized that I would have made fun of myself a year ago. Not anymore!  The picture is of Ava in her house during the tornado.  The lightening is green outside, and the tornado is black.   Ava is holding a flashlight and has a fire inside to keep her warm.  The orange person looking thing outside is Ava's lizard. :)

Tuesday Morning

Several times this morning I turned around to put something in the pantry or wash something in the sink and Macey climbed on top of the table or the counter.

The first time (she actually did this twice this morning; apparently she can climb on the counter from her kitchen tower stool):

(excuse the mess)

That is her "cheese" face. See my beautiful new cabinets in the background? The orangey pine ones are gone. I am SO SO happy!!

The second time (she did this more times than I can count):

John Henry's preschool class is working on sight words and the at family words. This morning we were reading the first BOB book, which has the words mat and sat in it. John Henry was sounding it out all throughout the book, so when we got to the last page that looked like this-

I figured he could read it himself. I knew I would have to read Sam, but he could read Mat and sat. I told him to read it without me helping him, and he said, "They lived happily ever after. The end." :)

Big kids!

I had to take a picture this morning because John Henry was wearing big kid shoes for the first time. He was so excited! I know it's kind of sad that these are his first real shoes, but he's always worn Keds with everything in the winter and Crocs or Salt Water Sandals in the summer. I was really sad this year that he is too old to wear the cute little boy shoes, but he was so excited about these. He thinks they make him run super fast. :) They are the Tsukihoshi brand. I think they are cute for this kind of shoe.

I also wanted to get a picture of Macey b/c this is her first time wearing a bigger bow. I saw a pic of Kate on Facebook and she had a big bow, and then Emily gave me some of Ava's old bows so I decided it was time that she wear the bigger ones. Macey keeps patting the bow and saying "Ava, Ava." I think it looks cute! She is wearing John Henry's play shoes in this picture. I don't let her wear shark crocs. :)

April 27, 2011

This is really long and detailed, but I wanted to remember all of this past week!

*I wrote the first part of this the first week in May and the 2nd half today*

Tuesday, on the way home from dropping John Henry off at school, I heard James Spann on Rick and Bubba talking about how Wednesday would definitely bring tornados. He said that we were in the high risk category which was rare, and that meant that we would definitely have F2 tornados or higher. The day was supposed to beat some day in 1974 that was the worst tornado day on record.

I am (was) not afraid of tornados, so I usually make fun of Kurt for how nervous he gets. Every single person I know that grew up in Cullman is scared of tornadoes. I do understand why though. I remember being around 7 years old and asking my mom why tornadoes always went to Cullman County. J Little did I know I would be living here and going through a tornado!

Wednesday around 1:00 pm our friends Eric and Lindsay and their kids, Kase and Lily came over b/c they don’t have a basement. (Apparently there was a tornado that morning, but we slept through it.) Macey woke up from her nap around 2:00, and I realized she was burning up. I didn’t want to say anything b/c I felt bad, but I finally told Eric and Lindsay that she was sick and they could stay and get sick or go home and brave the tornado. Thankfully Eric and Lindsay are very laid back so they said they didn’t care and stayed (and her kids never got sick, which is amazing considering this virus is highly contagious).

Around 2:45 Lindsay and I were sitting in my den/kitchen area watching NBC 13. Kurt called to say he was leaving work. I swear that Jerry Tracey said there was no rotation with this storm, but it did have 110-115 mph winds. I called Kurt back to tell him it wasn’t a tornado and there was so reason to come home, but he was already on his way. At 3:00 Kurt got home and got on our cordless phone on a business call. Lindsay and I took the kids to the basement and let them play.

Almost as soon as we got down there I got a text from Shaydah, Laudan’s little sister, that said, “Are you guys okay? There is a tornado ½ mile wide in Cullman.” As I was texting back, “Yes we are fine. It is all north of us,” (b/c that is what 13 was showing on the map) the power started flickering. Kurt ran downstairs to complain that he had just lost an important business call. Right then my ears started popping and there was lots of pressure. I looked at Eric, who was sitting across from me and said that my ears were popping. He said his were too, and we all realized what was going on.

We started yelling at our kids to get into the storm shelter. I remember that John Henry was on the other side of the couch from me and he didn’t know whether to come to me or follow Kase and Lily. I ran around and grabbed him, and we all ran to the storm shelter (which is like 5 feet away but feels like forever in that situation). Under our front porch is a concrete room with concrete ceilings where we have always planned to go during a tornado. As we were running in the room, I heard a big bang.

We were only in there for about 1 minute and it got silent outside. Kurt and Eric went to look out the windows to the backyard and they both started screaming that trees were down (I thought maybe one of our Bradford Pears had split), so they ran upstairs and actually saw the tornado moving over the water away from us. The next few minutes was chaos, but when we got out we realized that we had 6 trees down in our yard and all were on structure. 2 were ours, 3 were our next door neighbors, and 1 was the neighbor behind us. The 2 trees in the front yard hit the house, but just clipped the corners of Macey’s room and the garage. The 4 in the backyard hit our well house, kids’ swing-set, porch, waterfall, and fence.

***This is where I stopped writing in May. It’s now September, so this is going to be much less detailed!***

We went outside where all the neighbors were and talked to everyone. Thankfully everyone was safe. Our next door neighbors got the worse damage with 4 trees on their house.

Our cell phones barely worked, so we were just trying to get texts out to someone. I finally got one through to Laudan to call my mom and tell her we were fine. She was shopping at Lowe’s and had no clue we even had a tornado. I didn’t even think to call my dad b/c I figured he wouldn’t hear about it in Atlanta, but he said when he turned on the new the first thing he heard was how bad downtown Cullman was. Tina’s husband is a fireman, so he would call with reports all night. We heard how bad the damage was, but I had no clue until I saw it in person the next day.

We had no power and weren’t really sure if more tornados were coming our way, so we ended up with 20 people in our house at one point b/c we have a basement. There were 2 elderly ladies from down the street that were cracking me up. They left shortly after they got here. I think they decided they would rather risk their lives in their houses than to be stuck in ours with 7 kids and 10 adults. J

Tina, Brittney, and Olivia came to spend the night. They live in Hanceville and had sat in Oliva’s closet through the 6:00 am tornado, so they came to town to our neighbors that had a basement for the rest of the day. Then the 3:00 pm tornado hit the neighbor’s house and blew out the windows, so they came here for the rest of the night.

That night Lindsay, Lily, Tina, Olivia, Brittney, Kurt, John Henry, Macey, and I all slept in the basement. Eric and Kase slept upstairs.

The next morning tons of people came to help and try to cut all the trees down so everyone could get out of the neighborhood. We were so thankful for all the help. There is no way Kurt could have handled all the trees at our house by himself.

I had a fever and Macey was sick, so we decided to go to my mom’s to spend the night. We went down there for Thursday night. Kurt came home the next morning to have the generator hooked up and start cutting down trees. He also went by Costco and bought tons of food that we could eat in the dark without cooking. I came home later that night for the first night of the neighborhood cookouts.

It is now mid September and we are finally almost finished fixing our house from the damage! From the pics it doesn’t looks too bad, but we had lots of things that had to be repaired and replaced. We have put hardiplank on the house, painted it, had the stone walkway fixed, gotten a new driveway (ours cracked from the trees), built the wellhouse (plus a storage shed) back, fixed our deck and redid it in Azek (which we love), repaired the waterfall, and redid our landscaping (the trees fell and destroyed our old shrubs and the huge upright Japanese Maple, which I was so sad about). I hate that the tornado hit, but I am thankful for our safety, that no one was killed in the Cullman tornado, insurance, and for our basement!

These pics are backwards. You need to start at the bottom and go up. Except for the first 2 pics; they are in the correct order.

Our house post tornado, but before the repairs.

After! I am thrilled with the color and shutters.

Now, go to the bottom and look at the pics going up.

This is Jose. He is showing how deep the limb was in the ground. It is amazing to me that the tree hit the house so hard that it broke the corner, cracked the stone, and still hit the ground with such force that a limb went this far into the ground.

Pulling out a limb.

Some of the sweet friends that came to help us.

This truck, among many other, came by to bring us water and food. It was so sweet and so wonderful to not have to worry about fixing everyone lunch as they worked. As I look at this pic, I think I taught the boy that is handing out water. He was a sweet kid!

The tornado completely took off the roof and side of the this house.

Look at this cell phone tower bent into the ravine.

The house in the background was right behind this one. The tornado picked it up and moved it off its foundation. It was a very old (1920s maybe), big house!

Front view of the church

View of the back of East Cullman Baptist. You can see Cullman Christian School. If you look closely, you can see the kids' playset and even a bookshelf of vases that didn't fall over or break. The bookshelf was right against the wall that was ripped off.

Very old house that had the 2nd story taken right off. A friend of mine said she saw the family that was in this house at the time at church. They were fine, but the small baby had scratches on his/her face.

The rest of the pics are from 278, about 1 mile from my house.

The orange carpet store

Tree on the side of our house that fell.

This picture cracks me up. The kids went and posed in front of it like we were on vacation or something.

This is down the street from my house. This tree was twisted and split into 3 sections. You can see the base of the tree on the right; Kase is standing in front of the middle section of the tree and the top of the tree is not in the picture, but to the left.

The view down my driveway

Swingset. You can tell from the pic, but it was leaning to the right.

A board that was sticking out of the ground. We pulled it out and it went in about 7 inches!

Our house right after the tornado