Wordless Wednesday

Little Swimmer

Yep, that's what we've been up to. We got Syd a tiny pool for the backyard and it was finally warm enough to try it out this weekend.

She loved it! She kicked and splashed with her hands and played with toys and even layed down and stuck her face in the water... she was a little surprised when she put her face down, but she didn't cry. In fact, it won't surprise me if she learns to crawl because of her little pool- that's the only time I've ever seen her get up on all fours!

The big pool in our neighborhood opens next weekend, so I'm excited to take her there too. I hope she likes floating as much as she likes splashing!

Wordless Wednesday

(I wish this photo better captured the ferocity involved in grabbing this butterfly

when it's dangling within reach!)

May 17 - Six Months!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Girl! You're half-way to your first birthday already! You showed us what a big girl you are during the flood earlier this month as you charmed the neighborhood and brought hundreds of smiles during a very stressful time. You have never met a stranger, and you love to smile at people you don't know. You're a ham when we're out in public, and I'm always so proud when I hear someone say how cute you are (which is often!). Sydney, you're a huge blessing in a tiny package, and Daddy & I love you so much!
- You're a little bitty firecracker at 14 lbs, 24.5 inches. You wear mostly 3-6 month clothes, but you do still fit into a few 0-3 month things! 0 and 0-3 month sandals fit you best.
- Your hair is really starting to grow, and I think you may be a blonde. I love that we can clip small bows into your hair now, in addition to your headbands. Bows are still your "signature accessory".

- I think we've moved past the evening fussy-time stage. You usually go to bed between 7:30 and 8:30, and wake up around 7:00. You usually move around quite a bit in your sleep, and I sometimes worry that you're not resting well, but no matter how you sleep you wake up happy. When we go in to get you in the morning, you are so excited to see us!
- You still don't have any teeth, but you've been showing "signs" of teething for a while now. I'm not worried about it at all, I just worry sometimes that you're in pain. I sure hope not.

- You roll around on the floor, although I don't think you're moving intentionally yet. You definitely aren't immobile anymore, so I can't lay you on the floor and expect to find you in the same place when I come back. I wonder when you're going to start crawling. (Even though everyone says that it will be harder on me, I'm excited for you)
- You can sit up really well now. You like sitting up to play and riding in the grocery cart. Your posture is excellent (I'm a little jealous.)

- Your favorite toys lately are your squishy ball, your purple elephant "Coco" (we named him that because he mysteriously smells like hot chocolate), your Leapfrog learning table, and your rabbit/dog that sings Jesus Loves Me. You're also really into your toes!!
- You love bath time. I'm not sure if it's the water or the mirror that you like best. I can't wait to take you to the pool this summer!
- You're really into paper and books lately. Whenever we read to you or sing using the bulletins from church you grab at them.

We love you so much, Sydney!! Thanks for bringing so much happiness to our home!

Love,   mommy & daddy

Wordless Wednesday

Beauty From Ashes

I will not soon forget this past week. In fact, I probably won't ever. The days were long although the week passed quickly. I feel like I have experienced nearly every emotion that humans are capable to feel. It was a tragic week, and a wonderful week all wrapped into one.
It all started last Saturday (May 1). It rained literally ALL DAY LONG without stopping. By that evening, Nashville had already received nearly a foot of rain.  As is normal when we have heavy rains, Servpro started getting a lot of calls so we cancelled our plans for the evening and Rob went in to work. No biggie; it happens. He got home late, and got up early on Sunday to go back. The local news stations were asking people to stay off the roads if possible, so Sydney & I decided to stay home instead of going to church. Around 7:30 or 8:00 Sunday morning, the power went out. I was constantly looking out our back door, and eventually noticed the river. Granted, there has been a small river, the Harpeth, running out behind our neighborhood the entire time we've lived here (and longer!), but last Sunday morning was the first time I was ever able to see it from my house. I started getting a little nervous.

Immediately, I started thinking about all the times my family evacuated for hurricanes when I was a kid. My parents' strategy was simple- they packed our clothes and important stuff from the house. My sisters and I each got a plastic tub to fill with whatever was important to us... scrapbooks, softball trophies, Barbies- the contents were up to us. But we could only have one tub. As I began to think that I might need to leave if the river continued rising, my mind raced over all the things I would need to throw in the car. Clothes. Diapers. Our camera & laptops. Cash. I called Rob and told him I felt like maybe it was crazy, but I wanted to pack a few things. He agreed that it was a good idea, and told me to get everything loaded up and come to meet him at his office. I put Syd down for her morning nap and frantically started throwing things into bags and the back of my car. I called Rob a short while later, my anxiety growing and asked him if he was absolutely confident that Sydney & I could make it to him. He wasn't. He said he would come get us. (It was still storming at this point, and rain had been falling for over 24 hours.) Rob tried every possible route over the next hour, and hit one dead end after another. Backroads were completely flooded, and the Interstate had become a parking lot. There was no way anyone could get into or out of our neighborhood. We were stuck.

I had been trying to conserve my cell phone battery, texting instead of talking, but those bars on the screen disappeared quickly until I was down to one. I thought I was going to have to call Rob and tell him, a la Jack Bauer, "I'm going dark." Instead, survival mode kicked in so I got Sydney and an umbrella and went out knocking on my neighbors' doors, asking them if they had a car charger for a Samsung phone that I could borrow. At the fourth house, I found one. Hallelujah! I was still scared, but at least I wouldn't be totally on my own if I could talk to Rob.

That day was perhaps the longest ever in my thirty years- even longer than the day Sydney was born. All we could do was sit in the dark, wait, play, wait, pray, and wait some more. Throughout the day, we watched the rain continue to fall and the river continue to rise.

* All of these pictures were taken during the day from our patio.

Eventually the rain stopped and we ventured out of the house to get some fresh air and exercise, and see for ourselves what we were facing. Most of our neighbors were out too; everyone was talking about whether or not they thought the water would rise all the way up to our houses. It was already several feet into the homes in a lower section of our neighborhood. Someone told me I should go home and move all my valuables upstairs, "just in case". I patted Sydney's back and told them that as long as she was safe, everything else in the house could float away. And I meant it. We took one last stroll down the street at dusk; the river was about ten houses down from us. I think the scariest part of the whole ordeal was going to bed on Sunday night unsure if we'd have water in our house when we woke up.
It was a long night with not much sleep and a tiny foot jabbed in my neck for most of it (Sydney wasn't sleeping well so I brought her into our room and we layed down together on Rob's side of the bed). Morning came, though, and the river was already dropping. Our house was still dry, but dozens of others in our neighborhood were not. Several friends from church had as much as 4 feet of water in their homes. The house Rob & I tried to buy when we first got married was under water.
Survivor's guilt is not fun. God spared us to use us, though. On Tuesday, our house became command central for our church, serving meals to the families & volunteers working in our subdivision. By Wednesday, people had stopped ringing the doorbell and were letting themselves in. Sydney took on the ministry of offering smiles, thereby bringing out lots of smiles from others.
There's a positive side to the story too. Our community bonded like we never have. The city of Nashville stepped up and people have cared for friends and strangers well. The river went down and our neighborhood was quickly flooded with volunteers offering help. Neighbors that used to keep to themselves now knock on doors just to check on nearby families. I bought lemonade from four small kids in their driveway trying to raise money for flood victims. I came home from church yesterday to find our yard had been mowed- it's no secret to anyone around here how busy Rob has been. A local television station held a flood relief telethon and over $1.7 million dollars were raised. Beauty is rising from the ashes.
The long, harrowing week ended on Mother's Day. No, it didn't exactly look like the idyllic scene from all the jewelry store commercials. In fact, some people might have been frustrated that their husband had to work on Mother's Day and they were "stuck with the kids again" when all they really wanted was a break. I chose to see it from the other side. When Rob offered to get up and cook a big breakfast, I refused, and told him what I really wanted was for him to rest and spend some time with Sydney before he went to work and we went to church. And I got to spend a fantastic morning at home eating refrigerated cinnamon rolls with the two people I love most in this world- the two people who made me a mother. Syd & I relaxed on a blanket in the front yard for a while after church, and she laughed and laughed at me. No one could have bought me a better gift. It was the perfect ending to a not-so-perfect week.

Craziness

I don't really know where to begin- the last three days have been a wild ride. I promise to tell the whole story later, but for now, just the ending...
The Harpeth River did NOT reach our house! It got about 10 houses away from us, but we're dry. We were without power a day & a half until the interstate opened again and we were able to leave. Once we left, Sydney and I went straight to Rob's office where he was, and then on to his parents' house for a little while. We're staying with friends tonight who live closer in to town so Rob won't have to drive too far to get to us. We are thankful that we'll all three be under the same roof tonight.

My mother-in-law saw this and said, "I didn't realize the river was that close to you." It's not- we've never been able to see it from our patio before yesterday.

May 2, 2010, will go down as the day that wouldn't end; it was one of the longest I've ever experienced. And I'm so glad it's finally over.

Please pray for the ones who were not as fortunate as we were- about half of the families in our community group had water in their homes. Please also pray for Rob, his crew, and the others who are out working long, hard hours to help clean up this mess.