Tragedy

**I wrote this around 9pm on 4/27/11 before we realized that we'd be out of power for maybe a week and needed to conserve all of the power we could -- even on our computer's so that we could charge our phones.  We, of course, lost our internet and router's when the power went out and had only very spotty service on our phones.  I've finally gotten a way to post this, so these are my first thoughts on the storms.  We didn't even really know the magnitude at this point.

Growing up in Alabama you are used to tornado’s.  I vividly remember the tornado in ’89 and everything about that day.  I wore a blue striped dress with three colored hearts on it that Mom had made me.  I walked home from school that day from kindergarten and had to pull up my sleeves because I was so hot.  When I got home Mom, Charlie, and I piled into the tub in our bathroom in the middle of the house with the Sears Wish Book and we heard the tornado go over our house before heading on to do a great amount of damage in Huntsville.

Another instance occurred one day in college I was driving home after finals when I got a pretty frantic call saying that there was a tornado about to cross I-65 ahead of me while I was on my way home from finals.  So I detoured to Jason’s apartment in Birmingham to be safe.  We were so worried about a tornado coming and the fact that he lived on the top floor of his apartment building that we went downstairs and tried to introduce ourselves to his neighbors that lived below him but they weren’t home so we just rode it out and, thankfully, the tornado went around us.

Becoming a parent makes things even scarier.  Today was the second day that I was by myself at home when tornado’s broke out.  Last fall we had a day of tornado’s and I could see one go over the mountain next to us from the windows in our bedroom and was terrified.  Knowing that you are the sole person responsible for your child in severe weather is a very sobering thought.  Not only do you have to keep them under control and not panicked but you’ve got to keep yourself under control so that they don’t lose it.

Since Jason knows all about weather and is very passionate about keeping up with it I knew that today was going to be bad.  But the storms were a whole lot worse from the get go and I was even more terrified because I was by myself.  Last night I woke up to Jason leaving our room with the laptop open looking at the radar.  He said that it was getting bad but I knew that he was on top of it so I quickly went back to sleep.  Same thing with this morning before he left for work.  But when the storms started around 11:30 or so this morning I was by myself and Charlotte was my responsibility.

I can’t remember ever being so scared.  I knew that there was a tornado just north of where Jason and my parents were and that there were funnel clouds right on top of their locations.  The weathermen were saying that we needed to be taking precautions and the look of the weather outside was horrible -- the wind was blowing harder than I’ve ever seen and was so loud.  So I threw our comforter and pillows into our closet and got Charlotte situated with Wonder Pets on the iPad.  I pulled Luca in with me and, after turning the tv up as loud as I could so I could hear it through the walls and getting the laptop going, I closed the doors and we huddled back there waiting to get an all clear from Jason.  

Thankfully it was a false alarm and the tornado went way north of us and we were fine.  The storms finally slacked up and we got a break for a while.  I put Charlotte down for a nap and grabbed a shower.  Jason got home with a little bit of time before nap was over and immediately pulled up his radar software and the ABC 33/40 streaming site.  (James Spann is, by far, the best weatherman I’ve ever had and we still turn to him when there are storms coming from the south.)  We watched in horror as the Cullman tower cam caught the huge tornado (estimated initially at between 1/4 and 1/2 mile wide) as it went through downtown Cullman.

After getting Charlotte up we made the decision to head down to Mom and Dad’s.  They have a basement so I felt like we’d be safer there and since they have everything for Charlotte that we do we felt like we would be me comfortable there.  Not long after we arrived things picked back up and we felt like we needed to move downstairs.  Their cable was out (or off and on) before the storms came through but definitely went out when the storms rolled in.  

We spread out a blanket and got set up downstairs.  Charlotte was set with the iPad going again.  Dad was working trying to get things set up but Jason, Mom, and I were all on different computers watching streaming video online.  It was actually perfectly cozy down there.  We had power, we had multiple radars and internet so we knew what was going on, we had drinks and snacks -- pretty much everything we needed.  

Jason was still watching the 33/40 streaming coverage as well as local coverage and told Mom and I that we should pull it up to see the tornado in Tuscaloosa.  At first the video didn’t look as bad as what we watched go through Cullman but that quickly changed.  My stomach started to hurt as we watched the debris get picked up and were able to track it just a few blocks south of campus.  But even after watching that video I couldn’t have imagined the damage that it was inflicting.  

Our power went out a little while later and the weather got less severe directly where we were so we headed upstairs where we could take advantage of the subdued light.  At that point we started being able to get tweets again and started hearing that our entire county was out of power because of a broken line coming from the power plant.  We later heard that most of North Alabama was out of power -- more than 330,000 people.  (On Saturday, when I'm posting this 500,000 people are still without power in N AL and there were, at one point, a million across the state without power.)  At this point we have no idea when we’ll get power back and no expectations to get it back before tomorrow at the earliest.  (Again, it's Saturday now and the expectation is that we MIGHT get power back next Tuesday, 5/3.)

We also started seeing tweets from Tuscaloosa.  I was terrified earlier in the day but these images and videos just made me feel even worse.  To see pictures of 15th street with nothing standing.  Pictures from 15th street looking towards campus with nothing but leveled debris between it and DCH hospital.  Video of the tornado going through town.  Reports of storm spotters who had been pulling bodies from debris and people still trapped.  

We immediately started touching base with our family in town and they, thankfully, were all safe but all said how scared they were.  The community thankfully was probably spared at least some loss of life because classes were still going on (or had just been canceled) so a lot of students were probably still on campus which got spared a direct hit by a block or two.  But thinking about those students in their apartment complexes just off of campus -- I can’t imagine that feeling.  

At this point we’ve put Charlotte to bed in a pack and play.  We have windows open to try and get some air circulating and are subsisting on candles and flashlights to get some light.  We all basically ran our phones down so the guys have manually opened the garage doors and are charging the phones in the cars right now.  We are, blessedly, unharmed.  We haven’t been to our house since the major storms but there is no major damage here.

We are shell shocked at the damage that we’ve seen second hand.  My heart is broken for Tuscaloosa and the other communities hit.  I’ve seen the most damage pictures from Tuscaloosa but also know that there are a lot of communities in North Alabama that were also devastatingly hit.  It’s hard to understand why something like this would happen.  Lives that are forever changed because of these storms today.  But I do trust that my God is great and that he has a plan.  I just pray that he spreads his mercy and grace to all those dealing with loss from this.  

I’m guessing that Tuscaloosa will never look the same, but I know that with lots of prayers and help from others she will recover and move forward to making something better.  Please join me in praying for all of those facing tragic and painful loss today after these storms.  I’m sure other states were hit also, but I know that Alabama was devastated by these storms all across the state.  I pray that a day like this doesn’t ever happen again.

The Sickness

No parent wants to feel their child burning up with fever but a few weeks ago I could feel Charlotte getting warmer and warmer as the morning progressed.  By the time I put her down for her nap she was running a 99.5 temperature.  I got her up from her nap and her temp had spiked to 102.  We were already headed to her recheck with Dr. Mike (her ears looked great) so I gave her some tylenol and off we went.

The tylenol brought her fever back down but you could tell she didn't feel good because she was pretty pitiful.  We were supposed to have Supper Club that night but we had to back out since Charlotte wasn't feeling good.  We gave our sweet girl and bath and put her in her pj's and then played on the gym before bed  This picture was a pretty accurate representation of our night.  C wanted to snuggle with me but didn't want to take a picture and I was, for once, actually dressed (well, except for the slippers!) with make up and hair that had been fixed!

On Saturday I sent Jason off to play golf because I was feeling much better and I knew that we could go to Mom's if I needed reinforcements.  Turns out I needed them as soon as she got up because her fever was back up and she wanted to "go Memma's house."  So we headed over to distract Charlotte from feeling bad.  It did a pretty good job.  The best distraction was playing in the back yard waiting on the guys to make it around during their round.  While you could tell she still didn't feel good she was still up and playing, her energy just was definitely shortened.

The rest of our day was spent thinking Charlotte had kicked the fever since she kept it down without meds all day but we were thwarted when the fever returned that evening.  I had called the nurse on Friday afternoon and she said that if the fever lasted into three or four days that we would need to come in so when we got up on Sunday and her fever was still really high I called and got an appointment.  

This is really the only fever Charlotte has ever had so it's higher (102+) temps were kind of making me nervous even though she was still acting sort of normal.  My fears were amplified though when she basically quit eating on Friday afternoon and would only graze for a piece or two of food after that.  So we headed to the doctor and Charlotte did really well.  I think it helped that we saw the on call doctor instead of our regular one so we were in different offices that looked a little different.

After a strep and flu test they determined that Charlotte had a viral form of tonsilitis and that her fever would leave by Tuesday or Wednesday.  They gave us some mouthwash for her to drink with meds in it to help ease her throat discomfort and said to keep giving her motrin to ease her fever.  We got home and put her down for nap and she slept pretty good. But when we got her up the sweet girl was soaking wet and was just pitiful.  We had to pull her hair into pigtails to cool her off.  Charlotte and I ended up spending the rest of the afternoon snuggled up on our bed watching Mickey.  She pretty much just laid up against me the whole time.  You could definitely tell that she felt miserable at that point!

On Monday her fever had gone down a degree but she was still flagging.  Another sweaty nap resulted in more pigtails.  But she did have enough energy to demand that she get to wear her puppy dog dress so that was a good sign!

She woke up Tuesday morning fever free and so we spent the day trying to build up her energy.  She finally started eating again and we broke out of the house for a trip to pick up the clothes at the cleaners.  Charlotte was so much happier even if her energy was still pretty low!

Honestly, it took a while for her energy to get back to 100% but her appetite picked back up in a hurry.  It was so hard watching her feel so bad and to not be able to really do anything and for her to not really be able to verbalize exactly what was feeling bad.  While this was definitely mild in the case of sicknesses go, it was a big one for us, and right after months of ear infections it was pretty hard to take.  But she's all better now and we hope that we don't have any more sicknesses of any kind any time soon! 

Last chance to enter the baby pool!

Tonight is your last chance to enter our baby pool!  Our anatomy ultrasound is Monday at 3:30 so I'll be locking the pool down before that.  If you want a chance to enter your guess as to baby Max's stats head on over to ExpectNet and enter away!

The End of the Beginning

More than anything else, I want my children to grow up to know the love of Christ in their lives.  I want them to know the freedom that comes from living in Christ and the glory that is Resurrection Sunday.

This is that morning.  The morning when Mary Madgalene and others went to the tomb only to discover that it was empty and that JESUS WAS NOT THERE.  This morning means that we are free.  It means that Christ overcame death and Satan and sin and everything that ties us down in this world to allow us to live a life in him that is free.

I hope that you bask in the glory of this day.  That this wonderful story touches your heart this morning and you remember again or realize for the first time, that Jesus is Risen.  He is not in the tomb.  His death was the end of God's first chapter, not the end.



Happy Easter!

Saturday

Yesterday I wrote about Good Friday.  But today is Saturday.  The day of hopelessness and fear for the disciples and those that loved Jesus.  The day where they despaired of everything they had been told and let their fears and doubts erode the very truths that their Lord had spent three years teaching them.  The day when the chief priests and the Pharisees started to panic that the disciples might try to steal Jesus' body so they rushed about to "secure" the tomb with soldiers (Matthew 27:62-66).

It was a day of unrest and I know that I live my life a lot of time in that place.  Despairing over what has happened and whether God has forgotten me, not knowing the glorious outcome that will come the next day.  Saturday is a hard day in the Gospel stories and a hard day in our lives.

I thought I'd share some of my favorite Easter posts over the past few years with you on this day so that, hopefully, you can be reminded like I was that Saturday does not last and even if it feels like God has forgotten, he definitely hasn't!

Stuck in Saturday by Pete Wilson
Easter Week - Saturday by Pastor Steve
Easter Week - Resurrection Sunday by Pastor Steve
Hope that Springs Eternal by Stephanie of Happily Ever After
Easter's Promise by Lots of Scotts

Six Hours One Friday

I'm sitting at my kitchen table.  The house is quiet except for the sound of the sound machine coming over the monitor.  I'm scrolling through facebook and I see that one of my friends has shared some Igniter Media videos.

I know what today is.  It's Good Friday.  All day I've seen tweets and been reminded of the hell that my Lord suffered for me today so many years ago.  And it's now the critical three hours.  The time from noon to 3 when the world went dark.

"It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining.  And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.  Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit."  When he had said this, he breathed his last." 

- Luke 23:44-46, NIV

And as I think about those hours I'm blown away.  Totally in awe of the sacrifice of my King.  My mind goes back to lessons I've heard over the years.  Graphic descriptions of the exact torture and beatings that Jesus had to endure.  Watching The Passion of The Christ and seeing in picture form what he went through for me.  Books and articles that I've read all describing in gruesome detail the pain and horror and unbelievable hurt that Jesus suffered on that day.

Who am I that the Lord of all the Earth, that the one that created everything, would freely accept this remarkable plan of redemption through the cross for me?  I am a sinner.  I fail daily, hourly, each minute.  No matter what good works I do on this earth, I can never make myself good enough to enter Heaven.  I am petty and selfish and jealous and bitter and someone who can not NOT sin even through all of my strongest efforts.

And yet, Jesus died for me.  He offered himself as a perfect gift for me.  A gift of salvation and eternal life and a gift of being set free from the bondage of sin so that I can be a part of his family.  And he gave this gift knowing full well all of my sins and misdeeds and failures.  He gave this gift freely just like he gave me free will, knowing that it would be up to me whether I would accept this gift and live a life for him or whether I would turn away from it.

One of my favorite books surrounding Easter is called Six Hours One Friday by Max Lucado and it says this about these six hours.

"What do you do with this day in history?  What do you do with its claims?

If it really happened...if God did commandeer his own crucifixion...if he did turn his back on his own son...if he did storm Satan's gate, then those six hours that Friday were packed with tragic triumph.  If that was God on that cross, then the hill called Skull is granite studded with stakes to which you can anchor.  

Those six hours were no normal six hours.  They were the most critical hours in history." (p. 22)

I agree with Max Lucado.  These six hours today are the most critical in history.  Sunday is important, but without Friday you can't get to Sunday.  Without enduring the horrors of the cross, Sunday would never be possible.  Jesus literally endured hell for me and for you.  And all we have to do to accept that gift is to humble ourselves before him and accept his gift of salvation.

I pray with all of my heart that you are in the same place I am right now.  A place where you recognize your sinful nature and your need for a Savior and have turned to the only one who can save you, Jesus.  But if not I implore you to look again.  Look past your prior hurts with the church and with others.  Look past your fellow human's feeble nature's and look to the Cross.  Search and find the power that is in the cross.  Because if you go looking for it, you will find the answers.

One last quote from the book.  Max wrote that "God would give up his only son before he'd give up on you." (p. 57)  Thank you Lord, for loving me in such an infinite way!

The Park

One day we were running errands before we were going to eat lunch with the Alpha Chi alumnae group in town.  We finished our errands early and so we stopped at a park that we had never been to before.  It was totally empty and so I just let Charlotte explore and have the run of the place.  To say that she enjoyed herself is an understatement.  She ran around checking everything out before she was ready to slide.

So excited to go down the big yellow slide by herself!

Obviously, she was having fun!

She she started climbing up a few scoots and pushing herself with her arms down the slide.  That was just as fun to her as going down the whole slide!

Alligator!

Charlotte loves school.  She especially loves music class with Miss Amy.  A few weeks ago I finally asked what songs they were singing in music and I was told that they sing Dr. Jean's Silly Songs.  So I googled it and downloaded the Silly Songs cd and played it for Charlotte.  We knew that they sang a song with an alligator in it because she came home from school doing the chomp one day but we didn't realize how much Charlotte loved that song until we played it.  These are her reactions whenever the song comes on:

"It's the Alligator Chant! Yay!"

The motions to the "He can be your friend too" chorus.

The motions for the "Whoo!" at the end of the chorus

"Yay! We sang the Alligator chant!"

You can check out an early version of her singing the song on yFrog. (early as in right after we downloaded the song)

Now that we've had the song for a few weeks and have listened to it, probably, 100 times at least, she is singing along with it more and more each time and doing more motions.  We'll have to get a new video soon!

The XXXI

As a child you think that your parents are invincible and the best people on earth.  Then the teenage years come and the hormones take over and your view is a little more skewed.  But thankfully I figured out that my parents really are some of the best people on earth and I am so thankful to have them in my life!

They have accomplished a lot in their lives and I'm sure they will do much more as the years go on.  Recently, I was at a meeting and heard some of my parents peers praise their business efforts and their kindness over and over again which is such a wonderful feeling.  It's also a little stressful since I'm trying my hardest to live up to the high level of excellence that they have set!  But it's so nice when the hard work that you saw from inside the family is recognized so much outside of the family.

My junior year in college I was extremely honored to be tapped into one of the most prestigious women's honoraries on campus at Alabama, The XXXI.  This honorary is made up of a group of thirty-one women that have made significant contributions to The University and/or the state of Alabama.  The group of thirty-one is made up of 18 juniors, 8 graduating seniors, 3 alumnae, 1 faculty member, and 1 summa member who is any woman from the state of Alabama.  This year marks the 23rd Order of The XXXI and there have been some amazing women tapped into the society since 1989.

When nominations were requested at the beginning of the year I nominated my Mom who, I felt, has made a great impact on the North Alabama area.  After graduating from Alabama she has done so much for the area by working with students, helping my Dad start and run a successful business, and serving on many boards to help strengthen the area.  I felt like Mom would be a perfect alumnae member for The XXXI.  I asked some of my friends and fellow XXXI members to help me write letters of recommendation for Mom and around the beginning of March I was told that she had been selected for membership.

One of the most exciting things about tapping's for The XXXI is that they are supposed to be a secret.  Although I aspired to be a member of The XXXI ever since I watched a sorority sister get tapped at dinner my freshman year, I was convinced that I had not been selected because 1) I couldn't think of anyone who had asked me for my resume that would nominate me, 2) No one in the organization had asked me to make sure and be at the house for dinner the night of tapping's (they tap current students who are in sororities at their houses dinner on the night of tapping's), and 3) My parents blatantly lied to me that they were in a meeting all afternoon and so I "knew" they weren't in town for the tapping's and they would have been if I was going to be inducted.

So I was totally floored when I was sitting at the Alpha Chi house waiting on my meeting with our rush advisor when the Alpha Chi members of The XXXI read my name off of their tapping list.  I was even more surprised when I got to the mound where tapping's take place and my parents and Jason were there!  The element of surprise has left many an inductee being tapped in workout clothes or clothes from class and the fact that they were not expecting it is part of what makes it so much fun.

So back to my Mom. :)  I thought my Dad knew that I had nominated Mom, after all I had gotten her resume from him, but he apparently didn't understand what I needed the resume for so when I called him to tell him that we were going to Tuscaloosa he was confused at first but quickly jumped on board.  Once he checked Mom's schedule and confirmed that she had nothing scheduled for the day of tapping's we started concocting our story to get Mom to town.  One of our biggest hurdles is that my parents don't really hide anything from each other and my Dad was afraid that his poker face -- which isn't that great -- would give it away.  So he basically avoided talking about it with Mom for an entire month!

I told Mom that I didn't have anything going on and that Lindsey was going down to tapping's and so I thought I'd go down too but that I needed help with Charlotte and so asked if she could come with us.  She agreed and that plan got put in to place.  The week before we were to leave Dad casually mentioned that he didn't have a lot going on at work so he was just going to come with us to hang out with Charlotte. 

Since I knew she was getting tapped I thought Mom understood that they would be coming to tapping's with me and would just be extra hands with Charlotte but apparently Mom thought that I had asked them to come down and keep Charlotte at the condo!  Dad tipped me off to that the morning before we left and so on the way down I mentioned that our plan would be to leave around 5 and head over to tapping's at which point Mom said that she wasn't dressed for it and would stay at the condo with Charlotte!  It was a little touch and go but she eventually acquiesced (she looked great!).

Storms coming through the area pushed the tapping ceremony inside the Ferguson Center but that was fine with us.  Mom remained clueless about the real reason that we were in town the entire day and when we arrived at the Ferg I saw a few XXXI alum members who know us who asked me quietly if Mom knew what was going on and when I said no they quickly scurried away because they didn't want to give away the surprise.

Even walking into the Ferg with Charlotte, Mom didn't know what was about to happen!

When we got inside I met up with Lindsey and we went into the room where they were going to tap the members and spoke with the advisor and the president.  The president was very nice and she said that she was going to tap Mom so she walked out into the hallway with us.  As soon as Mom saw us walking up with Meg and Meg pull out her tapping announcement,  Mom figured out what was happening and started crying.  I'm pretty sure during the announcement she also said how mad she was at Dad and I for letting her wear jeans but that just made it better! :)

Being read the announcement that she was being tapped into The XXXI

Once Mom calmed down we headed into the room where the tapping's were to be held and enjoyed cluing Mom in to the whole charade.  At this point it did start getting a little tricky with Charlotte because she had been holding Mom's hand before Meg had come and made the announcement and then all the people she didn't know came up and Mom and I started crying -- she just got very uncomfortable with the situation and then didn't want to leave Mom's side.  That was ok for a while....

Charlotte sat next to Mom when Meg started the tapping's and was pretty good.  She loved it when everyone clapped for each of the girls and would stop whatever she had been playing with/looking at to clap with everyone else!

After all of the student's bio's were read they started on the alumnae and we got to sit proudly as everyone else was clued in to how wonderful Mom is!  She then went up to the front to be pinned!

Charlotte wasn't a fan of Memma leaving her so Dad took her and they sat in the chair directly behind Mom for the rest of the presentation.  After the tapping's we took some pictures before heading out for a celebration dinner at Chuck's!

I was so happy that Lindsey made the trip to Tuscaloosa to celebrate with us.  She is such a sweet friend and was almost as excited about Mom getting in as I was when I called her!  Thanks Lindsey for taking an evening to come and celebrate with us!

Overall, I was just so proud to see Mom recognized like this.  She is an amazing woman and I am so thankful that I get to call her Mom.  Congratulations Mom!  I love you!

Night on the Town

At the beginning of the month we got to go to a benefit and we had two extra tickets.  We invited our friends Leigh and Justin!  I thought they might like a night out since Jack is now two months old and we wanted to see them!  We ended up having a pretty good time even though Justin had a cold and I had a headache -- it was still good to get out and hang out for a little while.  We didn't end up winning anything at the silent auctions and so we didn't stick around for the live auction but it was a fun event and we were so glad that Leigh and Justin got to join us!

Show Us your Life - Book List

As you know, I love to read and I read a lot.  That being said I've read some great books lately and want to share.

She Walks in Beauty by Siri Mitchell
Period Christian fiction piece set in the late 1890's about a young society woman in NYC.  Clara Carter is being introduced to society and isn't sure that this life is the one that she wants.  This book pulls you right in to the drama and the time period and allows you to experience her first society season right along with Clara!

Candle in the Darkness by Lynn Austin
As a Southerner it's hard reading a book about a spy for the North in the Civil War but when her reasons for doing so are so solid it's easy to bypass that fact and enjoy the book.  I read this one on our trip to Colorado and was surprised at how it kept me engaged.

Leaving by Karen Kingsbury
I've been reading Karen Kingsbury since high school and have read pretty much everything that she's published.  This is the first in the Bailey Flanigan series which is a continuation of sorts of three(?) other series that Karen has written around the Baxter family in Bloomington, Indiana.  But I think I'm going to like this series of the series the most because it focuses on Bailey's journey to New York and her career on Broadway.

Leota's Garden by Francine Rivers
Like Karen Kingsbury, I've been reading Francine Rivers for a long time.  I love everything of her's that I've read but you do have to be a little careful searching for her books because she wrote at the beginning of her career in the non-Christian sector so if you're looking for Christian fiction make sure the book you're looking to buy is published by a Christian publisher (I think her's is Tyndale House).  This book is old and I read it in college but recently found it for free on my Kindle and I was pulled in again to this lovely story about a college aged woman and her reconnection with her grandmother.

I got some gift certificates to book stores for my birthday so I can't wait to see what books everyone else recommends so that I can make out a new reading list for myself! Check out Kelly's Show us Your Life post for more reading suggestions!  Or check out my booklist page for lots of other reviews.

*These are all my actual recommendations and I wasn't asked to review any of these books.  I either bought these books for myself or they were free for a period of time on Amazon's site for the Kindle.

Charlotte-isms

I love all the sweet and funny things that Charlotte is saying now so I want to write some of them down so that I can remember them.

After I sing to her at night and am walking to put her in her crib:

(points to video monitor)

Mommy: Mommy and Daddy are watching you.

C: Mommy home.  Daddy home.  Charlotte home.  Ev-body home.
In the morning:
C: (pointing to monitor) Watch you.
Mommy: Yes, Mommy and Daddy were watching you.

During the day when she thinks about Daddy:

C: Daddy.  Right now.  Work.

Anytime Luca is in his room with his gate up, including when we leave the house:

C: "Tie Out Yuca" (Time Out Luca)

Anytime she feels anything on her skin:
C: (insert body part like finger, arm, leg) Itch.  Kiss it Mommy.

After our trip to Tuscaloosa last week when we get in the car and she's bored she says:
C: Watch (Mickey, Jesus, Elmo) tv.

When she's in a good mood and playing with her animals:
C: Puppy dog says Woof Woof!
C: Kitty cat says Meow Meow!

When we go upstairs to change her diaper and she's really hyper:
C: (running around in circles on the floor of her room) Cirk-yuls! Cirk-yuls!

When we see flowers/purple trees while we're out on a walk/in the car/etc:
C: (insert color) Flow-us!
C: Puh-pul tees!

When C's music is on and Jason and I start to sing:
C: No sing Mommy/Daddy!

When we get home and she see's Luca in his room:
C: Hey buddy!
(She also refers to Luca as "Bud" sometimes.  We sometimes refer to him as these terms and she's picked them up.)

When she asks for something (walk, watch Mickey, etc):
Mommy: We'll do _____ later.
C: (while nodding) Daddy home.

When going up or down stairs while she holds an animal:
C: Careful Priss/Sandy/etc.

When her pj pants start coming down:
C: Pants fall down.

In the morning she's started laying down and giggling and saying:
C: Tick-yul Mommy! (Tickle me Mommy!)

When I tell her I'm going to put something away or going to run an errand she very seriously looks at me and says:
C: Right back Mommy.

Cute words:
"Scuse me" (Excuse me)
"Pay-room" (Playroom)
"An-mils" (Animals)
"Yuca" (Luca)
"Pret-zils" (Pretzels)
"New side" (New Slide)
"Waggnon" (Wagon)
"Yunch" (Lunch)
*It's so funny that she can correctly say her L's inside of words but when they're the leading letter they come out like a "Y"
"Ea-see Eggs" (Easter Eggs)
"Hot Dog Hot Diggy Dog" (Hot Dog Dance from MM Clubhouse)
"Aaaaah-gator" (Alligator - song from school)
"T-town!" (Tuscaloosa)
"Mac Mac Cheese"
"Fin-ner" (Finger)

A wonderful day

I like to keep things in sequential order on here but I don't want to forget a moment of this day so I'm going to step out on this one.  This day has been so magical and after the last week that we've had with Charlotte being sick it's made it even more wonderful.

I woke up this morning to Max kicking up a storm.  Always a good feeling to feel someone so precious moving around inside of you.

Then I went and found a little happy present and a sweet note from Jason next to my sink which made me smile.

When I got into the kitchen I found another present which Charlotte helped me open.  Once we got it out I immediately started crying which made C really uncomfortable because she doesn't understand the concept of "happy tears."  She's going to need to grasp that concept pretty fast around this house! :)  Anyway, Jason got me one of the sweetest gifts ever.  A Willow Tree figurine of a Mom rocking her child with a quilt over them.  This is so precious to me because that has become my routine with Charlotte before I put her down for bed.  She wants to sing in her chair and she always wants her blanket over her.  I don't know how he found it, but this is perfect and something that I will always treasure!

I got Charlotte up and got her excited about a car ride and we headed to Sonic to pick up breakfast.  Cheese tater tots for me (hey, I'm pregnant and it's my birthday, that's my right!) and french toast sticks for Charlotte.  When we got home Charlotte went into her high chair willingly, without tears to eat breakfast which is, in and of itself, a treat.  She cracked me up when she forcefully dunked her french toast stick into the syrup, licked it, and then wrinkled her nose and said "No."  Honestly, I don't think Sonic's syrup is that great either but her expression cracked me up.

After a tear-free breakfast, I got Charlotte dressed and we headed to the "new slide."  Recently, the neighborhood playground was taken apart and they put up a new swingset at the end of last week.  But Charlotte was sick all weekend so we couldn't go so I promised her we would go this morning.  I knew it would be good to get out of the house and I wanted to try and get a picture for her birthday invitation.  She had so much fun running around and going down the slide.  It was nice to be out in the sunshine and letting her burn off some energy.  There was, of course, some drama associated with going home, but it passed quickly enough.

Once we got home we got Charlotte changed and had our first "Eas-er Egg" hunt!  Whoever came up with this idea is brilliant because we spent a good 30 minutes of Charlotte waiting in the kitchen, me hiding eggs in the den, and then C coming in to find them.  And the beauty of it was that she doesn't know anything's supposed to go inside the eggs yet so she got so excited every time she opened an egg up even though it was empty!  So, FYI, to anyone who gives my children eggs and the Easter Bunny, let's try and leave stuff out of the eggs as long as we can! :)

After a little while C asked for more of Daddy's cereal so I fixed her lunch and asked her to sit in her chair because it was going to be messy and she, again, went without a fight or tears.  Truly, a birthday miracle!  She pretty much just ate her cheetos, Daddy's Apple Cinnamon Cherrios, and a fruit strip and left the banana and other good stuff on her plate, but she didn't cry one tear so I don't really care!

She then wanted to play with her animals so we went upstairs and played in the playroom until nap time.  At one point she wanted me to "sleep" (i.e. pretend to sleep with really loud fake snoring so she can "wake me up) but instead of jumping on me or tickling me she laid down next to me and put her arm around my neck and went to "sleep" too before giggling when she saw me open my eyes.

It was the sweetest morning full of fun play with a girl that is feeling better which is such a gift after the last few days.  I feel so blessed to have such a precious little girl and a husband who love me so much.  I was also showered with love through call's, text's, facebook messages, and tweets by my family and friends which always is so overwhelming.  Technology is so wonderful that it allows you to hear from so many people on special days like this!

Once nap time started Jason texted me and told me to check my email for the "main event" as he called it.  He sent me a detailed email with instructions to check out Rosie Pope's maternity website (she's located in NYC) and pick out three items and he would finish the check out for me to get them!  So sweet!  We have a number of events that we're going to this summer and while I've gotten a few things (thanks Mom and Dad!) for them it would be nice to have a few more things.  He cracked me up by specifically saying that if he went to check out my cart and I only had three t-shirts in there he was going to be mad! He might regret saying that! :)

After C's nap we played with Easter Eggs some more until Daddy got home and we were ready to head to dinner.  We went to this great fairly new restaurant on the square and enjoyed a wonderful dinner.  It was also a pretty perfect setup because we were in a corner booth so Charlotte "sat" between Mom and I and was able to just walk back and forth between us the whole time while not eating her "Mac Mac Cheese".  It was so nice to just be able to sit and relax and spend some good time with the whole family.  Of course, the meal wouldn't have been complete without C standing up a couple of times to do the Hot Dog Dance (from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse) and at the end I had to pull out my phone to pacify her with some of "Charlotte's music" but other than that it was great.  We got this picture after dinner and I think it's my new favorite!

Everyone came for a quick stop at our house to eat some yummy cake after dinner since we couldn't take it in to the restaurant.  Charlotte LOVED that and really enjoyed showing everyone how she can hunt Easter Eggs and generally run around the house screaming like a wild banshee.

As I sit at the end of the day I am just blown away with how blessed I am.  I have a child who has literally squirmed around in my stomach all day.  I have another child who gave me lots of hugs and kisses today along with a "Happy Mommy!" and a (mostly) unprompted "Love you."  I have a husband who went out of his way to make my day extra special.  I have family who took time out of their week to get together and celebrate with me.  I have so many friends and family who went out of their way to send me greetings through all forms of social media and the mail.  I am so extremely blessed to live this life and I am so thankful that God is allowing me to live it.  Here's to a fantastic upcoming year!

Recipe Wednesday - Salmon and Citrus Rice Bowl

Now that I'm out of the first trimester I can stand going to Publix again and smelling the seafood department.  I can also stand eating fish again (on some occasions).  Because of this I really wanted to cook a salmon dish because it's so healthy and I hadn't eaten it for a while.  This Martha Stewart recipe had been sitting in my recipe drawer for a whlie so I thought I'd try it since I figured Charlotte loves rice and oranges so she'd at least eat some of it.  The dish was good if a little bland.  I'll probably add some soy sauce to the rice and maybe some salt and pepper to the peas next time.  But it was a very good recipe that I'll definitely make again!

Salmon and Citrus Rice Bowl
Serves 4

4 navel oranges
1/4 ounce (1 inch piece) fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced, plus 1 teaspoon finely grated
1 dried bay leaf
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed
1 tablespoon brown-rice vinegar
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 pound skinless salmon fillets
1 cup uncooked brown rice
5 ounces (1 1/2 cupes) sugar snap peas, cut into 1/2 inch slices

1. Cut away peel and pith from 2 oranges.  Cut between orange membranes, and let fruit and juice fall into a bowl.  Squeeze juice into bowl and discard membranes.  Cut segments into small pieces, and place in a separate bowl.  Juice remaining 2 oranges and add juice to bowl (for a total of 1 cup).
2. Bring orange juice, sliced ginger, bay leaf, and coriander to a boil in a small saucepan.  Cook until mixture is reduced to 2/3 cup, about 6 minutes.  Let cool completely.  Straing, and whisk in vinegar, soy sauce, honey, and oil.
3. Combine 3 tablespoons juice mixture and salmon in a resealable plastic bag, turning to coat.  Refrigerate salmon and remaining juice mixture for at least 1 1/2 hours (or up to 3 hours).
4. Cook rice according to package instructions.
5. Preheat broiler.  Remove salmon from marinade, and pat dry with paper towels.  Discard marinade.  Place fillets on a baking sheet, and broil until cooked to desired doneness, about 5 minutes for medium.  Transfer to a dish.  Let salmon cool slightly, and flake into bite sized pieces.
6. Divide rice among four bowls.  Top with salmon, peas, and orange segments.  Drizzle each serving with 1 1/2 tablespoons of the reserved juice mixture.

Artist in the Making

I love a lot about the Mother's Morning Out program that Charlotte is in this year.  I love how much interaction she gets with her peers and how that has greatly developed her peer relational skills.  I love how she goes to Chapel each week and gets a Bible lesson which has helped develop her love for Jesus so early.  I love her teachers and how much they care for and encourage her.  I love the break that I get and the break that Charlotte gets and how that makes our time together so much better.  I love how her love for music has grown exponentially with a wonderful music teacher.  But I especially love the fact that every few weeks or so her art projects are sent home in her bag!  It's fun to have these items and I know that I will always look back on them fondly. 

At some point over the last few years I read in a parenting magazine or on a blog or something that you should take a picture of your kids artwork.  That way, if something gets lost or torn, you still have a copy of each piece and if you don't have room to save everything you don't have to feel as bad about getting rid of it because you still have a copy.  So I've been doing that and am planning on making a book for Charlotte with her artwork.  I'll probably wait and do all of the MMO art together since it would be a very small book if I just did each year but we'll just have to see.  In the meantime I wanted to share some of my favorite pieces from this year so far.

This was the first piece ever sent home so, of course, it's special!

They've been working on shapes this spring and this must have been circle day!

I love the stickers of animals.  Since Charlotte is all about animals this project probably fit her to a T!

Sweet little hand turkey's -- priceless!

The most recent piece was pictures of food on a paper plate.  Other than the cutout of the salad these are, indeed, Charlotte's favorite foods -- spaghetti, strawberries, and cookies!  I wonder if she got to pick out the magazine pieces to glue on or if the teachers just handed them out?  I'm going to imagine that she picked them out and just got confused with the salad picture!

The five amigo's

At pretty much any time of the day you can find Charlotte with her "an-mils".  She will have some collection of stuffed animals with her at all times.  The only time we get away without the animals is when we've left the house because she's good at understanding that if we take our animals with us and drop them they'll get dirty and we'll have to wash them so she's content to leave them in her car seat waiting on her. 

But her four most favorite animals of all (this week) are..... Scruffy, Priss, Nikki, and Lamby (in order of next picture).

She carries them around all the time and will not go to sleep without them in her crib.  Scruffy came with a Christmas present, Priss came from Cousin Abby, Nikki was a beanie baby from Memma's as was Lamby.

I sat her down and asked her to show me her animals which she did but this was the only great picture I got of it, the rest were blurry.

Of course, by the end of all that she was done with pictures as you can tell by this face.  This face cracks me up now because I know in 10 years I'm going to be seeing it all the time and it won't be funny then.  Paybacks aren't fun, right?? :)

A girl can never have too many shoes!

Charlotte loves shoes.  Really, I can't say that enough.  Charlotte L-O-V-E-S shoes!  It doesn't matter if the shoes are brown, white, pink, black, or Elmo, she gets excited when you put them on. 

The last few weeks then have been Charlotte's dream come true!

First, she got to wear the Abby Cadabby shoes that Caroline graciously gave her last summer.  To say they were a hit would be an understatement. She wanted to show them to everyone that she saw on our walk and even went so far as to stick her foot out of the wagon to show Papa when we saw him on the golf course!

Then I went shopping for sandals and came back with, let's just say, a few pairs of new shoes!  I didn't take her with  me to get them because that would have been more trouble than it was worth for me when I could just get them, try them on at home, and return as needed.  So once she got up from her nap that day I sat her down in her pink chair to try on shoes.  She loved it!  Stuck her foot out proudly for each one and when I asked her to walk around in them she knew exactly what to do and walked a few steps, stopped with her foot out towards me to see, and then walked back.  Do you think she's seen her Mommy try on shoes before or something!?!? 

She loves her new shoes and always wants to wear them, especially the purple foam shoes that I got for the pool -- they're her favorite and she would wear them all day every day if she could!  But she also loved the shoe boxes and liked getting everything spread out in front of her so she could examine and put everything in it's certain place.  In addition to being the daughter of a (perhaps) shoe addict, she's also the daughter of two engineers!

I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to Jason for encouraging this habit from such an early age.  But I would also like to tell him that he might want to start a special shoe savings account because it looks like the next 20 or so years might be pretty expensive for him, especially if we're having another little girl! :)