Maternity shoot for my sis

My lil sis is expecting a baby boy May 2014! I took these photos for her on Christmas Day.

Dora the Elf 2013

I just learned how to posts blogs from my phone!  So glad my husband is such a techie!  Be expecting many more posts and photos now :) 

Here are just a couple of photos of Dora the Elf 2013!

 Roasting marshmallows 

Chillin'

Drinking pancake syrup

Our decorator with our first family of four pic with Santa

Cameron's Late Birthday/late 13 month blog post

We celebrated Cameron's 1st birthday on 11-16-13 before the Baylor v. Texas Tech football game with family and friends at our new home.  We had a football theme party which included blow up 12" footballs, chocolate cupcakes I frosted to look like footballs, and lots of green and gold balloons and decorations. 

Stats
Weight: 20lbs 9 oz

Height: 28 1/2 inches
Clothes size: 12-18 months
Diaper size: 3

Words used in right context: Dada, Momma, more, byebye, dogdog, Dora (this was the name of our Elf on the Shelf), something that sounds similar to deer, and also something that sounds similar to Thank you
Favorite things to do: Get into things, laugh, dance, wrestle, play with remotes or iphones, snuggle, and play peek-a-boo

New Experiences:

• started walking everywhere on his 1st birthday, 11/16/13
• starting to drink some cow's milk
• signs milk when he wants to nurse
• learned the motion for 'stomp your feet' portion of "If you're happy and you know it"
• takes steps backwards to scoot into someone's lap if they are sitting on the floor
• drives Duck Dynasty 4 wheeler he got from Nana for his 1st birthday
• turns and slides feet first on his own to get off a couch or bed



Happy Birthday Cameron!

Aunt Jackie has moved to Heaven

My Aunt Jackie has moved to Heaven,

 

We will miss her humor, 

 

 

We will miss her encouraging spirit,

We will miss her touch,

We will miss her joy and undeniable love,

We will miss her open arms,

We will know that she is watching over us now.

How old is Cameron....

I'm really awful at blogging! Truth is I want to keep record and cherish these memories I really do, but when I finally get a second to sit and jot down a few thoughts I get distracted by emails, facebook, or other people's blogs instead!

Anyways its October 7th and in 9 days my baby will be 11 months old and I haven't posted his 9 or 10 month updates : /  so lets give this a shot...

On Aug 16th we went to the dr for his 9 month check up and shots.  He weighed 20 lbs 6.5 ounces (64 percentile) and was 28 inches long (88th percentile).  Shots haven't ever seemed to bother him much at all.  I don't even give him tylenol and he doesn't even seem to get a fever. 

Cameron's favorite game is peek-a-boo! He's super ticklish and has the greatest belly laugh of all time!  He gives hugs and kisses and is still the world's best cuddler, just ask the ladies in the church nursery!

On September 29th he took his first steps all by himself. Daddy hooked up some new speakers in the living room and Raegan and Cameron both love to turn up Pandora and throw a dance party. He's learned how to clap and cheered Baylor on to victory at his first BU footgame on October 5th.

He can climb the stairs! He absolutely loves crawling into the pantry.  He's into EVERYTHING! I can't take my eyes off the kid for a second without finding him licking a usb cord, or trying to unplug something from the wall, or pulling everything out of the kitchen cabinets.  He's truly a handful, but always has such a great attitude even when I don't let him do these things.  He's sleeping much much better than before, from 8pm to about 5am most every night.  He still takes two naps a day and nurses frequently.  He adores his big sister and squeals with joy when she gets home from school!  She likes to play school upstairs and writes his name in the 'hot box' when he's not being a good student, but this doesn't seem to bother him ; )

I've just started thinking of ideas for his first birthday, can't believe it will be here so soon!

Kitchen cabinets and walls painted

The picture above is our kitchen before any paint, the painters were doing their prep work when I took this picture. The cabinets had a faux finish oil based stain on them and looked a tan/beige color.

This picture is after the cabinets were painted antique white, so much brighter.

 

This is what the kitchen looked like when we selected essential gray as the wall color.  It looked lavendar, so we went back to Sherwin Williams to try again.

This color is Earl Gray and we like it much better, it looks a little darker in this picture than it really is now that it is dry.

The island is now stained Ebony, but this was a picture I took while the work was in process.

 

I wish we could say we had a lot of time and talent to do this ourselves, but we didn't.  We've been lucky to find a lot of great contractors to come out and help us.  More home project posts to come.

Isn't it beautiful when we fall apart

On the long drive from Raegan's 1st day of school back to our home God spoke to me with this song: "We Fall Apart" The worlds on fire but we're all smiling Though it's all our fault But life is short so we resort to laughing through it all It's the battle within the good and the sin With both sides standing strong It's the permanent scars How broken we are It's the things that hurt us all But isn't it beautiful The way we fall apart It's magical and tragic all the ways we break our hearts So unpredictable We're comfortably miserable We think we're invincible Completely unbreakable And maybe we are Isn't it beautiful The way we all fall apart You're a liar but I'm a coward so I can't throw a stone We're so imperfect but so worth it because we're not alone It's the wars that we wage, the lives that we take For better or for worse It's the lion we cage, the love and the rage That keeps us wanting more But isn't it beautiful The way we fall apart It's magical and tragic all the ways we break our hearts So unpredictable We're comfortably miserable We think we're invincible Completely unbreakable And maybe we are But isn't it beautiful The way we all fall apart The world is dark but all it takes your love to spark To set my heart on fire once again But isn't it beautiful The way we fall apart Isn't it beautiful oh, isn't it wonderful The way we fall apart It's magical and tragic all the ways we break our hearts So unpredictable We're comfortably miserable We think we're invincible Completely unbreakable And maybe we are But isn't it beautiful The way we all fall apart Isn't it beautiful The way we fall apart And I just started to realize that we always try to "get all settled in" or "put everything in order." We think that we are capable and in control of piecing together our lives. We left our home state of Texas and ventured out on our own to Oklahoma soon after we got married. We lived in Moore for 5 years during this short time we began our careers, purchased our first home, joined a church & small group, brought a beautiful baby girl into this world (3-24-09), made new friends, served our community through volunteering, enjoyed festivals & all the benefits of living near a big city, and we brought a wonderful baby boy into this world (11-16-12). We were very busy, but also so very blessed. We had the BEST neighbors anyone could ever ask for. A wonderful church with great events and activities. Great workplaces with people we could trust and enjoyed working with. Life was grand! That was until May 20, 2013, a day I'll never ever forget and one that even nearly 100 days later still brings me to tears to think of. On that day our pretty little puzzle was torn to pieces. We were very fortunate not to lose any family or close friends or even significant possessions, but the emotional toll and fear it caused is still unexplainable. We had concerned loved ones, friends, church members, and coworkers reaching out to help us during that time. After staying the night with strangers the night of 5/20, we made it to our home the next morning to pack a few diapers and snacks and Philip dropped the kids and I off at our dear friends' home in Norman. They had a generator and that way we wouldn't have to spend the day alone in our hot home without power and so that Philip could take the only car we had at the time to work. Laura was so welcoming and kind to us. Her home got power just as we pulled in the driveway (isn't God awesome). She fed Raegan and I took a hot shower as I still had mud caked onto my legs from the day before. We sat snacking on dark chocolate for breakfast and nursing our baby boys while we watched Mickey Mouse and Bubble Guppies because the news was too terrifying for Raegan (4) and Mason(2)to see. While I was there Philip called to check on us and to tell me that we were moving to Texas. Philip had applied to become the Operator of the Chick-fil-A in Weatherford, TX on October 25, 2012 and we had been waiting to hear if he had been selected, but knew we might not know until July 1. However this wasn't the first thought that crossed my mind. I thought he didn't want to ever have to go through what we went through the day before and he had come up with some solution to just move to Texas. Then I think he said, yes Tony just called... I knew then it was for real and Philip had been selected as the Operator for the Chick-fil-A in Weatherford and we were going to move to Texas just like we had been praying for! Laura said congratulations and gave me a hug and I was happy for a breif moment. Then I looked around at how we were living out of a recyclable grocery bag with diapers, wipes, a change of clothes, rice cakes and a jar of peanut butter and thought how am I suppose to move right now. What about my pieces here, what about my friends, what about grief and mourning, how do I answer all of Raegan's questions, what about work, all these questions swirled around in my head and I was confused. Philip called back later that day to ask me about making a offer on a home in Weatherford and I told him I didn't know, whatever he wanted to do was fine. I look back and feel bad for placing so much responsibility on Philip's shoulders during that next month. I was too confused to make decisions, all I cared about was that my babies were with me and that we were safe. For the next two weeks I worked on cleaning our house and starting to pack during the day and then went to the Hilgenfeld's to sleep at night in their finished attic. I always kept a very close watch on the weather and weather forecasts. Mike and Susan have a large underground storm shelter and Susan was always so kind to warn me of any hint of severe weather and invite us over, I always accepted. So I turned to survival mode and making decisions for that day, one day at a time. Its all I could handle. People would ask me what are you going to do when you move to Weatherford? When are you going back to work? Are you going to send Raegan to a new daycare? Do you want to bring Raegan to work? Do you want to work in Fort Worth? What kind of carpet do you want to put in your home in Moore? What do you want to pack first? What roofer should we use? on and on so many decisions I didn't want to have to make and didn't, I let Philip make all the decisions and just told him I didn't know. He took care of everything, carpet installers, roofers, fence repair, making offers on new homes, bringing home meals, ordering a pod, scheduling a uhaul, finding a storage building, everything...all while still running a business in Norman and I just held my babies and tried not to cry too much, because then Raegan would ask why I was crying. Anyways, our sweet little puzzle had fallen apart and I couldn't put it back together. What I couldn't see yet was that on 5/21/13, the Lord reached down and said to us, here's a new puzzle, take my hand and I will help you put it together. Oh what mercy and grace He has given us! So today we are living in Weatherford, TX, perhaps the friendliest place on Earth, even if the city is "stuck back in time." Raegan started pre-K and we joined a church. I joined MOPS and have already met some new moms who happen to have recently moved from Oklahoma too! Philip brought a few employees with him from Norman, but the existing team here is terrific! Philip has new challenges at work and the resources he needs to solve them. I've been able to work from home part time and still enjoy spending time with the kids. We still keep in touch with our friends in Oklahoma and hope to go back and visit them soon. We try to get out and swim in the backyard every evening and get done just in time to watch the deer come out to graze in our front yard at sunset. We have a long list of home improvement projects and to-do lists, but are letting God help us put our lives back together instead of trying to do it all ourselves. I think this puzzle is going to turn out beautiful!

Raegan recently

Raegan always has to have her picture taken when I take Cameron's monthly pictures.  So above is where she jumped in the recliner after him and gave me a big smile.  Raegan is growing up so fast.  Everyday she amazes me with how much she knows and how much she can remember.  I honestly think she may have a photographic memory.  Raegan is enjoying our new home, but misses her old friends A LOT.  She talks about them often.  Yesterday we had the following conversation:
Raegan: Why did Trenton always kiss me at school?

Me: I dunno

Raegan: He's not suppose to do that!

Me: Nope

Raegan: Maybe its because he loves me too much!

Trenton was in Raegan's preschool class at All About Kids. She really misses her school friends.  But she will be starting a new school soon and making new friends.  It was difficult for us to find a PreK program that wasn't going to be a repeat of what Raegan already learned last year.  But we did find one and Raegan got accepted and is very excited to start soon!  I was able to order nearly all of her school supplies online.  We did end up going to try on uniforms though, which I'm glad we did because I was thinking of buying size 5 so that she wouldn't out grow them quickly, but at the store even a 4 fell right off of her.  So we bought size 3 and have plenty of room to grow. Miss Petite.

This summer Raegan has been a huge help playing with and watching her brother.  Anytime Cameron gets near something he shouldn't like a fan or cord, which seem to be the things he is most interested in, Raegan will yell "Mom Cameron's doing something he's not suppose to!"  She's good at sharing with him and loves to make him laugh.  She's a wonderful big sister.  One of my concerns about our new home was not having a gate around the pool.  That worry has been eased as Raegan impressed us all by already learning how to swim.  So my toddler (can I still call her that?) who cries when water gets in her eyes in the bathtub, can now swim underwater the entire width of the pool.  She'll even jump in and swim underwater to whoever is nearby.  She's working on her front and back flips underwater I tried to teach her.

While shes growing up, she still says things that remind me she's still my baby like:

"just one people" instead of just one person and "how much does it pay" instead of how much does it cost.  

Although its only August Raegan asked me yesterday if we could make a list to tell Santa she wanted Hello Kitty things from Target.  While we were at Target the other day she started to pray with her hands clasped in front of her to Santa.  We've been trying to explain that we don't pray to Santa, but that we could make him a list instead.  One day Raegan was upset that I set her breakfast down at the wrong spot at the table and she wanted me to move it, when I told her she could do it, she walked away.  I told her that if she needed to go pout she could go to the stairs (her timeout spot).  She said, "I'm going to pray to Jesus, because I love him more than you, I love him to the sun and back!"  

So thankful for this sweet, entertaining little princess!  

Cameron is 8 months old

Sorry I've been so behind on keeping up with the blog. I'll have posts to explain, but the summer of 2013 is one I know we will always remember. However my children do keep getting older so without further adue.

Cameron at 8 months

Cameron is the happiest baby!  He loves laughing at his silly sister and crawling after her around the house.  He gives sweet cuddles and kisses, but we have to remind him not to bite.  Those two little bottom teeth can leave a mark!  He is like a puppy in the water.  He loves to splash and try to swim in the pool.  I think he'll be a good swimmer.  He's growing out of clothes fast and I'm hoping that the 12 month clothes I bought for fall/winter will still fit him.  He moved to a big boy carseat in mommy's car.  His hair is blonde and straight and growing a lot.  He babbles a lot and squeals really loud, but we haven't heard many English words.  Although of course we like to think he's saying MaMa and DaDa.  Cameron is still not sleeping through the night.  I'm pretty happy if he goes for a 4 hour stretch without waking me up.  He's eating a lot more tiny pieces of table foods in addition to his regular baby food, Baby MumMums, and Puffs.  He also already got his first freckle; its on the back of his right knee.  Even if he is getting into everything and likes to pull hair, this is such a fun age! He truly is a wonderful blessing!    

May 20, 2013 – A day I will always remember, but always want to forget

Monday mornings don’t seem to go very smoothly for our family for some reason. I feel like it’s my fault for not planning ahead better Sunday evenings, as we just try to spend that day as a family and its Philip’s only day off each week, I don’t like for it to be stressful or rushed. Anyways, this Monday was no different; Philip had gone to bed with a stomach ache and didn’t feel well all night but that didn’t stop me from butting him with my elbow around 5am when we heard Raegan crying out for him to go check on her as I was nursing Cameron. She had wet her bed and so Philip tried to clean it up and gave her a bath. Raegan and I ate cereal and shared a banana at the kitchen table and then Raegan eventually fell back to sleep and I started packing bottles and pump parts as Philip was still sick. Soon Cameron had a complete diaper blowout and as I was cleaning up I thought to myself, this is not how I wanted this week to start. Little did I know this would only be the beginning. I took Cameron to school and got to work just fine, even got a decent parking spot. I couldn’t find my Sonic badge so I had to call the IA manager and ask him to escort me up to where I was working. I was determined to get a lot done, as I felt behind from the prior week that had been unexpectedly interrupted by an AQR. After my computer booted up and I followed up on key emails I went upstairs and bought a breakfast taco and told my coworker I was a stress eater, in a half way joking manner, then preceded to eat nearly a whole thing of starburst! We got some work done, and ate lunch at our desks (I mean audit room tables) and the sky looked good, other people had asked me if I knew when storms were suppose to start flaring up and I checked the KOCO hour by hour storm predictor and it looked like maybe a thunderstorm around 4. Another coworker came out to where we were working around lunch time and was worried about the storms and we checked again and it looked like a thunderstorm was coming in around 2 and it would have hail. Our cars weren’t parked in a garage so we decided we would go ahead and leave and we planned on working from home where our cars would be safe from the hail. In hindsight it took me much too long to pack up all my belongings and workpapers. Once I got to my car I called Philip to tell him I was headed home to work. He told me the storm was coming fast and I better hurry and get home. Then he sent me a text at 2:16 that said just a thunderstorm with hail right now and 45 minutes until it would hit downtown. I still hurried home, with my only fear/worry was about my car getting hail damage. While I was still on the road at 2:33 he then sent me a screenshot from twitter which I couldn’t look at while driving in such a hurry, but his next text said “quick get home.” I called him and asked him if he thought I should pull over at a gas station so my car would be undercover instead of in slow moving traffic on I-35, then our call got disconnected and his next text said “Don’t stop. Just get home. Mid level rotation in Newcastle headed to Moore sw okc about 10-15 minutes. I texted him back, “just passed 240.”
These were our next conversations:
Philip: “sirens going, 3:07 in Moore, You’ve got 20 minutes”
Me (2:47pm): At 4th and Broadway
Philip: Looks like it will pass near the house if it continues on same projector
Me: How do I watch the news on my phone like you were doing?
Philip: KOCO.COM click watch live
Me: Sirens Me (3:01PM): I’m so scared
Philip: Put mattress on top of you
Philip: Phone won’t go through
Me: Should I leave? (this message didn’t go through right away)
Me (3:18PM): Underground at neighbors (not delivered)
Me: Think the kids r ok? (not delivered)
Philip: No Philip: Stay hunkered down
Me(3:30PM): Underground
Philip: No time
Philip: Love you
Philip: I’ll be right there after
Me: Is it past us? (not delivered)
Me: Safe? (not delivered)
Philip: great (I think this was to my underground text)
Philip (3:45PM): Headed that way… traffic awful
Philip: School destroyed near Raegan
Me: Will u please call all about kids (raegan’s daycare)
Philip: Where r u
Philip: I’ll pick you up and we can go get them
Philip: I can’t get through to anyone from my cell
Me: Home
Me: More coming?
Philp: K, I’m trying to get there
Me (4:00PM): U don’t have to come get me
Philip: can you get my usb plug
Philip: I want to get you so we can go get our babies

I was barefoot and still wearing work clothes (slacks and a sweater) and thinking another tornado may be on the way I changed clothes (in the dark) trying to find something that wouldn’t be so hot to wear in the shelter next time. I packed a bag with an extra set of clothes and tennis shoes for Philip and Raegan, an extra outfit for Cameron, two granola bars, a banana and a thermos of ice water. I also threw my wallet and the garage puncher into the diaper bag.

When Philip pulled up, I was standing in our front yard talking to our neighbor, Tony, and his 14 month old son, Tate, talking about how he got Tate out of daycare and brought him home so they could get in the shelter and that his wife Sarah was up at the District attorney’s office in OKC. Philip and I left thinking there might be a lot of traffic but were not prepared for what we saw as we drove west down 19th street. Besides crazy amounts of debris making I35 look like a dirt road, we saw a nearly empty Walmart parking lot, down power lines, lots of people walking, bumper to bumper traffic, many many emergency vehicles passing us, glass broken out of car and building windows, then buildings gone. Tears started flowing down my face and I noticed that every person we saw was either crying or smoking. My chiropractor’s office was demolished and unrecognizable. We realized quickly we weren’t going to be able to drive to Raegan’s school so we made a decision to park in an apartment parking lot on 19th as the CVS at the corner of Santa Fe and 19th looked full. I told Philip to park anywhere because I was in such a hurry to go get Raegan. I didn’t want to carry the larger bag with extra clothes from 19th to Raegan’s school (about 7 blocks) so I threw Raegan’s tennis shoes and socks in the diaper bag and a banana and we joined hands and started our trek.

We walked through the cars basically parked on 19th St. then across a down power line in a puddle of water from the rain and broken fire hydrants spewing water everywhere, across the back side of Walgreens, then in front of what used to be Dollar General, then all we could see ahead was debris, the most I saw standing was part of a kitchen wall with a refrigerator and not 5 feet from it a red washer and dryer sitting side-by-side. I think it was about that point when the thought that we may have lost Raegan and Philip cried out and almost fell down and I grabbed his arm and said “Philip you have to be strong and be careful I can’t have you getting hurt too on top of all this.”

We tried running but it was too hard with all the debris we were tripping over; Philip had to help me over some of the poles lying across the road; one wood one looked like a fallen over redwood tree it was so large. We smelt gas and although there were fires, we had heard they were not putting them out because they were focusing on search and rescue first. We could see all the emergency vehicles and military tanks sitting in front of Raegan’s school but we weren’t seeing any children. My heart sank deeper and tears streamed heavier. Then Philip saw a house standing and said, “look that house is standing, that’s a good sign Tara.” Then I saw Baleigh, a little girl in Raegan’s classroom, and her grandfather, who I had met at recent birthday parties this Spring. I yelled out her name and then ran and gave her a hug and told her I was so glad she was okay and kissed the top of her head and her grandfather assured me that they were all okay. It wasn’t too much further until we reached Raegan’s daycare where some of the teachers were out talking to parents and assuring us the children were okay, the babies were only in their diapers and in cribs outside so that they didn’t overheat as the building had lost power. We walked down the hallway, I hugged the owner of the school who we had just visited with at Home Depot the day before, then went straight to Raegan’s classroom and picked her up and squeezed her SO tight and gave her teacher, Alicia, a hug too without even putting Raegan down. The director also let us know that the children just thought they were in the safe room (which Raegan calls the hiding place) because of the rain and hail and they hadn’t heard the “Tornado” word yet. So as you can imagine, Raegan was quite shocked at what she saw when we walked out of her daycare. Our plan was to go back to Philip’s car and go pick up Cameron, who we already knew was safe at his daycare. However we were told we were not allowed to go back that way (south) because of a gas leak. Philip wanted to try cutting through one of the destroyed neighborhoods to get back to our car, but I reminded him it was too dangerous and we just needed to go get Cameron. One of Raegan’s first comments was “that’s not suppose to be there” talking about a car in the grass. While we walked we saw horrible things and stepped through dangerous things really without thinking too much about it, maybe it was just shock, and we were in survival mode. All that mattered to me was getting to Cameron. Cameron’s school is a little over 3 miles northwest from Raegan’s school. Philip and I were both also texting while walking trying to answer people’s questions, let them know we were okay, and trying to find someone who could come get us so we could get Cameron and get home. There were many, many other people walking. People who saw us with Raegan and asked where we got her from trying to figure out if their child(ren) were okay just as we had been minutes before. People walking without shoes. People videoing the madness with their phones. A group that consisted of two teachers and 8-12 kids from Plaza Towers elementary. One of the teachers had a bloody scrape on her leg, her arm wrapped up in a swaddle blanket and her shirt torn. The children were covered with debris like many of the cars we had seen earlier; they had debris in their eyelashes and around their nostrils. The teachers kept recounting them and making sure they were staying together as they were trying to get to a triage center. I remember one girl telling another one that her bra strap was showing and the girl saying “thanks, but I’m not really worried about that right now.” The children weren’t crying. I think they were more in a state of shock. I’ve never seen a warzone, but I felt like I was in a third world country and all that mattered to me was getting to my child. I saw one lady walking without shoes and asked her if she was okay, she said yes and showed me that she was carrying her shoes in her hand. I didn’t see her again until Philip, Raegan and I were past GFF foods on 12th St. when I saw that same lady’s face in the passenger seat of a truck and she asked if we needed a ride. Her husband had driven down to come pick her up and luckily she remembered me, so they kindly gave us a ride to Cameron’s daycare. She worked in the Fox & Fields pediatricians’ office in the Moore Medical Center and told us she had been underground in the Chapel when the tornado came through, she said when she came out afterwards it looked like the area had been hit by a bomb. She also told us she had a 9 year old daughter named Reagan who was with a relative. They dropped us off at the daycare and after Raegan and I went to the bathroom, I nursed Cameron, we got 3 small bottles of water and then rode in Angela’s (daycare owner) vehicle to try to get closer to home. Since our neighborhood had little damage, I hadn’t considered the possibility of the east side of I-35 having damage as well. We asked Angela if she could just take us down Eastern and then we could get home, but traffic was horrible and police officers wouldn’t let us south of Main St. So we slowly took Main street east all the way to Bryant, it took forever as I-35 was shut down even semi trucks were making their way through this little neighborhood to try and find a way south. Angela lives in Edmond and has young children of her own so we asked her to just let us out at Main St and Bryant and we planned on just walking through Veteran’s Park to get home. We walk from our house to Veteran’s Park to go play normally anyways, so it wouldn’t be so bad even though this time we didn’t have a stroller and Philip was carrying Cameron and his heavy carseat carrier. We set off on foot and were then stopped by a National Guard member 2 blocks later and were told they were not allowing anyone to go south. So we just kept walking we turned back west and walked down Main street until I saw a familiar face in a driveway. It was our neighbor, Sarah Butler. (Glad I’m on the HOA welcoming committee, because this is how I first met Sarah.) However as Sarah lives on our block, I had just been in the front yard speaking to her husband right after the tornado has passed. It was so nice to see a familiar face and sit down for a minute. Sarah was in this driveway because her husband is a youth pastor and one of the students, Brooke, from their church lived there. Sarah worked downtown and had been trying to get home but wasn’t able to go any further south so she too was stuck, but she had her vehicle unlike us. Although they didn’t have power, Brooke’s mother was friendly and let me use her restroom and even brought Raegan out some animal crackers. We sat in their driveway for awhile, along with John, another member from their church who had been walking along and decided to stop at Brooke’s house as he couldn’t get home either. They were all trying to charge their phones in an SUV and the battery of the SUV died, so Sarah found jumper cables in her car and let them borrow them to jump start the battery of the SUV. Mine and Philip’s phones were nearly dead but we couldn’t get much service anyways. We saw a friend who owns a tow trucking business drive by Brooke’s house and I had Philip chase him down to see if he could perhaps get us past the guards so we could go home. Philip tried but our friend thought we were crazy, for he had seen the damage and knew that would be impossible. It started to get dark and traffic seemed to have lightened up so Sarah, John, Philip, Raegan, Cameron and I decided to head west in Sarah’s 5 passenger car to try to get home. We first drove as far west as we could seeing every single road blocked off so we couldn’t go south. Cameron was crying and Sarah looked back at me and said do you nurse? I told her yes and she said she didn’t mind and her and John wouldn’t look back if I need to nurse Cameron. Cameron was sitting in her Sarah’s son’s carseat facing backwards and I was able to lean forward with Raegan half in my lap and nurse him to calm him down. We reached I44 and realized we wouldn’t be able to go south so we turned around the headed north to I240 and went east. We were really hungry so we planned on stopping by Chick-fil-A to get dinner but it was closed and the McDonalds next to it had a line that looked a mile long. We found a drive thru long john silvers/rootbeer place but sat in the drivethru line for over 10 minutes and didn’t move so we decided, eating wasn’t that important, even though Raegan kept telling me how thirsty she was. We got back on I240 and drove east to Sooner Road, we thought for sure that would be far enough east to get home, but as we were quickly met with lots more traffic and saw vehicles turning around we realized we weren’t going to be able to get home that night and started making other plans. I thought of our friends who live off 89th on the east side of I35 and knew they wouldn’t mind us dropping in late at night, but we had already passed 89th, so Sarah thought of her husband’s grandparents who live off 27th St. We pulled into their driveway with no advanced notice and they welcomed us into their home. They had power and we saw the first glimpses of media coverage from the storm, they were talking about the death toll, it wasn’t pretty. Luckily Raegan was distracted by their yorkie, named Bridgette. We tried to explain to Sarah’s inlaws how we all came together and ended up at their house and they explained where we could sleep for the night and also started making sandwiches and warming up pizza for us. It must have been after 11pm when we ate dinner, but we were so thankful we didn’t have to go to bed hungry. Sarah slept in a bed room with a twin bed and trundle with me and my children and Philip and John slept in the living room. Although I was so tired, I didn’t sleep. I could hear thunder and see lightning flashes coming through the window most the night. I listened for tornado sirens, just in case. The scenes from earlier in the day kept running through my mind and tears kept streaming quietly down my face as I held Cameron tight and combed Raegan’s hair off her forehead with my hand. At 5:30AM I heard an alarm going off in another room, we had decided that we wanted to try and leave early in the morning to get home before any traffic was on the roads. So I woke Sarah up and she turned on the tv so we could check the news and start getting ready to go. We thanked Sarah’s inlaws for letting us stay with them and packed back into Sarah’s car. I think we were able to go down 27th St to I35 south, but I don’t really remember exactly. We definitely were not able to exit on our normal exit but went further south and then up around a backway that Philip knew and got to Eastern and 19th where at least 4 national guards were standing. We showed them our identification and gave them our sob story and they let us turn right we were so excited to almost be home. We walked through our front door and the house smelt awful. Our power was still off and the dishes from Sunday night were still sitting in the kitchen sink, but that wasn’t my priority. Philip needed to get to work, so he changed shirts and was worried about it being wrinkled as he normally irons every morning. I told him it was fine and they would understand (I later learned he took it to a place in Norman and they asked if he was from Moore and pressed it for him for free before work.) I got a bag of cereal snacks and a jar of peanut butter (you know the essentials) as well as some diapers. Philip dropped Raegan, Cameron and I off at our friends’ home on his way to work. Our friends in Norman had lost power but had a generator running. They got power back on just as we pulled into their driveway. The map below shows how close Raegan’s daycare (A) was to Plaza Towers Elementary. I haven’t seen all the damaged areas in Moore, but I believe the path Philip and I had to walk through from 19th St to Raegan’s daycare was the hardest hit area.

Looking at this map is hard, I feel so so lucky that Raegan’s life was spared, but also so scared to realize a life can be lost in an instant.

Cameron is 5 months old!

Here are a couple of momentos:

Weight: Heavy
Height: Long
Head Circumference: Big
*We will get measurements at 6 month dr's appt

Clothes size: 6-9 months
Diaper size: 3

Favorite things to do: Smile, laugh, reach for food/drinks on table, cover his head with a blanket, pull his sister's hair, snuggle

New Experiences: 

• started daycare on 4-1-2013
• starting to scoot around, can rotate himself 360 degrees (like clock hand)
• sits up pretty well 
• had first taste of rice cereal on 4-16-2013 and LOVED it
• had first taste of banana and loved it, made huge mess
• got a Sophie the giraffe in his 1st Easter basket and loves it
• loves splashing and kicking his legs in his bath tub

Can't get a picture of this cutie not smiling! : )

Raegan is 4!

This is my sweet, rambunksish, incredible 4 year old!

She loves to sing and dance, read, color, spell and write her friends and family members' names, pretend, swing at the park, practice gymnastics, give kisses to her little brother, and say the prayer at dinner.  She loves standing on one leg with her arms out and while trying to balance says, "mom watch this... one bunny scout, two bunny scout, three bunny scout..."

I wish I could record all the funny things that come out of her mouth, I usually have my phone with me and I'll jot down some of the funny things she says such as:

Me: Where do you learn all this crazy stuff, school?
Raegan: No, I learn it from Jesus

Philip: Raegan, do you know how to spell spoiled?
Raegan: no
Philip: SPOILED you can also spell it RAEGAN
Raegan: Why'd you spell my name?

Raegan: Because I'm the big sister and I know better

Raegan:when I grow up I want to be Brittney Griner

Me: Raegan, will you please put these sunflower seeds in the kitchen, I was snacking on them
Raegan: Well that's your fault and that's your mess, that's not my fault

She's also so smart.  She can write all of her colors (pink, purple, white, red, blue, green, white, brown, orange, black, & yellow) completely by herself. She can write her numbers 1-10 (that I know of). She can write her first and last name and most all of her friend's names without help.  She draws flowers, smiley faces, hearts, and spirals.  She knows when to yell defense when we are watching basketball : )
She says things like:

"Look mom I've got a pattern, see red, blue, red, blue"
"those are for extra"
"yes, I'm pretty sure"
"there are 6 seats in daddy's car and 4 people in our family so two of my friends can come with us"
"this is in slow motion"
"Hurry up, vamonos"
"even though its Saturday, I have to do my work mommy.  My work is coloring and taking care of my 2 babies"

A few of my favorite pictures of our princess:

2009

      

2010

2011

2012

4 months old

Cameron is four months old!

Here are a couple of momentos:

Weight: 17lbs 8 oz.

Height: 26"

Head Circumference: 17"

Clothes size: 6-9 months

Diaper size: 3

Favorite things to do: laugh and giggle when friends and family tickle him, listen to his loud sister read stories, snuggle with mommy, play peek-a-boo, pull hair, scratch his head, take out and put in his pacifier by himself

New Experiences:

• can roll over left and right from tummy to back
• went swimming at the Y with daddy and sister
• slept from 9:30pm to 5:30am on 3-16-13
• found his toes, but can't yet put them in his mouth by himself
• had small tastes of green bean and avocado and liked them both

 

Yes both my kids have double chins, they get it from their dad : )

  

 Love this precious boy!

3 months old!

He melts my heart!

Cameron is three months old! He now weighs 17lbs

Here are a couple of other momentos:

Clothes size:  3-6 months, 6 months, 6-9 months
Diaper size: 2 (moving to 3 when we finish this last box of 2s)

Favorite thing to do: laugh and giggle when friends and family tickle him, listen to his loud sister read stories, gnaw on his fists, play peek-a-boo

New Experiences:
•Lots of smiles and loud laughs and squeals
•First trip to the ER (stomach virus Jan 30th)
•Spent 6 days with grandparents while mommy and daddy were travelling
•Will now take a pacifier

Cameron is 2 months old!

Happy lil monkey!

Great sleeper!

Cameron is Two Months Old at his dr. appointment he was 24inches long and weighed 14lbs 10oz! He's gained over 5lbs in 6 weeks! Here are a couple of other momentos:
Clothes size: 3 months, 3-6 months and sometimes 6 months

Diaper size: 2

Favorite thing to do: snuggle with mommy, bat at toys hanging in activity mat, listen to his crazy sister, relax in his swing

New Experiences:

• Lots of smiles, laughs, and coos
• Travelled great on car trip to Tyler Texas to spend Christmas with Philip's family
• Not a fan of the 5 shots he got at the doctor

Raegan Recently...

Our pride & joy : ) Raegan is growing up so fast! She is very entertaining and has such a sweet heart!

Pushing her baby, Alli, in her shopping cart before school.

Raegan likes to have these "parties" which include putting a whole lot of toys (baby dolls, ponies, peppa pig dolls, & stuffed animals) all close together (usually on a couch) and then sitting near them.  She'll sit there for a long time and just be part of the "party."

When we were taking Cameron's two month pictures, Alli and Raegan didn't want to be left out : )

Funny Conversations:
Me: Raegan how come you're so pretty?
Raegan: God just made me that way

Raegan: Did you go to the doctor?
Me: Yes the doctor said its not time for bubba to come out yet
Raegan: Did you tell him its November? Did you tell the doctor that mom?

Raegan: I don't believe he's in there
Me: Yes he is feel him right here
Raegan: Where are his bones?

Me: Raegan what are you doing?
Raegan: Nothing... did you see me doing nothing mom?

approximately 4am...
Raegan: I'm sorry to bother you mommy but I peed in my pullup
Me: Oh sweet girl you are not bothering me, I'm your mommy and its my job to take care of you : )

Raegan: Santa's not going to know I want these for Christmas, so you take a picture mom so we can show him I want these?

Raegan: You see me pushing my stroller like a big mommy
Me: Yes you're doing a great job
Raegan: That's because when I grow up I want to be a mommy

Me: What did you learn in Sunday School today?
Raegan: Jesus will be my friend FOREVER!

Me: Do you want to watch Dora
Raegan: No I don't like Dora
Me: You don't?
Raegan: Nope I'm allergic to Dora

Other Random quotes from Miss R:

"Listen to what the Bible says: Do not say shut up, if you do the elf will take your baby and give it to Santa and Santa will give it to someone else"

"Once upon a time Jesus popped out of his mommy's tummy"

"How you know that?"

"I'm going to be a dancer and I'm going to flip, jump, and play football and you have to come see me and you have to cheer for me and say go Raegan, go Raegan!"

"How do I look?"

"Got it mom? Got it?"

"Did I do a good job mommy? Are you so proud of me?"

"When I grow up I want to be snow white and I'm gonna tell the prince where I live because he doesn't know where I live and he doesn't live in Moore, Oklahoma."

"Hey bubba when you grow up do you want to be Ariel or Cinderella?"

"Cinderella is my best friend and I'm going to go see her and tell her my name and she's going to like me and I'm going to be nice to her and play with her and I'm not going to hurt her or be mean to her.  How do you get to her castle and get Cinderella and bring her home with us? Do you have her phone number? We need to get her phone number so she can come to our house and we need to tell her where we live."

"Shhh I'm trying to talk"

"But I need to tell you something"

"Don't say SSHHHH to me"

"Its okay bubba sisters right here, don't cry for me, if you cry for me I'll come right back"

"Come on piggy bank give me my money, I need it to go to college and BU and play football, I need ALL of it!"

"My husband likes spiderman, that's a good movie"

"You're funny mommy! You crack me up! That's what Miss Megan always says."