car shopping bites

We're on the hunt for a second car to help Doug in his last year of school. We're opting for a cheap-o car that really only needs to last us another year. It involves a lot of Craigslist stalking, phone calls, emails, and test driving... again and again.

You know when you catch yourself considering a car that has the bumper attached with a rope that you're headed in a good direction. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

bottle baby no more

I get along well with Addy's doctor. At her 1-year appointment, he gave me one recommendation: get her off bottles as soon as possible.

Did I do it?

Nah. She'd resisted bottles once she quit nursing and sippy cups made her m-a-d, and I didn't feel like fighting her again to drink. So I tried... sorta. Kinda. But overall, I didn't make it a priority.

This last Tuesday she had her 15-month appointment. The bottle thing came up, and I had to sheepishly tell him she was still on the botella. He shook his head and sarcastically reprimanded me. He wrote really big on her sheet "GET OFF BOTTLES."

And later when we discussed some ear problems she's been having (non-stop fluid and ear infections for the past few months? yikes), he did bring up that the bottles could be contributing to that.

Ay... I totally felt like that Brian Regan sketch, talking about how going to the doctor can make you feel like a kid in trouble.

Doctor: You didn't do what I told you.
Brian: No, no I didn't.
Doctor: What should you have done?
Brian: I should have listened when you were talking.
Doctor: What are you going to do from now on?
Brian: Pay attention when you say things.

And the best part? I stopped giving her bottles the next day and she fussed about it for half a second and then she just took the cup. Apparently she wasn't the one with the issues.

temple flowers

One of the reasons Addy and I went south was to help my mom plant the flowers at the Birmingham temple.

My parents live just a few minutes from the temple, and a few years ago she asked the temple president why there were no flowers at the temple like you see at other temples. Next thing she knew, she was asked to be in charge of planning, ordering, and planting the flowers. And keeping them alive. It's a HUGE project, and she does a great job.

We had originally planned to do the big planting day on the day the storms came through. She had already brought all the flowers to the temple (at least 5 van fulls), so we had to bring all the flats of flowers to their house and protect them in the garage.

(We're pretty sure that's why we were protected during the storms. They plan to always keep some temple flowers in their garage from now on... just as a type of insurance.)

After the storm, planting just didn't seem that important. But she'd already spent all the money on it, that they still had to be taken care of. We were really grateful for the people that came to help plant.

Addy was such a good sport. She hung out in the stroller, in the pack in play, or just toddling around (although the toddling led to a lot of skinned knees).



It took several days, but everything turned out beautiful! I can't wait to see pictures in a few weeks when the flowers have grown a bit.

damage report

I wanted to share some of the pictures we saw of the damage in Fultondale, AL, a few miles south of my parents. What really shocks me is that Fultondale wasn't even hardest hit, but it still looks like a war zone.

Metal roofing wrapped around a telephone pole

A hotel that lost most of that second floor

The trees were thrown around, sheered off, and uprooted like they were nothing

It's hard to tell in this picture because they'd already started cleaning up, but that big tree feel on both of those cars

These light poles along the highway normally stand straight up with the round light fixture at the very top

Here's one of my (very) amateur videos showing the damage along Highway 31.


I also found this crazy video online. Some nutcase recorded the Fultondale tornado as it went by them. It gets really interesting starting at 55 seconds.

To those who have borne us

Happy Mother’s Day to the mothers is my life.
I have specifically three to talk about today.

Numero Uno
Jackie – is the sweet, loving, capable, mother of my child. Jackie has done such a wonderful job turning Addy into the happy dispositioned and healthy little girl that she is. She turns our little apartment into a clean and peaceful home.

Shawn – is the mother who bore me for nine months, gave birth to me and then has borne me for years since. She took the charge to teach me how to be a good person

Joyce – is the mother of the mother of my child. She raised and reared Jackie and turned her into the amazing woman that she is.

When these women’s powers combine they have the power to move mountains and bring happiness and order in a world where that is not found in all corners. They have worked wonders and make me such a happy man, and the world is better because of them. They have collaborated to make me a better man, and all of you are thinking that perhaps they missed the mark there, but you should’ve seen me before. They are superwomen in my life, and I know that I am blessed that they are mine. Thank you ladies for all you do to better the lives of those around you.

I love you.

here's to our moms

The best ladies we know.

Happy Mother's Day!

tornado

Last Tuesday Addy and I flew down to Alabama to visit my parents. Little did we know we were arriving just in time for some horrific, record-breaking weather.

My parents live in Gardendale, a suburb just north of Birmingham. Wednesday morning we woke up to thunderstorms, but they didn't do any damage in our area. The sky then  turned blue and stayed that way for most of the morning. The weather forecasters made it clear, however, that a storm unlike any of them had ever seen before was coming in the late afternoon and early evening. Yikes.

Fortunately my parents are smart and were overall extremely prepared. Their "safe spot" is in their basement, and it's stocked with food, water, first aid kits, flashlights, etc. It also, conveniently enough, doubles as the toy room and the workout room. Treadmills are great in the case of an emergency.

Mom and I wanted to run an errand in southern Birmingham before the weather started. We got a late start, though, so about 2:00 p.m. we were driving south, the sky was getting dark, and the clouds were moving fast. We both started to feel uneasy, but we were so close to our destination. The real wake-up call came when we reached a traffic light where the power was out, turned at the street anyway and found the road blocked by a gigantic tree that had pulled the power lines onto the road. That was enough for us to look at each other and say, "Let's go home."

We made it home without incident, and I even put Addy down for a nap upstairs. She'd been sleeping in a crib by a window, so I moved her to a pack-n-play in a closed off area. I even fell asleep (I was feeling a little sick) while watching the news and tracking the different storms moving from Mississippi to Alabama. I woke up a while later to see my mom's horrified face, watching a tornado on live television rip through Cullman County just north of us. That storm had just missed our area. 

About 5:00 or 5:30, we watched another tornado as it tore through Tuscaloosa. The tornado was so massive that it gave me chills. I was speechless. I couldn't believe that monster of a storm was destroying people's lives as I watched. It just felt so wrong to be sitting there, doing nothing. And it was sickening to realize that it was only 50 miles from us and headed our way. It was expected to come through at 6:10.

That was when we all looked at each other and started packing to camp out in the basement. We already had the basic supplies downstairs, but I started packing a bag with clothes, diapers, bottles, and sturdy shoes for us. My parents grabbed medications, computer hardrives, important documents, extra batteries, and anything else we thought we might need. We filled up pitchers of water and brought them down with us too.

I had Skyped Doug about an hour before, and I tried to act like we were okay. But when we knew the storm was coming our way for sure, I called him again and started bawling because that's pretty much what I do. I just felt sick knowing I was responsible for keeping our baby safe, and after watching the other tornadoes I knew there would really be nothing I could do but pray.

About 6:00 the power went out, which was extremely unnerving because we couldn't watch the storm and know right where it was anymore. Luckily we did have a weather radio, which we brought in the basement with us. The tornado sirens kept going off. We just sat in lawn chairs like idiots listening for updates, while Addy played with toys, totally clueless to what was going on. They pushed back the time to 6:15, and even to 6:20. Those times came and went. We could hear the wind, hail, and rain, but never the "freight train" you're told to listen for. We couldn't believe how blessed we were.

So the worst of the storm passed by us. The power stayed off and the phones were down, but my cell phone was working off and on. I was able to talk with Doug who had been tracking the storm and watched it go through Birmingham and through Fultondale, a town just 3 miles away. He could see that more storms could still swing our way, so we stayed down in the basement for pretty much the rest of the night. We had a few storms that seemed to be heading our way, but they never did cut close to us again.

We heard on the weather radio that the coast was clear about 10:30 or so. The rest of the night was spent trying to check on neighbors and friends, receiving calls from my panicked sisters, and trying to calm down a bit.

The power was out the next day too, so my dad set up our generators and fixed other people's generators. They went to get extra gas for the generators (something we wish we had done before the storm came), only to find one gas station after another out of gas. As they drove down the interstate looking for a station that still had fuel, they really started to realize how close the damage was to us. Just a few miles away they could see entire sections of the forest with trees snapped in half. There were trees on homes, homes demolished, businesses without walls, and light poles bent over or curled.

There are entire neighborhoods in some parts of Birmingham that are gone. Homes lifted off their foundations, roofs ripped off, and cars thrown around. Tuscaloosa is demolished. People in our area have told us they've found pieces of mail from Tuscaloosa that the tornado lifted up and dropped here. They've found wills, mortgage bills, parts of houses, etc. Hundreds of people are still unaccounted for. It is freaking crazy what these storms can do.

On Saturday we helped with a home that had three big trees fall on it. The homeowners hid in the crawlspace and are fine. Unfortunately they don't have homeowners insurance. We helped for about 3 hours, and while we got a lot done, it was eye-opening to me how many hours it would take before things would be close to normal again.

The people around here have been amazing. There is a local radio station coordinating volunteers, donations, crews from other states, and so on. Stores are giving away water bottles, food, and other supplies. The power company has been working non-stop. They first told us we probably wouldn't have power until Monday, so we were shocked when it came back on late Thursday night. Unfortunately, there's also been looting like you wouldn't believe. I guess something like this brings out the best and the worst in people.

I've taken pictures, but I can't upload them until I have my cord back at home. I just can't believe what happened in such a short time. I feel so grateful that we are completely fine, and I almost can't believe how much I have while so many lost so much.

I hope you'll keep the Alabamians in your prayers. I don't know why bad things happen to good people, but I hope you'll pray for comfort, peace, and help for people that are suffering here.

In light of this and the tragedies in Japan and other places, I hope we'll all think about how prepared we are for a disaster. You may feel like a nutcase hoarding canned goods, flashlights, or extra water, but I believe God gives us the resources to prepare ourselves (and to help others) for a reason. Just do it.

Also, note to self: I can't handle living in Alabama. Nor can I handle my parents living here.