Hair today!

Being cheap is not the main reason I trim Emma's fringe myself, but it's such a short job the effort of going to a salon seems too much. Keeping Toby busy is an issue because someone has to hold Emma's head straight as she still has a slight tilt. I learned my lesson though last night!

I try to keep Emma's fringe long for a more contemporary look, not like this scary do I had as a kid...

Maybe it was the fashion then!!

That wasn't the worst though - this was:

There's no comment for this!!

I have to say though as a baby it was a bit of a mess...

Now she (me!) looks like trouble!!!

However I ventured a little shorter than normal for longevity. Not being a trained hairdresser I can admit it's not entirely as easy as it looks, especially not at 9pm while your child is sat on your husbands lap, in the bathroom right before a late bath! Coupled with the poor kid not being able to close her eyes away from the falling hair - you get the picture.

Anyhow, this morning I did a few touch-ups, and if she has her hair in pigtails or little knots it looks pretty cool!

I will start to take her to the hairdresser next time. Now I just have to figure out what to do with Toby while Emma gets trimmed!

Yesterday I caught up on downloading all our photos and videos onto CDs. As I watched some from January I realized how far Emma's language has come. "Eh" was still her favorite expression just a few months ago.

By comparison, when I gave her some bratwurst last night she asked what it was and I said "hotdog." she replied with "It's not hotdog, it's sausage!" I guess she had been listening when I said that earlier. Whatever, she enjoyed eating it!

The other day I pointed out to Scott "she's getting so big." Emma, who was walking away from me, turned around, put her hands up and said "I'm not big Mummy, I's small" and gestured like you would if you caught a small fish!!

She also told Scott to "Relax Daddy!" as he tried to hurry her to get her shoes on!

Sleep Study #3

Scott, Emma and I headed to the hospital around 6pm last night, while Toby stayed home for some quality time with Nanna.

We told her we were going to sleep at the hospital and they would be putting cool colored wires in her hair and she'd get a cool hat! And the piece du resistance - Daddy would be sleeping in the room with her all night!

Since Emma had taken a half hour nap during dinner, she was raring to go when we got downtown. Scott dropped us at the entrance and went to park the car. Emma ran the whole way to the sleep lab, which I was fine with since it wasn't busy and she had energy to burn.

We were shown to our room and told to go get something to eat until about 8pm. We went to McDonalds (by far the worst in the world) and got Emma some nuggets since she missed dinner. She was thrilled and we took them back to the room.

Once she had her food and the Dora DVD started Emma was relaxing...


We were repeatedly told not to read anything into it if they did not put her on the CPAP during the night, or if they did. We nodded politely - we're not new!!!

They came in much later than they should to get her ready, citing her eating as the reason for the delay! 9pm is too late to start the process and we would have taken it away if we'd known.

Anyway, two people came in and started pasting about 15 probes to her scalp and 5 to her body. Emma did great cooperating, and she played with my phone during the process. Once that was done she got her "cool hat"...

The extra bandages tipped her over the edge though...

And with the probe in her nose she finally lost it and started crying. Daddy was told he could lay on the bed with her for comfort, so he did.
We cut the lights shortly before ten and we sang to her to get her to sleep. Every time we stopped she would excitedly whisper "again!" Once she was quiet and facing Scott I snuck out the door and headed home.

Scott called at 6.15am as they had woken her up to get her cleaned up before 7am and she was freaking out - duh! Waking a sleeping toddler - hello!!

Toby and I jumped in the car and met them at McDonalds, before we all headed home. This is Emma with her pasty hair and cookie stained teeth...
We won't get the results right away, but the technician gave Scott a thumbs-up and said "we did good." That's the best report we've had of the three studies. Quietly optimistic.

(I forgot my camera - doesn't the phone take great pics?!!)

Linvilla

On July 1 we made our first trip to Linvilla Orchards. They have lots of pick-your-own produce and other goodies, but we just went to see the farm animals and playground.

Lots of people from our area take their kids, but I had not known what to expect and thus not gone. Since Ellen and Kimberly were taking Josiah, 3 on 3 seemed like a good ratio of kids and adults!

This was also the first time I took Emma to see animals because she was still pretty scared of them last year. It seemed like a good bridge between pets and a zoo!

With Kimberly

Emma enjoyed it and was not worried when the black calf (relatively the size of an elephant to her) came right up to the fence. Of course I made sure she couldn't touch any animals! There was a baby pot-bellied pig that was super cute!

We also saw a sheep, horses, goats, emu, ducks and geese. In the picture you can see there were plenty of chickens and roosters. Emma pointed out "It's so loud" when the rooster crowed right by her.

Then it was on to the playground. My camera batteries ran out so I could only get a few shots of Emma and cousin Josiah playing with Kimberly, while Ellen and I took turns amusing Toby in the shade.


It was alot of fun, and when the weather cools down a bit I think we'll go back.

Uh-oh

This is Emma sleeping through dinner because we weren't supposed to let her nap! Not good.

Coincidence?

Emma ate a cheeseburger (bun and all) and fries from McDonalds today (see picture sent from my phone). This is the first time.

As I pondered over this new accomplishment I was reminded that she has enjoyed the taste of fries for some time, only she would just suck them or eat cut-up pieces. Today though she bit them and then ate.

Then I remembered the first time we let her have a french fry...
http://ehmnews.blogspot.com/2008/12/home-again.html

I'd be impressed if you remembered this! It was the last day of a hospital stay in December 2008, shortly after we were given Emma's CPAP machine.

I'm hoping that today is shortly before they take it away!! (They won't - we own it, but you get my point!)

First cheeseburger!

Catch-up

I have more photos and videos than I thought!! Here are a few...

Toby being cute and mischievous - a bad combination [for us]!

Scott catching a few minute with the kids between work and mowing the lawn!

Emma playing her game (the crazy hair is because it's usually in braids!)

Emma likes to dress herself - shirts or dresses all end up round her waist!

A rare moment of harmony (courtesy of the TV!)

Hot hot hot

It's surprising how little energy I have to write this week! The heat has been incredible, however we have still been out and about. I'd say you can assume no news is good news, but after the power outage in June you just never know!!

On Tuesday morning we went bowling with friends, only to find the air-conditioning at the lanes was broken! We stayed for an hour anyway as it wasn't too bad, that meant we got 4 frames in for 4 kids! It got a little too warm and we bailed out!

I'm learning to compromise on our schedule little by little. If Emma is not home and eating lunch by noon she won't eat enough (my judgment on enough!) before nap time at 1pm. She's also been napping for 3 hours, so she won't sleep until close to 10pm, to be up between 6-7am!

Since we were bowling late I picked up chicken nuggets on the way and fed them to her through the game! It allowed us to go when I would have normally said no. I'm also ending naptime at 3pm to try and induce earlier sleep at bedtime. It hasn't worked so far!!

Tuesday we went to the Thompsons pool around 3.30, and even asked Melissa to do therapy there! We got out to come home around 6pm and were all roasting again before we go in the car!!

Yesterday we went at 6pm and came home around 9pm. It was a little late for Emma who played hard in the water and cried the whole way home! But the water was warm and the company was great so we found it hard to leave.

Scott's been working like a machine, even after finishing a day of 8 hours in the blistering heat. We haven't seen him much except for Sunday and last night. I'm glad he's able to take this weekend off and be with us. I hope our kids know how hard there Daddy works for them!! (Don't worry, I'll tell them!!)

Today we hit the supermarket before Emma's speech/feeding therapy. I'd planned to give her ravioli, but she saw the box of leftover pizza I had out for my lunch and asked for that. Skeptically I agreed and both Brooke and I were pleasantly surprised as she ate the small pieces like she'd been eating pizza for years! No pulling the topping off to eat - down in one!

Followed by some watermelon, no less! Emma loves her fruit, which is great as I have never been a big fruit or veggie fan. I even got her a kiwi and avocado to try! The latter being a great high-calorie food.

I'm not sure if we can expect the heat to really ease off until September, so we'd better get used to this way of living and dodging the heat. I'm going to try some of the used sales around here for new toys for the kids, keep them amused in the air-conditioning!!

I will confess that I've been too lazy/busy to download the pictures/videos I've taken, but will do that soon!!

Tomorrow night is Emma's sleep study. We should get some idea of the results early next week, so I'll keep you posted.

Movie star

In July of last year I believe we didn't see higher than 90f. Today it was 80f at 6am!! This week is the 4th heatwave of the summer (3+ days over 90f) and 100f+ is forecast for today.

What do you do with kids in these circumstances? As soon as the sun hits you it feels like you are on a BBQ! Today I had to go and run some errands and made an effort to go earlier and avoid the increasing heat.

From the air-conditioning in the house, to the car, to the stores, the exposure to this nasty heat would be minimal!

When I told Emma we were going out she asked to see her friends! It's been so crazy lately and aside from church we have not been able to get together with her friends. I felt bad and called Christina to see if Emma could hang out with the boys for a while

Christina and another friend with two kids Emma loves were heading to the movies - $1 for kids to see Madagascar. I knew I couldn't take Toby, he's far too restless, but Christina offered to take Emma with her too!

I drove to the movie theater to meet our friends, and dropped Emma off with a bag of her supplies (diapers, drink, crackers and g-tube!) and a cardigan in case it was cold inside! She was thrilled to see her friends and waved me off as usual.

Toby and I ran our errands and headed back to get her 2 hours later, just as they were leaving.

And Christina said she was great the whole time, even sshhing Aaron when he called her name! she did freak out toward the end when Christina had moved seats from behind her and Emma didn't see her when she turned around!

My baby girl went to the movies for the first time without her Mummy - she's getting so big!! Maybe I can go with her one time.

All talk

I mentioned the improvement in Emma's eating. The other side of the story is in her speech. Once little more than an inflected "Eh" Emma now has a vocabulary and verbal ability to rival all her peers!

Emma is at that stage where she gives a running commentary on everything. 99% of the time it is incredibly endearing if not hilarious. The other 1% are also endearing/funny but they are badly timed! Some of the phrases are worth recording for laughs.

"Let's go Mummy/Daddy!" Cute, for sure. Also useful when she says it if you're stuck in a long conversation! Not so good repeated over and over in the line at the driver license place!

"Jesus, help Tony feel/sleep better. Amen" We introduced this when Toby was sick as she seemed concerned about all the time he was taking up! It now applies when ever he cries!

"Are you alright guys?" "Alright" seems to be more of a British term for "ok?", so I know she got this from me. She also says "all set" for "ready"!

"I said [...] Mummy." This one usually comes after she says "hi" to someone at the store.

"What's that?" Innocent question, except when it is said as she points directly at a person!! Would that make you paranoid?

"He not listening." When Toby or Scott is ignoring what I'm saying!!

"It not my turn yet." If Emma does not want to do something, it's not her turn yet!

"It not nice Tony, it naughty." Poor Toby doesn't have to do much to get this reprimand.

"Go fast Mummy." Used when stuck in traffic or taking a walk, in neither case is Mummy going any faster!!

It may come as no surprise that her speech therapist says she is not worried about Emma's speech at all. Her pronunciation of the b's and p's will likely come with time as she learns to adapt. It's just as well since Brooke, her therapist is moving to Las Vegas in 6 weeks! We're bummed.

There doesn't seem much point in bringing in someone new for the few months until she turns 3 and her services change completely. That's right, Emma turns 3 in 4 months - where does the time go?

Nature

One of the ways wild animals overcome their prey is through sheer endurance, chasing them until they have no energy left to run or fight. And that's exactly what Toby did this morning!

We have 3 big baskets of toys in the living room. One is Toby's and lives under the TV in a cubby, the others are Emma's and they live across the room under a table. each morning I get Toby's basket out, scatter some of the toys to amuse him. Emma usually plays with them too, resorting to her toys occasionally.

This morning after the kids played together Emma went to get her Backpack (from Dora). "She's so cute, Mummy!" I help her open the hard purple backpack and she takes it to the ottoman to empty.

Smelling fresh forbidden toys Toby also prowls around the ottoman - I'm not kidding, he crawls so slow and steady surveying the scene it's like watching a lion! As he makes a grab for Backpack Emma pulls away "No Tony, is my Backpack."

Emma takes the toy to the recliner, Toby follows. She moves again, to the sofa, he follows.

And it is here that Emma abandons all hope of playing alone, and leaves Backpack for Toby to come in and devour! I see things getting interesting as they get older!!

Feed me

It's been a while since I gave any detail on Emma's progress with eating. I know because I get asked that question most! I liken it to growing one's hair - you don't realize how much it's grown because you see the gradual change.

A couple of days ago as I wiped Toby down after breakfast (fist goes in mouth and spreads food over face!) and then cleared Emma's tray and let her down that I realized how far we have come.

In November when we earnestly began feeding Emma 1-3 times a day it could get pretty messy. She would accept about 6 small spoonfuls of stage 2 baby food. Even then it might be coughed up or pushed out.

There've been some big milestones along the way. The first whole veggies, the first shared lunch etc. Last night was one more - we went out to a Chinese restaurant for dinner and ordered an entree for Emma! There was no kids menu, so we got sweet and sour chicken for her. She loved it, but not as much as the fried noodle chips and duck sauce she chomped on beforehand!! (I brought food for Toby which he ate between chewing on the table cloth and flirting with the waitress!)

Then you look at today's menu as an example of how far we've come. For breakfast she had a toasted frozen waffle with syrup, and some canned mandarin oranges, the new favorite. At the store she wanted cheese from the deli, but they weren't cutting it fresh so I gave her a Ritz cracker.

Then for lunch I gave her some deli ham and sliced cheese. She also ate some of the chicken left over from last night, and some chunks of real banana.

She has recently developed a love of the classic hot dog, which she handles well with the skin pulled off.

I don't remember much of the journey that we came on to get here, but I know it was long and bumpy at times. I also know there were many times I thought we'd stalled out and would go no further. I'm ashamed to say I really never thought I'd see this place, where Emma and I can share a box of chicken nuggets - that's right, I said share! I am so proud of my little girl I will even share my food with her!

It's now a matter of time for Emma to gain strength and skill with the food she eats. I think it is much more effort for her to eat than the rest of us. With the low muscle tone I imagine it is like eating when you are really tired.

Next week's sleep study will tell us if the progress with eating and talking has helped the obstructive sleep apnea enough that she can do without the CPAP. If she can I will look for an option to lose the night feeding too and she can sleep without intervention.

All things are possible.

As I mentioned earlier, the kids slept great last night. I credit hitting the pool in the afternoon. I let Emma skip her nap so that we could meet Scott at the Thompson's pool right after work. I also figured she would go to bed earlier, since she has so much energy right now.

It was hot yesterday, but had eased by the time we got in the water, but the pool was warm, like tepid bathwater! The four of us went in, though Toby was less keen than the rest!

There was an inflatable armchair which was great, and both kids wanted to ride with me...

Emma was restless though and kept wanting to swim by herself. We found the ladybug floaty from last year and put her in that, so she was able to float by herself, and throw toys around to make a splash!

Toby was tough to relax, but I found the solution...

A fun time was had by all...

Of course Emma did not want to exit the pool, but said that she wanted to get out. We put her on the deck while we got all the toys etc out. I noticed she was standing by my flip flops, dripping quite a lot. Then Scott suggested she was peeing! Indeed she confirmed she was peeing. I'd just told her not to poop in the pool and she must've taken it to a higher level. Potty training forthcoming!!

And we headed home around 6pm. My plan was to give the kids dinner, a bath and then bed - especially the bath since I let Emma skip it the night before. Thwarted was my plan - Emma passed out in the car on the way home!

I lay her on a chair in the living room half hoping she'd wake up to eat and bathe, but no. I put her to bed at 7pm and she did not wake up until 6.30am! Toby had a bath and went to bed shortly after Emma, so the evening started about an hour earlier than usual, nice!

Worth the wait

When my original plans were cancelled and I heard that today would be cooler (80f being cool is insane!) I knew this was my opportunity to go and get a new drivers license! Take two!!

I headed to a different center today, and aimed to get there when they opened at 8.30am so the line would not be too long. Both kids had a good nights sleep (11hrs for Toby, 12.5hrs for Emma!) so I hoped that would make it easier too.

We got there on time to a line of about 20 people. No surprise, and I'd have come earlier if I hadn't had the kids. Since the doors hadn't opened I figured the line would go down pretty quick.

We spent the first 40 minutes in line outside. Whenever I am in a line like that I start to second guess if I have the right documentation etc. After 30 minutes though I am too invested to step down so it doesn't matter anyway!

Emma was allowed to get out of the stroller and she moved around a bit alongside us. There was a [very] young pregnant woman in front of us with her guy and mom. They were cooing over the kids as were the folks behind us. Once inside Emma put on even more of a show, drawing laughs from the crowd!

Toby started to get fussy as we were into his nap time. He slugged back 6oz of water outside and I was surprised when he took the bottle of milk I offered as a sedative. He slugged back those 6oz too.

It's not really surprising that when I picked him up, as he started crying, that he had a full diaper, and was also wet through on one side. Standing in line, in a narrow hallway with a double umbrella stroller I had no way to change him. Holding him was enough for him, but he is heavy and wriggly now!

When we got to the head of the line I put Toby back in and snapped at Emma to get in the stroller. She started crying, so they were both wailing. So much for being quiet for the people doing the written test!

When we go to one of the two people leisurely serving the people waiting (one of them is going to work on the day that they close the purchase of their new house) I could have screamed at the PennDOT workers. I have two kids screaming in a stroller, everyone had been waiting forever and they were not even polite. In fact the woman serving me addressed me only to ask for my check and to tell me to sit and wait.

We got out about an hour and 40 minutes after arriving. I was so proud of my children. They were so well behaved and really quiet (for 90 minutes at least!). Clearly it is much better to not take kids with you, but I have to say they at least kept me amused!! And yes, the iPhone was a help!!

Was it all really worth it? Yes, because as I discovered when I went to restock our fridge this week, you need photo i.d. for credit card purchases over $50!! At least it's done, that makes me feel better.

Modern Technology

You may recall some time ago my cellphone stopped working. Rather than rush into purchasing a new phone and renewing my contract I tried to consider the options and make a wise choice - so unlike me!! I took a long time and after two weeks my current phone started to work again!!

However, I realized I could be on borrowed time, and if it died again I would need to be ready. So I bought an iPhone from a friend who was upgrading.

So far I have not used it as a phone, but it works as an iPod Touch, so I can access email, the internet and apps anywhere I can access wireless internet. I wasn't sure how good it would be until I saw how else it can be used...

Emma loves technology and always asks to play with peoples touch screen phones. I have seen some of the Apps that Christina has for kids, which Emma loves. I downloaded a few free Apps so far and Emma loves them. They encourage her to say words, identify things, use fine motor skills and use her imagination.

Here she is using a doodle app, drawing pictures and choosing colors, icons and shaking the phone to erase the image and start again!

With all the countless hours we spend waiting for doctors etc I know this is going to be priceless for keeping her amused, and being educational.

And when I need it, I have a spare phone!!

Reunion

On Sunday morning we attended the 14th annual reunion for the Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment. We were unable to attend last year, so we really wanted to go this year and see Emma's surgeon and the team that took care of us.

On the way Emma started to get a little fussy until we explained we were going to a party. She asked "It my birthday?" She's into the birthday thing right now. Last week she saw an episode of something that had a birthday in it and then had me singing happy birthday to everyone she could name. She would tell me to sing it to her and afterward say "It's not my birthday mummy!"

We arrived about an hour late for various reasons (including having 2 kids!!), just as they too the group photo. About 200 people gathered together for a picture just inside the door. Emma was a little overwhelmed by the crowd, but the ultrasound technician, Jane, who I saw twice a week for months asked to hold Emma for the photo, so she was right in the heart of the picture!

After that it was time to party. It was already about 90f and humid outside so we took some time to visit with the nurses we knew. It was great to see them, especially those who aren't working when we visit. We also saw the family that were in the room next to Emma's for the 3+ months she was there. It was good to see the little boy without the medical support he went home with.

Soon enough Emma was demanding to go outside so outside we went. There was a little train driving round the lot. The kids had to go on alone. While Emma seemed pretty calm, the little girl next to her freaked out. Emma couldn't wave at the camera as Scott told her not to let go of the seatbelt, and she didn't!


Some ball games...

Emma playing better than England!

A monster moon bounce...
A carousel, moon-bounce, climbing wall, free cotton candy (candy floss!), face painting, lunch and a visit from the Phillies Fanatic (mascot)...

We also lined up for the free family picture...

Beach babes

Saturday we headed to the beach for the first time this year. With two kids now I expected it to be much harder, but it wasn't. I took my old camera with me so I wasn't worried about the sand!

We set-up camp on the slightly wet sand down by the water. It was much better for the kids, but 5-10 degrees cooler than on the dry sand! That sea breeze is great.


Toby was intrigued by the sand and probably ate a fair bit. I tried really hard to give him the freedom to explore.

Emma spent the whole time asking to swim in the ocean. The water was a little chilly so we had to keep bringing her out to warm up.

Toby was not a fan of the water!



With all the changes to our usual schedule this week we are all behind on sleep. Toby fell asleep on our friend Ian...
While Emma fell asleep on the beach and made it all the way back to our friend's house without waking up!

It was a great day.

Oh no

This afternoon we went over to Scott's parents for dinner. It was a belated celebration for Scott's and his brothers birthdays. It was a double blessing as after cleaning the fridge and freezer we have no food - most everything is kept in the fridge!

We came home a little before 8pm to be greeted by our neighbor, with news that the power just went out again! I almost exploded.

Immediately I called the electric company and was told that it was too soon for them to have the system updated!! In the meantime Scott and Emma strolled down the street and spoke to crew working on a downed tree. They shut it off intentionally and mercifully put it back on shortly after so we could all have A/C during the night. It will be shut off again in the morning.

To top it off I am not feeling well. I mentioned earlier the kids were feeling ill this week. Emma spiked a fever on Wednesday and Toby has been fussy and not eating since Wednesday too. Emma was fine by Friday, but only today has Toby been eating normally and playful again.

Emma's throat had been red with what looked like blisters, but Toby came out in a rash, mainly on his arms and legs. I have a sore throat (and I'm sure I can see a blister back there), chills and my whole body is aching.

I'm going to bed shortly to see if I can sleep it off.

Whirlwind week (literally)

It's good to be back. What? You didn't know I'd been gone? Well, let me tell you!

On Thursday, when my car was getting a new tire on (remember how I already busted my car this week?) and we were stuck at home on this 96f day a storm rolled through. Not just any storm, no. This one had 80 mph winds and hail the size of Brussels sprouts.

Around 3pm the clouds rolled in, there was some thunder and lightning and then the wind and rain. It was nasty and when the power went out I ran upstairs with Toby as Emma was in bed.

The hail sounded like the house was being rained on with golf balls. I called Scott and could not hear myself talk it was so loud. What he thought was hail on our metal awning roof was actually hitting the windows and house roof.

When it finished a few minutes later it was dark, no power and no sunlight. The kids played in Emmas room for a few minutes while I waited for the power to return. In darkness I brought the kids back downstairs and opened the front door.

If you've seen the movie Twister you can imagine what the street looked like. Two of our neighbors had trees laying in their front yards, one through the sun room. Down the street a tree lay across the road, on top of a car, blocking the street.

"Minor" damage - that's part of a tree in the yard!

Hail!

Not where we put it!

I managed to get to the car dealership to pick our car up but they too had no power, the whole area was shut down, traffic lights and all.

That night the house was dark and hot. The storm did very little to clear the oppressive heat. Everyone we knew had no power either so we had no place else to go.

Reading by flashlight...

Flashlights also make great toys!

The "Daddy-bed!"

The next day scott "escaped" to work - he works in the heat of the day anyway! The kids and I stayed home, and they were fine to be clothing impaired for the day. My main concern (after all the food going to spoil in the fridge/freezer, was how to charge Emma's monitors for the next night.

Thankfully Scott's parents had power back around noon on Friday and we were able to plug them in there for the day. I opted to skip Emma's nap since she had no monitor and the CPAP has no stored power at all. Also I thought she would sleep better for the hot night ahead.

That evening our church had been planning a big picnic but they had no power and PB did not want to have a party while our community was in need. so we agreed to have the food cooked up in our yard to feed the church and our neighbors while everyone went round the neighborhood to help the clean-up efforts.




By the time we came inside the house (still powerless) it was hot and stuffy. We decided at 10pm we couldn't take a whole night of it, and worried about the baby who has been running a high temperature anyway.

Scott's parents they offered to put us up for the night. We headed over with the kids, air mattresses, travel crib, IV pole for Emma's feeding pump, and Toby's milk which I'd been storing in the diminishing cold of the freezer. (A fridge warms up fast in the summer!)

Friday was tough. No air-conditioning, fans, TV, laptop, home phone, fridge/freezer (and stores had lost their supply of ice!), washing machine, microwave, food - no way to tell what had spoiled already!

Thankfully we did have water, hot and cold, so I could wash up the baby bottles. I also have a battery pack for my pump, so Toby did not go hungry.

All this on Scott's birthday! He won't forget it in a hurry. Even the regional news were filming on our street because of the extreme damage.

I didn't even realize that this tree had fallen over across the street!! It was very bushy before!

We had alrready planned to go to the beach for the day on Saturday and went ahead with it. Kimberly came with us too. (Pictures forthcoming!) We prayed the whole day for us to have a cool home to return too. I finally got a text from my neighbor around 7pm that it was back on.

28 hours of uncertainty, improvisation, and cool wet cloths!!

We were home really late from the beach and so today we set about restocking our food, which is not too bad because I hadn't been shopping in a while!!