Hurricane Irene Survival Guide

This past weekend we had the opportunity to experience a real hurricane threat. Talk about an interesting (and somewhat stressful!).

We spent Friday and Saturday preparing for any "just in case" scenarios. We were told that we would most likely lose power, from anywhere from a few hours to a few days, maybe even a week or more.

We stocked up on water (two cases from Costco, plus we filled up three empty milk jugs and a juice container). We had plenty of non-perishable food, a camp stove with extra kerosine, flashlights and a lantern. Our biggest worry was our Sump Pump.. if that stops working, our basement will flood, especially with all the rain coming our way. So we looked around for a generator. No stores had ANY in stock. We finally found one a half hour away, but their shipment wasn't coming until "sometime Saturday". In order to hold one, we had to pay full price, so we did. Better safe then sorry. We planned on using it to run the sump pump, the refrigerator, a lamp, and possibly a laptop.

We waited all day Saturday for the call; we called them; we checked their website (which they updated every hour with the status of the truck). They didn't get their shipment until 9pm and by then it was too late and too dangerous to go out to get it. So Matt and I decided that one of us would go to bed early while the other stayed up late, and then swap "shifts" and wait for the power to go out. We even had buckets and candles ready to be lit in the basement, just in case.

Thankfully, our power never went out. It did flicker once around 11:45pm, enough to reset the cable box, but that was it. The hurricane was supposed to be on us by 2am, but by that time, it had downgraded to a Tropical Storm. It was windy. Very windy, and it rained all night. But we never lost power. I was the one who stayed up late and by 1am I was exhausted. We left the bathroom light on in our masterbedrooom so we knew if the power went off, we'd know by the light turning off, but it never did. At least we both to sleep. Even Isaac surprisingly slept really well that night. A few times I heard him stiring when a big gust of wind rattled the house, but he never woke up. He even slept until 9am!

So what did we do while we waited out the storm on Saturday? We tried to keep busy. We watched a lot of Bubble Guppies..

 Sitting (barely) in his chair. 

He loves that darn show. We also watched Cars, which he liked, but some parts scared him (the loud parts). Then we tried Finding Nemo. That was a winner! I think he watched almost all of it. He would say "Nemo" over and over again. I have a funny video below in which he is yelling at Nemo to stop.

 It was too funny!

Then of course, we have this little gem..... lets just say, toddlers are gross!

We also baked! Banana bread and homemade peach pie (we had a flat of peaches from Costco, which we knew we wouldn't eat before they went bad so we decided a pie should be made).

Mmmmmmm both were delicious, by the way ;)

Sunday we took stock of any damages that may have occurred due to the high winds that night.

We did find one casualty...

Our cherry tomato plant snapped in half :( RIP tomato plant!

There was also this tree branch that fell on another street over (this actually was taken on Saturday, and by Sunday, it was already cleared away)

That's right in front of Dendy's house! 

And usually her neighbor parks his van RIGHT THERE, 

but thankfully, they were not at home this weekend. 

 Aaaaaand that's about it. It was windy throughout Sunday but was calm by late afternoon. We were very lucky.

Fast forward a few days.... and I have a few pictures of Isaac playing outside this evening after dinner :)

Isn't he cuuuute? 

As far as a pregnancy update goes, I am 24 weeks today! I have an OB appointment on Friday and then this weekend we are going to PA for the long weekend. Happy Labor day everyone!!

Isaac is 18 Months old!

Happy 18 Months to Isaac!! 

I brought out the Panda Bear from his monthly pictures 

from when he was a baby... I figured the 18month milestone 

was worth his presence :)

Only six more months until he is two.. SIX! Where the heck has time gone?? What's even crazier is that he will have a 2 month old sister (or brother if the ultrasound is wrong haha) when he turns 2... my head is spinning just thinking about it lol

He had his 18month Well-Child Check up yesterday and his measurements are now:
24.8lbs and 31.5inches.

If you notice to your right, according to his 16month check up, he was 32inches. No, I don't think he shrank, I think he just squirmed too much last time to get a good reading. Usually, they lay him down and they mark where his head is and then his feet. This time, he got to stand up for his height and weight measurements, which I think are more accurate.

He did alright at the appointment. He didn't want the nurse or the pediatrician to touch him though, so he fought the stethoscope and the ear-thingy. He did however, point out all the body parts he knows (which is quite a few) so I was happy about that. Also, no shots this time! Yay! He's good to go until he turns 2 (though I may take him in around October for a flu shot but that will be just a quick trip).

This past weekend, we had some friends come over for dinner, including the Lings so I FINALLY got some pictures of baby Liam :)

Sooooo adorable!

While I was taking pictures of Liam, Isaac and Matt were playing on the swing set

Sunday was pretty tame. It stormed a lot so we were inside most of the day. We skyped with both sets of Grandparents in California and during that, Matt took some pics of Isaac.

And these I took tonight before bed:

 His new favorite show... Bubble Guppies! 

He will actually sit through a whole episode.

He loves this train book, but there is no story for it, 

just pictures of trains, so we have to make up our own stories.

And now, for a special treat.. Videos!!

In this video, Isaac is trying to figure out where his Mickey Mouse stuffed animal went. By the way, "hot dog" = Mickey. lol

Boobies = Blueberries. Isaac kept saying "Mmm.. boobies" off camera. This was the best we could get on camera.

That's all for this week!

Weekend in PA

This past weekend, we went to PA to celebrate Deb and Joe's 25th Wedding anniversary. The dinner was on Saturday with all the siblings and their families, which they knew about, but what they DIDN'T know was that a whole bunch of people were coming after dinner to celebrate. I think there was over 50 people there at one time. It was lots of fun :)

Saturday during the day was spent having some water fun with all the kids. Isaac, of course, had a blast!

 Playing in the big pool with the other kids and some uncles. 

 In his swim outfit.

 He liked the kiddie pool because no one had to hold 

him the whole time and he could do whatever he wanted.

 Isaac and Jimmy sharing a bag of Cheetos. 

A few pictures of "before" Isaac's hair cut. 

(which, by the way, wasn't very successful as he 

cried almost the time and fought Grandma)

 After his haircut.. which didn't turn out 

too bad, considering it's only half done.

 Playing with rocks 

 Playing with Jimmy and Madison. 

 Playing on the Plasma Car

 Testing out Jimmy's tricycle. Still a bit too small for one.

 Up way past his bedtime, playing outside in his PJ's. 

 "What?"

He liked the pretzels 

That's all the pictures I have from that night. Sunday we left back to Maryland and Deb came back with us since Isaac's daycare was going to be closed Monday and Tuesday. One of the evenings that it wasn't raining, we went outside to play only to find his pool halfway filled with (rain) water. Of course Isaac cannot pass up this opportunity for some pool time, so in he went (we just stripped him naked and let him go since it was so warm out still). 

That's all there is for this week :) We're actually going to be home this weekend and having some friends over Saturday evening.

Pregnancy #2 Update~
As for me and my pregnancy, thing's are going well (aside for some random stomach issues happening, which I may need to bring up to my OB if things don't get better ). I am 22 weeks as of yesterday so below is my updated belly picture