Devestation

I really don't have anything fluid or intellectual to write, more than my mind is just all-consumed by the horrible tragedies that occurred last night only 45 minutes away from our home in Joplin. Tornadoes and rotation were everywhere in our area last night. One hit 6 miles from my parent's house and the monster one in Joplin has already claimed 89 lives.

Our town was in and out of danger until about 1:00 when they gave everyone the clear to "get some rest".

Then we woke up this morning to see the Joplin devastation and realize it was worse than we had imagined.

My heart is heavy. The images are surreal. And I know with all the warnings and rotations we were directly under last night, it could have just as easily been us.

This is where I love social media. There are currently multitudes of things been quickly organized through it's use. There's no way anyone can turn away not knowing how they could have helped.

I plan on joining some fellow therapists in the upcoming days on a crisis team headed up there to help debrief and provide crisis intervention (along with whatever needs arise).

Pray for these people. I know tornadoes and inclement weather are a part of where we live, but this season seems especially bad this year.

My Big Little Boy

Today is the last day without Lincoln. It's been a fun week but we're excited to see the little booger! So I thought I'd do an update on my little Noah Jack:

Sleeping: this has been the interesting one. Not sure if he's in a major growth spurt, but this week has looked as so - I have to wake him up at 10:30, he takes a 3-4 hour nap after lunch, then goes to bed at 8:00. That's a lot of sleep (even by my standards!).

Eating: the pickiest, food-snob on the planet right now (or so I thought). Would only eat fruit. I seriously felt helpless. Then this week, I let him sit at the little table Lincoln sits at (instead of high chair) and he has eaten every morsel of food (even all veggies) that I have given him. Guess he just wanted the freedom??

Talking: He is a much better talker than Lincoln ever was at this age. He has even said "What is that?" a few times (I swear - my sister heard one of them and was thrown aback). But the every day ones are "my paci!", "bobble" for bottle, "ba" (for bath), "bye", "daddy", "mommy", "papa", "mimi", "benny", "Bru" (bruce), "do" (dog), "baw" (ball), "more", "cacka" (cracker), "no", "ank-yoo" for thank-you, and then the funny thing is playing the mimic game where you get him to repeat your word. He can almost always repeat it! So funny cause, like I said, Lincoln was not this way. I felt like Lincoln's language would NEVER develop!

He can sign more and thank-you, though he prefers to just say it. Silly guy.

Loves: Outside. Anything outside. His milk. His blankie (this one's pretty hilarious). Playing "couch", gathering things and compiling them in buckets, then dumping bucket and gathering more things...over and over...balls. he said "ba-bal" for basketball and "fu-ball" for his football yesterday. Our dogs - well, any dog for that matter. Cuddling while drinking his milk - i LOVE this. BATHS. He will start tugging at shirt and pulling down pants when he decides he wants one. The water. He's gonna love the pool this summer! Playing chase with Lincoln.

Dislikes: getting his diaper changed. getting out of the bath. When we leave him. When I give him veggies. When it's time to come inside. When Lincoln takes his toy.

He's still a pretty even-tempered guy. He doesn't really throw tantrums yet and if he gets upset he's the easiest thing in the world to calm down. I know our time is coming (Lincoln was late on this, too). Though he doesn't have the crazy extroverted personality Lincoln had at this age, he's definitely getting a pretty stinkin cute one. He's just the fun-loving toddler right now, usually with a smile on his face and giggles all around. Love this little guy.

Just Us

 Me and my little Noah...
This week we're getting to spend loads of time together - just us. Lincoln wanted to go stay with Jason's parents (he's been asking for a month now!) so we decided this week was a good one since Jason has to work late every night at camps. We wondered if he would still have the same fervor of leaving us (Lincoln) when he actually pulled away in his Poppa's car without Noah and us. Let me tell you - he had NO problem! He was super excited, and from what I can tell, he's having a blast still. I'm so thankful he likes going to stay with them and can do it independently. It gives Jason's parents some great time with him and him a chance to really get to know them better! This is the 4th time he's gone to do this now.
Noah has gone with him the past 2 times, but I'm loving me some Noah time this week and glad he didn't go!
We've gotten to ride motorcycles!

 Play with Papa!

Eaten at one of my personal favs (that's floods back memories of my times in Cali):

 Played with my sisters...

 Spent time at Aunt Amy and Cousin Tucker's house...

And watched this little guy dance, laugh, and love being the center of attention!

Noah is our current "mega sleeper" (it's 10:15 and I still haven't heard him). So the added pleasure of this luxury has also been nice. :) LOVE this little guy.

More Pics

Thanks for yall's advice! This stuff is fun :)

1st Go at Photography

Tonight I took my first "go" at trying to photograph baby E. (Bethany's precious). No - I'm not trying to start getting in to photography...she's just one of my best friends and we thought we'd play since I have a fun camera. And it was a blast. So, I'd love feedback from you photography folks out there cause I really have no clue what I am doing. Here are 4/368 we took. :) And, where do you print them to ensure best quality (after they've been edited online??) I have no clue. Would love some opinions!!!

Love.

Next week Lincoln is going to spend time with Jason's parents down south. That leaves lots of one-on-one time for me and Mr. Noah. I love that Lincoln asks to go see his grandparents, has a yearning to spend time with them, and that they are willing to take him and put a halt to their schedules for a bit!
I am also looking forward to time with the little rascal on the left. He sleeps till 9:30, takes 4 hour naps, plays hard, and is pretty much tantrum-free at this stage. We shall have a blast!! (Though we will miss subject on the right cause, well - he's just pretty stinkin' entertaining).

Directionless

Keeping it real...

I used to be over-the-top anal about washing my face before I went to bed...now I consider it golden if I wash my face once-a-day...

Piggy-backing off that one, I don't shower every day (I never have on this one). Maybe it's the long hair that's such a pain to dry? Maybe it's laziness?

Therefore, when I go overseas to remote areas where water is hard to come by, I secretly relish not having to take showers and love the new "norm" for my length of stay.

I always know EXACTLY how much money is in our bank account and savings...like, to the penny.

I take naps...long ones. And I still have no problem sleeping 10 hours at night.

I'm an "off-brand" queen...never buy the original of products, EXCEPT cleaning materials. The equate versions of dishwashing soap/detergent/etc. just doesn't cut it.

I could eat gummy worms (black forest only) for breakfast/lunch/dinner and be fully satisfied.

I have never fried a piece of food in my life and have no intention on doing so.

I put my make-up on in the dark. Always have. No one's ever understood it. No lighting is better than bad lighting. (Makes sense, right?)

I could take pictures and then edit them for hours...but you already knew that.

I absolutely HATE movies that are not believable. Regardless of the reviews, I'll go see any and every documentary.

I am a firm believer in having zero debt (passionate in fact)...and this includes even owning a house (gasps...i just shot down the American dream).

Note** We have debt, but are working on it. :)

My 2 -year-old still has a pacy and is not potty-trained. And I'm not currently forcing either to change.

I am an absolute Chris Martin fanatic. To the unth degree.

I've written somewhere between 75-100 songs in my lifetime that are kept on discs. I haven't written one in about 8 years. I only write when I'm depressed or hurting. So that's good news for dry spell, huh?

I'm not very competitive (unless it comes to competing against myself), but I am a freaking good sales person!

I'm scared of flying. For a long period of time I was flying 3 times/year and have had 2 serious plane issues involving emergency personnel...I used to love flying but finally had to admit to myself a few years ago that I am now bordering having a straight fear of it. However, this doesn't stop me from doing it. (Just thankful I don't have to as much these days).

I like having just a few close friends versus a ton of pseudo ones that I have little in common with.

I don't put on "real clothes" every day or make-up. It makes the days of actually getting "dressed" that much more enjoyable. And a + of staying at home.

I hate beer. The only full one I've ever drank was in Africa because it's all they had and it was hot.

Give me a bag of marshmallows and I can eat the whole thing.

I'm the same about broccoli.

And I have now successfully ended my blogging dry-spell...sorry for the lack of creativity.