anniversary

As I sit here in my warm, cozy, comfortable home, it's hard for me to believe that one year ago this house was unliveable. After a year, you tend to forget emotions that come about because of a traumatic event, but today I've tried to think back to the events that unfolded the day the tornado ripped through Prattville and damaged our home. {Click here to read my post about it.} Being here in the house when it hit was literally the scariest moment of my life. The thoughts that ran through my mind during the 30-45 seconds that it took for the storm to blow through ranged from "what is happening?" to "I'm going to die." I know that sounds dramatic, but the fear of death literally went through my mind. It's so hard to believe that at this time last year, my house looked like this {minus the light, since the power was still out at this time}:

{so much glass...EVERYWHERE...}

{these pictures don't do the mess justice. it was just such a MESS.}

Growing up in the south, we have always had thunderstorms & severe weather & tornado warnings. I never really got scared before. After all, what were the odds that a tornado would actually hit my house? Well, after it happened, I now have a healthy fear of severe weather. {Ok, so maybe in the few weeks right after the tornado hit, it was more of a paranoia, but now I think it's a healthy fear.} And I am just so thankful that God protected the people in this city the day that storm hit. Baron & I were VERY blessed to only have "minor" damage to our house. {"Minor" is a relative term...it seemed major to us until we saw other people's houses.}

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to check the batteries in my weather radio, as Rich Thomas has just informed me of some severe weather in the area later tonight. ;-)

pause for props

I've gotta brag on my husband for a bit.

The past few weeks, I have been, a lot of the time, exhausted. This first trimester deal is for the birds. Typically when I get home from work, I change into my PJ's and head for the couch, where I lie uselessly until time to go to bed. {Which, nowadays, is somewhere between 9:00 & 9:30.} Baron has been the BEST husband/housewife. He has prepared dinner most evenings. {In our house, "prepared" usually consists of thawing a frozen skillet meal or re-heating leftovers, but I digress.} He has gone to Wal-Mart for the groceries. {Ok, so maybe he did that even before I got pregnant, as a result of my effort to avoid Wal-Mart at all costs.} He has done the dishes, and the laundry. Don't get me wrong - he has always been more than willing to perform these tasks, and quite often does so without me even asking. But he has gone above & beyond the call of duty these past few weeks. He has truly been a Godsend for me!

On another note...Baron was in Dallas this weekend for a football coaches' conference. Of course it would be MEN who planned such a conference on Valentine's Day weekend. I miss Baron while he is gone, but I also enjoy some of the time alone. {Toby keeps good company. :-)} Before Baron left town, he sent me my favorite flowers - tulips - at work, and we went out for dinner. If you haven't been to MarChelle's in Prattville, GO AS SOON AS YOU CAN. They have the second best beef brisket in the WORLD. {Second only to my brother's...YUM.} Anyway, thank you, Baron for a wonderful pre-Valentine's celebration, and thank you for being such a wonderfully supportive husband!! I love you!

{the tulips in my cubicle at work}

{P.S. As I was finishing this post, I was reminded of a poem my dad once wrote for my mom when he bought her some tulips: "Yes, roses are red, and expensive too. That's why I'm giving my two-lips to you!" AWWWWWWW. Yes, my parents are cheesy.}

pro-life

You may have already seen this, but I just recently saw it online & I wanted to share. This is a pro-life commercial that apparently was supposed to air during the Super Bowl but NBC changed its mind. Check it out:



{On a side note, apparently the ultrasound technician at my doc's office doesn't exactly have the authority to change my due date, so the due date is back to the original: 9/11. That should be easy for folks to remember. :-)}

pregnancy = handicapped?

So...at what point do I get to start parking here?

The other day I was at Goody's, and I saw this parking spot. {By the way, why does it have a stroller on the sign? It's for Expectant Mothers, not Already Mothers. They should have an image of a fat prego lady on there. I digress.} I am ashamed to admit that I actually considered taking advantage of the front row spot. I was tired, and I only planned to be inside for a few minutes. After all, I AM an expectant mother. And the only reason I was exhausted was because of the little Zippy growing at the speed of light inside my belly. But suddenly all I could think about was all the times I sneered at drivers zooming into the handicapped spots, hurriedly placing the placard in the rearview mirror, and hopping out of their car to rush into the store. Handicapped? Really? Is that placard left over from your sprained ankle 2 years ago? Seriously. I could just see my not-showing-yet-only-a-few-weeks-pregnant-self pulling into the ONE AND ONLY Expectant Mothers spot, as the out-of-breath 8-month pregnant mom waddles down the aisle from her spot out in the middle of Egypt and I hop out of the car and bounce past her so I can get inside first. As these thoughts ran through my mind, I patiently {ok not so patiently} drove down the aisle to take my parking spot 2 miles from the door.

I guess I should at LEAST be showing before I park there.

Zippy

I had an early ultrasound...I'm not sure why, but I'm guessing it's because we'd been trying for so long & my doctor thought it would make me happy. :-) Which it did! {Except for the fact that it was a vaginal ultrasound, which I will spare the details of but note that it is quite awkward.} We got to hear the baby's heartbeat & let me tell you, that is such a comforting sound! So here's a picture of our little Zippy, as my dad has nicknamed him/her, after the ZIP code character. {Thanks, Mr. Postman. :-)} Yes, it is just a small blob right now, but it's amazing to think that this little blob will one day be an entire human being! God's creation is so amazing.