Brief Update

Hello friends and family,

I wanted to do a short update on our tornado situation. Thank you to all that called, texted and made some kind of contact to make sure we were ok.

As of Monday night, I started coming down with what I discovered was strep. (for the 4th time this year) and stayed home Tuesday and Wednesday. Brent left early Wed. for his state tennis tournament in Montgomery. I knew we were supposed to have bad weather but I've never been scared or worried about bad weather. Little did I know what devastation was about to hit our city. I was alone with Baker in our "safe place" staying relatively calm. I could hear the TV reporting on how large this tornado was and how it was coming for Downtown Tuscaloosa which really isnt that close to us. Then, they said it hit parts of Skyland, which is close to us and I panicked, I mean, like, freaked out. I envisioned our house being whisked away and clinging to my baby for our lives. Thank GOD this was not our story, but it is the story of so many people here and its just heart breaking.

The power went out right as the tornado was coming through town. I just held Baker tight and tried not to scare him and prayed it wouldn't carry us away. I was unable to call or text out but I could recieve calls. I kept in contact with Brent and my dad consistently and got advice to go to Birmingham to stay with Nathan and Amy since we were alone and had no power. After shoving the bare necessities in a bag and manually opening the garage we headed to Birmingham. Scariest.drive.of.my.life. I was listening the the radio talking about the tornadoes all around us. Long story short, we made it fine and watched the storm coverage on TV. I was stunned at what I was watching and even more stunned at the video footage of this tornado, still in route, devastating parts of the state.

Aerial view of some of the destruction

Local Hobby Lobby- :(

I work at Calvary Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa and we are offering several ways to help with Tornado Relief. First, you can visit our website http://www.calvarytuscaloosa.org/ to find updated information on how, when and where to volunteer.
There is a button to donate money (through PayPal) if you are out of state and just want to help. Giving money to our Tornado Relief Fund would be awesome at this point. The good news is that the people calling in to volunteer is overwhelming. The bad news is that that people calling in to volunteer is overwhelming. We just don't have enough places organized yet to send volunteers to. However, if you keep checking our website, the needs change quickly and we might have options.

Easter

Easter is one of my very favorite times of the year. Especially going to Dothan every year. My mom makes a big deal of all holidays and Easter is no exception. My boss let us leave after our noon Good Friday service. When I told Baker we were going to see Shug & Grandaddy, he was READY!

B LOVES going to new places. I think he gets bored with being at home. He was this happy all weekend. Mom parents pantry was the.place.to.be.

We made another attempt at practicing the egg hunting, but climbing the stairs was way more fun.

We set some records this weekend, also. Since the dawn of time, Baker has gone to bed at 7:30 and woken up at 6:00. RARELY does he sleep past 6:00 but if he does, its maybe 6:10. However, on Easter Sunday when we actually needed the extra time, he woke up at...drum roll please.....8:15. I tell you, this has never, ever, ever come close to happening. I guess he played too hard at his grandparents house.
Sweet Grandparents

My cute boys!

The Easter bunny brought some fun stuff, like this tunnel!
Is it terrible that the E bunny put zero candy in his basket? I never thought I would be the mom that deprives their child of sugar and desserts, but I kind of do. I don't think Baker has ever had a piece of candy in his life. I guess I just feel like he doesnt know what he is missing, so why hype him up? He's hyper enough.

We had a great lunch with family and friends at my parents house. Baker loves his Honey, Uncle Hank, Aunt Regina, Cousin Scott and Aunt Beth! I'm so glad we got to celebrate together. We missed Nathan, Amy, Hayes & Watson though!

A fun addition to this trip was getting to bring home 8 new outfits that my mom made! *See shirt and matching shorts below*. She made with her own two hands, 8 precious shorts and had someone make the matching appliqued or monogrammed shirt.

Excited is an understatement!

Another fun addition to the weekend was getting to see lifelong friend, Mandy. We never get to see each other and I saw her twice!

Sidenote- if you havent watched Carrie Underwood and Vince Gill singing "How Great Thou Art", its a must see. It was on a special that came on Friday night and I just happened to catch it. Chills.

He is risen, indeed!

One and a half

A milestone if you will...

I couldn't let my baby's half birthday pass by without recognition. Although I have no new pictures, I still need to celebrate via blog.

Dear Bakerton, Bake, Baker Man, B Dozen, Binks, and all the other billions of nicknames you have,

It's funny to think that you have only been here for 1 1/2 years. I have shirts way older than you.

You are such a funny boy right now. Its obvious that you like to perform (apple doenst fall far) because you get a look on your face when you are obviously trying to make us laugh. Like here below- You knew we thought it was funny that you made walrus tusks out of a straw, so you kept doing it.

You are such a little mimic right now, which you also get honestly from our #1 mimic, Daddy. I loved how you pretended to throw up in your breakfast the other morning after watching Licorice throw up right in front of us. Thanks for making a gross situation hilarious. Kudos.

Congrats on knowing MOST of your letters! This is all thanks to Starfall which is all thanks to Aunt Amy and Hayes. I'm so glad you have soaked that in and loved every minute.

While we know you think violence is absolutely hilarious, I hope you grow out of this soon. Who am I kidding? Little boys love violence. You laugh so hard when we take your feet and pretend to kick ourselves in the face. Yesterday, you found a new love for taking your lawn mower and mowing over our feet. I wish I knew of something nicer that makes you laugh harder, but I can't.

I have to admit that I think its really cute how you want to carry a bear everywhere you go now. Mommy carried a baby everywhere she went until about age 5, so maybe you inherited this from me!

Its real cute how you are obsessed with being "side" (outside) and puppets and bubbles too. You are hilarious when you try to blow bubbles. You blow real hard but can't quite aim the wand so actual bubbles come out.

I'm so glad you have learned to use a fork now. Even if you stab your food with the fork and then take it off the fork with your other hand to eat it, we are pleased that you try.

I love every minute I have with you, buddy. I love that Daddy and I sometimes fight over who gets to put you to bed. What a blessing you are!

Weekend

Our weekend went a little something like this: playgrounds, A-Day game, lunch with family, sidewalk chalk, baby showers, church, Easter bunny, more playgrounds. It was just a good, family weekend.

While I try to stay away from all things Alabama football, I did snap their little group shot for kicks.

After a little debate, I decided I would not actually go to the game. Bake had a great time with his daddy, Zoe, his cousin Paige, grandmother and other cousins/aunts/uncles.The Easter bunny was just "eh". First of all, what is up with the cheesy flowers flowing down in the back? Now, I know the bunny is cheesy anyway, but this one in particular left much to be desired. Plus, there was all this random sunlight coming in and they wanted me to pay $18.00 for 1 5X7. What?

In addition, he was not even a huge fan. He waved at him from a distance which was good, but actually sitting in his lap was just complete bunny confusion. He kept saying "Mommy, Daddy, Zoe" in a rotation, hoping one of us would pick him up.Anyone? Pick me up, please. I just don't think this bunny and I can be friends."Why are your hands hairy?"Our first experience with sidewalk chalk.

"What? Did I get it on my pants?"

Practice and a haircut

I want to show off Bake's new "do". His hair grows SO fast and I didnt realize how long it had gotten until it was cut.

I thought he needed an introduction to Easter Egg Hunting, so we practiced yesterday. At first, I threw a bunch of eggs in the yard sporatically and this made him so mad. I have no idea why. I guess he thought I was being irresponsible? This went on for about 3 rounds of throwing them in the grass and asking him to pick them up. After that, he finally thought it was pretty fun.

After reading Jessica's blog (if I knew how to link them I would do it here) about the words AL was saying, I decided to do the same thing and even make a spreadsheet (I love spreadsheets). I got to about 50 words and decided to stop. Then I got home and Brent reminded me of several more so I realize now that I need to stop the spreadsheet because he is truly repeating anything we want him to say and I can't keep up. A few favorites are:

Zoe- "Thoe"

Turtle- "Toytull"

Sit Down- "Seat Down"

Mommy- "Mummy" (no longer Ma Ma)

Teddy- this is said with MUCH enthusiasm for his gigantic bear in his room.

Other new and precious things include: When he wants a hug he comes over, hugs us and says "OOHHHHHH".

If he is watching a show that he doesnt want to watch anymore he yells "BYE BYE" at the TV for us to change it.

He HAS to point out any puppy he sees. He will find a puppy that we don't even see. He says PUP-e. (stress the Pup)

If he has done something wrong and he senses he is getting in trouble, he looks at us with this sweet smile and sweet voice and says "hey, hey, hey, hey" and I have to hand it to him, it works.

If he wants something we are eating he says "Num, Num, Nummy" and comes at us with mouth wide open.

O-H-I-O

Long time, no blog.

I have taken a short blogging hiatus, due to my lack of interesting-ness.

However, I just got back from visiting my BFF, Molly, in Ohio. She has 5 month old twins and they are rather cute!

Jackson and Blake.

Molly claims I made this guy laugh for the first time. I think she was just trying to make me feel special, but it was PRE-CIOUS!We are no strangers to a singing performance.

One of our main events for the weekend was to attend the 2011 Jebby Awards. Molly's friend Jeb created his very own award show about 6 years ago and it has grown and grown and is now this legitimate awards show in Columbus. Its hilarious, but also kind of serious. This guy puts ALOT of work into getting this ready. There were live performances, acceptance speeches, and a red carpet. This is our picture before we hit the red carpet.

In rhetrospect, I would have spent a little more time getting the wrinkles out of my dress and less time with my hand on my hip. Whatevs.After the Jebby's we went to a restaurant with some of Molly's theatre friends. So dramatic..Imagine that.

I had a great time and wish we could see each other more often. I loved getting back to my main men though. Can I just say that I had been home 10 minutes when the tornado sirens went off and we had to hunker down in the hallway? Talk about perfect timing!