Last Saturday, early in the morning hours…3:40 a.m., we had a large storm going through Rogers. The thunder was some of the loudest thunder that I’ve heard. All of a sudden we heard a really loud pop. It sounded like all of the windows in our house had busted. Neal and I SPRUNG out of bed and had adrenaline pumping through our bodies. Many of the appliances had gone off but we noticed that the ac was still pumping, the oven and microwave were blinking and the fridge was still running. We decided to go upstairs to make sure the girls were okay, check on the power up there and see if we could get the power downstairs working by flipping the breakers (which is located in the attic space in Reese’s room).
We went into Ella’s room and her fan was off but she was butt in the air sound asleep, not phased a bit. We then walked into Reese’s room. Neal headed to the attic space and I walked over to Reese. She was standing up and had been completely silent. As soon as she saw me she began sobbing and she was shaking so hard and her heart was beating so fast. I felt so bad for her. I got her out of her crib and laid with her in her big girl bed (she still refuses to sleep in her big girl bed but we are going to tear down the crib soon and force the issue). When Neal finished with the breaker box everything seemed to come back on, as far as we could tell without testing things. Reese was so scared that we decided to let her sleep with us, for the first time ever. It took her about an hour to go back to sleep. Ella’s monitor wasn’t working so I really couldn’t sleep out of fear that she would need me and I wouldn’t hear her. Around 6:45 I moved up to the bonus room to try to sleep and cracked Ella’s door so that I would hear her once she woke up. Reese woke up soon after I left the bed and noticed I was gone so she made Neal take her to find me.
When they got up to the bonus room we tried to turn on the 4 month old 60” television to realize that it had been fried. We went on to find that both baby monitors, all 3 cable boxes, the sound transmitter (machine that carries the tv, radio or ipod over the ceiling speakers), DVD players, alarm system, sprinkler system, iphone charger, router and modem were all fried & likely the ceiling speakers but that isn’t confirmed yet. Reese’s favorite movie, Toy Story, is also stuck in the DVD player and we lost our recording on the cable box of her other favorite movie, Tangled.
When Cox came out they verified that the jolt came in through the cable. He showed us the small metal box that had been turned black, which is located in Reese’s closet. He said we were lucky that it had not started a fire. He said that what we heard from downstairs was much, much louder in her room and that it probably also made a very bright light. Poor girl was petrified for good reason.
I am so thankful that this wasn’t worse than it was. We have an electrician coming out to ensure proper grounding and wiring but I am going to be a bit fearful every time we have a storm that comes through for a while. Reese may be in our room during bad lightning storms in the future.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Monday, July 23, 2012
Random thoughts on a Monday
1. My Honda Accord was such a great car. I had 6 great years in the car and brought both of my precious babies home in that car but we have just outgrown it. This is the last picture taken with that beloved vehicle.
2. I got a new car on Saturday! Another Honda but a much larger one.
3. Reese experienced her 1st chocolate mess at Marketplace on Friday. She was very pleased and I'm sure she will beg for many more in the future.
4. We have a silent dishwasher in the new house. It is so quiete that there is a red light that shines on the floor just so that you know that it is actually running. Ella can entertain herself for long periods of time trying to catch the little red light...she sometimes gets frustrated by it.
5. Reese loves the new car, we all do. Behind the new car you can see the Reynold's house going up. Our old neighbors have decided to be our neighbors again and are building just one house over. We are SO excited!
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Potty time
Disclaimer to all of my friends without kids. Talking about pooping on the potty is not something I'd ever imagined doing but it is now something we talk about all of the time in our house. Sorry if this is too much for anyone :).
We have been talking to Reese about going on the potty for months. We have had a mini potty that she's been "practicing" on since November. We have had no luck until last week. She went #2 on the potty! We caught the signs just in time. I don't know when it might happen again but I'm thrilled it happened. Below are pictures of her with her reward, an m&m. She's just so cute!
We have been talking to Reese about going on the potty for months. We have had a mini potty that she's been "practicing" on since November. We have had no luck until last week. She went #2 on the potty! We caught the signs just in time. I don't know when it might happen again but I'm thrilled it happened. Below are pictures of her with her reward, an m&m. She's just so cute!
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Our 1st family vacation!
Growing up our family went to Destin every year with my Aunt & Uncle’s family. It was always so much fun. I definitely want to make family vacation a priority in our family. I think it creates so many fun family memories and I want my girls to have this. This year we decided to take the girls to the beach that I went to every year as their first family vacation. We spend the week of the 4th of July in Destin, Florida and we all had a blast.
Air travel out of NWA is always complicated. We have a great, small airport but it has hardly any direct flights and the flights are always very expensive. We decided it was worth the money not to have to travel to Tulsa but we did have a layover each way (connections with babies are not much fun). The girls had their moments of frustration but overall I would say they did great.
We had 44 family members that went this year. We all had different houses around the city but we were all in the same city and got together multiple times. Our house was just a short walk from the beach and we had a great neighborhood pool as well. The girls loved the beach. Reese had fun jumping over the waves, playing in the sand, she really enjoyed snacking on the beach and going out to jump waves in the deep water with mommy and daddy. She also had a fun time with her cousin Jacob and with my cousins kids. She got to bury her daddy in the sand, build sand castles, find shells and look at all of the scary creatures that Jacob was finding in the seaweed. Ella enjoyed eating sand, sitting with me in the shallow waves and she was most interested in the make shift pool that Neal or I would make for her each day (I would fill the inflatable boat with a couple of inches of water and put some toys in it). I thought that she may nap out on the beach in the shade of the canopy but no luck. Ella was not a very good sleeper in general at the beach and was up by 5:30 each morning. Neal and I were generally tired but that didn’t stop us from having a lot of fun.
Neal got to go golfing with my Uncle and Cousin one morning. I got to go shopping multiple times. All 44 of us got together at my Aunt’s place for dinner and fireworks on the 4th. The fireworks show was really pretty but got to be a bit too much for my girls towards the end. This was the girls first fireworks experience. We were really close to the display, things were falling on us and it. Was. So. Loud. It sounded like we were in a war zone at the very end of it. Reese loved it until the end and then she started crying big crocodile tears so we took them inside.
The trip home was a full day of travel due to a long layover and delays. Reese busted her lip running through the airport. We had a great time but were oh so happy to be home. I look forward to many fun trips like this in our future and am so excited for the days when the girls are old enough to enjoy little excursions. I love my little family so much and am so happy that we get to make memories like this one together.
Air travel out of NWA is always complicated. We have a great, small airport but it has hardly any direct flights and the flights are always very expensive. We decided it was worth the money not to have to travel to Tulsa but we did have a layover each way (connections with babies are not much fun). The girls had their moments of frustration but overall I would say they did great.
We had 44 family members that went this year. We all had different houses around the city but we were all in the same city and got together multiple times. Our house was just a short walk from the beach and we had a great neighborhood pool as well. The girls loved the beach. Reese had fun jumping over the waves, playing in the sand, she really enjoyed snacking on the beach and going out to jump waves in the deep water with mommy and daddy. She also had a fun time with her cousin Jacob and with my cousins kids. She got to bury her daddy in the sand, build sand castles, find shells and look at all of the scary creatures that Jacob was finding in the seaweed. Ella enjoyed eating sand, sitting with me in the shallow waves and she was most interested in the make shift pool that Neal or I would make for her each day (I would fill the inflatable boat with a couple of inches of water and put some toys in it). I thought that she may nap out on the beach in the shade of the canopy but no luck. Ella was not a very good sleeper in general at the beach and was up by 5:30 each morning. Neal and I were generally tired but that didn’t stop us from having a lot of fun.
Neal got to go golfing with my Uncle and Cousin one morning. I got to go shopping multiple times. All 44 of us got together at my Aunt’s place for dinner and fireworks on the 4th. The fireworks show was really pretty but got to be a bit too much for my girls towards the end. This was the girls first fireworks experience. We were really close to the display, things were falling on us and it. Was. So. Loud. It sounded like we were in a war zone at the very end of it. Reese loved it until the end and then she started crying big crocodile tears so we took them inside.
The trip home was a full day of travel due to a long layover and delays. Reese busted her lip running through the airport. We had a great time but were oh so happy to be home. I look forward to many fun trips like this in our future and am so excited for the days when the girls are old enough to enjoy little excursions. I love my little family so much and am so happy that we get to make memories like this one together.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Fun Summer Updates
Summer is my FAVORITE time of the year. Spring and Fall are a close second but I really don't care too much for Winter. This Spring/Summer has been such a fun time in my life.
We have spent so much time at the pool lately and have been having so much fun. Both of my babies are water babies and have been having a blast at the pool. I love the sun and the water so I've love having a neighborhood pool. Just being able to be outside so much in the past few months has been so much better than having to be indoors due to the cold of winter.
I wanted to take a minute to update all of the recent changes of both of the girls...
Reese:
She have begun telling Neal and I that she loves us. This has been the most adorable, heart melting thing to come out of her mouth. I love this little girls so much. She has so much personality and is becoming so cuddly and sweet when she wants to be. She is turning into a little girl. She truly is no longer a baby, which is so bitter sweet. She has become increasingly more coordinated. Her memory has amazed us...if we drive near her docotor's office she immediately begins to say doctor, sick. We won't even be able to see the office but be near it and she begins to say this. She is also beggining to put together full sentences. Yesterday she said to me "Mommy, I saw a bunny" (she loves bunnys and tells me that she sees them even if she doesn't). She even had a real play date a couple of weeks ago with her best friend Reagan. They played at Reagan's house, went to the splash pad and then went to see some goats, chickens and cows near Reagan's house. She had so much fun and has been talking about it every day since.
Ella:
She cannot seem to stay well. She has had hand, foot and mouth disease twice in the past month. She currently has a terrible cold that has turned into an ear infection. She also had pnemonia a few months ago, which was scary. Despite all of the sickness she is such a happy and sweet baby. I feel like we are finally getting somewhere with the sleeping. Lately she is only waking up once a night to feed (I hope I am not jinxing myself by stating that publicly). She has begun sitting up, crawling and pulling up and taking steps while holding on to things all in the past month. She constantly says dadadadada but is not insterested in saying mamamam despite all of the practicing that I do with her. She is so cute, sweet and easy going. The first photo below is one that one of her teacher's sent to me and is the first time that she pulled up on her own, the puckery lips she is making in the photo is a normal face she makes...so funny.
I love both of these girls with all of my heart. We go to Destin in 9 days with my entire family and Neal's parents. I am SO excited about this trip I could burst. The girls are going to have so much fun and I am goin to get to spend some great quality time with my family, which is priceless to me since I get to see them so seldom. We are all going to have a blast.
Last weekend we went to North Little Rock to spend Father's Day with Neal's family. I have been so bad lately about pulling the camera out and capturing photos. I didn't get many photos over the weekend but the few that I did are priceless.
We have spent so much time at the pool lately and have been having so much fun. Both of my babies are water babies and have been having a blast at the pool. I love the sun and the water so I've love having a neighborhood pool. Just being able to be outside so much in the past few months has been so much better than having to be indoors due to the cold of winter.
I wanted to take a minute to update all of the recent changes of both of the girls...
Reese:
She have begun telling Neal and I that she loves us. This has been the most adorable, heart melting thing to come out of her mouth. I love this little girls so much. She has so much personality and is becoming so cuddly and sweet when she wants to be. She is turning into a little girl. She truly is no longer a baby, which is so bitter sweet. She has become increasingly more coordinated. Her memory has amazed us...if we drive near her docotor's office she immediately begins to say doctor, sick. We won't even be able to see the office but be near it and she begins to say this. She is also beggining to put together full sentences. Yesterday she said to me "Mommy, I saw a bunny" (she loves bunnys and tells me that she sees them even if she doesn't). She even had a real play date a couple of weeks ago with her best friend Reagan. They played at Reagan's house, went to the splash pad and then went to see some goats, chickens and cows near Reagan's house. She had so much fun and has been talking about it every day since.
Ella:
She cannot seem to stay well. She has had hand, foot and mouth disease twice in the past month. She currently has a terrible cold that has turned into an ear infection. She also had pnemonia a few months ago, which was scary. Despite all of the sickness she is such a happy and sweet baby. I feel like we are finally getting somewhere with the sleeping. Lately she is only waking up once a night to feed (I hope I am not jinxing myself by stating that publicly). She has begun sitting up, crawling and pulling up and taking steps while holding on to things all in the past month. She constantly says dadadadada but is not insterested in saying mamamam despite all of the practicing that I do with her. She is so cute, sweet and easy going. The first photo below is one that one of her teacher's sent to me and is the first time that she pulled up on her own, the puckery lips she is making in the photo is a normal face she makes...so funny.
I love both of these girls with all of my heart. We go to Destin in 9 days with my entire family and Neal's parents. I am SO excited about this trip I could burst. The girls are going to have so much fun and I am goin to get to spend some great quality time with my family, which is priceless to me since I get to see them so seldom. We are all going to have a blast.
Last weekend we went to North Little Rock to spend Father's Day with Neal's family. I have been so bad lately about pulling the camera out and capturing photos. I didn't get many photos over the weekend but the few that I did are priceless.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Our pinterest inspired patriotic wreath
I have had a wreath on our front door with a 2 on it since early April for Reese's 2nd birthday. I've had plans to make this patriotic wreath for some time but I seem to plan a lot lately and actually do only a little. I finally completed this wreath and I'm so happy with it. I even had help from my favorite 2 year old.
It was a pretty simple project. It involves marking your lines, cutting felt into small squares, folding them twice and pinning them into a styrofoam form. I then used beading wire to make the springs for the stars and hot glued the stars to the springs. The stars are from Hobby Lobby, I cut them off of some patriotic garland.
I'm really happy with the finished product and now I just hope that it's made well enough to hold up.
It was a pretty simple project. It involves marking your lines, cutting felt into small squares, folding them twice and pinning them into a styrofoam form. I then used beading wire to make the springs for the stars and hot glued the stars to the springs. The stars are from Hobby Lobby, I cut them off of some patriotic garland.
I'm really happy with the finished product and now I just hope that it's made well enough to hold up.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
So many developments
Ella is growing up WAY too fast. In the course of 2 weeks she's mastered going from rolling around to sitting up on her own, right onto crawling & is now pulling up. She is only 7 months old. Reese did these 3 things with about a month in between each. I'm not ready for it but I won't be surprised if she's walking before we know it.
These are pictures of the first time I walked in and she was sitting up in her crib and a photo that one of her teachers texted me of her standing in her crib while puckering her lips. She's such an adorable girl.
These are pictures of the first time I walked in and she was sitting up in her crib and a photo that one of her teachers texted me of her standing in her crib while puckering her lips. She's such an adorable girl.
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