photos from ike

This photo is of the closet that we camped out in. Thankfully it was big enough for all four of us when Lonnie wasn't rolling me off the side of the bed. We had everything we needed just in case we needed to stay put for a little while. I thought about putting up wallpaper to make it look a little more homey but I decided it was overkill. :)

The back ard at our friend's house. What you can't see is the pool that is under the tree limbs.

The great group of youth who came over to help clean out the Weber's pool. Maya and Max were the supervisors.

Getting the pool cleaned up. They did a great job!

jeans and t's

Thanks to Ann Hinckley Stucki for these cute t-shirts she sent the babies.  They had their first day of wearing jeans and t-shirts.  I think they look pretty cute.  Yes, these kiddos were worth the wait.

We went to our 4 month check-up on Friday.  Maya weighs 12 lbs 13 oz and Max weighs 12 lbs 10 oz.  Most impressive is that they went through a serious growth spurt while exclusively breastfeeding.  It has been a long road, but we have finally made it.  

power

Our power came back on sometime yesterday afternoon. We were at the Hatfields until late the evening. When we came home someone had already cleaned up our lawn and piled up the limbs and leaves near the drive way. This morning we were told that someone from our church had cleaned not only our year but also the yards of several of our neighbors. Our neighbor Kelly, who had been in the city bringing food and ice to an older couple who had a tree in the middle of her house, said she was prectically in tears when she saw that her yard had been cleaned while she was out taking care of someone else. We still aren't sure who it was that was so kind to come over and help out. Thank you so much for your kindness.

Lonnie now out cleaning up the yard. The Weber's pool and yard still need a lot of work, but we thankfully the hard things have been done. We just need to get a lot of leaves out of the bottom of the pool and clean up their yard.

Also the blessing of an unusually cool weather front has come through the area, which is such a blessing to those still with out power.

still no power

We are still without power, but staying with our friends the Hatfields who thankfully have welcomed us into their home. Church was canceled today due to lack of power at the building. Several people got together at our friends the Weber's home to cut apart a large thee that had fallen into their pool. People have pulled together to meet every one's needs.

Due to the lack of power there are a lot of people siting on front porches, lounging on lawn chairs in drive ways and gathering neighbors together at the houses that do have power. Yesterday we spent time getting to better know neighbors that we are always meaning to spend time with but always putting off for another day. We didn't worry about getting anything done other than just spending time together and enjoying their cool air-conditioned house.

Houston is a city built on air conditioning. It is hot and humid and most houses are built to keep the cool air trapped inside. I love fresh air and open doors but here in the gulf coast I keep my windows and doors tightly shut to avoid even more costly utility bills. Maybe we should have power-down days more often, where we keep or doors open and visit with or neighbors and offer support, comfort, friendship and a glass of lemon aid.

But I still really miss my air-conditioned house.

after ike

We made it through our first Texas hurricane.  It was a pretty long and crazy night with lots of wind and rain.  We are have been with out power since about 3am this morning.  Some of our neighbors thankfully have power and have invited us to hang out part of today.  

The house did not have any damage.  We lost a fence that also knocked out the water for several house.  Lots of trees in the area and down, but we only lost a few small branches.  

We are still hearing stories about other parts of Houston, many that sustained much more serious damage.  

We are grateful to be safe.

another ike update

We still amazingly have power and internet. We went to sleep at about 9:30pm. I'm not sure what time the winds and rain started but it winds are blowing pretty strongly. It looks like the big part of the storm will be coming past soon. All is well and the babies are still asleep, safe and sound in the closet. The electricity just flashed off and on again.

We are currently under Hurricane Warning, River Flood warming, Flood Watch and a Tornado Watch.

ike update

Most of our neighbors have lost power, but our lights are still holding out. The winds are getting stronger, but still no rain. The sunset was beautiful and red.

there's a hurricane blowing our way

We woke up this morning to blue skies that are slowly turning turning gray and Ike is on his way. We are under a hurricane warming and a flood watch. It is just starting to get a little bit breezy right now, but the storm shouldn't really hit until 1am.

We aren't in the mandatory of voluntary evacuation areas so we are staying put at our house. Most of our friends and neighbors are also staying put.

Thankfully we have just about everything we need to hunker down for a couple of days in case the power goes out or there is flooding. We have also set up a temporary shelter for us and the kids in a large upstairs closet. We took down the hammock in the backyard moved anything that might get caught up in the wind.

Thankfully we didn't need to go to the grocery store of fill up with gas at the last minute. We were told that lots of gas stations ran out of gas and lines at the grocery store were pretty long.

If you want to track the weather for our neighborhood you can check on http://weather.com. Our zip code is 77450. It Another good resource for tracking the storm is http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/at200809.html

babies blessing

Lonnie blessed the babies at church on Sunday. It was a special day! The babies were great. Making it easier on Lonnie, Maya slept through the entire thing and Max made only a sigh.

Maya Catarina

Maya in her blessing dress made of fabric left over from my wedding dress. The lace at the bottom of the dress was on my mom's veil when she got married. Thank you to Susan Combs and my mom who helped make the dress.

Max Elliott

Max's outfit was also made out of wedding dress fabric and was made by my mom. Lonnie hopes that the wedding dress fabric won't encourage him to wear a wedding dress when he gets married.

Thanks to our family members who made the trip down to Houston. John and Cookie Allred came from Danville, CA. Lynne and Patsy Mercer came from Bountiful, UT, and Rob, Zane, Ammon and Zaley Kaelberer came from Murfreesboro, TN.

All of a sudden, there are four of us.

Look at that focus!

In the past couple of weeks, they have both become serious thumb/finger/double fist suckers.

babies meet the alligators, alligators meet the babies

With family in town for Labor Day weekend, we decided to take the kids out for their first hike. There are several reasons we hadn't done this earlier: 1) Houston is REALLY hot this time of year, even at night. 2) Getting out the house with two babies is quite complicated. 3) Because the babies had a hard time getting started with breastfeeding, I was afraid of being away from the breastpump for more than 3 hours. 4) Making milk for two babies wears me out.

We were able to leave the house at about 9:00am. Surprisingly, the weather was not too hot. We went to Brazos Bend State Park, and we walked around 40 acre lake. It is a great park with lots of walking trails and trees covered in Spanish moss. It is also a wonderful place to bird watch and see alligators. The bigger alligators (10-14 feet) are easier to see in the spring, but we still were able to see several medium sized (4-6 feet) alligators and probably over 20 little ones.

Then while some of our group enjoyed touring the visitors center, I fed the babies under a big, shady tree on a park bench. (This mobile breastfeeding is great, it is ready anywhere and anytime.) After working up an appetite, we went to the Swinging Door and had great Texas BBQ. You gotta love a BBQ place that serves baked beans and potato salad as "vegetables".

When we got home, the guys watched football, I took and nap, and the grandmas and Zaley went to the mall.

It was a perfect Texas day.

Max in the carrier with mom.

Maya taking a nap with dad. The blankets were used to shield their fair skin from the sun, not to make them sweat more than they already did.

Small alligator lurking in the mossy water.

The lake was covered with huge lily pads and flowers.