in the wind

We all needed to get outside, so we decided to check out the wind and run up and down the street. Graham got to run around and we got to check out the neighborhood. You can see leave debris on our street and all the trees are standing, so we are very blessed. Our basement is drying nicely and Brett is getting all the water logged stuff out right now. We are just tired and getting a little crazy being cooped up indoors but the running around outside helped. We finally turned off weather coverage too, so that helps I think. We are still having a pretty good bout of wind right now, but the sun is out and we are doing great. Getting things back to normal....slowly but surely. And we are really in the mood for Chinese food and our Chinese place is open and making food so we are pumped for some good eats later!

tropical storm

In case you hadn't heard, Hurricane Irene is now a tropical storm and moving her way right up the coast. We have not yet had a chance to get down to the basement; we are waiting on someone to take a nap to assess the situation. We just organized toys into new bins, which Graham is now taking out and putting on the floor. Sigh; we have so much work to do, and little energy to do it. The water in the wall seems to be the same, but we took off all the pictures and took all the frames off the fireplace just to be safe. We did find one frame was ruined, but the picture was fine, thank goodness. That is all I have for now. Just windy in our area.

update on Hurricane

Ok, so our basement is how we left it last night. Water logged...but our sump pump is still kicking it. Now, we have the wind to contend with, and we have this for most of the day. So we are not out of the woods yet. It also looks like we got some water in our living room, above our fireplace. There are a few places where you can see water dripped down and it created a bubble under the paint. Something new we have never had before.

Graham is great, as talky as ever and Brett asked him to get his muscles out. He is ready to go, so we figured we would give him the basement to clean up first. He does have all that energy :D. And he is wearing his super Graham pajamas so he does have an edge. I am wearing my normal pajamas, which don't give me any extra energy. Maybe I can wear his cape?

update on water

Having a bit of a lull from the rain right now...waiting on the next round to come. Still 6 hours until storm is here... I don't know how our basement will make it. Power has been flickering off and on a bit but still holding strong. We are only using what we need now...hoping for the best, but feeling really deflated. We knew this would happen, but it all happened so fast. We have water in the basement in places that we have never had water before, and since we had put most of our stuff in those locations, we now have a lot of really wet stuff. We even got our dryer up and onto something, otherwise, it would be in water. We are dong fine though, safe and getting ready to sleep. Graham is a trooper, holding strong with Wembley underneath him. He is doing great and I am sure he will get us up early to watch the hurricane once it hits early this morning. For now, good night all.

Hurricane update

About 2 inches of water in basement. Coming in all over and fast...nothing we can about it.

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Lots of water

We have water trickling in from a corner in our basement. Our sump pump Wendall is working hard thank goodness. We are hanging in.

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My boys

We spent a lot of time in every room today, and this was a sweet moment between my boys!

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Hoarding

Keeping everyone important close during a hurricane is essential...Graham gave us a lesson today. Could this be an early sign of hoarding?

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All our friends

We got all Graham's friends on the couch early this morning. Love his smile!

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mr. talky part 2

You can see and hear the "nananana" that he tells Brett. We hope this won't be a big deal.

The whole reason we taped him tonight was because he was splashing Brett and I a ton. And laughing every minute while doing it. Our bathroom got soaked and so did we. But his laugh was infectious and we could not stop laughing, which encouraged him to splash us more. I know one day we will learn, but we were having too much fun today.

Mr. Talkative

So out of Brett and myself, we have no doubt who he gets his talkativeness from....Brett. :D

He has been using more and more words lately and letting us know what he likes and just today, he has started a "nananana" that we think means no. He also has come out with what we think is mine. We have been trying so hard to not use the word no, but it seems it has found us anyway. Anyway, enjoy the video.

sleepy super Graham

We decided to dress Graham in his super Graham pajamas. He wore the cape until bed time. Can you see his action feet in the picture? He was super tired. I did not have to go into work today, so we were able to spend the whole day together.

Hurricane Rain

We decided to go outside and get Graham in the hurricane. It has been raining for quite a while now, and we could have up to another 24 hours of rain on the way. It rains really hard at times and then backs off but no matter what, it is raining. We had to put Graham in a onesie today...he got his diaper half off! So a onesie it is. Here he is, checking out the weather from the front porch.

Brett got brave and took Graham out in the rain...I love the look on their faces.

Checking out the big puddle outside our house. It always floods here and makes an awesome puddle for cars to splash through. Graham loves cars so we thought he would enjoy the puddle. They both got wet from the cars driving by!

My adorable boys.

A family shot with us all back on the porch.

So far, so good.

rain has started

What do you do when the rain has started and we have the next 15+ hours to wait it out? You get all your friends and mommy and daddy, and watch Shrek! We got out Graham's swimmy friends, his turtle and shark, and got him all comfy to watch a movie once he woke up from his nap.

Our neighbor got out there generator to see if it was working. It is working, so Graham had a short nap.

He ended up at the end of his couch. I don't know how or why, but it was really cute to see him "relax" on his couch. He is already up and running around, and spending some quiet time in the basket in our room.

We got all the stuff moved off our front porch and into the garage. We are ready, set go! for the hurricane.

Being prepared

Graham has started stock pilling the important stuff in his duck, which sadly, is losing air. He has a book, a truck, a toy and a blue marker. Just in case. With the earthquake and now the hurricane on it's way, you can never be too careful!

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Little rocker

This was mine growing up. N and P brought it to see if Graham would like it. He didn't try it until they left, but he seemed to understand how to get in it and rock it.

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Good bye to N&P

Nana and pawpaw had to say good bye to us in a parking lot. We had a great time and it was sad to see then leave.

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First tomato

Randy gave Graham his first tomato, which he thought was a ball and he ran with it.

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Back to Indy

Back on our trip to Indiana...at Randy and Pam's house. It was super hot so we stripped him down, and got the hose out. He loved playing in the water. Pam had a great time trying different sprays out on Graham. He liked the surprise!
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video palooza

Watch out people, video palooza has just happened. I figured if we lose power, then at least our family and fans can watch cute videos of Graham until we get it back.

As of now, we have beautiful sunny skies and super warm temperatures. The calm before the storm. I think the rain starts tomorrow and then the wind and rain really pick up late Saturday night into Sunday. I am hoping to get home from work before it is really real bad. We will keep you posted as much as we can.

For now, I am going to catch up on posts from our trip to Indiana.

Yeah for blogging!

rolling his r's

Graham playing on our bed, being cute and rolling his r's. He and I have whole conversations like this, which is really fun. I know some adults can't do this, but our little one has mastered the skill.

on the phone

This is how Graham "talks" on the phone. He holds up and walks around the house, or runs really, and talks to whomever. He always think he is talking to dada, at least he talks to dada when I am there.

quiet time....maybe?

He has been spending a lot of time in the basket. I found him in there the other day, and thought, wow, I can totally tape him being quiet, which like never happens. Then, he gets out of the basket and comes and takes a look at the camera. You can totally hear him say what is this? So great! And then, our little boy proves he is just that....all boy.

all boy

Using his diaper box to climb up on the couch. He is all boy.

like his momma

This video makes me laugh. I was trying to get him to make this noise he has started doing with his mouth, but he liked watching me do it better. But then, he starts rolling his car up his leg, which is what we do to him, and when he is doing this, look at his big toe. Sticking up like like a pretzel stick. Totally like his momma. I heart him.

peek-a-boo Graham

Graham playing peek-a-boo. Super cute. I like to think this is Graham doing what he does best...Graham. And he has the best laugh. LOVE IT!

Baby bulldog

Pawpaw, this one's for you. Love you.

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17 months

I wish I could get the red eye out of this photo, because he has such a great smile. Don't worry Gigi and Nana, I will get you a copy of this without the red eye.

17 months today.....yowzah! And he has the cutest little bottom wearing pants with a car on them ever! I decided we needed to wear pants today, so we both did, all day. I think he liked it and it made me think the weather outside was getting colder...which means FALL! I am super pumped for fall and getting colder and sweaters and leaves and little man. It will be great. But I digress, he is 17 months today! Yeah!

You can see how cute he is and how tall is he getting. He likes to "talk" on my cell phone or carry it around holding it while running away from me. He is still on soy formula, and today I gave him a sippy cup of milk. He took a drink and puked. I was like, seriously?! I don't know what we are going to do, but something has got to give.

This is like his signature pose. He always squats and looks at books. He always had this look on his face too. We were a big fan of a construction book and kept flipping through that one.

A close up of that beautiful face.

He was totally quiet and I looked in his room to find him in the basket in our room. This is a place he likes to go and just be. You can find him in the basket when Brett is getting ready for work or just taking some time for himself. He has a few pairs of socks and underwear that he keeps in there, don't worry, they are all clean.

Yes, that is a pair of my underpants and yes, they are turquoise. I don't know, but they are always a favorite to have. Maybe they remind him of cookie monster?

Some new things he is doing:

He can say Momma and ball now.

He loves to listen to music and dance.

He loves to laugh.

He may be getting a hair cut.

He can ride his Mickey Mouse fire truck, or least ride it while you push it. Or stand on it.

He is climbing on things, and using them to get on the couch.

He does not like milk.

He loves to sit in baskets.

He is a professional at Skyping.

He is waving.

earthquake

So...we just had an earthquake. I. am. freaking. out. We are totally fine and safe. Graham and I were napping when we felt it (I think it woke us up) and just as I was about to get up and get him, it stopped. Brett was at work and said he felt things move and shake (he is on the 4th floor) and he is safe. Thank mucho goodness that we are all fine. The only thing wrong with any of us is Graham is upset because I have been calling people and he wants to be on the cell phone. He then found his cell phone and has been making calls to people, letting them know we are OK and laughing while he talks on the phone. He also has been carrying around his Easter Donald Duck today too. So, at least I can relax a little and watch him.

We are fine. We are safe. A little scared. And we are yelling now because we need a cheese stick.

momma

He is finally saying "MOMMA!" I am so excited...and other people have heard it too. He said to both sets of grandparents on Skype yesterday, so I am not just making this up!

He also just bite his wrist, and left a pretty decent mark...yowzah. Gotta keep my eye on that one.

He also is in to smacking our faces. He does this when he playing with you. He gets super excited and then starts waving his hands around, and they just happen to hit your face. A lot. And last night I was trying to tell Graham that was this was not nice or good behavior and I look at Brett and he is laughing so then I start laughing and well, the whole thing got outta control! Needless to say, we are working on it.

Yeah for toddlers!

frustration

Today has been one of those days and it is not even 11 yet! Graham is asking for everything by screaming "EEEHHH" non stop until he gets whatever it is he wants. Some of his needs I know and understand and get him no problem; others are not so easy to decode. He has been pushing my buttons all morning, so I got him in the car and headed to the store. He was great. Still yelling, but at least it was at signs and other people. I accidentally called my mom-in-law who got to hear about my morning and she said the best thing. She said I am sorry you are so frustrated, imagine how frustrated Graham is. He doesn't know how to ask for what he wants, and that has to be so frustrating to him. That really helped me step back and look at the situation differently, and it helped. Now, I am trying to tell him when I give him something he is asking for; see if that can help us both out.

On a side note, he has mastered the opening and closing of his hand that we call a wave! He did it when Brett left for work, he waved to me in the store and he waved at the cashier at the grocery store. So neat, and he is so proud of himself.

Hanging with the ladies

At Randy and Pam's house now. Graham is chilling with the girls, right where he likes to be.

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Sleeping sun baby

On our way to visit Randy and Pam. Got Graham a quick nap in before dinner.

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Swings!

At my cousin Josh and Lynne's house, we to play with Colton and Gabe and see my Aunt Pam and Uncle Jim. The older kids showed Graham all their cool cars and trucks, and then we headed outside. Pawpaw pushed Graham holding trucks in a swing. He loved it!

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Sitting with pawpaw

Sitting with pawpaw in a cute little seat, and holding onto a spiderman ball.

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Baby whisperer

After some milk, Graham fell asleep on Craig. So cute!

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Quiet time

Craig came home and Graham found a nice seat and they are just chilling. Graham is quiet and Craig is quiet and we all are like what?? I call Craig the baby whisperer now, he has a way with Graham. A very special bond.

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Scary strange

This is not me, but Pippy. We didn't show graham, we thought it would freak him out. I didn't like it. But it is entertaining.

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Penguins

Looking at the penguins, and playing peek a boo with Pippy. A fantastic way to end the zoo trip!

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