Hurricane Harvey Hits Texas

Dear Nathan and Hannah, 

What started out as a normal week ended up in what may be the most devastating Hurricane to hit the US. 

Luckily, we did our grocery shopping earlier in the week, because everything was crazy in Austin Friday as people cleared off grocery store shelves. Yesterday, I suggested that we go grocery shopping and Nathan came up with a pretty clever idea.

"Mommy, why don't you just go shopping when we are in school." And once you figured out how genius this idea is, anytime I suggest something that doesn't sound terribly exciting to you, you suggest that I do it myself when you all are at school. 

 In the end, here in S. Austin, we received in total about 7 inches of rain (according to our rain gauge) over the span of 2 days. The places we had to get to weren't affected by flash flooding, so we got to go to church for our monthly family fellowship dinner and service project.

 We braved the winds and drove up to Round Rock to attend a birthday party.

Of course, we played indoors. And Nathan even showed the birthday boy how to put some legos together. Nathan you were very excited to give him this gift because you had picked it out for him yourself.

By Monday, the rain had stopped, and Tuesday, it was dry enough to go outside to play. We had a canceled playdate and then ended up meeting up with another group of friends whom you guys really get along with.

 While Hannah was digging around in the dirt, looking for snails and rolly pollies, Nathan was a bit more cautious, sitting on the side, avoiding ants and getting dirt in your shoes.

 Hannah, I have started to make you take a short afternoon nap these past few days. You simply just get too grumpy by the evening and can't seem to stay awake during dinner. It's tough to keep you in bed, but I've managed to get you napping for the past 2 days by laying down next to you and taking a short nap myself.

During this time, Nathan either has some screen time, plays legos or we play games. A game that we recently made up "Monsters in the Bedroom" is quite an interesting game. I'm actually considering pitching it to a game maker to see if we can market it. The game works on number comparison. Kids get to practice comparing 2 numbers (under 12) to see which number is bigger. The monster gets a number and the kid draws a number. That is how we determine who wins. If the monster wins, the kid cries and gets a tissue token. If the kid wins, the monster goes away. It's a 2 player game: monsters vs. Kid. If the kid gets 5 tissue tokens, they lose. If the monsters all get put into the treasure box, they lose.

 This week was your second week of school at the gymnastics center. Everyday you two come home with a new skill. Today, you both showed me your handstands.

 I am really glad that I found this place for you both to attend. You both seem to really enjoy your time there and never want to leave when I pick you up. You both eat your entire lunch and have lots of opportunities to be active.

We are approaching week 37 with baby and it's crazy to think that we could become a family of 5 in as early as a week. Baby's head is engaged in the pelvic region and so far everything is still on track as far as growth and health goes. I've finally found the newborn clothes, washed everything and have them ready. My bags for the birthing center is packed and I took Nathan and Hannah to pick out a baby book for the new baby. For some reason when I mentioned buying a book for the baby, Nathan kept thinking that we were going to borrow the baby like we borrow books from the library. He kept repeating to me, I don't want to borrow the baby, I want to be able to keep her.

I finally just brought out each of their baby books, flipped through it with them and then asked if we should get one for the new baby. Unanimously, they replied "yes" and excitedly accompanied me to Half Price Books. When we arrived, both of them were so excited and exclaimed, "this is the best store ever! They have everything!" Then they proceeded to hand me books to read to them.

If I've done one thing right as a parent, I'd say that both Nathan and Hannah love reading books. I was a bit worried about Hannah at first, but as she gets older, her attention span is lengthening and she now loves to just sit and listen to stories, one after another.

Next week we start school at Bethany. I'm curious what it will be like to have to pick up 4 days a week. I'm still a bit hesitant on whether or not to keep you both in school 4 days a week, or cut back to 3, but I think we'll wait for the baby to arrive before we make this decision.

This week it finally hit me: We will be having a little tiny baby in the house. I've always preferred kids once they are older, but for some reason, I feel like I will be treasuring this infancy period a bit more. Perhaps it's the thought of it being (probably) the last one, or it could also be that there will be 2 little humans who are so excited about getting a little baby sister. Life will be very different, but I am pretty sure that it will be good, challenging, but good.

Until next week,
Love,
Mommy