Weather

Wednesday's weather here was terrible!  Tucker and I made a palate in the closet and played there most of the morning...it was raining so hard that I couldn't even see out our window in our bedroom - he never knew the difference!  When I got out of the closet and looked out our front window this is what I saw...and this was actually pictures I took about 15 minutes after I got out - because J asked me to send him one so he would know what to expect when he got home.  I was afraid that he wouldn't be able to get to us because the water was up so high and it looked like it had completely wiped out our driveway over the creek, but thankfully it did not, but there were some amazing photos from it.  Our entire front and side yard was pretty much under water.  It burst our water line and I heard something pop in the house - thinking it was a water line inside, I turned off the water supply in the house and that's when I went out and saw this...the craziest thing I've seen in a long time.  Thankfully we had no problems and the water line was an easy fix, so we had water back on late last night.  I'm so glad I have a handy man to fix things around our house!  My dad came out before J got home, and when J got off, he and Mr. Mike came to look at everything and see what needed to be done.  The main problem was that we had several really large limbs stuck in our culvert, and our sweet neighbor, Mr. Dowdie came over with his tractor and helped pull them out with his front loader.  It was great because as soon as they got a few limbs out, it really started to clear out the debris and we realized that it was a tire stopping everything up.   

We also have 4 fields that back up to our property line and run the length of the main street to our house.  They were all completely underwater and looked like a lake. I meant to take a photo of them but when I remembered this morning, they are already back down.  It was so much rain that there was just no where for it all to go.  See the photos below - thankfully this was not too bad of a storm and everyone was safe.

I can't believe how terrible it was for so many other people though.  Our thoughts and prayers are with the people in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi.

I didn't last long...

So I knew that going back to work was going to be tough, but I had no idea.  I work an hour from my house, so having to leave, drop off Tucker, and get to work (with a feeding in between) was taking me over an hour and a half.  Doing this both ways is a total of 3 hours driving along with 9 hours at work = 12 hours without my little man.  Needless to say I didn't last long. 

I put my two weeks in and I'm actually working until the middle of May two days a week just to help them out until they find someone.  I enjoyed what I have been doing over the past year, but it's just not justifyable in staying for many different reasons.  But, I have to say that I truly admire you working moms -  I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU DO IT.  It wears me out doing it just two days a week.  I can't imagine how useless I would be doing it 5 days.  It's so different when you are up for night time feedings, and then working during the day, and coming home to take care of a family, and cooking dinner.  I have a whole new respect for moms who work full time and care for a family full time...Thanks mom!

I am thankful that Jonathan agrees that it will all work out with me staying home - and I know that it is going to be tough, but that's exactly what we will be doing - Staying Home!  I won't be going and coming a lot - we will be coming up with fun activities to do around our house and enjoying our time together as our children grow up.

It's amazing just how quickly Tucker is growing...this past weekend (April 16th) he found his tongue.  He obviously had it all the time, but he has realized that it does cool things and that he can stick it out, which makes him laugh.  It's so fun to see all the little changes, but they are all coming so quickly - I wish time could slow down just a little!  He is also finding that his fingers have more than just one fist - and they actually come apart.  It's hilarious to see him catch a glimpse of his hand as it goes by and start starring at it like he's never seen it before.  He has started sucking the fingers separately and really likes having them in his mouth.  I just want to freeze time so we can remember all these fun little things he does!

Also, last Friday, April 22nd, we held something for the first time!  He was in his carseat because we were eating dinner with a friend, and he reached over and picked this up from me! It was so sweet and I couldn't believe just how big he is getting.  I think he looks a lot like me here - but that's just an every once in a while thing.  The bigger he is getting the more I truly see his daddy in him.  What a sweet boy!

The Week of First's

This has definitely been a week of firsts for us! On Friday we had our first outing, Sunday was our first day at church (with Tucker), Monday was my first day of work, and Tuesday we had our first set of shots (our 2 month check up).

Last week was Mrs. Pam's birthday, so we went to Savannah to shop and have lunch- there were several of us who went - Mrs. Pam, Grandmother, Katherine, myself and Tucker, and then also Aunt Nancy, Jenny, Lauran, and her two girls, Emmie and Ellie. We had a great time - shopped and ate at Uptown Cafe. Here are a few photos from lunch. It was Tucker's first official outing, so I wanted to make sure we had photos to document it.

I had not planned on keeping him infor so long, but Emmie got RSV and I decided we shouldnt chance it. The only places Tucker had been before then were the Gilland's, the Golding's, and the Clark's.

Sunday we took Tucker to class with us. We have been going the past few weeks, but knew we couldn't take him just yet, so Mrs. Pam offered to keep him in the car because she does not have a class at 8am, so she kept him and then went to service once we were out of our life group class. It was neat to get to take him, but I think I was so worried that he was bothering people. I'm going to have to get over this though - he was very quiet and I don't really want to put him into the nursery until 12 weeks, so he'll be with us the next 4 weeks in class and service....hopefully it will go smoothly!

He was in the sweetest little church outfit - I just loved it! He is just so handsome...

 Tuesday we had his two month check up. He had to have his vaccination shots, so it was a rough visit. He also was weighed - he is 14 lbs and 7 oz. He is also in the 76th percentile for his height and 51st for his head growth. He is growing up so quickly! I just can't believe it. I asked the doctor about his acid reflux because he seems to really be spitting up a lot and choking on it...which obviously makes me very nervous. She said it's probably just that he isn't burping enough and is very hesitant to give him anything for it - which I'm glad. So I will be really trying to wake him up and burp him after every feeding instead of trying and giving up and letting him sleep when he doesn't burp. He also received all those sad shots today. He was so good - he obviously cried when she gave them to him, but as soon as I picked him up he stopped. I nursed him and he went straight to sleep and slept for a good while. Here are a few photos to document his visit:

My first day back...

Today was my first day back to work and I was surprisingly strong.  I have been dreading this day for 8 weeks.  Mrs. Pam kept him and I knew he would be in good hands,but it is still hard - I only worked from 8:30-1, but it felt like an eternity. While I was gone I received these photos:

At his first feeding:

At the office sleeping - Mrs. Pam works on Monday's, so he went with her today: 

After his first outfit change and three diaper changes: 

His first business meeting with Papaw:

All in all, he didn't even know I was gone and he did great!  He was taken care of and I had no reason for worrying...even mom did ok today, but thankfully it's over and I'm back home with him!

Tuesday Nights

The last few Tuesday nights we have been taking a Financial Peace University class that is offered by Dave Ramsey and his team. We have done this previously online, but never in a classroom setting.  We are going to Bellevue Arlington and there are 13 couples in the class.  I really look forward to Tuesday nights and what we are going to learn. We have really started trying to follow a detailed budget and get in tune with where we are supposed to be financially.  We have paid off several things since we have started and hope to have everything paid off when the class ends on May 24th. It is a 12 week class and it's so worth the effort. We are going to really focus on paying off our debt (Car, flooring, and house) and moving towards baby step three.  It's amazing how quickly you can pay off things when you are on a budget and really eliminating extra spending. It makes me feel like we really have control over our money and that it's not controlling us. 

There are 7 baby steps:
1. Save $1,000
2. Eliminate all debt - Debt snow ball
3. Save 3-6 months worth of expenses
4. Save 15% of income for Retirement
5. Start a college fund
6. Pay the house off early
7. Build Wealth and Give