Tornado Warning

Oh the joys of living in Oklahoma!! The weather here is much different than I am used to, having grown up in Utah. Around here, the news channels are obsessed with weather. They'll break into regular programming to report storm warnings all the time. Dennis and I tease that it's usually something like: "We've issued a severe thunderstorm watch and flash flood warning for the entire state because some rain drops were spotted in the panhandle. Stay tuned for more information!" This time of year seems especially likely to have severe weather. In fact, all day yesterday it felt muggy - like a storm was coming. The news told us that there was some severe weather further southwest of us, so we didn't think anything more than rain would come our way. Well, when I was up to feed Andrew the storms were continuing to come closer and seemed to be getting stronger. There was "tornadic activity" in some areas only about 20 minutes from our house. I didn't bother to wake up Dennis, because I wasn't sure anything would materialize near us. But, then those famous tornado sirens sounded! It is such an eerie thing to hear at 2:00 in the morning when you've got three little ones to think about.

We hurried and loaded everyone in the car at that point... Luckily, there are some really nice people in our ward who we knew had a storm shelter (that's the other thing about Oklahoma - no basements). We showed up at their back door like a little homeless family, and they were so nice to take us in. The missionaries were already there too.

I don't know what I expected from a storm shelter, but it was very interesting! We climbed down a little ladder, and stood in this cement room that couldn't have been more than 6 feet by 6 feet. It was probably only about six feet high too (I don't know for sure because I sat on the floor with Emma). We had six adults and our three kids all in there for about 20 minutes. Then, when the weather radio said the storm had passed, we loaded up and headed home again.

The kids went right back into bed, but I couldn't fall asleep. I just laid in bed thinking how blessed we were to be safe. No tornado actually touched down in our town, but it was such a blessing to be able to protect our children and know that we were going to be okay. There are so many people in the world who don't have that blessing of feeling safe. It might be because of weather, war, poverty, or whatever... but, we are truly blessed to live where we do in the circumstances we do. It might seem like life is hard sometimes, but there is so much we have don't many don't.

Squeezes and Kisses

If ever there was a sister who loved her brother TOO much, it is my Emma! She constantly points at Drew and makes a funny little sound effect. It seems like she is trying to tell us, "Look! That's my baby brother!" As if we don't know that already...

She will give him kisses anytime his head is within lips reach. It is very sweet too watch, but the big problem is Emma's hugs! She definitely holds true to the definition of "squeeze" when she does it. The other day I let her give him a squeeze, and I heard her grunt with all the exertion she was putting forth while Andrew coughed a little. Oops... better watch that one!

I know newborns are only cute to their parents and grandparents, but I love to catch those precious awake moments. This blog is a great way for me to keep memories, so I wanted to post this pic of Andrew at two weeks old. He has been a great baby so far. He tolerates a lot of "love" from his sisters, likes the binky to calm him down occasionally, enjoys his swing, calms in the car, and loves Dennis or I to hold him.

Easter Best

This Easter Sunday was a little different from any other I can remember. I didn't even go to church. Being as Andrew wasn't quite 2 weeks old, I was worried to take him. (Sarah did go with Dennis though).

My mom sent these super cute dresses for the girls to wear... I remember that growing up my sister and I would always a beautiful new dress for Easter. My brothers would all get new dress slacks and a white shirt, which was nice because their old pants would be floods by then! We would take a family shopping day and go to the mall to find everyone their new duds. Then, on Easter Sunday we would go to the backyard, set up the tripod, and take a quick family picture. We'd all be pretty ornery by the end of the picture taking - what with my brother Scott poking us all and causing as much trouble as possible! After the picture escapade, we'd head inside for a wonderful meal with homemade rolls (my favorite).

I hope that Dennis and I can make some fun traditions for our children that they will remember and love.

Go Hawks!

As many of you may well know, we are big Hawkeye fans around here! (The Hawkeyes are the mascot for the University of Iowa where Dennis and I both went to school). My fun brother, Scott, and his sweet wife sent an utterly cute Lil' Hawkeye hat for Andrew last week. Unfortunately, it won't fit him for a few more months. He's just still so much of a squirt! But, on the bright side Emma looks pretty dang cute sporting it for him.

10 Days and Counting

Andrew is ten days old! Yeah for the little guy... I'm sure it's been a shock to get used to our crazy world here, but he is hanging in there and doing great. Emma and Sarah are still lovin' on him, and Sarah now affectionately refers to him as "my baby." At first I thought she was talking about one of her dolls, but I guess Andrew is her own personal baby.

It has been really fun to switch over to the boy side of babies. There are all sorts of fun things to consider - from the cute blue clothes to the diaper adventures. Yesterday, he had a weight check (he's back up to his birth weight and more) and he peed all over the scale and then 30 seconds later he peed on the patient table and even hit the door in the process. There was a huge puddle on the floor. Needless to say, I was ready to get out of there after all of that fun!!

Mr. Andrew!!

On March 11th at 1:35 pm, we welcomed our newest addition to the family! Andrew was born a healthy 7 lbs. 11 0z. and 19 inches long. (Funny that he is our smallest baby to date). Everything went very well with the labor and delivery. In fact, I was having a lot of contractions before I was induced that morning and was only in labor for 5 1/2 hours.

Andrew (Drew) is a cute little guy, and I think he takes after his daddy. Dennis thinks he looks like a wrinkled up old man, though. Sarah and Emma absolutely adore him. Emma wants to hold him all the time, so that keeps us all busy. Sarah is very happy to have baby brother "out of Mommy's tummy," and is a big helper. We couldn't ask for two better older sisters for Drew!

We came home yesterday (I LOVE being in my own bed). Everyone is happy and enjoying our newest adventure. Enjoy the pics!

Headed home... I am always amazed at how tiny my babies are when we take them home that first time.

Family of Five
Emma was trying to hold him, but she does the "choke hold" best right now!

Home Sweet Home
Here's a shot of Drew this morning is his cradle. His hands are really big!

Update

I just wanted to post a quick note on here to tell you all that I haven't yet had my little man. Things have been quite crazy around our household to say the least, though! All week Dennis and I have been working on our house. We were able to finally paint the dining and kitchen area, and get the baby's room emptied of all the extra office paraphernalia (yeah)!

Then, Saturday night as we had just finished all our work we checked on the girls before heading to bed. I touched Emma's cheek and she was burning up. The poor little one has been running a fever for over 24 hours now. She's gotten as high as 104 degrees, so I've been getting up every 4 hours to give her Tylenol or Motrin (thus the reason this post is at 4:00 am - I can't sleep). All day yesterday she just cuddled and hardly ate. I'll call the doctor in the morning, and hopefully she'll be feeling better in no time!

Thankfully, my parents fly in this afternoon and will be able to help us. I am so grateful!!