Traffic Update

I would like to correct my previous post about being ticked about having a five hour drive. We saw on the news that people who arrived in the Houston area late last night drove ten to eleven hours to complete the same trip. Boy am I glad that wasn't us. We will keep everyone posted as Gustav makes landfall.

We Made It

Thought I would let everyone know that we made it to the Houston area earlier this evening. It took us about five hours, normally it is only a three hour drive. Sydney was as well behaved as she could be, but it does get hard being cooped up that long.

The one thing that I have to vent about is why and the heck would they bring I-10, a major Interstate down to only one lane. It took over an hour to go about a mile and a half. That really ticked both Syd and I off. Between rush hour traffic and people evacuating for the hurricane it was horrible. Of course you also had those idiots who think they can drive in the lane that is ending up until the last possible second.

OK sorry about that, but I needed to get that off my chest. We will keep everyone posted on how we are doing. Keep us and my house in your thoughts.

Gustav Freaks Us Out

Well this afternoon while I was watching Oprah a news bulletin scrolled across the bottom of the screen saying that Beauregard Perish had a voluntary evacuation in place. Well in case you don't know that is where we live. Seeing that freaked me out and I think Syd responded to that because she was really fussy and clingy the rest of the night.

In light of that we have decided to evacuate and go spend time with our friends Mike and Michelle in Houston. If for some reason it goes towards Houston then we will be together and evacuate there too. I just want Sydney and I both to be safe. I may be a chicken, but I don't care. I am also a very whiny person and being without power for a few days is no fun. Hopefully we are doing the right thing. Please keep everyone in the Gulf Coast in your thoughts.

One of the things I wanted to do before we left was to put Nate's truck in the garage. That was definitely a tight fit. It is in there with only a quarter of an inch to spare, we even had to take the hitch cover off to make more room. Our neighbor Randy came down to help me move it in. All we have to do is move a few more things inside and then we are on our way out. We should be gone by early Sat. afternoon. Wish us Luck!

Sydney's Hididng Place

Today we had the termite people come to do the annual check. I had to empty out our corner cabinet where they had placed a screen so they could see the foundation. After they left and it was safe for Syd to roam around she found the empty cabinet and decided to crawl in it. She even closed the door on herself and then opened it with a big smile. It was very cute, but I may have to get another lock for it. I guess she was doing her own preparation for the Hurricane and trying to find a good place to hide.

Gustav

If you watch the news you should know that there is a Tropical Storm brewing that is expected to become a Category 2 or 3 Hurricane. If you were curious yes we will most likely be affected some how. Depending on where it makes landfall we could have minimal rain to hurricane force winds and rain.

Personally I am getting a little nervous, but since we lived through one (Rita in 2005), then we can make it through another. I have discussed it with Nathan and so far he wants us to stay put. Sydney and I are going to hunker down with April and her family until it is over and power has been restored. We are expecting to be without power for at least three days (going off what happened with Rita). If anyone back home would like to track Gustav you can click on the link at below. I will have the cell phone charged and ready if anyone needs to call.

We went out this morning and bought lots of food and water for Syd and I and are prepared for the storm so far. The only thing that is going to suck is the heat. We do have small pools that we will try to get up so we can keep cool and Syd happy. Keep us in your thoughts.

I knew something like this was going to happen this summer because it was our first and last summer in Louisiana. Boy will I be glad when we get back to earthquake country. :)

Track Gustav

Happy Birthday Bryant!!!

We wanted to wish our best bud Bryant Happy Birthday. He is now One year old. We can't wait to see you at your party, but we will see what this silly hurricane does first. Have a great day!!!

No More Squash!

Last night I tried to give Syd some yellow squash pieces and she decided she didn't want it at all. Instead of just not eating it like Mommy would have liked she decided to throw it and the rest of her dinner at the wall and the floor. She got in trouble for that but I just had to take a picture of the mess. I am beginning to get an early peek at how the terrible two's are going to go. Wish us luck! :)

Just look at that face

The dogs did enjoy cleaning up her mess

Rocking Chair

Mommy and Daddy bought Sydney her very own rocking chair for her birthday. It finally came on Monday and she has been having a blast with it. She has figured out how to use it to boost her up so she can climb on the couch like a big girl. She has also figured out how to back herself off of the couch without falling down. It is too cute. Here are some pictures of her and the rocker. As you can tell it matches her bedroom set perfectly.

Pretty Rocking Chair

Checking it out

Learning how to sit in it

Such a big girl!

Piggy Tails

OK, well everyone knows that I have waited and waited to put Sydney's hair in pig tails and I kinda succeed tonight. I don't know if we will go out in public with them, but hey at least her hair is growing. :)

I also wanted to give you a quick update on her walking. Today she took two and a half steps all by herself which is the most to date. She stands herself up easily without anything to support her, but doesn't like to walk alone. She has competition now with Bryant already walking so she better kick it into high gear.

Happy Birthday Nathan!

We wanted to wish Nathan a very Happy 27th Birthday! We wish we could be with you to celebrate. Have a great day and remember that we love and miss you very much.

Linus and Henry say "woof woof"
(Happy Birthday in dog)

Pictures of the Week

Here are this weeks pics. Personally I think some of them are just so darn cute.

She has learned to click her tongue and make kissing noises

Big Grin

She is a book worm just like her Daddy

Using Horton the Hippo as a skateboard
(Nate named him and said if it was good for an elephant then it is good for a hippo)

Practicing with the spoon or at least has a death grip on it while she eats with her other hand

Giving Tigger a hug
(she squeezes them and shakes back and forth- she also gives them kisses)

Toilet Paper

Sydney discovered the toilet paper roll the other day and decided unroll it. She was having too much fun so I decided to get the camera instead of fussing at her (which will happen the next time she does it). First it is bathrooms and next she will be out toilet papering houses.

She just has that innocent look like she didn't do anything wrong.

Henry's Poor Tummy

Most of you know we have two beagles named Linus and Henry. Well we found Henry about two years ago and have had nothing but intestinal problems since day one. If it is not one thing it is another.

I just had to write about the most recent issue. Henry has been throwing up everything he eats lately. YUK! Well I finally got him into the vet (the doctor is not in on Wednesday's so we had to wait) and they told me he has Acid Reflux. I wasn't aware that dogs could get it. The number one cause is usually eating to fast and too much. That fits Henry perfectly. He was a stray and gobbles up everything we put in front of him.

Long story short I have to give him these Reglan pills (basically puppy Prilosec) before he eats for a while. I hope this solves the problem, if not then we are definitely going to a different vet who hopefully will help him.

Spoontastic!

While we were eating dinner tonight Sydney grabbed the spoon from my hand so I let her play with it. Surprisingly she put it right in her mouth and started feeding herself. I had to help her get the spoon full because we were almost out of food, but she knew exactly what to do with it and did not make that big of a mess. She is just to smart for her own good. Tomorrow night I will have her try to pick it up all by herself.

Visit with Susan

Last night we had a house guest for the night, my step sister Susan. We were able to spend time with her because she made DeRidder, LA her final pit stop on her way from New York to Texas. It has been over three years since we have seen her and it was great to catch up. She didn't end up getting here until close to 9:00 PM so Sydney got to stay up past her bedtime to visit. They will be living in San Antonio for a while so hopefully we will get to see her and her husband Greg again while we are still here.

Silly Susan

Aunt Susan is so much fun to play with, just look at all that hair I can pull!

To top the visit off today is her birthday!

Pictures of the Week (Sunday)

Here are some pictures I took yesterday. My loving husband sent me a nasty message because I did not post any new pictures this week so here they are. As you can see in a few of them she didn't want any pics taken.

Climbing on the hippo

Helping Mommy Sweep

Do We have to take more pictures?

Watching the TV while ridding the Hippo

I think the Hippo needs a name. He has become a great friend to Sydney and Hippo just doesn't do it for me. If you have any suggestions please leave them here or in the Cbox. Happy Monday!

Sydney's Quilt

We got a very special surprise in the mail yesterday from Michelle in Houston. She had made Sydney a quilt for her birthday. It is so beautiful and very special. She started quilting not to long ago and we are very honored that she made one for Syd.

She also sent her the cutest little jelly shoes. Thank you so much for everything. We love them both.

12 Mo. Visit

Well today was Sydney's 12 month visit. It went really well at first... We saw the new Pediatric doctor and he was very nice and thorough. Sydney seemed to like him and he answered all of my questions. Here are her new stats: 21 pounds and 29.13 in. long. (50th percentile for both)

He advised us that getting a CBC done would be beneficial to see if she was anemic or had been exposed to any lead. His reasoning for this was because of Nathan being in the Field Artillery and all of the metal he is exposed to. I did tell him that Nathan has been gone for a while and I did not think she had anything to worry about but he just wanted to be sure.

OK well that was when the fun started. She got her vaccinations like normal (4 today) and then it was time to head to the lab. Let's just say that drawing blood on a one year old is no fun. I had to hold her down while they literally dug around in her arm with the needle trying to find the vein. They were unsuccessful so they sent us back to Pediatrics. When we got there they had one of the nurses try, so yet again, I got to hold her down. This time we were able to get about .5cc which was going to have to be enough. I have never felt so bad as I did watching her go through that. My eyes were starting to tear up just looking at her.

When we were done the nurse asked is if she could give Syd a sucker. I really didn't know what she would do with it, but thought that was the least we could do for all the trauma she just went through. Surprisingly she sucked down the whole thing and didn't make to much of a mess. It did calm her down, but I hope she didn't like it too much because we all know that she will not be getting another one for a while. The whole event lasted 3.5 hours and both of us were sure glad to get out of there.

The Dr. just called a while ago and told me everything was OK, but her white blood cell count is elevated so he wants me to keep an eye on her and bring her back in next week to draw more blood to check it again. The poor thing is going to hate going to the doctor after this experience.

Sorry this is so long, but I just needed to vent a little.

Sydney's First Pedicure

I had to work on Friday and our normal daycare lady wasn't available to watch Syd so my office managers daughter did. They were telling me how she painted another little girls toes so I gave her permission to paint Sydney's if she would be still enough for her to do it...

So Sydney got her first "pedicure" with pretty pink nail polish. Daddy says I have to take it off, but I just had to show everyone first.

Pretty pink toes

Mommy and Syd's painted toes

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Pictures of the Week

Here are a few pictures from this week... Both Sydney and I have had a cold or allergies so she is a little snotty and miserable in a few.

Do you think she can get a ticket for talking on the cell phone while while driving a hippo?

No more bottle and we are on cow's milk! YEY!!!!

Stupid Louisiana gave me allergies :(

Have you ever seen a brontosaurus driving a hippo??
OK as you can tell I got bored. :)

Slightly Obsessed

As most of you know I have an obsession with Starbucks. Anyone who has ever gone shopping with me can tell you that I have drug them to the nearest one. Yesterday while I was cleaning I found all of my mini Starbucks cups. I have one for just about every major holiday. They are very cute, but the sad thing is I think I have only used them once or twice. I just thought I would share my goofy obsession with you.

Can you tell I have nothing to do but post silly things like this???

Sydney's Many Hats

Most of you think I am crazy for putting her in so many silly hats, but I think it is cute. I thought I would put them all together in a slide show so everyone could see just how darn adorable she is in them.

Welcome Baby Landon

Baby Landon was born on 8-8-08. A very special birthday for a very special boy. Congratulations Micah and Shana.