14 months {nora}

This month has been such a fun one.  Nora is becoming more independent since mastering crawling.  She is also demanding to do/have everything that Emmy does/has.  In fact, just tonight she handed over her little bear paw for her nails to be trimmed.  She usually hates this tradition, but because Emmy was enjoying it- Nora decided to enjoy it too.  Now, if we can just work on modeling Emmy's behavior to be perfect then we could have 2 perfect children.  HAH.

Here's a little sampling of our last month: swim lessons, cuddling, sitting nakey in the sun whilst eating dum dums, Mother's Day, and more nakey bodies taking a bath in the front yard in a 56qt Rubbermaid tub.

And the obligatory photo comparison.

Moore

The numbers keep changing, the numbers keep increasing. 

EF4.

22 mile path.

Up to 1 mile wide

51, total death count. 

20 children gone, maybe more. 

$1 Million- the amount Chesapeake Energy just donated to clean-up efforts. 

So many homes are obliterated. Memories gone but homes replaceable. But my mind keeps going back to the parents and families of the children whose lives were lost. The schools held the kids at school because they felt it was safer. It probably was, but we will never know.

Although much different, this situation was so similar to Newtown. So many parents dropped their children off this morning with the anticipation of picking them up this afternoon and going to Sonic, soccer practice, a friends house, gymnastics, music lessons.... home. For 20+ families, they have a new reality tonight. For so many more families, there is no "home". 

My heart hurts. I feel so bad for the residents of Moore. How many more times can they endure a tragedy like this?

I have done nothing in this life to deserve my many blessings. But I am thanking The Lord tonight for my husband who is snoring beside me, my 14 month old who will probably be awake at 5am and my 3 year old who squeezed out 1/2 a tube of Aveeno lotion tonight. 

jordan

Bad Blogger/Baby Book Keeper

Wow, I'm really falling behind on Nora updates.  I don't even have things written down for the past 3 months.  Will I be forced to, gasp, read Emmy's updates and compare against Babycenter's milestone charts so that I can create updates for our littlest?  Maybe if I look through enough pictures, and the few videos that we have, I will be able to get a clear idea of what she was up to in her 11th, 12th, and 13th months?

Sorry Nora, and sorry to any future children I might have; because, I have a feeling that it's just going to get worse from here.

I also want to start writing about funny little things that Emmy says- like this:

(last night, at dinner table, Nora screaming her head off b/c we won't hold her while we eat).

Me: "Emmy please eat"
Chris: "Emmy, just eat so that we can go to gymnastics"
Emmy: "I want more smoolie" (aka smoothie)
Me: (tone changing) "Emmy, EAT"
Christ: "Emmy, please just eat your waffle.  You can have more smoothie after you eat your food"
Nora: (constant screams with a few "all done's" mixed in)
Emmy:  "I am VERY disappointed in you guys"
Me: (not taking the time to try to figure out what she's really wanting to say) "BE QUIET AND EAT".

WOW.

Really?

We are THOSE parents.

But guess what?  After that, she was quiet and she ate.

The girl's inside voice sounds more like a yell and her whisper is what you and I would consider a conversational volume.  So maybe our inside voice sounds like a whisper to her and she can only hear yelling?

Yeah, I'll go with that one.