We just had our first big tornado scare. The big storm was predicted to hit us with a “tornado likelihood” in Wells Branch of 6.8/10. The weather folks couldn’t sound more excited that they were getting to use their new toys. They did their best to temper it with concern, but it was pretty obvious.
They have a pretty accurate (well precise anyway) predictor of when the storm will hit a given area. We gathered up the kids and Mom of course and all huddled in the downstairs bath. If you’ve ever been in that bath you know it is pretty hard to get in by yourself, let alone with four other people. Thankfully two of those people are rather small.
Wesley slept through most of it only waking up briefly and is now back in bed. Jillian is up having a great time. I imagine she’ll stay that way for at least another hour.
Other areas were getting hail as large as four inches in diameter. So I headed outside and put the plastic kayak on top of the fiberglass one and tucked a few other things away. Luckily the storm turned a bit north and we didn’t have any hail, just a few minutes of extremely heavy rain. Our house has a new roof (three years I think) because of hail damage from a similar storm.
So, now we are just watching the news. Both relieved and at least Mom and I are a bit disappointed. Looks like another storm front is heading right this way again. I don’t think it will be as bad and I’m not too worried. We’ll let you know if we end up homeless.
Wesley has been experimenting on and off with wearing big kid underwear. Well yesterday he wore the same pair all day without an accident. He got up, we took off his diaper and on went the little tiny boxer briefs. They even went to music class and came to pick me up (during which he slept in the car for about 45 minutes) and never had an accident. I know we still have a way to go, but this is very exciting.
As a little motivation Amber has implemented a sticker chart. Get 5 stickers and get a treat. Two stickers for poop, one for pee. He is getting a couple of suckers a day. Well worth it.
Tags: Pott training, Wesley
Well today we took Jillian to her well baby check and she is still tiny.
- Her length: 25.2 inches (which puts her in less than the 5th percentile)
- Her weight: 15 pounds 12 ounces (which puts her in the 5-10th percentile)
- Her head circumference: 43 cm (in the 25th percentile)
But she is doing well on her motor skills.
- She is getting close to standing on her own. She crawls, cruises and yesterday she took a few steps (letting go of daddy’s hands and taking a few steps towards mom).
- She is saying Dada & Mama
- She is clapping and waving now.
Even though she is tiny – she has a huge personality. We love every bit of her!!!
Tags: Jillian
Well, in almost eight years in office Bush has done one thing I agree with (I’m sure he has accidentally done other things. Like order a cheeseburger with extra pickles. I agree with that. But legislatively speaking we don’t often agree. Its why we don’t speak on the phone much or hang out like we used to). Of course, he didn’t actually do anything. He could not care less, but he didn’t veto this law just for spite (which wouldn’t surprise me a bit). So hurray to Bush for doing the easiest thing on a topic he doesn’t care about and signing this bill into law.
In my opinion, I think at this point any undeveloped land outside the bounds of a municipality ought to be cordoned off. If we haven’t needed to develop it yet, I think we can safely set it aside for future generations to enjoy without putting a WalMart on top. If Obama or Clinton want my vote they can propose to take every acre, prairie, desert, forest, alpine, everything, that is out of the way and not in use and just lock it up. No development, no logging, no mining, no drilling. Just let it be. They will be the most important resource we can never get back. Trust me when I say that the natural biodiversity has a huge potential value. Antibiotics, antivirals, and anticancer drugs are just the medical examples. Add to that the incredible ways nature has learned to adapt and we will sure find a bacteria that produces clean fuel or a virus that stores data in a novel way that will lead to faster computing. A huge number of natural discoveries are already influencing our daily lives and no one is really looking. Lets at least keep the habitat until we are smart enough to start looking in earnest.