update

wow! it's been awhile since i've posted, but i figured i'd let everyone know about our experiences.

of course the hurricane knocked out our power, and we fortunately were only out of power for 6 days. our neighbors had generators and the exhaust was getting into our apartment, so we decided to go over to his parents, cuz they had a generator, gas stove, and gas hot water heater. i tell you what. it was bad enough sweating (it was even overcast the first few days so not as hot as it could have been) and trying to entertain kathryn and take care of daniel when all i wanted to do was only have to worry about myself. not that i'm complaining, but when katrina came, i had no kids and it wasn't so bad, we played games and enjoyed spending time with our family, but with kids in the picture, suddenly you have a huge responsibility to make sure your kids are ok etc. and it wasn't just having to entertain kathryn and feed daniel, it was making sure both them and i were getting enough to drink, so that we didn't get dehydrated, making sure they stayed clean ( a few baths a day) and trying to be sure they didn't get rashes from the heat etc. both of them got sick from the storm, kathryn with a bladder infection and a terrible cold (horrible runny nose, sneezing, diarrhea ) and daniel got a diaper rash and a cold... i guess i'm just glad i wasn't 8 months pregnant having to go through that! that would be such a bummer. the heat was really getting to me and john, but luckily he got to go to work (go check on his building not actually "working" til thursdasy) just about everyday (to be in the air conditioned car is lucky to me) but by wednesday i gave up, blew up the inflatable pool ( it was the shape of a peanut about 6 feet long by 3 feet!!! a big tub!) and went out to get in the pool and cool off with kathryn and my nephew zeke. we had so much fun...bouncing them around and splashing them into the pool. anyhow,  when jenny and nelson came over on thursday we had fun playing clue and phase 10! that has to be my favorite part about losing electricity...it forces you to pass the time by playing games (which i flippin love to do anyway, but never get to!) with kids tho, it's a bit more tricky to get the timing right...as long as daniel was held or being fed he was fine, and kathryn was having fun watching us play, so it went well. 

but if anything, this whole ordeal taught me a few things, 1. the church is SOOO right on with preaching about having a 1 year supply of food storage, and other storage... 2. when you don't have a "food supply" you aren't as worry-free so to speak. (we don't have much of a food storage) 3. when the power goes out, and you stove is electric...suddenly you food choice is a bit more restricted. yeah, we have a BBQ pit, but meats etc need to be cooked within the first 2 days or so of the power being out...so... you get creative. 4. even though we had ample time to prepare and get supplies and food etc. before the hurricane came, and due to it's track and strength we pretty much knew we were going to loose power, we still didn't know for how many days we'd be without power. i prepared for about 4 days worth of water and baby food (we had plenty of food for kathryn and us) and turns out we were without power for longer than that, and the stores were very restricted in supplies when they finally reopened...not to mention the gas lines...having to wake up at 5 am just to have to only wait about an hour rather than  6... we never actually ran out of water, since we went to stay at my MILs... but they lost water for about a day and a half...and i tell you what...you feel really lost without being able to take a bath or wash your hands or flush the toilet!!! that was something we hadn't prepared for! if john's dad hadn't filled up 2 5 gallon containers of water for that very reason before hand...we'dve been out of luck! and even though we thought we had it covered food and water-wise for the storm...i hadn't prepared for the aftermath...the possiblity of being blocked in with trees or power lines... gas lines... stores not being stocked normally until 3 weeks after the storm... i wasn't prepared for that. especially since we lost all our frozen and refrigerated goods...we needed baby food and some other essentials by friday, but luckily my MIL had me covered. so this was definitely a test ride for us. oh yeah, and with a generator costing about $30 a day to operate...that gets really expensive! is it worth it?? i guess if you have a lot in your fridge and freezer...

anyhow, enough of the storm! 

updates with the kids and us:

Daniel - he is 4 1/2 months old and is already trying to crawl...he gets on all fours and rocks and thrusts himself forward. he's funny. i had planned on not introducing him to solids until 6 months, but he had other plans. so i started him on rice cereal about 3 1/2 months and i ran out of breast milk and couldn't pump enough to keep it up, so i started him on veggies and he's been doing great with it. he hasn't gotten too constipated...and he's gained a considerable amount of weight since then! although i can't say for sure how much he weighs (we have an electronic scale that decides it needs a new 4 dollar battery every other month! so we decided it isn't worth it) i still love making him laugh and have yet to get it on video. he steals my heart! 

Kathryn - she is a toddler, but an amazing one at that. of course she has her typical toddler moments where she whines, or gets jealous of daniel and wants me all to herself, but she is really getting better with communicating. she can say things like "eat it too" "daniel eating" "it hurts" "come on daddy" and she can say alot of colors, although i think her favorite is blue, cuz everytime i ask her what color something is even if it isn't blue that's always her first answer. but she is getting amazing with potty training. even when she has a diaper on for naptime she almost never wets herself, and when she's awake she doesn't even tell me when she has to pee anymore, she just goes and wipes herself, and the only way i know she went is cuz she will either come find me while she's wiping, or to help her put her panties back on. she's even getting better about putting her clothes on by herself. she put her shirt on today all by herself, and she can put her pants on, but not yet with her panties. anyhow. she is so like me it isn't funny. she is a visual learner. that's the only thing i can come up with. she must have observed me a ton or something, and i guess when i do certain things i do them the same way each time that i've become predictable??? when i tell her i need to feed daniel she will run and grab a bib before i even get him in the highchair, and then she'll grab the spoon and i get the jars of baby food...she's so helpful sometimes! and the other day there weren't any baby spoons in the drawer so she opened the dishwasher and grabbed on from there. i started feeding daniel and before i knew it, i saw her going past me with her potty in her hands (it doubles as a step stool) and she put it right in front of the silverware drawer and started unloading the silverware from the dishwasher and putting it in the drawer!!! i guess she got her potty so she could really see where each one went...the crazy thing.... she put them all in the right spots!!! big spoons with big spoons, little forks with little forks, etc. i was absolutely amazed. and all the spatulas, ladles, spoons, etc. that go in the canister near the stovetop, she was trying to reach it with all the misc. cookware! how did she know that!!! and when i do dishes...i really let her help now. i wash them out, hand them to her and she loads the dishwasher (for the most part) then, once were done, she opens the cabinet under the sink grabs the cascade, and pours it in the spot it goes! she even knows to pull the arm and turn the knob to start it! and of course i let her so she feels like she contributes and is included in the FUN chores of being a SAHM... she even knows how to work the microwave (always under my supervision) so i am amazed. and today, i put in a CD with some nursery rhymes on it ( we got it in the mail recently) and 3 of the songs on the CD she had a book that matched (the books came in their own collection that she got about a year, year and a half ago, which she LOVES) and when the songs came on i started singing them, and she started running to her room, i was a bit confused, but she came running back with the book that matched the song! 3 times she did this! i am so amazed that she remembers the look of the book to how it reads...i mean really? that was just so cool to me. anyhow. she has been developing so fast! she LOVES books and thats what is easiest to do while i'm feeding daniel. you know you've read the book alot when you can recite the first 7 or 8 pages of certain books like "my goldfish wish" and "one fish two fish red fish blue fish" and "there's a wocket in my pocket" recently we've been going through the miniature version of the children's book for primary, and she'll flip to a page and i'll sing the song...i don't know all of them, but that's what the CD's are for! she's been fun. but i can tell when i haven't been spending enough time with her, or including her in whatever i'm doing...she gets whiney. lol. oh man...i got to experience what it would feel like to take away her favorite toy... i have a huge beanie baby collection that i have kept all these years for my little girl to enjoy herself, and when we moved into this apartment we're in now, i figured she was old enough to not completely destroy them, so i let her go though all of them, and she decided to cling to a few in particular. the ones that were my favorite when i was younger too. lol. but she has clung to one in particular that she actually named Zizzy. it is a green koala bear. and it being her favorite, and just about permanently tucked under her arm, it was getting pretty dirty. so i asked her if she wanted to give Zizzy a bath...she said yes, and so i explained to her that we give zizzy a bath in the washer, and so i lifted her up on the dryer, put a few other things in, and let her throw zizzy in, turn the washer on, and watch zizzy wiggle around in the washer. she loved it, and was giggling, until the agitator pulled zizzy under the water where she couldn't she it anymore... and she lost it! she was screaming and practically diving for the wash, which she quickly pulled back after touching the really hot water in the washer tub. lol. i had to explain to her what was going to happen and that zizzy would be fine...luckily, we were washing the larger version of the beanie baby, and so i showed her where she left the beanie baby version and she was ok, but she stood by the washer moaning for zizzy the whole time....and when the washer was done (about 12 mins later) i let her pull zizzy out, she gave her a big hug, and after i unloaded all the other things into the dryer, she reluctantly put zizzy in the dryer too. lol. she's great. i can't believe how big she's getting. last time i took her to the doctor, she was 29 lbs. 35.5 inches tall. wow!

Naomi - well, i've been pretty good. finished the summer semester of school: accounting, micro, and macro ecomonics...and i made all A's! it's pretty amazing considering daniel was only 2 months, and i was still doing everything all the same. so i have 24 credit hours now (i'm slowly taking classes when we can afford them) and a 4.0 GPA. WOOHOO. i can't wait to finish! anyhow. since daniel has come into our lives, i have become interested in the "old fashioned" things. before he was born, i was sewing blankets, and making hairbows for girls. since he's been born, i have picked up quilting (i still haven't completely finished my project!), sewing clothes for kathryn (i made her a dress) and sewing clothes for me (in the process of making me a dress) and cloth diapering. now the last one i have  my great friend amanda to thank for that. she introduced me to the modern world of cloth diapering, and i have to say. it really isn't that bad, yet. not only is it very environmentally friendly, it saves money, although the upfront investment, may cost more than you would think to get your stash started...unless your like me and decide to just make your own...then they are practically free! well, let me finish the pluses of cloth diapering and then you'll understand. you see. once baby grows out of a particular size, you can turn around and sell them to another mama. (if you took care of them and they are in good enough condition) so not only do you save money, you can actually come out even or even make a little money if you do like me and make yours! so...since i refuse to buy off-brand diapers (they just don't compare to the superb non-leakage and stretchiness of pampers) i'd be spending about...7 bucks a week (that's only counting getting them on sale, with my employee discount at walgreens and a 2 dollar off coupon!) which is about 28-30 bucks a month (depending on if i get a 1 or 2 dollar coupon) times at least 2 years worth of diapers before being potty trained (24*30)=$720 so...hmmm. i think i'll deal with washing cloth diapers. besides...with the modern cloth diaper...some really look adorable...it's not the "flats" that our parents had to fold over and over, and it doesn't even have to be prefolds, now they have "fitted" diapers that have elastic on the legs and either snap or velcro so it's basically the same thing as a disposable. just as easy...you just wash it instead. for example...

some mom made this adorable pocket diaper and i just love it!

anyhow, enough about the CD. i also have realized that with daniel consuming around 5-6 4oz baby food jars a day, which run a bit less than 50 cents a piece (the cheapest brand) it costs roughly $3 a day to feed him! 3*7 days= $21 bucks a week! *4 weeks, you guessed it: 84 bucks a month! and that is just at 4 1/2 months old...his appetite will only increase as he gets older, not to mention when he starts on juice...and i'm just glad i'm breast-feeding!!!! anyhow, so i've decided i'll try and see if there is a way i can boil the fruit and veggies and make my own baby food...and instead of freezing them, i'm looking into possibly getting into canning (which incidentally works flawlessly with FOOD STORAGE!) and yes the initial investment in a pressure cooker (for canning) might initially sound ridiculous, but a pressure cooker is a very valuable cooking tool. it's like a speed cooker. not to mention, i can start canning things for a food storage, other than baby food. so yes, it's a bit old fashioned, i know. but i find myself respecting the way they did things back in the day much more so now. they really had it together, and didn't rely on anyone else but their own family to get buy with food etc. i would love to become less dependent on the government, and the rest of the world. if i had the time, and a yard of my own, i would love to grow my own fruits and veggies. it's a passion of mine. i know, i am just absolutely nuts for wanting to do things the old fashioned way....but so be it. 

John - john is doing great. he still works with walgreens (he says he doesn't know what he'd do with himself if he ever lost his job) he loves the store he is at in Gonzales. he is a fabulous Executive Assistant Manager, this coming from his boss, who says in all the years he's been a store manager, he's never had an EXA work as hard and do such a great job like john does. he's also gotten compliments on his merchandising skills (setting the halloween isle, going above and beyond the normal) and his leadership and manegerial skills have been praised by at least 3 other store managers. and he has made a very good impression on his District Manager by going to the walker store to help them stock the shelves before they opened, which he did for 4 days, working at least 6 hours a day...none of which he was asked to do, he simply volunteered to come and help out the store manager that hired him almost 9 years ago. and none of which he was paid for. (he gets salary) he made an impression on the DM because he was the only EXA to come and help. so after he gets his pharmacy license which allows him to work back in pharmacy, (which he is working on now, all he needs to do is go to a class and take the test which i think is coming up in the winter)he hopes he will get his own store 2 years from then. which according to the store managers who talk to the DM or something, that is highly likely. 

anyhow, besides all that, we still plan to move to utah. we have sat down and reviewed our budget, and have come up with a tentative date: april 2010 so it's 2 years later than we wanted, but when does a plan ever work out exactly on time as expected?? so for all the family with us in louisiana,..you have us for an extra year and a half. and as for the family in utah, you'll have to wait a bit longer. but we will get there!! and as for all the people who might ask, why would you want to move? i have come up with one reason that sufficient HURRICANES. need i have any other reasons??? i went to Wikipedia (i flippin love that site!!!) and checked out a ton of info on the past hurricane seasons, to see just how often we get severe weather...and it is just too often for me. and everywhere else we have family, besides Utah, is still too close to the coast. but some of the other reasons we want to leave LA/ the south - i hate the flippin humidity!!! i hate taking a shower only to walk outside to get in the car, and within a minute i'm sweating so much that when i get the air conditioner going, i'm sticky again and i hate feeling that dry sticky feeling...and yes, i realize that utah gets hot. we went there in august, and our car registered 104º the difference...no sweating. oh, and no crazy frizzy hair in utah! i loved having normal hair when we were there! besides, the schools here aren't the greatest and we'd like our children to grow up with a decent education. and i don't know, maybe it;'s just me, but it sure seems like there is a lot of racisim in the south. i don't like that. i don't like prejudice either. and i'm sure there is alot of judging going on in utah, but where we were when we visited for a week and went to church, we felt very fellowshipped and there was a good vibe i got about having our pick of which temple we wanted to go to. say what you want, but we liked it there. anyhow,  that's all i've got for now.