Carrots

Three down...millions to go. We tried carrots this morning. Because Sylvia has been sick, we took a few days off from eating food. She is still on antibiotics for her bladder infection but she is no longer taking Tylenol and Advil so there was room in her tummy for some carrots. She enjoyed feeding herself again.

Preschool Tour

We took the remainder of our preschool supplies out of the church on Sunday. There were quite a few things that stayed out of the water and we were able to save. We will hopefully know by the end of the week where preschool will be held next year. Once that is decided, we will begin organizing all of our stuff. That is going to be a big task. I don't think I'll be giving this tour to any of our perspective families.

My Office


Room 9


Room 7/8


Room 5/6




Furnace Room




Storage




Playground

Worms in our Walls

This is what Dan discovered when he cut into our walls. We are waiting to do too much work on the house until FEMA has looked at it but Dan wanted to take a look at what's to come.

Our Muddy House

Dan went back to our house on Thursday evening for the first time since the water receded. There was still water in the street but only mud and water damage is left in our house. As you can see, we got a lot of stuff out of the house. Most of the things left behind were up high enough and did not get wet. Our piano got some water so we'll have to see how it turns out. Dan even thinks we may be able to save our new bamboo floors in the family room. Our dads pulled our carpet out while they were there so things should dry more quickly. I joined the three of them last night and did a little cleaning. Our next step is to move everything out of the house but we can't drive in yet. Hopefully we'll find out more at our neighborhood meeting today. We are very thankful that it is not as bad as it could have been. God is good and is seeing us through this.

Here is a quick picture tour...

Our block


Our House


Living Room


Bathroom


Sylvia's Room


Guest Room


Our Room


Family Room






Kitchen




Garage




Backyard

My Sick Baby

Sylvia got her third tooth the other day. She had been a little fussy and was chewing on everything but nothing else. However, yesterday morning she woke up and felt warm. After her early morning nap, I took her temperature after and it was 103.5. I quickly called the doctor and got an appointment for 7:30pm. As Sylvia snuggled on my lap and didn't show any interest in playing, I decided I couldn't wait 9 hours for a doctor's appointment. I called back and got one at 3:20 with another doctor who is a friend from church. Her first two teeth just popped through one day with no complaints from Sylvia so this seemed a lot different. Not much changed prior to the appointment...lots of sleeping and lying around. After checking her out, the doctor thought it was probably just teeth but he took a urine sample just to check. (She didn't have to pee in a cup...they just taped this little bag to her). It turns out that she has a bladder infection. She'll be on antibiotics for 10 days. Last night we gave her the antibiotics, fed her, and then gave her some Advil before bed. She was talking in her crib so I went in and got her. She immediately threw up all over me. Poor little girl. She had a fever again today (104.2) but it went down quickly with the Tylenol and Advil rotation she's on. She even felt well enough to play a little today.

Aunt Ginny's Cats

Sylvia has always enjoyed the dogs in our neighborhood but she has not had any interaction with cats before. However, Nana & Papa are cat sitting for aunt Ginny's cats so Sylvia gets to see them every day. Roxy is very shy, but Ellie checks us out when we're downstairs. Sylvia smiles and giggles when she sees the cats but Ellie is not sure what to think of Sylvia after she grabbed Ellie's ears. Now Ellie doesn't come so close.

Asparagus

We introduced asparagus to Sylvia this week. I made some baby food but because asparagus has a "handle" I steamed a piece and gave it to her as well. She enjoyed feeding herself.

Before the Flood

This picture was taken three days before we evacuated our house. It was a full double rainbow. What a beautiful reminder of God's promises to us.

I Have a Shelter

We sang this song at church on Sunday, and although I can't help but cry when I hear the words they also bring such comfort.

I Have a Shelter

I have a shelter in the storm
When troubles pour upon me
Though fears are rising like a flood
My soul can rest securely
O Jesus, I will hide in You
My place of peace and solace
No trial is deeper than Your love
That comforts all my sorrows

I have a shelter in the storm
When all my sins accuse me
Though justice charges me with guilt
Your grace will not refuse me
O Jesus, I will hide in You
Who bore my condemnation
I find my refuge in Your wounds
For there I find salvation

I have a shelter in the storm
When constant winds would break me
For in my weakness, I have learned
Your strength will not forsake me
O Jesus, I will hide in You
The One who bears my burdens
With faithful hands that cannot fail
You’ll bring me home to heaven

Parkview Church / Parkview Preschool - Flood Pictures

Many of you that read this blog live here in Iowa City or Coralville and have seen lots and lots of flooding pictures. For those of you who are out of town, here are some pictures of our church building. I am also director of the preschool that is housed within the church. These photos are not my own but borrowed from other photographers.

In this picture, you are looking at the main entrance to the building. The beautiful lake is covering up the parking lot.


This is a view of the west side of the building. Our preschool rooms were located in the three classrooms behind the playground.


A closer view of the playground and preschool classrooms.


This picture was taken right before walking into our gym/sanctuary...otherwise known as a sanctasium.


From inside of the "sanctasium" you can see the same doors.


My new office was located directly to the right of the bulletin board you see in this picture.


The door you see goes into the preschool storage room which used to be my office. The preschoolers walked this hallway everyday on their way to recess.


While we wait to get back into our house, I am keeping busy with preschool work. Today I am calling all of the families who are registered for the 2008-2009 school year and reassuring them that we do plan to have preschool...at a new location. The new location is yet to be determined but I have faith that God will provide in his perfect timing.

Our Flood Week Story

I don't even know where to begin. I think a day by day run down may be the easiest. I can't guarantee that everything will be on the correct day, but you'll get the idea.

Monday
I was supposed to volunteer at our church's VBS this week, teaching one of the kindergarten classes. However, the day before it became evident that the flooding was only going to get worse. They decided to go ahead with VBS, but Dan suggested I stay home and start getting things ready in our house to either be put up high or moved out. The first thing I removed from the house was our photo albums and other pictures. I knew our wedding album would be irreplaceable, and I've been working on a photo album for Sylvia that I've put a lot of work into. I think those actually left the house on Sunday. My mom came over all day Monday and helped me clean. We got things put away that were out and about so that it would be easy for people to come in and lift our furniture up on blocks. I also put Sylvia's birth certificate, social security card, and the license to our new car in our safety deposit box. Dan laughed at me because I got all of our Goodwill stuff and garbage out of the house. My reasoning was that it would be easier to clean up our house afterward if there was less stuff in it. At this point I don't know whether or not we knew we'd be getting water in our house.

Tuesday
I continued work on our house and then headed over to church to relocate my office. The church secured a location on the east side of town. We moved out our computers and other things we knew we'd need in the near future to continue work. I got all of my preschool documents out of the building as well as our file cabinet full of lesson plan ideas. That evening, a couple of friends and some of Dan's co-workers came over with blocks. We cleaned out a lot of junk in the garage and put most of our furniture up 16 inches high. After that people headed down the street to sandbag. A sandbag levee was built behind all of the houses on Normandy in hopes to keep the water out of the entire neighborhood. If this flood has been the same as 1993, the levee would have been able to keep the water out.

Wednesday
Wednesday morning I hung out at the house. We just got Sylvia's 6 month photos back so I wrote letters to family members and stuck them in the mail. It was nice to just hang out at the house and not be preparing for the flood. Looking back, I'm very thankful for that morning because I won't be doing that again in our home for a long time. We also got some more blocks for the remaining things that needed to be raised up including our couch, bed, and dressers. Some of Dan's co-workers helped sandbag in our neighborhood that evening. Sylvia and I walked around and checked out all the work people were doing. She sure does attract a lot attention! We made a few frozen pizzas in appreciation. That night, I went to the grocery to stock up on more pizza and lots of drinks so we could feed a group the following night if needed. As we went to bed Wednesday night, Dan told me that he wanted me to get up early and start packing the things we would need while we were away from the house.

Thursday
We woke up early and Dan got ready for work. Sylvia was not up yet so I started getting clothes together. We heard on the news that Normandy Dr. was being evacuated. You have to drive on Normandy Dr. to get to our home but we were not being evacuated yet. Dan quickly decided that we should try to get as much out of the house as possible but it still wasn't completely urgent. We just knew that the water was going up. He headed to work but after a couple of hours realized that we didn't have as much time as thought and headed back home. My parents came over early and started loading things into their cars. Dan's parents also joined us. We carried anything and everything out that we could fit into the cars. We loaded our truck twice with larger items. We were able to remove our new couch and chair, my cedar chest with all of my Christmas decorations and ornaments, and Sylvia's crib and dresser. Around 11:30, Dan told me that I had to get out with Sylvia so, after requesting an unneeded photo, I drove the loaded truck out and headed to Dan's parents'. I had no idea that the water at the end of our street was already more than a foot deep. It was a little scary to drive through, especially with Sylvia in the car. Dan, my parents, and Dan's dad stayed behind to finish a few things, but that quickly turned into a few more hours of work when cops came by and said it was time to evacuate. They were planning on coming back after lunch but that was no longer an option. My mom moved everything in our kitchen up higher as well as answering all of my phone calls each time I thought of something else that either needed to be put up high or brought with. The three guys worked on putting more blocks under all of the furniture that was already 16 inches up. I took a nap with Sylvia at Dan's parents', we ate a late lunch when the others arrived, and then we headed off to church to raise up my desk. When we got to church, they were loading up everything they could into semi trailers. We quickly got to work taking everything we could out of the preschool and onto the semis. Again, we were able to save a lot but there were some things we had to leave behind. That night, Dan and I laid in bed with Sylvia on our tummies. She was smiling and laughing at us. She is helping us through one of the hardest times of our lives. It's hard to look into our sweet little girl's eyes and be too upset about anything.

Friday & Saturday
Dan went back to work and I stayed at his parents' with Sylvia. Throughout the week we heard rumors that we might be able to get flood insurance. Another one arose on Friday and I followed up on the lead. However, it also turned out to be untrue. Since being evacuated, my dad has returned to our house a few times to bring some other things out and raise up some important things that were left behind. He had some help from other friends who will remain unnamed. By Saturday evening, the water had risen to 22 inches inside of our house.

Sunday
We went to church this morning at West High School. After church, we ate lunch with my parents and drove around town looking at the flood waters. The river has now crested at 31.5 feet which is lower than the predicted 33 feet. Hopefully the rain will hold off and the water level will begin to go down. We will probably be able to get back into our home in the next week or so but we won't be moving back in for awhile. While watching the news this evening, we saw helicopter footage of our neighborhood. We got to see our house just briefly. There's a lot of water.

Sweet Potato

Here is Sylvia sitting in her new high chair prior to the introduction of any sweet potatoes. She's starting to smile for the camera.


We had a hard time catching one of her initial reactions on camera, but this is a good picture because you can see her two teeth. The first tooth came in about a month ago followed shorty by number two.


I fed her some and let her have the spoon for a while so she could try. We didn't even get too messy. I don't think she loved the sweet potatoes, but she definitely didn't hate them. Today is day three of sweet potatoes and then we'll try a new veggie.

Making Baby Food

This may not be interesting to all of you (there are no pictures of Sylvia), but I thought I'd post a picture tutorial on making baby food. We started Sylvia on sweet potatoes this week. I was surprised at how easy it was. Carrots and asparagus will be next. I'm going to try steaming them and giving them to her whole.

Cook for 5 minutes,flipping once.


Cut in half and scoop out insides.


Pureé in blender, food procesor, or food grinder.


Add water, formula, or breast milk to liquify.


Mix up and feed to baby. I also froze quite a few servings in ice cube trays for later.

Circle of Friends

For the last few months Sylvia and I have been getting together with a group of moms and babies. We get together weekly and rotate through each other's homes. I met these women through various groups including church, prenatal yoga, and the breastfeeding group at Mercy. These new friendships have been such a blessing to me. We are able to share our joys, questions, frustrations, concerns, and accomplishments as we walk through motherhood together. Right now it's more for the moms but this week the kids seemed to interact as well. They were rolling around and "sharing" toys.

Motherly Advice

Throughout my pregnancy I received lots of wonderful advice about being a mother. Here are some of my favorites.
-Sleep when the baby sleeps.
-You can never have too many pictures.
-Holding and loving that baby is not going to spoil him or her.
-If your child falls in love with a blanket or stuffed animal, buy an extra just in case you lose the special one.
-The days will go by slowly but the years will slip by quickly.
-Remember, there may be more than one right way to do something. Let your husband do things his way.
-Keep going on dates with your husband.
-Call your friends for help.
-Have your mom and mother-in-law come over often to babysit.

My advice to new mothers: Don't cut the tags off of your baby toys. They may become the best part to play with!