Now that we can see straight (decent sleep last night!), we'd like to send you all the link to some of Truett's first pictures. Enjoy!
Here's a slideshow put to music ("Tru Dog")!
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Baby Stuff
We are counting down the days until Truett Austin gets here! Only 10 more to go until his due date. Will he be early?! (I'm guessing not...)
I thought I'd use this spare moment to catch up on the blog. My mom came last week to help me clean the house. She was a HUGE, HUGE help! Not only did she help me clean every day, she also cooked amazing meals every night with enough leftover we don't have to cook at ALL this week! Woo hoo! She also weathered two trips to the doctor and one short stint in the hospital while they ran some tests on me (all is FINE!). I have so say, I am soooooooooooo glad she ended up leaving her job at Praters when she did. Having her available right now is the most amazing thing after her being tied to that job 60+ hours a week, including weekends, for the last few years.
Here is a picture Jason MADE me stand still for. This was day 1 of the 38th week.
Here are some pics of the nursery. I didn't have the energy to move the stroller out of the way. :) It involves bending over.
My fabulous friends Julie, Christle, Bobbie, and Natalie hosted a lovely baby shower for me this past weekend!
I thought I'd use this spare moment to catch up on the blog. My mom came last week to help me clean the house. She was a HUGE, HUGE help! Not only did she help me clean every day, she also cooked amazing meals every night with enough leftover we don't have to cook at ALL this week! Woo hoo! She also weathered two trips to the doctor and one short stint in the hospital while they ran some tests on me (all is FINE!). I have so say, I am soooooooooooo glad she ended up leaving her job at Praters when she did. Having her available right now is the most amazing thing after her being tied to that job 60+ hours a week, including weekends, for the last few years.
Here is a picture Jason MADE me stand still for. This was day 1 of the 38th week.
Here are some pics of the nursery. I didn't have the energy to move the stroller out of the way. :) It involves bending over.
Should I point out Jason arranged the books on the top shelf in a "V" with the spines at the edge? Jeremiah must see this!
My fabulous friends Julie, Christle, Bobbie, and Natalie hosted a lovely baby shower for me this past weekend!
Maddie helped me open presents. :)
So many sweet baby things!
The resident expert telling me: "You'll need THOSE!" :)
Darsey, Bobbie, Mandi, and Greta in the TV! Look at the awesome diaper cake Bobbie made!
Julie telling Maddie's birth story. We were rolling on the floor. Yes, Julie - if only they'd give the Stadol to the Dads. :) And there is Natalie looking fabulous after giving birth to Ethan only 1 MONTH ago!
Amazing food!!!
Chocolate airplanes Julie made
Mom and me :)
Saturday, February 27, 2010
The Great Ice Storm of 2010
So there we were.
It was the last full week in January, and Jason and I were planning our final trip to Lubbock before Truett's arrival. After all, I needed to get my hair done, and that is important. The weather forecast suggested we'd have some snow and ice on the 28th, and the city was in an uproar.
These people sure do know how to overreact, I thought.
The weather shop on base said it wouldn't even start to freeze until after 1700 on the 28th. I had an appointment with the OB for 1100, but at 0900 they called to cancel. "Is it already freezing?" I asked. The receptionist assured me it was already quite bad out there.
So I did what any very pregnant woman would do. I immediately thought about FOOD. "If only I had a cinnamon roll..." I said to myself. I started calling Jason at work to tell him it was getting bad out there and I needed him to go to Wal-Mart and stock up on bottled water and non-perishables - and cinnamon rolls - right away! I was afraid to get out on the icy roads and parking lots by myself, what with my altered CG and all.
When Jason finally DID answer the phone, after about the 5th call, 3rd voicemail, and 10th text message, I learned the REST of the base hadn't even shown up for work! He said his office was waiting to be released. By 1100, the power went out the first time...and they still hadn't been released. Finally, the other execs told him to just leave (they obviously knew I was an unreasonable and hungry woman and Jason was about to be persona non grata). So, Jason came home bearing cinnamon rolls. What a guy.
At 1500 that day, the power went out again. We thought for sure it'd be back up before the morning. The last time this happened to us was during the summer of 2008 when we had the non-tornado, and we had power back in 3 hours. But, by Friday morning, the power was NOT back on.
It wasn't back on Saturday morning, either. Or Sunday...or Monday...or Tuesday...
Because the execs qualified as Mission Essential personnel and were required to report to work each day, Jason and his two co-workers set up a shift schedule between the three of them. Pat was the first to head in on Friday morning, and he called to tell us he wasn't even sure we could make it out of our neighborhood. Poles were down and across the road everywhere. The first briefing he received from Command Post was that thousands of poles were down and it didn't look good. Uh-oh, I thought. This isn't going to be a quick fix. Time to hunker down and make the best of it!
The entire town was out of power. Not a single light could be seen! No restaurants, nowhere to buy food or bottled water or gas...nowhere to get warm. Even Wal-Mart was dark. The next closest town with power was Vernon, TX at 30 miles away. We were told by the city to conserve water. Praise God for a gas water heater, but we used it sparingly. The city told us not to even flush the commodes unless absolutely necessary!
We first started trying to stay warm using our ventless gas fireplace. That was alright until the fumes started making me sick. The CO detector never went off, but we decided to play it safe. We used the inverter in the truck to charge the laptop and cell phones. (The laptop so we could watch our Netflix...priorities. :)) Thankfully, it is our habit to fill both vehicles up with gas when wet weather approaches. We were sitting pretty, all things considered.
Our first order of business was to move all of our food out of the refrigerator and to the Smack Fridge. For all the non-Academy types, that means we put it on the porch in the snow to keep it cold. We ate a lot of cereal and milk the first couple of days.
To stay warm in the house, we layered. It was down to below 50 degrees. Because the ground was covered in ice, we never saw the sun - we just got fog from the meeting of the air masses. It was a wee bit depressing! When we finally ventured out of the neighborhood, it looked like a war zone!
All of our friends left on Friday for better climes. Jason still had to go into work every day, so we stayed put. On Saturday, though, we went to Wichita Falls (the roads were clear enough by then) to eat a warm meal, get some propane for the grill, and just to get warm. The reports that kept rolling in made it sound like the power could be on any day.
A truck carrying a huge generator for the Wal-Mart actually TIPPED OVER on its way here. Despite that, they were the first major business to power themselves with generators and provide services to the town.
Then the reports started making it sound like it could be WEEKS until the power was back on. Morale was suffering at the Brown house. On Monday, we succumbed and went to Lawton to buy a generator. It was just a little 5000W job, but it powered some foot heaters for us as well as a few other things.
Finally on Wednesday morning at around 0300, I started to get a little warm in the bed....and I got up and saw Har's nightlight was on at the end of the hall...and WOO HOO! It was already 65 degrees in the house! We had power! We were part of the lucky 40% who received it that early. It would be several more days before the whole city was back. There are still some rural areas without it. The Altus Times reported that we came within an HOUR of exhausting the water supply. (I'm pretty sure that as a pregnant Flynt who was cold for 7 days, that was mostly my fault.)
A week without power sure does make one appreciative of the smaller things in life. Honestly, it was just like being back in CST...but with a softer bed. Here are some pics - enjoy!
It was the last full week in January, and Jason and I were planning our final trip to Lubbock before Truett's arrival. After all, I needed to get my hair done, and that is important. The weather forecast suggested we'd have some snow and ice on the 28th, and the city was in an uproar.
These people sure do know how to overreact, I thought.
The weather shop on base said it wouldn't even start to freeze until after 1700 on the 28th. I had an appointment with the OB for 1100, but at 0900 they called to cancel. "Is it already freezing?" I asked. The receptionist assured me it was already quite bad out there.
So I did what any very pregnant woman would do. I immediately thought about FOOD. "If only I had a cinnamon roll..." I said to myself. I started calling Jason at work to tell him it was getting bad out there and I needed him to go to Wal-Mart and stock up on bottled water and non-perishables - and cinnamon rolls - right away! I was afraid to get out on the icy roads and parking lots by myself, what with my altered CG and all.
When Jason finally DID answer the phone, after about the 5th call, 3rd voicemail, and 10th text message, I learned the REST of the base hadn't even shown up for work! He said his office was waiting to be released. By 1100, the power went out the first time...and they still hadn't been released. Finally, the other execs told him to just leave (they obviously knew I was an unreasonable and hungry woman and Jason was about to be persona non grata). So, Jason came home bearing cinnamon rolls. What a guy.
At 1500 that day, the power went out again. We thought for sure it'd be back up before the morning. The last time this happened to us was during the summer of 2008 when we had the non-tornado, and we had power back in 3 hours. But, by Friday morning, the power was NOT back on.
It wasn't back on Saturday morning, either. Or Sunday...or Monday...or Tuesday...
Because the execs qualified as Mission Essential personnel and were required to report to work each day, Jason and his two co-workers set up a shift schedule between the three of them. Pat was the first to head in on Friday morning, and he called to tell us he wasn't even sure we could make it out of our neighborhood. Poles were down and across the road everywhere. The first briefing he received from Command Post was that thousands of poles were down and it didn't look good. Uh-oh, I thought. This isn't going to be a quick fix. Time to hunker down and make the best of it!
The entire town was out of power. Not a single light could be seen! No restaurants, nowhere to buy food or bottled water or gas...nowhere to get warm. Even Wal-Mart was dark. The next closest town with power was Vernon, TX at 30 miles away. We were told by the city to conserve water. Praise God for a gas water heater, but we used it sparingly. The city told us not to even flush the commodes unless absolutely necessary!
We first started trying to stay warm using our ventless gas fireplace. That was alright until the fumes started making me sick. The CO detector never went off, but we decided to play it safe. We used the inverter in the truck to charge the laptop and cell phones. (The laptop so we could watch our Netflix...priorities. :)) Thankfully, it is our habit to fill both vehicles up with gas when wet weather approaches. We were sitting pretty, all things considered.
Our first order of business was to move all of our food out of the refrigerator and to the Smack Fridge. For all the non-Academy types, that means we put it on the porch in the snow to keep it cold. We ate a lot of cereal and milk the first couple of days.
To stay warm in the house, we layered. It was down to below 50 degrees. Because the ground was covered in ice, we never saw the sun - we just got fog from the meeting of the air masses. It was a wee bit depressing! When we finally ventured out of the neighborhood, it looked like a war zone!
All of our friends left on Friday for better climes. Jason still had to go into work every day, so we stayed put. On Saturday, though, we went to Wichita Falls (the roads were clear enough by then) to eat a warm meal, get some propane for the grill, and just to get warm. The reports that kept rolling in made it sound like the power could be on any day.
A truck carrying a huge generator for the Wal-Mart actually TIPPED OVER on its way here. Despite that, they were the first major business to power themselves with generators and provide services to the town.
Then the reports started making it sound like it could be WEEKS until the power was back on. Morale was suffering at the Brown house. On Monday, we succumbed and went to Lawton to buy a generator. It was just a little 5000W job, but it powered some foot heaters for us as well as a few other things.
Finally on Wednesday morning at around 0300, I started to get a little warm in the bed....and I got up and saw Har's nightlight was on at the end of the hall...and WOO HOO! It was already 65 degrees in the house! We had power! We were part of the lucky 40% who received it that early. It would be several more days before the whole city was back. There are still some rural areas without it. The Altus Times reported that we came within an HOUR of exhausting the water supply. (I'm pretty sure that as a pregnant Flynt who was cold for 7 days, that was mostly my fault.)
A week without power sure does make one appreciative of the smaller things in life. Honestly, it was just like being back in CST...but with a softer bed. Here are some pics - enjoy!
Smack Fridge on the back porch
The sun was out for only about 15 minutes on Day 1. We didn't capture it very well, but it made our house look like it was covered in glitter.
After the 15 minutes of sun. This is as bright as it got for about a week.
Crazy coating of ice!
Poor trees.
This is one sleepy - and cold - VW!
The poles on Heritage Road. All the lines were down.
The poles in the city were all snapped in half and on the ground.
Night 1. Not toooooo cold yet.
Still in the 50s on Night 1. Seriously - I thought Dad would show up on our front porch with his toothbrush in hand once he realized how 'blessedly cold' it was in our house! He loves a cold house!
The dishes must be done!
The only light in town: after Wal-Mart got its generator.
Jason cooking us a lovely meal!
Mmmmm!
I can't remember which night this was, but it was COLD. We wore several layers, including hats, at all times!
Perhaps the saddest part of the whole ordeal: when Jason realized his brand new tub of Blue Bell didn't make it.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Getting Ready for Valentine's Day
I am finally able to use the beautiful Valentine's Day place mats my Aunt Ricke quilted for me! Aren't they so pretty?
Jason's Trip to San Antonio
Jason is so selfless. He's always doing things for other people...and it really warms my little heart. For instance, when the wing commander said at least one of the execs would accompany him to the AETC Symposium on the San Antonio Riverwalk, Jason - selflessly - volunteered. It really was a hardship TDY, staying in the Marriott on the Riverwalk, attending briefings for at least 5 hours a day before being let loose to indulge in the Texas culture... I decided not to accompany him as the prospect of riding in the car for 7 hours didn't appeal to me at the time. Thankfully, though, our wonderful friends The Schindlers all went (Nick to the symposium; Julie and Madeline to the mall) and kept Jason company. Here is the only picture I have - it's of Jason eating ice cream from the Marble Slab for ME since I couldn't be there to eat it myself. Like I said. Selfless.
Christle's Baby Shower
Our dear, sweet friends Christle and Zach Peaden are expecting Baby Number Four! The due date was 11 Jan, but as usual, Christle is over a week late in starting labor. :) This is a good thing since she and Zach decided to have the baby in Fort Worth rather than Altus. They had plenty of time to travel there and have been relaxing at her parents' home for a few days while they wait.
Let's take a stroll down memory lane, remembering all the Peaden kiddos...
We first learned Elijah was on the way in July of 2004. Christle told me on the 12th to be exact. I remember because she was PCSing to McConnell from Vance (where we had been stationed together, after being at the Academy together). Zach was, of course, deployed. So was Jason. In fact, I'm pretty sure they were on the same crew and had left that DAY. Anyway, I was so excited - Christle was my first friend to enter motherhood!
News of Micah came along in November of 2005. We were all at some sort of wing-wide training shindig at McConnell, and Christle and Zach told me as we were rushed past each other in the hall. I was shocked but happy for them! Jason was...wait for it...deployed.
I learned of little AnaBella's pending arrival in September of 2007 while I was recovering from my bike accident in Lubbock. Christle and I were so excited because they were on their way to Altus to live down the street from us! Christle and I together bemoaned the referral process that used to be at the hands of a certain Major in the Altus Med Group...she was having a hard time getting her OB referral, and I was having a hard time getting referrals to all the specialists I needed to see on my road to recovery. Anyway...Jason was....deployed.
You might be thinking at this point that Jason's deployments are directly correlated to the Peadens' growing brood. But, alas. We learned of Baby Number Four in May of 2009 here in our living room....both husbands stateside and much congratulating and rejoicing. :)
A couple of our friends, Audrey Tolle and Amy Thomas, threw Christle a lovely baby shower a couple weeks ago. Here are some pics!
Let's take a stroll down memory lane, remembering all the Peaden kiddos...
We first learned Elijah was on the way in July of 2004. Christle told me on the 12th to be exact. I remember because she was PCSing to McConnell from Vance (where we had been stationed together, after being at the Academy together). Zach was, of course, deployed. So was Jason. In fact, I'm pretty sure they were on the same crew and had left that DAY. Anyway, I was so excited - Christle was my first friend to enter motherhood!
News of Micah came along in November of 2005. We were all at some sort of wing-wide training shindig at McConnell, and Christle and Zach told me as we were rushed past each other in the hall. I was shocked but happy for them! Jason was...wait for it...deployed.
I learned of little AnaBella's pending arrival in September of 2007 while I was recovering from my bike accident in Lubbock. Christle and I were so excited because they were on their way to Altus to live down the street from us! Christle and I together bemoaned the referral process that used to be at the hands of a certain Major in the Altus Med Group...she was having a hard time getting her OB referral, and I was having a hard time getting referrals to all the specialists I needed to see on my road to recovery. Anyway...Jason was....deployed.
You might be thinking at this point that Jason's deployments are directly correlated to the Peadens' growing brood. But, alas. We learned of Baby Number Four in May of 2009 here in our living room....both husbands stateside and much congratulating and rejoicing. :)
A couple of our friends, Audrey Tolle and Amy Thomas, threw Christle a lovely baby shower a couple weeks ago. Here are some pics!
Who'da thunk it? We look a little different than we did during our Zoomie days...
The hostesses with the guest of honor: Bella, Amy, Christle, and Audrey
The food was fab.
Lovely gifts!
Friday, January 15, 2010
Christmas 2009
Well, friends, I must say Christmas 2009 was an exercise in logistical savviness! This was the first Christmas in 4 years that the whole Flynt family was to be together. Abbie was coming in from D.C., Jack and fam from St. Louis, and Jason and I from Altus. The first anomaly was the snowstorm forecast for Altus AND Lubbock. Jason and I decided we better hit the road a day early so as not to get stuck on bad roads. We took Harley the Cat with us, and that made for an exciting trip. She laughed in the FACE of the homeopathic meds the vet gave her for calm travel and proceeded to foam at the mouth and barf 3 times before we even made it to Hollis. Thankfully I had some of the 'good stuff' with me. Jason pulled over to the side of the road and while he cleaned up all the barf, I held the little maniac between my knees and forced the pill down her throat (she hates medicine, so this is necessary). Let me tell YOU. Because her stomach was empty, she was ZEN in less than 5 minutes. And by zen, I mean higher than a KITE. I was actually a little worried, but this was preferable to her previous state of mania. (She finally returned to normal about 24 hours later.) Anyway, I digress. We had smooth sailing to Lubbock after that, yay us!
I wish I could say it worked out that way for the rest of the family. Abbie was supposed to land in Lubbock before lunch on Christmas Eve. She flew AA through DFW. Big mistake. It is my experience that all AA pilots on the DFW - LBB route will do anything in their power to cancel the flight if it looks like there is even a minute chance they'll get stuck in Lubbock for any reason. And cancel they did. Then she moved to another flight. Delay. Delay. Cancel. New flight. Standby. Delay. Cancel. By bedtime, she gave up the fight and retrieved her bags.
Jack, Jenna, and Natalie flew Southwest through Love Field in Dallas. Everything was ON TIME for them...until it wasn't. Delay. Delay. Delay. Delay. Cancel. So Jack rented a minivan (hahahahaha!), and they drove to DFW to retrieve Abbie. "Drove' is a strong word. They slid. Then they slid on to my aunt's and uncle's house in Forth Worth where they spent the next 2 days waiting for the roads to clear enough to drive to Lubbock.
By December 26th, we were finally all together! Woo hoo! We then proceeded to have a lovely time of eating, dominoes, eating, Wii, eating, and eating. Here are some fun pics. :)
I wish I could say it worked out that way for the rest of the family. Abbie was supposed to land in Lubbock before lunch on Christmas Eve. She flew AA through DFW. Big mistake. It is my experience that all AA pilots on the DFW - LBB route will do anything in their power to cancel the flight if it looks like there is even a minute chance they'll get stuck in Lubbock for any reason. And cancel they did. Then she moved to another flight. Delay. Delay. Cancel. New flight. Standby. Delay. Cancel. By bedtime, she gave up the fight and retrieved her bags.
Jack, Jenna, and Natalie flew Southwest through Love Field in Dallas. Everything was ON TIME for them...until it wasn't. Delay. Delay. Delay. Delay. Cancel. So Jack rented a minivan (hahahahaha!), and they drove to DFW to retrieve Abbie. "Drove' is a strong word. They slid. Then they slid on to my aunt's and uncle's house in Forth Worth where they spent the next 2 days waiting for the roads to clear enough to drive to Lubbock.
By December 26th, we were finally all together! Woo hoo! We then proceeded to have a lovely time of eating, dominoes, eating, Wii, eating, and eating. Here are some fun pics. :)
Pretty tree,
That is an absurd amount of snow for Lubbock.
It looks like Mom is growing out of the turkey. That was a GOOD turkey.
The Christmas Eve dinner that ended up just being for Mom, Dad, Jason, and me.
Harley LOVES presents.
Harley does NOT love having her picture taken.
Waiting for Santa!
Jason worked hard on this picture.
Christmas in Dimmitt.
Fam.
My cousin Taran. This says it all.
Presents!
More presents!
And more!
MORE!
Abbie knows me.
That is one good looking cat.
In case anyone was wondering, Natalie does not have a small footprint when she travels.
The snowman Jack and Natalie made.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)