Lessons from the Flood

As mentioned above, on May 1st we went to Opry Mills. The next morning we woke up to news that Nashville had some pretty serious flooding. As I was online trying to find out more at 9:00 AM our power went out. I figured it would be back on any minute. Not quite. Brian and I had both forgotten to charge our cell phones the night before so we were trying to communicate with our friends and family, but trying to conserve our batteries as well. We decided early that morning that it wasn't wise to go to church so I was trying to get some housework done while we were stuck at home. Brian went out to get lunch at Publix and came back with the news. We were trapped. There was no getting in or out of Bellevue except by helicopter. I had a brief moment of panic as I knew that I was already dilated to 2 centimeters and had been having contractions on and off for a couple of weeks. It was an incredibly helpless feeling. Needless to say, I stopped cleaning and did as little sitting as possible. The power stayed out, and we were told it would be several days before it returned. So here we were. We prayed that I woudn't go into labor and tried to make a plan just in case. A woman in our neighborhood actually had her baby at a nurse's house in our neighborhood with the assistance of a local OB and got taken to a hospital afterward by way of boat and ambulance. I wasn't afraid of delivering a baby without meds as I was hoping to do that anyway, but I was scared to death of there being a problem and not having the equipment we needed to help the baby. I can't describe the feeling of helplessness that came from being trapped, almost unable to contact the outside world, and without power. On Monday night we were finally able to get out when one of the roads reopened and we spent the night with Brian's sister, Kendria. It was so great to have air conditioning again! What we experienced was nothing compared to the tragedy that so many faced from the floods. All we lost was all of the food in our refridgerator and freezer, and that seems like nothing. So many lost so much more. The flood was truly devastating. I feel that experiencing this flood was an installment for me in the lessons that God has been trying to teach me about how selfish and blind we are in our culture. Experiencing the helplessness of not having medical care available made me realize that so many women in the world have no medical care available when they have babies. That is why infant mortality rates are higher for them. Not having power and air conditioning felt like such a terrible thing, but there are millions in this world who could never dream of such luxuries. Why do I feel entitled to these things? What can we do to help others who don't even have clean water or power? How do we live so blindly to the plight of so many people in this world? I am such a work in progress. I think that the flood taught us all about what is important and also about how little control we really have over our own lives. It also taught me that we don't take enough time to just enjoy each other without commitments or technology. Brian was home from work. We played games together. We talked to our neighbors more than we had in 3 years. We cooked out with friends that lived in Bellevue and just talked. Three days later we had a baby. What a wild and crazy week.

Ansley Turns 3!

Since we had Ansley's party on April 18th in case of an early birth we decided that on her actual birthday if I had not yet had Wyatt we would do something fun as a family. So on May 1st we took Ty and Ansley to Build-A-Bear for the first time. We met Mom and Dad at Opry Mills where we ate dinner, the kids rode the carousel, went to build a bear, and ate cake from Chili's! There was some really bad weather that night and we almost didn't go, but we decided to brave it. Little did we know the flood of 2010 had started and we would be some of the last at Opry Mills before it flooded. Anyway, more on that later. Ansley was so excited to make a bear, as was Ty! Ansley had to have a pink bear with bunny slippers! Ty not surprisingly chose to make a Batman dog. They also made a bear for their new baby brother as a gift. It was a really great night! It is so hard to believe that my precious girl is already 3 years old. I love her so much! Although we have our battles I love her fire and excitement for life. She has so many amazing qualities. I am so thankful and humbled to have been entrusted with her care for a while. Here are some pics from the night and the last few years.

Ansley's Birth

Ansley's First Birthday

Ansley's 2nd Birthday

Third Birthday

Ansley's 3rd Birthday Party!

I knew Ansley's birthday party could not be at my house this year because I was so pregnant and miserable! I gave her the option of Monkey's Treehouse or Pump it Up and she quickly chose "the bouncy place!" We celebrated a couple of weeks early because I was 36 weeks pregnant at this point and afraid to wait until 38 weeks, which was when both Ty and Ansley were born. We went to eat at Pie in the Sky in Franklin and then headed over to Pump it Up. We had a blast with lots of family and friends! Ansley had a slight injury and was an observer for the second half of the jumping, but she still enjoyed herself! Then there was cake which made it all better. There are a lot of pictures here, but I couldn't choose! More about my birthday girl in the next post!

Birthday Girl!

Classic Ty Face

The Adults had fun too!

My beautiful girl

Observation Time!

Hilarious attempt at a group shot!

Is Eric in timeout again?!

Baby Claire!

Easter Morning

One last Easter post! No wonder Ansley keeps asking me when it will be Easter again! These pictures are from Easter Morning. The Easter bunny came with highlights of bike helmets(the Easter Bunny likes safety :) and hooded beach towels(which I am glad I got on consignment because I totally forgot about them for most of the summer!). They were very excited and even got to eat a ring pop before church. Easter is so fun with them at this age, but I look forward even more to when we can share the joy of what Easter is really about. We certainly talk about what Easter is really about and read books about it every year, but I pray that someday they will know Jesus as their Savior and love Him with abandonment. Then we can share Easter in its purest sense. Praise God for a risen Savior!

Petty Family Egg Hunt at Grandmother's