Official Evacuees

Well, it's official. I was an evacuee for a period of time. I never dreamed that I would have that title under my belt, but I do. Hurricane Ike came through the Houston / Galveston area about 2 weeks ago and destroyed or damaged much in its path. We live about 20 miles from the island and about 20 miles from downtown Houston. So, we were in the path of destruction. Before landfall I really did not understand the severity of a hurricane. I had always heard of evacuations but never really understood what that meant. To put it into one statement, it means....Grab what you can and do it quickly.

As Jason watched the weather very closely about 2 days before landfall, I was oblivious to the future. I had a newborn I was smitten with. I was holding, rocking, and loving on Bear. I had no idea what was in store for our family. As the sun set and the hours ticked by, I went to sleep only to wake to Jason telling me I needed to start packing at 1:15 a.m. on Thursday morning. I knew it was a possibility of us leaving but never knew it would become a reality because the last 2 storms that were supposed to come our way never made it. We did not even get raindrops........

I rubbed my eyes and realized that Jason was serious. I fed Bear and began to pack. Lake was sleeping so we decided to pack her things last to avoid waking her too early. Packing for all of us took about 4 hours. Jason was a little concerned because he wanted to beat the traffic and I kept bringing bags to the door. He thought we would never leave. Our area was going to be evacuated at 7 a.m. Jason had a heads up and he wanted to leave before the chaos began..........The gas stations were packed at 6 o'clock. I was amazed.

Finally we had our vehicles loaded and fueled and we headed for Jasper, Texas. My step-dad, Terry, was anticipating our arrival. Luckily he had a generator and we could be there with power including air conditioner. Thank the Lord!

The next day or so was kind of like a family visit. However, that ended. I began to think about all of our things. Everything we had worked so hard to get could possibly be destroyed. Jason helped me understand that our family could not be replaced but material things could. After I had my breakdown I began to pray and then calmed down because he was right. I had no control over what was going to happen. I had to be strong. As the storm hit land, I had never heard or seen the wind blow so hard in my life. I was chilling to hear it howl over the roof and through the trees. It was like a movie.

Luckily, there was minimal limbs down at Terry's house. Jason headed out to check the damage at our home. This is what he found.........

Our fence in the back had been hit with limbs and the roof over our patio had been blown off. Whew! No flood damage! When he made it back to Terry's after hours of traffic and gas stations with no gas I felt relieved to know that we were so fortunate. The loss of others was devastating and Galveston Island will never be the same. Areas about 2 miles from our home were destroyed. My prayers had been answered and I was OK with our damage. It could be repaired.

It took about a week for our power to be restored. In the mean time my mother came into town and got to meet Bear. We hung out at Terry's house. We grilled out, watched TV, and just enjoyed each other's company. We returned home on Sunday September21. Our food had spoiled so we spent the afternoon cleaning out the old and bringing in the new. We had two refrigerators. One in the garage and one in the house. The fridge in the kitchen was zapped by a power surge but at least we had one in the garage. That was a life saver. Our insurance even paid us for food spoilage. Isn't insurance grand?!?!

Jason ended his "Maternity Leave" this past week and returned to work. It was great to be able to have him with us during our first evacuation. He has been VERY busy with all of the hurricane damage and will be for a long time. As I watch the news and see damage for myself just a few miles away I truly understand that our family is blessed. We are lucky to have each other and our home. Our hearts and prayers go out to those that were less fortunate during Hurricane Ike.

Week One Is Already Over?

Whew! Time flies when you have a new baby!

I can not believe it has already been one week since Bear arrived. I seems like I got out of the hospital yesterday! After the game this week Jason looked at me and said "Well, one week ago your water was breaking..." I can't believe it has gone by so fast! Since I have been feeling like a champ, we have been pretty busy. My parents came into town for their first visit to Texas. Timberly was soooo excited to hold her baby brother. She and Lakelyn had him in the bedroom like a babydoll. They had all of the dolls and Bear on the bed playing house. It was the cutest thing....

We went out to dinner and let the girls ride some rides at the Boardwalk close to our house. My mom and I took the kids to have their pictures made. They all cooperated during the shoot. I think I was the only one that was nervous about the pics but they turned out GREAT! Bear was very alert and the girls looked beautiful. I can't wait for them to come in.... We also went to T-Bone Tom's on Saturday and they had a band that night. The girls spent most of their time down front dancing to the music. We ate outside and the weather turned out perfect. Bear was great! He slept most of the time. He really is an excellent baby! We are very blessed! He looks just like his daddy!

Everyone was asking about him and wanting to know how old he was. When I would tell them he was only days old I got some strange looks. The way we look at things is that I did not die, I had a baby. We like to get out and about. We do not and did not want to be confined to the house.

So we're not going to be. Period.

I thought it may be hard to get back into the swing of taking care of newborn but it really is like riding a bicycle. You never forget. My instincts kicked right back in and we just adjusted our lives. Jason has really been great with him too! He even changes dirty diapers! Lake loves holding Bear by herself on the couch with no help. It makes her feel special. Like she is babysitting.......

The next few weeks will be busy. Jason's parents are coming into town and my mom will also be here to visit. Everyone wants to get in some time with our newest addition. Jason and I are excited to see everyone here at our home.

We always do the traveling so it is nice to have everyone come to us this time!

U of A Good Luck Charm.......

Our little Bear has arrived. Below is the story through Jason's eyes....Enjoy!



BEAR EVAN SCREWS was born Sunday Morning 31 August 2008 at 5:09 AM.


He weighed 7 lbs. and was 19.5 inches long.

Jamie and I would like to thank everyone for their support and congratulations

The Story: (As told by Daddy)

Well, there was about 4 minutes left in the Alabama/Clemson game and Alabama had just stopped Clemson on a 4th and 11 at the end of the 4th Quarter to pretty much seal up the game. Alabama had dominated the whole game so Daddy was very happy.

5 minutes earlier, Mommy had laid down because she didn't feel well but Daddy had heard that story a million times over the past 9 months.


So, not long after that, Daddy sees little Lakelyn running into the living room where Daddy is having a solo celebration and says "Mama needs you to come here".


Well Daddy had heard this before but this time it was different. I went into the bedroom and noticed Jamie was in the bathroom. I knew immediately what I was about to hear next:


"Jason, I think my water just broke!"


So, here we go getting ready to go to the hospital and the rest is history.



So now we all know that even though Bear was born in Texas, he is still a BAMA Boy. He "ironically" waited until Alabama had the game in hand and waited long enough for Daddy to watch the awesome game before he decided it was time to come out.

Thank you Bear!!!


Everyone has a special story to go along with their children's birth and this is mine and Jamie's. Thank you for letting us share it with you and thanks again for all of your support!





Jason, Jamie, Lakelyn & Bear
Roll Tide!!!!!



I think he about summed it all up...........

First Day of School......

I felt like Marlin off of Finding Nemo this morning. Overprotective and Scared. "It's the first day of school" are the first words I heard when I woke up this morning. I wanted to grab onto Lakelyn and tell her she did not have to go but I refrained and acted just as excited as she did. Jason knew I was having a hard time because I started crying last night before we went to bed. We got all dressed in our "uniform," which I also had a hard time with at first. I did not understand why a 5 year old had to wear a planned outfit to kindergarten. Polo shirt and skirt or pants in the color of black, khaki, grey or blue jean. Eventually I got over the dress code. I really had no choice. It was the rule.....I don't think we did so bad though

Anyway, after we ate breakfast we all loaded up and headed to school. We arrived at the school along with the other one million parents and I began to feel hot. Not because it was 90 degrees outside but because I was nervous. My baby was starting school! We made our way to the classroom and I could just feel the excitement radiating off of Lake's little hand. She was soooo ready to be in big school and I was soooo ready to breakdown..........

We walked into the classroom greeted by the sweetest teacher ever! She seemed so full of enthusiasm and ready for a great year. You know, like she was born to teach. Lakelyn found her name at the table, her spot on the rug and that was it. She was in big school. Kindergarten. I looked at Jason with a sad look and he knew it was time to go. We walked out of the front doors and I managed to hold it together.

I looked at the clock a gazillion times waiting for time to get in the car rider line. I arrived about 35 minutes before school was out. Obviously there were other parents more anxious than me because I was behind about 50 cars. I waited patiently for my baby who had become an official big girl today. When she got into the car all she said was "Mommy, I love school!" At that moment I was the proudest parent ever.

Of course, I teared up behind my sunglasses......

Lucky.....

Sometimes my husband just amazes me........

We are sitting at the house this weekend and nothing was really happening. Jason was surfing any Alabama Football website ever invented and I was nesting for the gazillionth time......Dusting, vacuuming, mopping the floors, packing diaper bags, etc. All of those things that I have done preparing for the birth that seems like is never going to take place.

Anyway.........I decided to take a break and have some ice water and watch Lifetime Movies for a bit. All of a sudden, Jason has a burst of energy and announces he is going to paint my bathroom.

Huh?

I was shocked. For those of you that don't know, I have been wanting my bathroom painted for a while now. We have painted many rooms since we moved into our home in March and Jason is an excellent painter. We have had so much going on I just thought I was going to have to wait until all other home improvements were done. Well, I got a great suprise!
He got out the Charcoal Grey paint mixed by the one and only David Goggins (my daddy) and began painting away. In no time it was finished! B-E-A-U-tiful!

Maybe Jason was doing a little nesting of his own.......

Here's a pic of the finished product

AND......Not only does he paint, but he builds birdhouses

Creates new sidewalks ( still in progress)

Makes the best kabobs EVER...........

And most importantly, he is a great daddy and wonderful husband!

I feel like the luckiest girl alive!

False Alarm

The time is just not now. For the past few days I have been contracting. Nothing new. But yesterday I noticed more contractions so I decided to keep track of them on paper. I did not want to get my hopes up but I wanted to make sure I was not just wishfully convincing myself I was in labor. I had listened to the doctor and knew exactly when to call this time. He wants me to call when they are 5 minutes apart.....I knew I could do this..... I will not be sent home this time........
I started writing. Every 3.5 - 4 minutes my pencil was scribbling the time on a yellow sticky note.......I started to get scared and excited. I thought this was going to be the day I met my son....
My contractions did get harder and more frequent. Jason had mentally prepared himself to become a daddy within the next day or so. We arrived at the hospital, safely. I had my camouflage pillow in one hand and Jason was holding the other. We ran into a PreNatal Tour Group on the way to the elevator. I wanted to do a cart wheel for them because I was so excited and ready for this to be over but I just smiled and waved instead. They were all cheering and telling us congratulations....
I got to the unit and hopped onto the monitor. Contraction time........2 minutes apart. Steady.
We thought this meant baby. We called Jason's parents and mine in Alabama. We wanted them to know it could be soon. Well.........not soon enough.
After several hours of 1-2 minute contractions lasting 80-90 seconds each, the nurse decided to check me again.
NO CHANGE IN MY CERVIX.
WHAT?!?!!!????
I was mortified!
I was hurting all of this time for nothing!?!?
After the nurse spoke to my doctor, it got even worse. She entered the room with a syringe. I knew what was coming next. OUCH! She filled my muscle with that magic medicine that STOPS CONTRACTIONS! My doctor said it would just be best to stop them, monitor over night again and for me to come to the office on Wednesday. Bummer.

Oh Happy Day........

A little update on our delivery status.
As we drove to the doctor today I was a little anxious about the visit. Bedrest has been for the birds and I am so tired of waddling.
Jason and I arrived at the office and got the first bit of good news. I only gained 1 (that's right....) ONE POUND!!!! Yay Me!
Next we went into the exam. Now this is probably one of the most uncomfortable things for me. But, it must be done. Still sitting at 2 cm and my cervix is the same too. BUT, the doctor gave us the second bit of good news........
I can have him at any time now. Bear is measuring a little ahead of his date and my OB says whenever he wants to show his face we'll be ready. No more meds to stop contractions and I can get up and move around a little! Nothing major but atleast I can cook and clean some now.
Jason is very excited! I am very excited! WE ARE EXCITED! This is what we have been waiting on for 9 months. Our perfect little boy!
Now all we have to do is just sit and wait. No more worrying about stopping labor. No more caution with walking or sitting!
I wonder if he is going to be late??????????? I told Jason that would be just our luck.........