As Neal said... The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire

Literally! It happened in the afternoon on Wednesday July 22nd. The babies and I were downstairs, luckily. I was changing Gwen and a neighbor was crazily knocking on the door. I ran out the garage and heard the worst words ever, "Your house is on fire". I ran back in and let the dogs in the back yard and grabbed Grady. This would be the first time I picked up both babies at the same time. I wish it was under different circumstances. We ran outside and looked as smoke was pouring out of the roof vents we had just had installed the prior year. Luckily the neighbors across the street were home. They took the babies in and took great care of them. We had 8 fire trucks and over 20 firemen show up. They did a wonderful job and salvaged as much as they could. Another post to come on our new house, since Severhill is pretty much getting gutted. The fire burned from the roof up. The damage to the living space is mainly water damage.

We are lucky to have great family and friends. We stayed at Ryan and Leslie's for two days. As Ryan said, mom and Mike got the short end of the stick, they got Tippy and Luke. My friend Dawn arrived in town with the fire trucks on their way. Dawn, Les, Ryan, Mom and Stac all took different shifts watching the babies as Neal and I were tied up with Insurance agents, contractors and shopping. Many different people have cooked for us, which is so helpful. It keeps us from eating fast food everyday. Thanks to everyone.

I am typing this in our studio hotel room. We are all settled. I never thought I would be in a studio apartment again. Last time was in 1998 when I first moved in with Neal. It was tight then with two people, imagine two adults and two babies in that same space. Gwen and Grady will never remember this, thank god. The scariest thing is the fire started in the nursery. Thankfully it happened during the day and we are all safe. Cause of fire, electric.

We are looking now for a house to rent. We will be out of ours for at least 6 months. We need a place with a fence for the dogs. People keep asking if it is fun doing all of the shopping I am doing. The answer is no, not at all. It is horrible. Luckily we have good insurance. We now have all of the necessities, except our home. I am just glad my babies are safe. My dad said we are so patient. I asked what choice do we have. Neal said we are being tested to see how strong we are. My response, we have already been tested and proved we are strong.

I may choose to delete these pictures in the future, but here they are for now.

Breakfast out

Saturday we took the kids out to breakfast. Neal and I usually hit up Scramblers every Saturday. Of course as soon as they put our food in front of us the kids decided to be fussy. Before we ate our food we fed them. They were calm after that. Next we headed to Kohl's. Again a successful trip. So far, the babies are not all that fussy...well Gwen can be a little bit. We have nicknamed Gwen Drama, which she is. Grady is currently nicknamed peanut from a doctor in the hospital, but no one agrees with it so we will have to come up with something else. My sister thinks he looks like a businessman. Here is Neal and Gwen at breakfast.

More photos

Here are some more photos. It looks like the gang had fun in the waiting room while the babies were being born! We are thankful to have the McHenry's as part of our family! They take good care of us. It is amazing how quickly the fluid came off of my body. I barely recognize myself in these photos. My favorite is Connor looking in the nursery.

Grady's funny noises

Grady makes the cutest noises when he is eating.

The Dogs

Much to my surprise, the dogs don't care much about the babies. Luke will go and check on them once in a while and give them a couple kisses, but that is about it. When we have visitors, they are worse then ever as they are trying to get attention. When it is just the 6 of us, they pretty much do as they used to........sleep.

17 Days Old

Today the babies had another doctor appointment. We knew they were gaining weight, but had no idea how much. Grady is now 6 pounds and 12 ounces and 19.5 inches long. Gwen is 6 pounds 7 ounces and 19.25 inches long. Obviously someone measured wrong, cause I doubt Gwen shrunk. Oh well. They do not go back until they are 2 months old. The doc is not concerned about Gwen throwing up since she is still gaining weight. She has a blocked tear duct which means eye snots constantly. The doc said this should resolve itself by 6 months. The only thing we need to work on is getting them to work their necks both ways. They tend to look to the right all of the time. More pictures later.

16 days old

They have changed so much already. Grady is eating 3 to 3.5 ounces a feeding. He has gained some weight in his face and now has a double chin. Doctors appointment tomorrow. Both babies have lost their umbilical cords.


Gwen



Grady