36 Weeks

Here's your monthly update. Nathanael's grown a lot in the past four weeks!

I'm hoping the next one will include actual pictures of little Nathanael!

Rain, rain, and more rain.

I usually find myself enjoying the rain. But this never-ending wind and rain storm has gone over my limit, way over my limit.

And then tonight, we discovered the catastrophe in the basement. We fist noticed that we were out of hot water this evening; that was strange. I made a comment to Greg, something like, "Oh, maybe you should check on the hot water heater in the basement, just in case it's flooding down there or something." I was picturing 1-2 inches of water. A little while later, Greg checked. It's well over 6 inches. We can't really tell, but it's at least up to the bottom of our grill's bowl, however high that is. My first reaction was to feel sorry for our landlord. This old house has been a money pit for him since he bought it less than a year and a half ago.

But then I started to think about everything we have down there that is likely lost due to water damage.

I first thought about how just this weekend Greg and I brought up Nathanael's carseat - so thankful! Then I remembered that I also brought up one of Greg's baby blankets this weekend when I realized we would have room for it among Nathanael's things. (I originally had stored some baby things for when we move to a place with a room for Nathanael.) One thing expensive, one thing sentimental. What a relief to not have lost those!

Then I began to recall what is likely lost (that I really care about) -- Greg's diploma, my TESL/TEFL certificate and books and notes, most of our papers and notebooks and books regarding Turkey and Turkish, some of Nathanael's gifts that he wouldn't have been able to use for a few months, the huge box of diapers we bought a couple months ago, our summer clothes... I guess we won't really know until the water goes down and everything dries. I'll keep adding to the list mentally though, to try and prepare for what we'll discover.

I know so many people have lost a lot in this rain and the resulting flooding. I am thankful for all that we still have, specifically our health and shelter and heat and everything currently in our apartment. It's only by the grace of God that we have all that.

Thanks for letting me use this blog to process. I am sure looking forward to some sunshine...

Baby Shower pictures!

My mom just posted pictures from our baby shower last weekend. Check them out here.

I'll have to write more about it another time. For now, I'm off to bed.