Hurricane Ike-Did it affect us?

We came home after Hurricane Ike pretty quickly to a home with power and very, very little work needing to be done. We are so blessed that our stuff was not hurt and we won't have to spend energy trying to fix our stuff. My dad always says you are a slave to your stuff, and he is right.

But, our stuff is Okay. However, I am nothing less than completely and totally crazy inside. The hurricane is affecting me and I am trying to sort out all of the feelings.

During the last week, a lot has changed. We have been through the highest highs and the lowest lows. Everyday delivers some sort of punch that has to be dealt with in some manner. I make that statement so easily, but it really holds so much in it. I am very proud of my family. I think Sean, Stephen, Joshua and I function really well as a unit. I think most of our functionality comes from a good solid day-to-day routine. Everyone in the house knows what to expect and knows what is expected of them. The hurricane has changed that in so many ways.

For example, our church was damaged and parts of the campus still do not have power. Today we worshipped in a different church's worship center. We worshipped at 4 pm instead of our usual 9:30 am. The later time interrupted naps. Stephen ended up falling asleep in the car, waking up crying. Joshua also fell asleep in the car and woke up crying. They both cried through dinner, which was a very short dinner of leftovers. It's hard to rest mentally when your kids are both crying. If everything around here was routine, we would probably have chosen to sit church out this week. But I needed church today. I needed to see the people, I needed to feel the music. I was so glad they chose the contemporary service style.

The church has been closed, so my Moms support group has not met for two weeks. I needed to see the people that help me with me. I .... even I..... needed those hugs & I am not a hugging person. Everyone I know has had some sort of of disruption to their life. There is not a person I can talk to in my own little circle of support that isn't dealing with enough craziness. No one. Even though most all of my friends made it through with no damage, everyone is still dealing with the fact that schools are not open, they have friends that do need help, their power is still out, or something else. In addition, even with all of the hurricane drama, other drama doesn't stop. I have received two e-mails asking for prayers for children in this area that are affected with cancer, one died this week. I still have my cousin in California that is waiting for her one-week-old daughter to wake up from her brain surgery. My church friend's Grandma died. These people need support-but-who can really stop everything and really truly support right now? I can't.

My social Moms didn't meet this last week. There is one girl that lived/lives in Galveston. We all need to check on her & people are just now asking around about her whereabouts. Does she need help? We don't know. Does she feel left out that the Moms group is just now asking? I have guilt that I have thought about her a lot, but haven't gotten to the phone myself. I haven't called all of my handbell players either.

Abby coming into the world is a super charge of emotion, too. It's the highest of the highs. Abby is precious, as are Brandon, Beth and Will. It's truly hard to do everything I want to do for them because everything here at home is so out of routine. Just tonight, after the late church service, Sean and I took dinner to B&B & ended up getting in an argument with the Nassau Bay Nazi Cops that wouldn't let us go to B&B's house (the same cop that wouldn't let Beth drive herself to the hospital). Beth, just hours into postpartum, walked to get us and gave the cops a few choice words. The cops are not letting people into their neighborhood to prevent looting. B&B are getting the gated community they never signed up for when they bought their house. It's especially hard to deal with this for them because their phone is not working yet...but they do have a cell phone now. Can you see how the days are harder?

Also, the routine is off, so, my workouts are off. So is my diet. However, I have managed to still lose weight. But, I guess you would when you are nursing a baby almost every two hours, even through the night.

Sean has had the last week and a half off. It has been such a blessing to have him around in so many ways. He has been able to spend so much time with the children & it really shows. Since he has been home, we decided to make a leap into the world of potty training with Stephen. I think we made some serious leaps in the right direction...but potty training is really hard on a routine that is less than routine. But, we need to do it at some point!

Sean goes back to work tomorrow. I will, once again, try and declare tomorrow a day at home day. I have to keep up with Stephen's potty training and I have to get Joshua's sleep schedule under some sort of control again. With all of the up & about we have been doing, Joshua's sleep is suffering. He is waking up every two hours at night. He has congestion which only enhances the problem. I know what I *need* to do, but, I can't do it all.

Oh-and that makes one more thing the hurricane interrupts. Joshua is supposed to have a well-baby appt. on Tuesday. That would be a great time to talk to the doctor about his congestion & possibilities of Claritin or Benadryl use...but, the doctor's office got damaged in the hurricane. In fact, it's in the same building as Beth's doctor that just about got arrested and fined for having patients in the bdlg. Again, Nassau Bay Nazi cops that finally have something to police up & they are taking their job VERY seriously. SO, back to Joshua, I expect the doctor's office will call me to cancel the appointment. I plan to ask them what shots they would give him and then find another doctor to do the 4 month appt. so we don't get out of the well baby exam routine. Plus, sleep is all screwed up anyways, may as well add some shots to it.

If you read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, you know that weeks 12-16 are the time that you are supposed to really try and get a sleep routine in with your baby! HAHA! I guess they need to add a chapter titled, "what the heck do you do when you have evacuated for a hurricane & managed to get sick during that time??" Well, I know what I am going to do. I am going to use it all as an excuse 5 months from now on why my baby doesn't sleep all night....still. :-) Hey, I need something out of this mess! Even an excuse is good!