Why Andi and Natalie can't play together

Little background info: Natalie's teachers at school reward good behavior with stickers, so Mom has been giving Natalie stickers too. She really loves them, what kid doesn't?

Those of you that know my family know that Andi and Natalie have to be separated most of the time. They absolutely cannot be around each other if there is food or something else Andi really loves (like my Mom) out. Poor Andi has had to live in "Andi Jail" for the last year or so. It's really not that bad of a set up, she has her own room, her own futon and all her food, water and toys. She also spends all of Natalie's sleeping time out and about as well as anytime we're out of the house, so don't feel too sorry for her. Anyway, slowly but surely I've been letting Natalie and Andi have a little play time together. I guess Andi was a really good girl this morning:


Funniest part of all of this... I didn't find poor Andi in all her sticker glory for a few hours. I didn't notice as I was running out the door to take Natalie to school this morning and after I dropped her off I ran to the grocery store. It wasn't until I got home that I noticed her condition. I found even more stickers in her bed. Poor dog, she's a good sport.

One of my greatest fears are...

Tornadoes.

I'm not kidding. Tornadoes literally induce a state of panic in me. I couldn't sit through the movie "Twister" when it was in theaters, I refused to ride the "Twister" ride at Universal Studios. I have recurring tornado dreams, usually where I'm running from one, especially if I'm going through something particularly stressful or worrisome. Every time there's a thunderstorm or weird weather I start checking the updates every five minutes or so... just in case.

Last year I heard of WRAL's weather alert phone call program. For $8 a year you can sign up to receive a phone call in the event you're in the direct path of a tornado. Naturally I jumped at this opportunity knowing I would most likely never receive a phone call.

"Never" came early Tuesday morning. At 6:45 a.m. the phone rang, I answered and was greeted by a recording of our local meteorologist's pleasant voice saying "Take cover immediately". A wave of sheer horror washed over me and as I ran towards Natalie's room I felt as if I was in a dream. You know the ones where your legs just won't move? It felt like it took me an hour to reach her.

We ran downstairs and she watched patiently as I quickly emptied our utility closet, I shoved her in and I shut the door. We got the "all clear" a short ten minutes later and fortunately there was no damage anywhere near us. My poor Granddad was without power for several hours, though.

The tornado touched down at 6:44 a.m. I am immensely thankful that WRAL got the warning out to me in under one minute. We were very lucky and I can't stop thinking about how $8 could have saved our lives.

Apparently I did a really good job of hiding my fears, Natalie thought our morning camp out in the closet was a blast and wouldn't come out after!

I need a cookie!

All good things must come to an end

We had to leave the beach today, and I'm pretty sure Natalie will be heartbroken forever. At least she left in style:



Natalie does not like the car wash. At all.

My little beach bum

29 v 29

I tend to think maternity pictures are awkward and weird and as a result I literally have one picture of my belly from when I was pregnant with Natalie. I was 29 weeks and took it as a joke for my friend Heather who always laughs at the typical hands-on-hips-while-thrusting-belly-forward pictures. Anyway, I thought it would be fun to continue the tradition, so here I am 29 weeks with Nick and 29 weeks with Natalie. Which belly do you think is bigger? I think Natalie.

Nick:

Natalie:

Fort Fisher Aquarium

We've had an incredibly eventful beach trip! We've gone to farmers market, eaten doughnuts, ridden on boats, played on the beach (which, by the way, was significantly better than I had anticipated) and gone to the Fort Fisher Aquarium. Natalie has been such a good girl and we're having a lot of fun. Begin photo bomb: