Preparing for Earl (and any that follow)

We suddenly realized this weekend that while we have the food and diaper supply we need in the event of a major hurricane making a direct hit here, we didn't have things like matches and bottled water, so we've spent the last couple of days finishing off our emergency supply kit. It was complete until last year when the nor'easter and Ida combined to cause major flooding, and then we ended up with some of our supplies being destroyed. I'm pretty sure we have most of what we need now.

We're working on getting the back yard tidied now. We have a lot of loose fence pieces, as Justin is working on disassembling some fencing so it can be turned into a new fence, so those will all have to be moved into a safer location. There are some other odds and ends that need to be moved as well.

Right now it looks like we're just going to get the edge of Earl, but the projected path keeps going back and forth. We have been in the potential path three times in the last 24 hours. Right now we're directly under the edge of the 5 day cone, so we'll see if that changes anytime soon.

To make it better, Fiona is a tropical storm, and is quickly catching up to Earl. I somewhat wonder if Earl will absorb Fiona and become even larger, or if we're going to have two hurricanes come one after the other, as Fiona's projected path has changed quite dramatically in the last 12 hours!

Other than weather news... Elias is 2 months old, and has met all of his 2 month and I think some of the 3 month milestones, I think. He finally started lifting his head off the floor when on his tummy... and at the same time started pushing his chest off the floor as well! He loves to talk to anyone and anything that will listen... makes it very useful to have stuffed toys around, because if it has a face he talks to it! He's just full of smiles all day, and we love getting those big grins out of him. It's hard to catch them on camera though!

And, Justin's on vacation this week, so we're spending the time doing family activities (beach, park, potentially a museum or two) and getting ready for what appears to be a major pickup in the hurricanes/tropical storms in the Atlantic. :)

We've been quite busy around here the last month or so, and I hadn't realized it had been a full month since I put anything on here!

Rebecca likes to colour, and often gets quite focused on what she's doing. :)

Elias enjoys swinging in his swing, although I'm starting to wonder if he gets motion sickness, because most times that I put him in it, whether he was recently fed or not, he starts spitting up a lot (hence the bib)!

These two ADORE each other. Elias is starting to greet Rebecca with a smile, and she does similarly. They're going to be quite the pair when he's big enough to get around on his own! Not sure I look forward to those days, LOL!

We were given a set of foamy tiles that can build a play area from the pastor at church. He had used the black sides (on the bottoms) as a floor cover for a weight room, until they had their daughter. At that point they turned the weight room into a nursery, and just put the tiles into the attic, so they were thrilled to find someone who was wanting/needing them! I did a little 6 week photo shoot with Elias on those tiles while Rebecca was asleep one day, and the following pictures are from that.

Rebecca decided to go 'swimming' in the puddle at the end of our drive way last week. She got mud all over from head to toe... starting out by dunking her head in it, and then lying down in the puddle! I put an end to the puddle play when she started drinking the water. I'm just glad that they're finding that nursing children receive special enzymes that coat their intestinal tract to prevent bacteria from entering the blood stream! Good thing she still nurses!!

Rebecca has recently discovered how to work the spray bottle, and loves to play with it. She spent about an hour one afternoon spraying the bottle in her face. It's a great way to cool off around here when day-time temperatures are still reaching 100F or more!

In immigration news, we received notice for my next biometrics appointment. Apparently they want my fingerprints and picture again! I was reading online that with recent remodeling of the immigration laws, there are actually people who aren't having to complete the second interview, and instead are just receiving their 10yr green card without having to jump through that last hoop. I'm kinda hoping we're going to be one of those couples, because I really think it would be a pain to have to take two very young children to that interview!

Oh, and Rebecca is now fully toilet trained (at least I think so). She VERY rarely has accidents unless she's sleeping quite soundly, and often wakes from a nights sleep being dry as well. I'm quite impressed that she's fully trained at 21 months, and am not anticipating it being quite that easy with Elias. Definitely not expecting it to be as early as with her! It would sure be nice if he decided to train that early and easily though!

Anyway, I think that's all the updates on everyone I have for this past month... but I could have missed things, so hopefully that's everything!

Large number of pictures :)

Rebecca is starting to dress herself, and was particularly proud of herself this day... despite forgetting ANYTHING on the bottom portion of herself, aside from a pair of shoes!