The "Great TN Flood 2010"...

My, oh my!... What a weekend it has been for us here in Nashville!... It has literally been raining for 2 days straight! So needless to say we have had record-breaking rainfall!... The weather people said if it had been snow, we would be covered in 16 FEET of snow!!!!... But instead, Middle TN has experienced some devastating flooding in a lot of areas!... We've had our own little "mini-Katrina"!!...
Thank the Lord, our house made it out with practically no damage at all!... But others we not as lucky!.... Here are some pictures just to give you an idea of the flooding that has happened in our beloved Nashville...

This is a picture of one of the interstates... Several parts of the interstate were closed & are still closed because they are under water!... There were people stranded on the interstate for over 5 hours!...



So many people lost EVERYTHING this weekend!... I don't even know how many people's homes were flooded...

A lot of people had to be water rescued from flooded homes & cars! Right now about 30,000 people are without electric, water or phone service... 11 people have died as a result of the water!






Most all schools are closed today because of the rain! {Never in my life, do I remember schools closing due to rain!}... Sadly, there are several schools that are flooded!... On the news, we all watched a school portable being ripped off its foundation & started floating down the interstate... only to be demolished by the current of the water!... UNBELIEVABLE!!...



This is a picture of a school campus... It's completely flooded...



This is the town next to where we live... This is a picture of the square in downtown Lebanon- under water!...

So many businesses were flooded around town too!!...

And one of the saddest of them all... The riverfront in the heart of downtown Nashville is 50 FEET ABOVE FLOOD LEVEL!!!... The Cumberland River has started to cover 1st Ave and started flooding historic downtown establishments like the Wildhorse Saloon!... Even Opryland Hotel had to evacuate all of it's guest!...

Only time will tell really how much devastation there was here and the total loss! One thing is for sure though... We can't thank God enough that all our family & friends made it through safe & with little or no damage at all! {Hallelujah!}

Infant Swim Resource (ISR): Week 2

So last week was our 2nd week of taking Anniston to ISR training... On Friday, Anniston learned how to float all by herself!!!... No floaties- NOTHING! The link to the YouTube video is at the end of this post because I haven't quite learned how to add it directly on my blog yet...

In the video, you'll see her ISR instructor, Maury, take her hands off and Anniston floats by herself! Maury waves her hand in the water underneath Anniston's back to create a current so she knows someone is still close by...

She's made AMAZING progress since her first week! She still doesn't like being away from me & in the water so she still whines a little, but up until the last few lessons she would kick & scream in the water & the first few lessons we were just trying to get Anniston used to having her head & ears in the water & trying to calm her down to get her legs still so she could float... I thought getting her legs to be still was going to be a BIG undertaking because she is CONSTANTLY kicking & wiggling her legs!... She kicks when she's mad, happy, changing her diaper, playing- she's constantly kicking! :) So when she started keeping them still in the water I was amazed!!! I knew going into ISR, what an amazing program this is, but after just 2 weeks I couldn't believe my little 9 month old baby girl was floating all by herself!!! {I can't even float! ;) }

The next step after floating that we will be working on is rolling over in the water (you'll see at the end of the video, Maury started doing that a little)... The point of teaching her to roll over in the water is because if she were to fall in, she needs to know how to navigate in the water to find her air supply and get on her back to float...

The next step, once she's mastered rolling over, is putting her in the pool fully-clothed so we know she's able to rollover & float with all that weight... pretty neat huh?!

I'm not gonna lie, it can get a little difficult watching your baby cry in the water at first because the first week she was so upset when we put her in, but I have to constantly remind myself we are doing this so she knows how to survive in the water if we were ever to have an accident! {God forbid!}... In my research about this program, I read that most people, when they are put in a survival situation, instinctively go back to the first thing they were taught in that situation... Like riding a bike... most of us learned how to ride a bike with the brakes on the pedals... Years later, when we are on a bike that has brakes on the handlebars, when you go to brake suddenly in a "survival situation", your first instinct reaction is to reverse on the pedals to apply the brakes like when you initially learned how to ride... Well it's the same concept with teaching babies ISR... If Anniston were ever put in a survival situation in the water, her instincts should resort to the skills she learned in this program!

I was able to watch a little girl last week who was done with her lessons who swam after us who was testing out... by the end of it all, my eyes were full of tears because I was just amazed by all she could do- and it wasn't even my baby!!... {Can you tell how big of an advocate I am about this! :) }

Anyhoo... here's the link to the video of my sweet baby girl floating in the water... I can't wait to post more as we get further in her lessons! :0)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYkA1ywpU-0

My baby is 9 months old!!...

So I'm a little behind with this post... but better late than never, right!? :)


I can't believe my sweet baby girl is already 9 months old! I can't say enough how fast time is racing by!... We celebrated her 9 months birthday last Monday by taking her out to a restaurant for dinner for the first time!...

We just went out to eat at a Mexican place close to our house because we knew it wouldn't be too crowded and we thought it would be "kid friendly"... We got Anniston set up in one of the restaurant high chairs with her cute pink & brown chair cover & surprisingly she did GREAT!!! Jeremy and I were able to eat & enjoy our dinner while she just played & looked around!


I even got a little daring and gave her a little taste of my guacamole!!! ;)

Then after dinner, the 3 of us went to Target! Up until now, I've always kept Anniston in her car seat & set that inside the shopping cart (or just went by myself) because let's face it, to me, a shopping cart is just as germie as a public restroom!! But with bleach wipes and our trusty shopping cart cover, we were in business! ;)


I think she had a GREAT time!... There's definitely a better "shopping view" out of her car seat and in the shopping cart!... I learned though that I had to pay close attention to how close the cart got to shelves and things because she was trying to grab everything! :)...



{So, I'm aware people with babies probably have been doing stuff like going to restaurants, sitting in high chairs & shopping carts for months, but we don't get out much- especially when "mom" is a germ-a-phob! LOL... we've been a little sheltered}


A few other things we've been up to the last couple weeks...


Trying new foods... One of Anniston's new favorite things is sharing grapes with mom on the couch after her bath...

And her new teething biscuits!...





She hasn't cut any teeth yet! I've been able to see them underneath her gums for a while... it's been like Christmas morning every day waiting to see if "Santa" delivered her teeth yet! Ha :)


And we've also started teaching her how to drive!... It's never too early right!?...

Really, we were waiting for my friend Stephanie to get home & I let Anniston up in the driver's seat & she had a ball!!! She could've played there for hours!

Last Thursday, our friends Stephanie & Drew kept Anniston for a couple hours while we went out to dinner! You can read about their adventures in babysitting for us by clicking here.

I've also still been taking her to swimming everyday... I'm going to try to write a separate post to update everyone on her progress!

March of Dimes & Space Babyfood...

Hi friends!

We had a little bit of a busy weekend!... On Saturday, I had an eye doctor's appointment in the morning, then a baby shower in the afternoon... On Sunday after church, Jeremy and I decided at the last minute to participate in the March of Dimes Walk for Babies event at Centennial Park. We had just signed up a few days before & wasn't sure what to expect but were determined to walk in honor of our own little preemie miracle baby...

After church we had just enough time to run in Bread & Co. to get a sandwich for Jeremy and I and head over to the park and change out of our church clothes & eat in the car! {it wasn't until we were done & got to the event tents that we realized they had lunch provided there! Oh well..}

Once we got settled, we found a nice spot under a tree and fed Sweet Baby girl her very first pre-packaged baby food! {GASP!} ;) ... So as most of you know I've always made my own babyfood for her... It's my new passion in life... I absolutely LOVE doing it! But after months of feeding her all homemade, organic goodness, I've decided to finally try to loosen up a little bit and try not to be so obsessive compulsive about what she eats... Up until now, I've always bought organic fruits, veggies & meat to feed her... but we've come to a crossroad where she'll soon be eating the same food Jeremy & I eat and we by no means eat ALL natural or organic, so it was either change the entire family's lifestyle to organic or slowly introduce baby girl to "real food" ;) I mean I can't keep her sheltered from Cheez-its and hot dogs for all her life right! {What kind of life would that be! ;) }...

Anyhoo... back to the pre-packaged baby food... I found this great stuff called Sprout!... It's organic baby food made by Chef Tyler Florence {who I'm a BIG fan of on the Food Network!}... It comes in this neat, BPA-free container which I refer to as a "space-pouch"...

I found a coupon at Publix for buy one get one free and decided to buy a few to keep on hand because I knew we had a couple days coming up where we weren't going to be able to be home for lunch to feed Anniston.... and Sunday was the BIG day she finally got to try it!...

We fed her the "Sweet potatoes with white beans" one and she loved it!!!...{She hasn't met much she hasn't liked! LOL}... and I felt somewhat comfortable that the ingredients were just sweet potatoes and white beans- the end!... No preservatives or chemicals I couldn't pronounce... We were all happy! {Don't worry, I'm not retiring my Beaba Babycook anytime soon! She's still gonna be a homemade babyfood girl!... We just have a healthy alternative in case of emergencies! ;) }

So after our bellies were all full, we started our walk! :)... It was the PERFECT spring weather in Nashville for a walk around Centenial Park! And to make it even sweeter, our friends Stephanie, Christal, Crystal & their significant others walked too!... This sweet little baby girl slept the entire 2 miles, but at least she participated right! Ha :)

Here we are at the finish line!... Anniston woke up just as we were about to snap the picture!

After the walk, Jeremy took me to Tasti D-lite to get a frozen yogurt!... This had such special meaning for me because while Anniston was in the NICU, Jeremy and I would visit her every day... When the NICU closed for nurse shift change from 6:00-8:00pm, we would go out to dinner somewhere close to the hospital & we would always pass this place while they were building it... I was hoping they would get done in time for us to go, but luckily Anniston got discharged from the hospital before they were done... So it was very fitting that we got to all go after walking in the March of Dimes walk celebrating our healthy baby!... It made my tasty treat even sweeter! :)

Later that evening, Jeremy went to the driving range & Anniston helped me with the laundry! ;) Really, I was cleaning up in our laundry room/guest bathroom & needed somewhere to put her while I cleaned... She had a ball just sitting in the laundry basket playing! LOL

I was also FINALLY able to get some organizing done in her closet & get out some of the toys she's finally big enough for that we've had for a while like this cute pink horsey!

Then it was bath time, then bedtime!... :)

Infant Swimming Resource (ISR): Day 1...

Yesterday was Anniston's first day of swim lessons!...

We enrolled her in Infant Swimming Resource (ISR)... For folks who have never heard of ISR, it is an AMAZING program for infants starting as young as 6 months! It's not your typical swim lessons... For Anniston's age group, they really don't teach them "how to swim"... she will really just learn survival skills if she were to accidentally fall into the water.
The program is pretty INTENSE to say the least!! I've been joking to friends that it's like she's training for the Olympics or something!... We go 5 days a week for at least the next 4 weeks!... But at the end of the program she will be able to rollover and float on her back fully clothed in case she ever falls into the water {heaven forbid!}...

I have been so excited to get her started & had been buying tons of cute little bathing suits for months getting ready for the BIG day!... (Well turns out, they just wear a swim diaper!... Oh well, she'll be ready & fully stocked when our family lake house is done this summer! LOL :)

Our first few days, the instructor said she will basically just be getting used to the water & the feeling of getting water in her ears...

She was doing pretty well at first, then after a couple minutes she had a slight meltdown in the water!... but the instructor warned me that would probably happen!... :(

Overall, I think she did GREAT! :)

I'll try to keep you all updated throughout our training of her progress!... If anyone is interested in finding more out about this program go to http://www.infantswim.com/

Here's a really neat video that shows what she will learn to do by the end of the program...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwBBKVrcF1U

Playdate Picnic...

On Saturday, Anniston had her very first playdate picnic in the park!

My friend, Tonia, has 2 daughters... One who is just 2 months younger than Anniston, so we couldn't wait to get our girls together for a playdate!
The girls were both preemies, so now that they are both over 6 months old & the weather is warming up, it was time to get the together!... :)

We couldn't have asked for better weather! I think this was actually the first time I've ever had a picnic!... I LOVED IT!! And I think Sweet Baby Girl liked it a lot too!... She just sat still and enjoyed being outside and seeing all the people...
Of course I had to take a picture of me & sweet baby in our coordinating playdate outfits! LOL ;)

Then on Sunday we went to church & came home & set the camera up to take a family picture... :)

My friend, Rhiannon, got Baby Girl this pretty dress... She looked just like a little princess today that we had to take a ton of pictures ;)



Later in the afternoon, we all went to Lowe's to look around because we are planning to do some upgrades on our landscaping & deck, so we walked around to get some prices... I have to honestly say, I have never had so much fun at Lowe's before! I got goosebumps looking at brand new washer & dryers and kitchen appliances you would have thought I was in Louis Vuitton or something! LOL :)
Meet my newest obsession!...

Aren't they GORGEOUS!! Who would have thunk I would be fantasizing about a washer & dryer!! My, my, how our priorities change! :)

Well, that's all for now, I need to get ready for bed & get baby girl's things ready for her 1st day of infant swim tomorrow! WooHoo! I'll be sure to blog about that later this week! :)