Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

November 20 was finally the day when lil Ms Sissy G rolled over for the first time.  She was one day shy of being 5 months old. 

We have been trying for months but Sissy is so laid back that she was always perfectly content to just stay on her belly but today was different.

Happy girl!

First she started twisting her body this way and that.  I knew that she could roll over if she wanted to....it was just a matter of if she wanted to.

Bubby was there for encouragement.

And to show her how to do it.  Apparently Marley wanted to join in on the rolling around fun too.

One last bit of advice and then....

She started twisting more.  She was so close but each time she would get this far she wouldn't go ahead and finish the roll.

Soooo close.
Finally she was able to complete the roll over and I feel blessed to say I got it on video.  Check out the video link below.  But remember that Sissy is very laid back and likes to take her time on things so it is possibly one of the slowest roll overs ever.

Rolling Over For The First Time

So proud of our lil girl. 

And so was Bubby G.  Giving her congratulatory hugs.  Rolling over comes and then next will be crawling and then walking and then before I know it she will be walking down the aisle..... this is NOT good.  She can slow down a lil with this whole growing up thing.

Twister

Last Saturday Bubby G and I spent the day raking leaves.

It was a bit of a windy day which made it more difficult but watching Bubby G jumping into the leaves and having a blast made it all worth it.

There were times I would be raking the leaves and turn back around and see no sign of the lil guy and I'd start yelling his name.  He'd then pop his out from under the pile of leaves and say, "Here I am, Mama."

I only got about 1/4 of the yard done though because the wind kept getting stronger and stronger so I figured I'd finish it the next day.  I had no idea that the next day the storms would be so strong in our area that the leaves we raked would be all over the yard again.  I had no idea that the next day we would not only have storms....

But tornadoes.
Church had just let out and the tornado sirens went off.  People looked on their phones to see what the weather was like and if everyone was okay to travel or if we should go back inside the church and get in the basement.  It looked as if there were a couple tornadoes around the area including one near the town we were going but we figured by the time we got there it would be gone so we decided to go ahead and chance it and head toward my parents house to eat our Sunday meal.  You gotta understand that most of the time in Illinois when a tornado siren goes off nothing happens so we really believed we were going to be fine.  Although, the extremely warm temperatures that day did give you an eerie feeling.
We are driving along, my mom and dad were in the vehicle ahead of us and they said to just follow them.  In my car was my grandma and my two kiddos.  While we were driving I see off in the distance what looks like a big cloud of smoke on the ground but when I looked up in the sky I could see the clouds rotating in a circle above it.  I turned to my grandma and said, "I think a tornado is forming."  I called my dad to tell him but they had already saw it.  Not knowing which way the tornado was going to go we decided to keep driving straight.  I felt comfortable following my dad knowing he would make the right decision as far as where to drive, but then I started to notice that he didn't know what he was going to do.  He would slow down and put his turn signal on then continue going straight then slam the brakes on again and then go straight again.  By that time the bottom and top of the tornado had connected and was heading our way getting bigger and bigger and closer and closer.  I'm thinking in my mind that we are going to have to get out of the car and probably make a run for it to somebody's house so I have my grandma crawl back and unbuckle Bubby G.  I kept trying to figure out how I was going to get both of my kids out of the car quickly.  The winds were really picking up at this point and when I say that the tornado was basically right on top of us I am not exaggerating.  We get into the town of New Minden and my dad suddenly takes a turn towards the east.  The tornado was travel northeast.  Apparently, at this point my parents looked in their rearview mirror and saw our car and it looked as if we were IN the tornado.  At this point I get a phone call from Mr. G.  About 5 minutes prior to this I had called him to tell him to go to go straight home and get in the bathtub because tornadoes were popping up all over the place.  But when he called all I had time to say was, "We are in a tornado.  Please pray!"  And then I hung up.  At this point  our car was getting hit with debris but we were able to keep driving.  Once we were about a mile away from the tornado was when I was able to turn and through our back window take a picture of it.  We drove a bit farther and then stopped and watched the tornado pass by which was quickly followed by .....

A beautiful rainbow.  If felt as if another tornado could form at anytime so we stopped at an old farm house and asked the old woman living there if we could stay in her house till the storm passed.  The sweet lady had no idea what was going on and acted as if we were kind of crazy for being so shook up.  I call Mr. G back at this point and he was in tears.  Apparently, he had been driving home when he called me and after I told him we were in a tornado he pulled to the side of the road and started yelling at God to please not take his family away from him.  It turns out that the tornado that we were in was an F4 tornado and we were in route to meet up with the tornado at the intersection of New Minden where it tore apart several homes, a church, and a gas station, and killed two people.  Every day I still see pictures of that tornado in my head forming and coming right towards us.  I really hope that I never get that close to another tornado ever again.  The whole thing felt like I was in the movie Twister.  And I'm pretty sure I will never again watch that movie.

 Once the blue skies were out we headed on towards my parents house.  Along the way we saw where the tornado had directly hit and it was a terrible site.  Just 6 months ago or so a new modular home was put here and now it is completely gone. 

We went on to eat lunch but we were all still very shook up.  Our phones were also ringing off the hook as everyone was checking in to see if we were okay.  During the commotion we sat Sissy G in the highchair for the first time....but she wasn't a big fan of it.

Eventually we headed on home ourselves and the whole way home even though the skies were as blue as I'd ever seen them I was keeping my eyes peeled for another tornado.  I still feel so very thankful that we were able to make it through the tornado with no injuries.  It's one thing to be in a tornado but its a totally different thing when you are in a tornado with your kids.  My mother-bear instincts definitely kicked in and I was willing to do anything to keep my two precious kiddos out of harms way. It meant the world to me to be able to look in my rear view mirror and see the kids sleeping peacefully. 

To top it all off...when we got home we saw that Bubby G's tree didn't make it through the storm.

But if you know me very well at all you know that I am gonna have a hard time parting with that tree.  So if you come to our house a see a dead tree in our garage don't judge me.

Thank you, Lord, for Your safety during the storm.  Thank You for allowing us to get away from the tornado and not endure any injuries.  I pray for the families all around the midwest who have lost their homes or lost loved ones.  I can't imagine what they are going through and I pray that through it all they will find peace and comfort through You.  I also pray that You will show me and my family ways that we can help those in need.  I love You, Lord.  In Jesus name, Amen.

Wacha and More

As some of you might remember about 3 years ago we adopted our dog Marley.  We found him in the middle of the road dirty, wet, matted, and covered in fleas.  We found his home but after witnessing the owner beat him and throw him in the cage with no food or water I decided to ask the man if I could take him home with me.  The man agreed and that is how we ended up with our sweet dog, Marley. 

Now there is another dog who has walked into our lives.  He too has been rescued from an abusive home.  His name was Wick and he is about 11 years old.  My mom is the one who found Wick and was able to get him out of the terrible home he was living in and two days ago Wick came to our house to stay.  We weren't a big fan of the name Wick so we renamed him Wacha....after the St. Louis Cardinals pitcher.

As you can well imagine Bubby G is crazy about Wacha.  He is already taking care of him by feeding him and taking him out to the bathroom.

He is a beautiful dog with just the sweetest eyes.

He's smart too.  I can tell him to go to bed and actually listens to me.

The first night at home with us and he was sound asleep sitting in my lap.

Just part of the family.

I don't know how long Wacha will live but I hope he finds rest and peace at our home for as long as he has left here on earth.

Moving on to some of the other major events in our lives.  Sissy G has now started to enjoy her dolls and stuffed animals. 

Holding onto her bear while sucking her fingers.

Here's Sissy G after her bath keeping a close eye on her....

Bubby G.  Gotta love that silly face.

After bath snuggles.

It's not very often I can get these two to sit still and look at the camera....

So I took advantage of it.

I want you to notice how nice and white and clean Sissy G's pajamas look.

Cuz the next morning this is what I woke up too.

And she thought it was the funniest thing.

Singing songs at church.

Playing with her Minnie Mouse.

Bubby G keeping a close watch on her.

Showing his Sissy how the toy works.

Who goes there?

Just chillin' next to her Minnie Mouse.

Some new things happened recently.  Bubby G drew on the wall for the first time as well as the couch.  Fun times.

Marley is actually sound asleep in this picture.

Enjoying some strawberry milk.

Chillin' in his lazy boy recliner watching some 'Toons.

Toppled over but she doesn't seem to mind.

Lil Miss Smiley here was sitting on the chair with her baby doll and kept flashing me the cutest grins....

So you're gonna be stuck seeing all the pictures I took.

This one is my favorite....

But they are all so stinkin' cute. 

Okay....last one...Promise.

Bubby G and Marley watching their morning cartoons together.

Sunday morning smiles.  I love when she scrunches her nose up like that.

Woke up with some crazy hair this morning.

Shocking....I know.

Here's a little better view of the crazy hair.

But as usual....she doesn't seem to mind one bit.

End of the day drawing time.  Bubby G has really gotten into drawing and Sissy likes .... well...anything Bubby G does.

So.... it was time to leave and I threw Bubby G his stocking hat and told him to put it on while I got Sissy's shoes on.  I turned around and this is what I saw.  We were running late but I had to take the time to snap a picture... it was just too cute.

Silly boy.

Helping mommy do laundry.

There's her smile.

Bubby G was helping too.

Helping mommy fold the clean clothes.

Then I thought...hey...why not dress Sissy up in some of my clothes.

Looking good Sis!

"Is my mommy nuts?"

Then we had more dressing up fun while we were getting supper ready.

Only this time it was Bubby G having the fun at Sissy's expense.

You know....the hat looks cute...but check out that belly.

If her jacket was red you could call her Little Red Riding Hood.

Bubby G taking my picture with his camera phone while I take a picture of him with my camera phone.
If I haven't said it before.... I sure do love my life!!!