Hangin out in Rosenberg

Here are some pictures of Matt and his little helper cleaning up his aunt's yard in Rosenberg after Ike left.




We ran out of things to do so I let her have all the Tupperware she wanted!

The Aftermath

Friday night was eerie. Matt and I put Sarabeth to bed around 8 and settled in for the storm. The windows were boarded so there was not much to look at. I woke up several times during the night to the sound of the wind and rain pounding on the roof. I peeked out one of the small windows we left uncovered and I could see all the trees laying sideways on the ground from the wind. We have tons of tall pines in our area and I could see them blowing so far over that I thought they would snap any minute. I eventually fell asleep around 10 and woke up around 12 when the electricity went out. It was so black in our house, I couldn't see anything. I kept taking my flashlight and checking on Sarabeth in the other room. I wanted so bad to move her in bed with us, but I knew that would make for an even longer night. Saturday morning we woke and watched out the one window as the storm continued. The pine tree in the yard across the street had snapped in half into the street and all the neighbors poor little trees were uprooted and blown down the street. The rain was still coming down hard and the wind was blowing all around. It was kind of depressing watching it all but I was amazed at the hugeness of this storm.

Matt and I were talking the week before about God and the weather and he reminded me of a verse in Romans (I think it's 8:22) where Paul talks about the earth groaning in anticipation of the return of Christ. I was reminded of how big my God is. For the first time I realized what "fearing the Lord" meant to me. It was not to be scared of him but to be live in the truth that the same God who created the fury of Hurricane Ike also created me and loves me. I rest in him knowing this. Our family may have to live without some creature comforts for a while, but that pales in comparison to living without a relationship with the one who gives eternal comfort.

Preparing for Ike

Well I made it out of the hospital this morning, just in time to make a last minute run to Kroger(actually my sweet mother-in-law braved the lines at Kroger while I sat in the car) and came home to boarded up windows and the news of Ike on our front door step.

I went to high school with a guy named Ike, he was huge-a linebacker on our football team. Just like this storm coming in, everyone was scared of him.

Matt and Rigo are outside now getting the house ready for us to "shelter in place". What a crappy way to spend our weekend. I feel like do do by the way. This is going to be an adventure I'm sure.

Thanks for your prayers for patience and that I will rest, so far I've tried to clean the kitchen and put laundry away. I think those are both off the list of my things to do for recovery.Go away Ike! We don't like you.

Little miss Sarabeth has no idea what's going on around here.

Tubes, Tonsils and The Park

Ok, so I'm having my tonsils out tomorrow (pray for my husband) so there will probably be no blog update for a while so I'm piling it on today! I'm sure no one will be too sad since the only person who reads this (my mom in law) will be here taking care of us for a week. On to the good stuff...

So after 6 ear infections, it was time. Sarabeth had tubes put in last week :( The surgery took all of 5 minutes. The prep part took longer! The hard part was not being able to feed miss priss when she woke up at 5:00am for our trip to the appointment. She did well considering I fed her at 11:00 pm the night before. She's usually up at 6:30 like clockwork ready for her morning cup of joe (or bottle). After about 2 hours of waiting the nurse came, grabbed her up and took her back. Matt left to get breakfast for us and before he got back, they were done! We waited in the recovery area for about an hour and Sarabeth finally went to sleep. When they first brought her to us she was still coming out of the anesthesia and was not a happy camper. Daddy did his magic and calmed her down. It was tough on our hearts, but she is doing well so far. Here are some fun pictures from our 4 hour adventure:

Waiting in the patient area for the nurse to come

Showing off her new walking skills

Yeah, buttons! We love buttons!
In recovery with Daddy

By the next day, Sarabeth was back to normal. I took her to the park to scope out a birthday part spot (coming soon!) She wanted out of the stroller immediately so I let her play around and get good and dirty. She was fascinated by everything on the ground. She grabbed and tasted whatever she could get her hands on. I don't think she liked the pine cone, although she did bring the stick home with her.

Which one of you tastes better?

Ok, this one!

So much going on around here!

The Landes family has been quite busy the last few weeks and it looks like it's not going to end for a while! Matt is busy working 2 jobs and I'm trying to work 2 but motherhood seems to be taking over my real estate lately. However, it's been so nice to have my own computer tech!

Sarabeth turned 10 months old on Labor Day. She's doing so many funny things now, I just love this stage! Things she can do:
Patty-cake
Wave bye bye
Mimic noises
Play peek-a-boo
Play chase

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks:

Here we are enjoying the Olympics. Sarabeth really loved the gymnastics the best!
We celebrated Matt's birthday on the 13th, complete with a homemade cake. I surprised him with Ilumina, he's been wanting it for months!
This is an every night routine. When Matt gets home, he throws all the pillows in the floor and he and Sarabeth have a ball! She loves to be chased and to hide.
Sarabeth LOVES books. Anytime the house gets quiet, I can find her at this bookshelf with all the books surrounding her. I'm not sure what college hand sign this is but nevertheless, she's excited about something! (This one is for you Katie!)
This little girl still eats anything. This was ravioli night, I think it went over well!
She's so serious in this picture. I always wonder what she's thinking.
Sarabeth and I both love Saturdays when we can wake up and hang out in bed with daddy! She is so giggly in the mornings, I just love it!

I have sooo many more pictures but not so much time to post them all right now. I'm also working on a video of Sarabeth's new trick! Stay tuned for more from the "exciting" life of the Landes'.