The Great Flood {2011}

Yesterday I posted about the flooding in Memphis. I wanted to share some pictures with you. Luckily, I've only seen most of this flooding from the comfort of my own living room. While Chris and I were downtown for the Grizzlies game Saturday night though, I had him drive me down by the river to see it. I didn't get out and take pics though b/c there were TONS of people doing that... and frankly, it's annoying. I didn't want to be one of "those" people in my own town! ha! So, I went to the local news websites and got some that people had uploaded there. It's unbelieveable! It was jaw dropping to see in person the other night.. never in my life have it see it like this!

homes on Mud Island

Riverside and Beale - see the paddleboats almost street level... usually they are WAY below street level! Typically you have to walk down ALOT of cobblestone to get to them!

more of Mud Island

People are sandbagging non-stop

great arial shot

what's left above water at Mud Island River Park

I thought that this was a great "before and after" portrayal! Tom Lee Park is underwater and so is his statue! Luckily, they made the decision days ago to go ahead and move the Memphis In May BBQ Festival. It's going to be held at Tiger Lane this year. Another "first" in my life! ha!

The good news is that the river has finally crested!! It hit is crest at 47.8 feet. Just shy of the record hit in 1937. Flood stage is 34 feet! And it's not just downtown that has seen these awful floods; it's all over parts of the city! Bad news is that the water will still be around for a while as it goes down! My prayers are with those who have lost so much due to this flooding.. it's devastating! Ol' Man River is having no mercy on Memphis!

My Shirt Helps - Memphis

I'm sure by now most of you are aware of the devastating floods in Memphis and other towns along the Mississippi River. Never in my life have I seen the Mighty Mississippi quite like this. I've lived in Memphis my entire life and I didn't even know that we had flood gate.. if that tells you anything! The flood footage is just beyond words and heartbreaking. Luckily, our home and all of our friends and family's homes are safe and sound. The only thing we've lost is the Hunt's cabin on Tunica lake. The lake feeds directly off the river and the water rose to the ceiling. Like I said though, we are all beyond blessed!

I am urging everyone to go to facebook and "like" one of these t-shirts from My Shirt Helps! My Shirt Helps will be giving 100% of net proceeds to the chosen charity for each shirt design. The designers that created Nashville Flood Tees, that has given over $200,000 to date for flood relief in the middle tennessee area, decided to take their idea to the next level.

Let's all join together and get the Memphis t-shirts in production and help the city I love along the way!!

I am one blessed lady...

I had an absolutely fabulous Mother's Day! I can not even begin to tell you how blessed I am with an amazing husband and the sweetest children in the world!! Seriously!

I woke up Sunday morning to 3 smiling faces (well, 4.. i'm pretty sure Huck was smiling too!) ;) each wishing me a Happy Mother's Day. The kiddos then told me that they wanted to take me to breakfast, so off we went! I got to enjoy a YUMMY southern breakfast complete with buttered grits, country fried steak and sausage & biscuits! It was DELISH! After breakfast, we went ahead and did our grocery shopping. Then, it was off to Gram's house for a late lunch and fun in the water! The pool is still very cold, but the kiddos definitely didn't mind!

Dont they look precious in their new bathing suits??!

LOVING the 3D chalk!

ha! i love that little toothless grin! :) (which btw is yet AGAIN cavity free!! yay!! SO proud of her! - her teeth are perfect except for for her jaw being too small for her teeth.. looks like we'll be at the orthodontist in 6mo!)

I picked up a new sprinkler for them at PBO.. they LOVED it! :)

 

After a little bit of sprinkler time, it was POOL time!! I'm still hoping and praying that they dont end up with ear infections from the cold water! ;)

They had a blast pushing each other in the pool!

We had so much fun at Grams! I came home with new flowers for my hanging baskets on the porch!! :) Not to mention that I am IN LOVE with my fabulous Mother's Day gifts from Chris and the kiddos!!!!

Chris surprised me with these beauties.... Kate Spade "Aspen" sunglasses! They've been on my wish list for a few weeks now! :)

Ethan made me the most adorable (and yummy smelling) candle at school! It's lavender, in a mason jar! Right up my alley!! :) LK put together a photo album for me, along with a sweet little book they put together at school. Each child listed different things that they liked to do with their Mom. LK put:

Favorite thing to do with my mom... go shopping with her.

My mom looks best when... she is in her black dress with white polka dots.

I know my mom loves me when... I go to bed at night.

If I have children I will... treat them like my mom treats me.

The best thing about my mo is... she lets me get ice cream.

I wouldn't trade my mom for... anything.

Is that not the sweetest??!!! I sure do love that girl! :) All in all a fabulous Mother's Day! I enjoyed every single minute of it! I hope all you Mommy's had a wonderful Mother's Day too! :)

A movie & Basketball

We have had a super fun weekend around our house!! I'll start with Friday.. Chris took Ethan to see the new movie, Thor! Actually, all the guys got to go.. Chris, Ethan, Papa and Brian! I dont know who had the most fun?! ;) Ethan is REALLY into superheroes and especially the "Avengers". Thor is part of the Avengers, along with Captain America. His new movie comes out in a few weeks! What a fun summer to be a little boy!!

Of course, E had to have a Thor helmet and lightening hammer for the movie!! ;)

While, the boys were at the movies, LK got to hang out with Noni and Brittany. I'm told they enjoyed some yummy mexican and some girl shopping at Target! I was supposed to go, but opted to watch a movie in bed instead. (which actually turned into laundry, ironing and cleaning the kitchen! ha! hey.. you have to use your "alone" time wisely as a mom!!)

I woke up the next morning to this:

He is one happy boy!

Chris had to work Saturday morning, so I finished my cleaning while the kiddos played. After he got home, we dropped them off at Noni and Papa's house so that we could have a little "grown-up" time. We ended up getting tickets to the Grizzlies game! It was a blast!!

I have never in my life seen so many people at the FedEx Forum! Even at almost 8 months pregnant, I had so much fun!! I felt bad for Chris though b/c as we were leaving everyone was celebrating the big win on Beale.. of course, we couldn't b/c of Baby Gray! He was a trooper though! I owe him several nights out after baby comes! ;)

We had so much fun! Luckily, the game started at 4 b/c I dont think I could have lasted much longer! ;)

We also had a wonder Mother's Day and I was spoiled yet again.. I'll post later!

29 Weeks

{please excuse my terrible look!! it was at the end of a LONG day!}

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 29 weeks

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 20 pounds

Maternity Clothes: Pretty much all maternity clothes! 

Best Moment this week: Getting to see an up close and personal ultrasound of just about every inch of Gray's little body!

Gender: It's A Boy - Gray Davis

Movement: Yes it is AMAZING!

Food Craving: No real cravings.. I did give in and have a few sushi rolls though! It was shrimp, so nothing too terrible! ha!

What I miss: Sleeping on my stomach! It is IMPOSSIBLE to get comfortable at night!

 Sleep: I am for the most part very uncomfortable
.

What I am looking forward to: Finally meeting Gray!! I hope that these last 10 week FLY by!! (well, actually only 8.. she said that she'd let me go 2 weeks early!! HORRAY!)


Belly Button: In for now, but it looks like it is going to POP out!

Symptoms: Heartburn. I am happy to report that my appointment with the High Risk Specialist went very well! They did an extremely thorough ultrasound (it took an hour! seriously!) and then explained to me all about Gestational Diabeties. I never had that with Ethan! I am now testing my blood sugar after every meal and it's been going great! The only things i've really had to cut down on are milk at dinner (i am a HUGE milk drinker!!) and regular coke. It's what I drink in the morning instead of coffee. I've switched to Coke Zero. No calories and carbs but still gives me my caffiene! So i'm not TOOO grouchy! haha! ;)

someone is VERY excited about being a Big 4-legged Brother!!

 

my sweet baby

he sure is handsome.. but is the BIGGEST baby on the planet! gosh, i love him! :)

Taking it easy..

We haven't really done a whole lot lately.. the 3rd trimester is starting to kick in! :(

Our weekend pretty much consisted of running a few errands, a birthday party, and an early Father's Day gift! Friday, I ventured out to Saddlecreek to peruse the Vera Bradley Sidewalk Sale. I came away with some GREAT deals!!! Baby Gray now has his new VB baby bag and backpack, and Mommy came away with a new tote - all three for less than $100! I was a happy lady! We also made a stop for some new Sperry's for E. After Chris got home, we went to dinner and then went by Bass Pro Shop so Chris could pick up a Columbia fishing shirt that he's been wanting. Little did I know, but we would be coming home with his early Father's Day gift, as well!

 Ethan spotted all of the hunting and fishing Wii games and had a ball!!! A few of these will definitely be added to his birthday list! :)

Saturday, Chris had to work, so I cleaned out the kid's rooms and re-organized them. It completely wore me out! After lunch, I dropped LK off at the movie theater for a friend's birthday party. They saw Rio and LK said it was great! The rest of us are itching to see it! :) While she was the party, E and I went by PBO and WSO and found some goodies.

After Chris got home, we picked LK up and then went to visit my grandfather's grave. It was his birthday, so we took balloons and flowers for him! We miss Popie VERY much!! Then a quick dinner and back home.

Sunday consisted of a few more errands to run and then off to Bass Pro again to pick up Chris' new toy... a kayak! He's been wanting one for forever and I promised him that I'd get him one before Gray arrived. I figured with 3 kids at home that he'd need a little "me" time out on the Wolf River! ;) Usually he and Huck go and run the trails, so I know he will really enjoy this! Unfortunately it will be a while before he can test it out since Memphis is so flooded!

So... HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, CHRIS!!! We love you and are so thankful for you!! :)

One of the goodies that we picked up at WSO was these awesome pancake molds!! The kids LOVE them!!! Chris made them for us Sunday morning. Hilarious that the Darth Vadar one came out darker!

The storms have subsided for now.. hopefully for a while! It has been absolutely crazy and unpredictable though. While we were in Kroger on Sunday, the sirens went off AGAIN and we had to very quickly gather up the essentials and head home! You should have seen this big old preggo belly running through the parking lot with a cart full of groceries, two kids (one yelling "the TOMATO sirens, Mommy!!!" b/c he can't say tornado) and a huge belly! That was a sight for sure! For the most part, we have escaped damage.. I can't say the same for the rest of the neighborhood!

This is literally right around the corner...

Trees down... streets completely blocked off.. scary stuff!

The worst part was that when this damage happened, the sirens didn't even go off!!!! The wind picked up, our electricity went off and 20 min later I saw this! I was shocked!!

Poor Huck is terrified of the storms.. he wont leave our sides when it gets scary outside!

Well, that's our update for now! ha! SOOO exciting, I know! ;) Here's some older pics that Chris sent me from his phone..

LK at the Easter Egg Hunt!

 E at the Redbirds game!!