Nathaniel's Firsts

During the past two weeks, Nater-Bug had quite a few firsts that we want to share with you. Other than his first trip around Texas he also had his first bites of rice cereal and oatmeal, his first time to find he has a delighted screaming voice, his first time to sit up (although supporting himself), and a special first that you have to watch for yourself on the video ....enjoy!

And this concludes the 4th month of life....already such a BOY!

Galveston

Mom had to go back to work yesterday. It was hard to see the island in such distress but a relief that so many structures were still standing. As we drove from our house to Galveston the devastation became progressively worse. First we noticed billboard signs were blown down, then metal was bent in half, chunks of buildings were missing, boats were piled up on the sides of the highway, then we saw pile after pile of unidentifiable rubble. The entire experience was very surreal.

Our facility was 4-6 foot under water following Ike and now, just 16 days later, mold is growing at a rapid rate. We had to go in and take inventory of any surviving items as work crews were already ripping out walls, pulling up carpet, and cleaning the mud and sewage that remained on the floor. Still no power or water is available. It was a bit creepy to be in a building, that is typically so full of activity, in complete darkness with only a flashlight and a dust mask.


Mold in the TR Offices & The Training Kitchen









The Gym & My Office

However, it was nice to reconnect with co-workers, hear the tales of how they and/or their property survived the storm, and see so many come together again. It is funny how only a few weeks ago the job may have been getting old, coworkers may have been getting on each others nerves, and it seemed no one could wait until 5:00 PM each day.....now we are hugging each other, thankful for our jobs, and many said they could not wait to get back to work. Hummm....slight change in perspective.

Seeta, Sybil, & Lori

TLC will rebuild and will be a stronger place. However this (like brain injury) is a marathon and not a sprint. We are currently estimating 6-8 weeks before our long term care facility (TideWay) is up and running again and possibly 6 months before TLC is in full swing again. It is hard to believe... but we are living the history.

Katy

Our final stop on the Great Evacuation Vacation of 2008 was at Grandpa and Grandma Yancy's house in Katy. Nathaniel was extremely happy to be let out of his car seat so he was a real delight. He was laughing, talking, and having a grand time with his grandparents.

San Antonio

What fun it was to stop in San Antonio to cheer for Isabel Scott during her soccer game (Go Fire Ants!). Mommy got to visit with her best friend from college and meet Marlee, the newest addition to the Scott family. She is a doll. We are looking forward to spending more time with them next month at JB's wedding.

Midland

Next stop...Midland. We were able to spend a few days at Grandma D and Big Daddy's house. Nathaniel and his crazy cousin Craig had a lot of fun together (although Craig continues to be very interested in sucking on Nathaniel's head every chance he gets). We were able to celebrate Barbara and Anson's 4th Anniversary with them during the visit.

Amarillo and Lubbock

So the Great Evacuation Vacation of 2008 took us to West Texas. First stop was mom's old stomping grounds....Amarillo. It was so great to be able to catch up with old friends, to meet and/or see kids that are quite larger than mom thinks they should be, and to spend time showing off Nathaniel.

George Cumming was an unbelievably great host and allowed us to stay in his home for a few days. He also made sure we were all well fed (Yum!). His wife Janice passed away a month ago, so it was a bit tough because we really miss Janice but it was good to see he and Kimberly doing well. One of the best things on the trip was getting to hang out with Eli. He is such a fun little guy.

Here are pictures of the people we did get to visit. Sorry we did not have time to see everyone we would have liked to.

Wayne & Bonnie Hopper

Preston, Emily and John Moore

Christy Heuston Kristi, Markus, & Acacia Barker

We also got to visit Ronnie Hall at WTAMU where mom got her undergrad degree. It has changed quite a bit. In fact, mom was really surprised when she ran into Rebecca Hilton on campus, since she used to babysit her. They grow up so quickly :)

Then we drove down to Lubbock - GO RED RAIDERS! This is where mom got her OT degree. However the reason we stopped was to be able to visit TLC co-workers and clients. Our facility ended up evacuating to Lubbock where TLC just opened a new branch. So we were able to meet up with Gabby, Shawn, Jason, Sarah, and some of the Lubbock folks. They are doing an amazing job keeping things going in Lubbock. Mom is really blessed with great co-workers and has been amazed at how well they seem to be doing, depsite not knowing how their homes are yet.

Cousins

Before we had to evacuate, we were planning on going up to Rockwall to celebrate my cousin Logan's 7th birthday with him. Due to hurricane Ike, we altered our plans but we were able to meet up with everyone at PF Changs in Dallas for a quick lunch to celebrate Auntie Leslie's birthday. And it was actually Nicci's birthday the day we met up with everyone. So we were able to celebrate everyone's birthdays and get a couple pics with the cousins.

Our stay in Denton

The Velazquez family really blessed us by allowing us (and our zoo) to stay with them for 8 days. We are so lucky to have them in our lives! We really had a good time in Denton and were kinda sad to leave.Nathaniel with Sarah, our gracious hostess!

Chillin' with my beautiful lady friends - Abby and Izzy Obert

First bites of rice cereal - he did awesome with it.

What can I say? The kid loves to eat!It was nice to see John and really nice of him to help Daddy clean up the mess around our house

I love my Daddy!

So now we begin our Great Evacuation Vacation of 2008. First stop....Amarillo, TX.

Our house (to yours maybe)

Ted and his friend John spent the last few days cleaning up around the house. We had a lot of debris, some down limbs, a cracked window, and the fence was blown down but nothing major. Our biggest loss was all the fish in our large tank did not survive and it was apparently a big stinky mess that Ted cleaned up- oh yeah, and I lost all my frozen breast milk :( We know we are some of the lucky ones, living 25 miles north of Galveston made a huge difference in the amount of damage.

We do rejoice that our house made it, although we do realize it is "just stuff". We have many friends who do not have homes any more, friends who have lost loved ones, and friends who out of work for an undetermined amount of time. Please continue to pray for them, this is not an easy time for anyone.

Our current plans, as of this moment, are to take some time and travel across Texas visiting friends and loved ones. We were reminded how very precious all of you are to us and since we have time now, don't be too surprised if there is a call from the Yancy family in your area!

and now....

If it is not one thing, it is another...Nathaniel was sick a few weeks ago with an ear infection and on the way up (already 5 days ago) he became more and more congested. As it got worse, we struggled with taking him to urgent care or a doctor. Sarah had a friend who recommended her doc at Cooks Children. They were able to get him in right away. They were amazing! The entire facility was so nice, the doctor we saw found out we were evacuees and he provided us free treatment and free samples. It really touched us. There are still good people out there, despite all the price gouging and nasty stuff going on in the world. It gave us a little hope in humanity again.

Ted got sick last night and spend some quality time bowing to the porcelain god; so he did not return home today as previously planned. Dan, Nicci, and the girls are making their way home now. Last 2 times I spoke with them they were stuck in line waiting for gas. Although we are encouraging them to fill up and turn back around, they are determined to press on. So we will see what lays ahead.

Latest news on our jobs is that TLC got 4-6 feet of flooding and the entire power infrastructure in Galveston is demolished so it may be a long time before there is power on the island again. On the bright side of things, this means I get to be a stay at home mom again for awhile. :)

Our House

Rumor has it that our house is still standing, with minimal damage (from the outside). Thank God. Ted is planning on returning home tomorrow to survey the land. Latest report is that some of our subdivision is getting power back already but our neighborhood has not. Keep us in your prayers.....more to come

Communial Living Ain't So Bad

So Hurricane Ike has ripped thorough the US. We are not yet allowed to return home and we really have no idea how extensive the damage is. And yet, we have so much to be thankful for.....right now my husband and son are sleeping safely in a room across the house, I have friends who were generous enough to let us come up and stay as long as we need, I have made contact with co-workers and church families who may not be in the best situations but are alive and doing well, I have had tons of calls, e-mails, and texts from friends and family just to let me know they care. These are the important things in life.

We seriously are having a great time in Denton right now, let me give you the current living situation for us....in one house we have
6 adults
5 cats
3 dogs
3 infants (the most beautiful and talented babies in the world)
and 1 parrot

and the amazing thing is we are having a blast. We are enjoying each others company, having fun with the babies, and eating well! So don't worry about us at all. The guys may head home as soon as the city will allow it so check out our homes and get things in order but Nicci and I are not planning on heading back with the babies until we know power is restored and mosquitoes are under control. However, with that being said, we do realize that not everyone is as fortunate as we are and there are millions in the Houston/Galveston area who need prayers and when we do return, there will be tons of work to do.

Thanks for checking in, we will continue to keep you posted and we will be posting pictures soon.

Evacuating Hurricane Ike

Yes we did get out! We are currently staying with some of our good friends, Sarah and Xavier Velazquez in Denton. The Oberts were also able to come up this way with us, so we are having a great time with our friends but continue to be worried about our co-workers and all our friends back home. Please continue to pray for this situation. We will have a lot to clean up when we get home.