Flood Waters on the Rise

Yesterday morning, shortly after my last post, Columbus Junction lost their hard-fought battle with the river. As we all know, water will seek the lowest point of entry, and it managed to make its way through the lesser guarded back door, so to speak. This underestimated point of entry was noticed and sandbagging began in the early morning hours, but it was too little, too late. As you can see in the following picture, the main levee was holding its own, and the water remained at bay.
In this next picture, the water started to make its way across the main road through the downtown area, toward the majority of the businesses. You can see the water on the left side of the picture, slowly seeping into town. Across this street stands several businesses, the old "Deaton's Columbus Bowl" being one of them. Will's mother owned this bowling alley for 21 years before selling it in the summer of 2007.
Later that evening, the large levee protecting most of the downtown area (the front door) was breached, allowing a massive influx of river water into CJ. What followed was complete devastation of the downtown area. Many bystanders watched in horror as the water devoured business after business. In this picture, you can see (from left to right) Casey's General Store, Subway, Dollar General, and the CJ Motel. Behind the motel is a storage unit and daycare center. Behind Subway is a small strip of businesses, including an insurance agency and chiropractor's office. All of these buildings are flooded.In less than an hour, the water rose to levels higher than about 9 feet in some places. The following picture shows the businesses that sit in the lowest point in CJ. The small structure to the very left in the pic is a shed that floated into the parking lot from a nearby residential property. The larger tan building contains L & B, an RN/LPN/CNA staffing agency, and New You, a workout center for women, both businesses owned by the same family. Behind the CarQuest sign, there is a Senior Citizen's Center, which is almost completely under water. At this point, you could still visualize about 4 feet of the peak of the roof of that building. The blue sloping-roof building is the bowling alley. There is an awning over the door to that building that is completely covered with water. The destruction of this business, in particular, is very difficult for Will, his mother, and sisters. The kids were practically raised in that bowling alley, so it's pretty emotional for them to see their old "home away from home" in such a horrible way. Everything within that building will be a total loss. The machines ruined, the lanes warped, and all the remaining equipment water damaged beyond repair. It's a bittersweet moment for my mother-in-law, as luck would have it, she no longer "owns" the place, but her emotional investment goes much beyond an monetary loss that she could have incurred. I feel horrible for what they're going through. The building between the bowling alley and the auto parts store (on the right side) contains a dentist office, HyVee drug store, doctor's office, Gip's Consignment shop, and Economart, the only local grocery store. As of this morning, the windows were broken out of Economart, due to all the water pressure. One of the worst aspects of this flood is that nobody had flood insurance on their business. After the flood of 1993, flood insurance became outrageously priced, and quite frankly, these small business owners just couldn't afford it! I don't really know what that means for the financial status of these business owners, but I can imagine it's not going to put them in a very good position. It's very sad.
This is going to be a big adjustment for everyone who does or did call Columbus Junction their hometown. It just makes you sick to see everything in ruins. The clean-up is going to be a LONG process, and the emotional healing, possibly longer.

My mom, brother, and cousin temporarily moved back into their old house that's on the market but hadn't sold. They don't have water, but they have a safe dry place to live and sleep! So far, it sounds like my mom's place in Fredonia remains dry. Hopefully, it will stay that way, and they will be able to return sooner rather than later! I'll keep you updated on any further developments.

Mandatory Evacuation

Hi, everyone! I know it's been FOREVER since I posted on here, and let me tell you there's lots of stories and BIG news that need to wrote about! After looking at some of my friends' blogs, I thought I should take a few minutes and write something in ours.

As you all know, Iowa (our home state) is in a state of disaster. Something like 89 of the 99 counties in Iowa are experiencing some sort of devastation at the moment. Our own hometown of Columbus Junction is looking more and more like a "war zone" every day (that is per my mother-in-law, who has been active in assisting the evacuation of the downtown area). I spoke to my dad today, who runs a rock quarry/sand plant in CJ, and he said that they are loading trucks as fast as they can with rock (I believe they ran out of sand) to be added to the man-made levees. He said that they are taking the rock as fast as they can make it! Pictures we have received are just amazing. The town has really come together to try and prevent flood waters from damaging everything in their path. I guess there are several semi trucks at the high school that are filled with the belongings from different stores and businesses from the downtown area.In the top picture, this levee is being built along the Iowa river, and the lower picture shows the levee along Highway 92, the main highway that runs through CJ. Both of these levees are built to protect the downtown businesses and city water system.

In this picture, you can see the bridge is blocked off to get downtown, and on the right side of the pic, you can see the water coming up to the levee.

Here, you can see some of the devastation up close, as a home is beginning to flood.

I spoke to my mom today, who lives in the neighboring town of Fredonia, and they are being forced to evacuate their home. They are not too worried that their home will be flooded, though, because someone from the Army Corps of Engineers has estimated that the river would need to rise to 43-44 feet to get into the house, and SO FAR, it's expected to crest at 38 feet. We'll see. The scary part is just that it's so damn unpredictable. I mean, I guess you can project what looks like might happen, but looking at the pictures and video from Cedar Rapids, Cedar Falls, and Iowa City, the future for most of CJ and Fredonia looks pretty grim. I feel awful for everyone there. It must be heartbreaking to watch your town and everything you know and own threatened by Mother Nature. What an awful experience.

I just spoke to my dad again, and they have turned off the water in CJ. Supposedly, the man-made levee (in the above pics) is about to break. Once that happens, the river water will flood all of downtown and contaminate the city water. It's a true disaster, and honestly, as bad as it is there, I wish we were there to help! It's such a helpless feeling, sitting here, watching the news, talking to family, watching and waiting. Waiting for what? I'm not entirely sure! I just know I would feel better if I could help sandbag or evacuate something. It's just hard to watch and do nothing to help.

So far, the only people in our family having to evacuate is my mom, brother, and cousin. I'll try to keep everyone updated as we find out more. Keep our family and town in your prayers!

The Littlest (almost) Skinny Dipper!

Over the weekend, Maya decided it would be a great time to go wading around in Lake Bella Vista. Never mind the 60 (or less) degree water! Hypothermia? Not a concern. When I took her down to the water's edge, the idea was to let the water touch her little pigs. I had no idea that Maya intended on bathing in the lake! With her first few steps, I took off her leg warmers. Then off came the skirt. Shortly after this picture was taken, we ditched the t-shirt, too. She walked around in her diaper for probably a good 10+ minutes. She loved it! I think there's a good chance she will be a little fish!

Maya has an Announcement!!

MAYA'S GOING TO BE A BIG SISTER!!! We found out the day before my birthday that we're expecting Baby #2! What a birthday present!! I had been only slightly suspicious that I might be pregnant, but denial had set in a bit and hushed my rational self. Just last week, I got online and checked into signing up for a mini-triathlon. I'd been working out with a trainer and trying desperately to shed pounds and get my "old body" back. For whatever reason, while I was reading the specifics about the triathlon, I clicked on the medical information. I felt compelled to check on their policy regarding dropping out of the race for "medical reasons" (pregnancy, specifically). What I found was that the competitor would basically be out of luck, taken off the roster, and not issued a refund. I decided that just to be safe, I would wait for a week, make sure I wasn't pregnant, then I would sign up. In the meantime, I kind of forgot about that whole incident. The week of my birthday, every morning I would wake up, get out of bed, and within 3 minutes, I would be drenched in sweat. I jokingly said to Will, "I think I'm going through menopause... I keep getting all these hot flashes!" We would laugh about it, but I really wondered why my temperature was so out of whack every morning! Also, that same week, I bet I had 4 different conversations with people about when we were going to start trying for baby #2. They would usually go like this:
Person: So, when do you think you guys will start trying for another baby?
Me: We're not sure.
Person: How much space do you want between Maya and the next baby?
Me: THAT'S what we can't figure out. We're thinking 2-3 years, but we're not sure!

Guess what? Now, we don't have to worry about it!! The age spacing has been decided for us, and we don't have to take responsibility for that decision! I worry about having them too close together. I don't want either of them to feel short-changed. At the same time, I'm really excited about it, because there's a good chance that they'll be best of friends. I'm due on Christmas Eve 2008, so that will put them 19 months apart. Two babies in diapers, two babies in cribs, and one exhausted mother trying to keep up with a busy toddler and a newborn! It's going to be fun!! (Feel free, if not compelled, to come over and help at any time with anything. I promise, I will never turn down the offer.)

In the above picture, Maya's shirt says, "I'm going to be a BIG SISTER!", and she's holding the baby's ultrasound picture. We decided to wait to tell our family until Maya and I made our trip back to Iowa on May 12th. Maya wore her little t-shirt to surprise everyone with our secret. It was funny how long it took people to notice the shirt, then to see how long it took them to figure it out... well, it was pretty funny. I thought I would die with anticipation, sitting silently, waiting for someone, ANYONE, to read the shirt and figure it out! Once they got it, everyone was very excited. Will's sister, Tara, was the funniest. She looks at Maya, then looks at me and goes, "So, does that mean... I mean, are you? Now?" Hahaha... I said yes, and she goes, "Well, I didn't know if it meant soon or just sometime in the future!" It was really funny. My dad totally didn't get it. My stepmom and two littlest brothers saw the shirt, got it, and started congratulating and hugging me. My dad looked really puzzled and said, "WHAT?!" Everyone was like, "SHE'S GOING TO HAVE A BABY!" Overall, it was a really fun way to tell everyone. It was extremely difficult to keep the secret for so long, though.

There were people I told right away, though. I called my mom that night and said, "Oh, I forgot to tell you something about Maya." This is at like 11pm in Iowa. She goes, "What's that?" I said, "She's going to be a big sister." My mom responds very quietly, "Are you serious?" I lost it. I started jumping around the room, shouting "yes!" and "Maya's going to be a big sister!" My mom started screaming on the other end, "Oh my gosh...!!" She was so excited. Two days later, there was a gathering with a bunch of my friends, and I told all of them, too. They were all very shocked and excited for us. I also called my dad in Arizona, brother in Illinois, and close friends near Detroit, Eric and Mary. They were all very excited for us to have another baby. For the most part, everyone said that they were totally surprised, that was caught them off guard, that they weren't expecting to hear that news. My only response was, "So are we!" I was actually on birth control pills when we conceived this baby! My cycles had been totally screwed up since we had Maya, and I had NO IDEA when my last period was. Beings as I am a nurse, one would assume that I would know this information. Believe me, I felt REALLY stupid not knowing! I had no way to try to figure out my due date or anything! I was totally clueless. I thought it had been awhile, but I couldn't remember how long. I've never written it down! I've never had a reason to. Prior to having Maya, my cycle ran like clockwork. Believe me, it felt very odd saying "I don't have any idea" when my family and friends would ask my due date!

This pregnancy has proved to me that, ultimately, I am not the one who's in control of my life. We certainly weren't planning on having a baby by the end of this year, but obviously, God had other plans. I can't express how grateful and joyful I am about this pregnancy. As I said before, I no longer have to stress over how much time is the right amount of time to put between our babies, nor do I have any reason to feel guilty over "short-changing" either of our kids. I have complete confidence that everything will work itself out, and nobody will be short-changed in the process. It's interesting how different I feel about this pregnancy than I felt about my pregnancy with Maya. Since Maya followed my miscarriage, I was terrified to be pregnant again. I was very nervous about carrying her through the first trimester, and really, my nerves didn't settle until I could feel her moving around regularly. With this baby, it's totally different. I feel like this baby is a total gift from God, that He brought this baby to life, and I can't believe that it would be possible that He would take this baby that He is ultimately responsible for, away from me. Since I feel that God is responsible for this pregnancy, I have an incredible feeling of peace, that everything will be okay. It's quite wonderful to feel at ease, especially during the first trimester. It's a feeling that I'm really not used to! This pregnancy has been such a surprise and a blessing to our family. We are so very excited to meet this baby and see what Maya thinks of her little brother or sister! I think it's going to be a little difficult for her to share the spotlight at first, but I have no doubt that she will be an awesome BIG SISTER!! (She actually seems too little to be a BIG sister!)

First Drink of Cow's Milk

Maya tried cow's milk for the first time today! I poured about half a sippy cup full of whole milk and handed it over to her. She grabbed the cup, put the straw in her mouth, and took one little sip. To my surprise, she promptly sat the cup back onto the table, looked up at me, and SHOOK HER HEAD "NO"!! What could I do but laugh?? It was so stinkin' cute! Then, my second thought was, "Oh, crap. What if she doesn't like cow's milk?!" By the time she was done with lunch, she had sucked down the rest of the milk. No more yucky faces. No more shaking her head "no". YAY!! Success! She'll drink cow's milk, and that's WAY cheaper than formula!!!

Girls' Night Out!

I met up with some friends tonight for dinner in GR. We hadn't gotten together for quite some time, so it was great to see everyone again. I've missed you guys!! We had good food, great conversation (mostly about kiddos), and just an awesome time being together. Everyone was in agreement that moms NEED time out for themselves. Being a mom is a tough 24/7 assignment, and it's imperative to get out of the house and do something just for ourselves every once in a while. I think it makes me a better person, a better mom, and better wife. Everyone needs a break now and then. What better way to spend some time out of the house than with other amazing women?! (BTW... Thanks, Will for watching the Munchkin!)

Maya tried to take some more steps today, with our coaxing, of course. She is doing pretty well, taking 2-3 steps at a time! FYI, there's a video of her taking some steps on our website! There's a link on the front page to the video, and Will put up a ton of pictures on Maya's page. Check it out!

Happy Birthday to ME!

We celebrated my 27th birthday today! Maya slept in for an hour, until 8:10am, so that started the day off with a great gift from her! Will made me some pancakes for breakfast, my favorite! They were delicious! We ate lunch at Jimmy John's, my favorite sub place, and later, we went for some ice cream! Will also took me to the mall to shop for some cooler clothes (as in temperature... it's starting to warm up here, and I'm tired of wearing jeans when it's almost 80 degrees!). It was one of those times when I really did need to find something and turned up with nothing. Bummer. We wrapped up my birthday by watching "Juno", which was a really cute movie. It's worth a rental. It was a great birthday!

Oh my goodness, it wasn't until I got on here to write this quick note that I realized I haven't written a blog in almost 3 months!! I guess I totally blew my New Year's resolution, huh? Well, as a "happy birthday to me" gift, I'm going to TRY to a least write one back blog every night, and if there's time, one current blog. Bear with me if I don't stick to it exactly, but I promise I will try.

Oh, yeah, another birthday gift... Maya attempted some steps today!! Will and I were sitting on the floor facing each other, and we took turns standing her up, then making her let go of our hands and try to make it a couple of steps to the other out-stretched hands. She did it a few times, sometimes more steady than others, and every once in a while, she would just belly flop on the floor, kind of just dive forward. I think it was her way of saying, "I don't really care to be doing this. I like holding your hands to walk, and I'm really good at crawling. What's the rush?" She been crawling for 4 months now! I guess she'll go when she's good and ready. When she's ready, she'll be off and running. Of that, I am certain.