10 YEARS AGO

The first church built in Slidell in 1886.  Photo taken in 2013.  

Ten years ago, I was a freshman at LSU.  I'd come home to Slidell, a city just north of New Orleans, for the weekend to celebrate my younger sister's birthday.  Instead of birthday festivities, we were driving away from home, about 1,000 miles away, to where our nearest family lived, to escape one of the deadliest hurricanes in recorded history, Katrina.

My story isn't that noteworthy compared to many I know.  I wasn't there when the water came in.  I didn't witness the destruction of all of my possessions.  I wasn't rescued from my rooftop.  I didn't watch a loved one taken away by the water.  My loss was nothing compared to what many experienced.

A few days after Katrina made landfall, I had to return back home.  With zero cell phone reception, I boarded a plane headed for Baton Rouge hoping one of my friends got my e-mail asking for a ride from the airport.  Otherwise, my plan was to look for a police officer, or maybe a woman with children who'd be willing to drive me back to my dorm.  My first flight, I was the only person on the plane besides the captain and flight attendant.  Thankfully, when I arrived in Baton Rouge, my friend was there waiting.

About a week later, I was able to catch a ride back to my hometown, unsure of if my home would even resemble how I left it.  The drive that normally took a little over an hour, took six.  So many trees were down everywhere, it felt empty.  Without power, the darkness felt pretty eerie, almost scary like the scene from a horror movie.  And the smell.  The smell was a combination of death and decay, and it lingered for too long.

At home, we had one A/C window unit run by a generator and we ate MREs.  No trees fell on our house.  No water came in.  No one I loved or even knew had died.  We were very fortunate.

Over the years I've met people who shared their stories of loss with a numbness.  People who had to throw away their only family photos because they were saturated or covered in mold.  People who came home to the piece of land that their house once stood on.  People who witnessed what happens when evil preys on the weak during times of devastation.  People who were in the Superdome when the lights were out, when the toilets overflowed, when the children were crying because they were hot and hungry, when the women were crying because they were raped.  Bodies floating.  Newborns separated from their mothers when hospitals were evacuated.  Elderly in nursing homes left behind to drown.

Thankfully, that's only some of the stories.  Just a few even.  Most of the people I know, even those who experienced loss, can also share stories of the blessings they experienced after the storm.  Stories of those who opened their homes to the homeless and food to the hungry.  Stories of strangers who left their comfortable homes to camp in parking lots so they could help gut and rebuild a house or a church.  Stories of how the storm, despite being the most devastating time in their entire life, had restored their faith in God and in humanity.

Like everyone I know from Louisiana who has since moved away---I might be here in Texas, but today my heart is in Louisiana.

The pilings of a former home washed away by Katrina.  Photo taken 2013.

27 WEEK BUMP

How far along: 27 weeks---the last week of my second trimester!
Due: Thanksgiving 2015

Gender: Don't know, won't know.  

Weight gain: ...like almost 25 lbs (insert wide-eyed emoji) which leads me to believe my scale was wrong last time and that I must have a 20 pound baby in my belly

Belly button in or out: Not really in or out---more like it's flush with the rest of my stomach

Sleep: You know, not so great.  It could be our super uncomfortable prison mattress.  Jon and I recently ordered a new mattress and I'm pretty psyched about it.  

Movement: There's been a lot of kicking on my right side.   

Cravings: Strawberry kefir and cottage cheese have been pretty tasty lately.
Food aversion: I don't really have any aversions at the moment.  When I was pregnant with Violet, and for like a year after, there were a bunch of foods I couldn't even say without shuddering.     

Feeling: Pretty great most of the time.  I get some lower back pains occasionally and some unpleasant reflux at night sometimes.  Nothing really compares to how horrible I felt during my first trimester with Violet though, so all this stuff is just a walk in the park.  

Fun fact: Baby Polk weighs about 2 pounds and is about as long a head of cauliflower! 

VIOLET LATELY

It has been so incredibly hot here in Texas, going outside to play is pretty much not happening.  Seriously, I never see any of my neighbors, or kids riding their bikes, or people walking their dogs.  Some might call this a heat wave, but I'm gonna go ahead and call it like it is.  This is a heat tsunami.  Our outside time is basically walking to and from our car when running errands.  Of course Violet is at the stage where she wants to buckle herself into her carseat and I just patiently melt in the sun until she's done, because it's too cute to see the sense of achievement on her face when she's done.  

Violet is about 21 and a half months old now and she is such a little sponge.  She is fascinated with numbers, colors, learning her body parts, and just new words in general.  Poopall is purple.  Hawk is heart.  Gagoo is goggles.  And for the past two mornings when I asked her what she wanted for breakfast, she said, "Ummmm, eye pea (ice cream)?"  No, Violet, we're not having ice cream.  What else do you want?  "Ummm, ookie (cookies)?"  Ya can't blame a girl for trying though!

She doesn't like food on her face or hands even more than ever.  Any minor things that go wrong---her tower of blocks falls over, she accidentally tears a stickers, or she spills her bowl of frozen peas (at least she's eating vegetables, right?) it's like some biblical disaster has occurred.

Despite her toddler meltdowns---like when she flipped out because I put some bananas in the freezer---she's still the sweetest little girl.  She likes to feed her baby doll grapes, and share her banana with Neil, and give Jon all of her chicken stickers.  And all day long I get hugs and kisses, so I can't complain too much.    

24 WEEK BUMP

How far along: 24 weeks
Due: Thanksgiving 2015

Gender: Don't know, won't know.  

Weight gain: about 15 lbs 

Belly button in or out: In

Sleep: Sleep is good!  

Movement: Baby does a lot of late night dancing!    

Cravings: My weakness is definitely sweets.  I can hear the mint chocolate chip ice cream (or "eye pea" as Violet says) in my freezer calling my name right now.
Food aversion: Ugh.  Sweet tea.  Sweet tea used to be my meth.  I could not say no.  However, it doesn't taste quite as good coming up as it does going down.  So, I think sweet tea and I are gonna take a little break.  

Feeling: 98% of the time I feel totally normal---minus the alien movement going on inside my belly.  The other 2% of the time I am having random nausea/throwing up and sciatic nerve pains shooting down into my hip. 

Fun fact: Baby Polk weighs more than a pound and is about as long as an ear of corn! 

Other news: We finally had an ultrasound done a couple of weeks ago.  Only Baby Polk knows his or her gender.  He or she was sitting up and even the ultrasound technician wasn't able to see.  It was so exciting to see the baby's fingers moving around and little baby feet kicking.  Sweet Violet wasn't too keen on what was going on though and was pushing the ultrasound tech's hand away!

VIOLET'S FIRST FLIGHT + OUR NEW ENGLAND ADVENTURE

Last week, Jon's boss told him he had to go on a business trip to Connecticut.  Within a matter of hours, we decided Violet and I should travel along and make a little mini vacay of it.  I immediately began scouring Pinterest for tips and tricks on how to keep Violet occupied during our four hour flight.  Per the advice of the Pinterest gods, I had a new distraction activity planned for every 15 minutes.  I had post-its, Band-aids, Wonder Markers, pipe cleaners, an etch-a-sketch, a calculator, a DVD player (along with some annoying 90's sing-a-longs), tape, mini pom poms, a pill box (for opening and closing a million times), lots of snacks, a cereal necklace, Play-Doh, and hundreds and hundreds of stickers.

I had all this crap organized.  I was ready.  Then reality hit me in the face like a purse full of bricks.

So as we're going through security, Jon's bag tests positive for explosives.  Naturally they want to look inside and stuff inside tests positive for explosives.  (Obviously it just didn't occur to us to wipe down our stuff after playing with explosives.  We'll know better next time.  Un-bunch those panties TSA---this is just a joke.)  So then they sent for someone "official."  They used words like "interrogation" and told me not to have any physical contact with Jon.  Finally, it's determined Jon is in fact NOT a terrorist and we're free to go.

We make it to our departure gate with a few minutes to spare.  Just as it's time to board, they announce the flight is delayed for 30 minutes.  Then another 30 minutes, and another, and another, and another.  Turns out our plane's primary and secondary systems (not sure what they are, but they sound important) failed inspection and we were getting a new plane.

After about two and a half hours waiting to board, we are finally allowed onto the plane.  All the passengers are quick to buckle up so we can get this show on the road.  Then they tell us our second plane's smoke alarms aren't working and need to be fixed, but it'll only take 30-45 minutes.  (30-45 minutes really meant an hour and a half.)

So the smoke alarms are finally working and we're good to go.  Then they decide to change the flight crew.

We finally arrive at our destination four hours late.

For the next three and a half days we spent time with family.  It was nice to just relax and enjoy being outside in not-one-hundred-degree weather.  

On the day of our departure, we were nervous, but optimistic that things couldn't possibly be worse than our flight there.  But this is real life and poop happens.  Our first flight home was delayed, causing us to miss our connecting flight---despite our attempts to run to the gate with a backpack, a purse, a diaper bag, a carry on, a car seat, and Violet.  I'm not kidding, we missed it by 5 minutes.  FIVE MINUTES.  So, after an hour in a customer service line, we spent the night five hours in some Chicago hotel.

We finally made it home.  A day late and nine dollars short, because that's how much room service yogurt costs.

So, the moral of this story is, don't fly United.  And pack thousands of stickers, not hundreds.

20 WEEK BUMP

How far along: 20 weeks---We're halfway there!  (Holy crap.)
Due: Thanksgiving 2015

Gender: Don't know, won't know.  

Weight gain: about 12 lbs 

Belly button in or out: In

Sleep: We're all finally recovered from sinus infections/colds, which means Violet is sleeping through the night again, which means I'm sleeping more than 4 consecutive hours at a time!  Wahoo!  

Movement: I can feel the baby moving around daily.  

Cravings: I am having a serious sweet tooth---specifically pumpkin flavored foods.  This week alone I've purchased pumpkin waffles and a pumpkin pie.  I would have also gotten some pumpkin snaps that appealed to my pregnant heart, but I already purchased a pie that day...and some cookies...and some chocolate peanut butter cups.
Food aversion: None.  Pretty much all food is appealing.  

Feeling: I think this is the part where I get to eat my words, and then throw them up.  Earlier in the week I was having some morning sickness again.  What the eff.  Thankfully it only lasted a few days.  Girl, bye.

Fun fact: Baby Polk is the size of a banana and is producing meconium!  If you don't know what meconium is, consider yourself lucky.  

Other news: We met with our new midwife this week.  Our home is less than 5 minutes from the closest hospital, so, assuming my pregnancy continues to be a healthy one, the plan is to have a home birth.  I'll share more as the pregnancy progresses.  

TWENTY THINGS ABOUT MY 20 MONTH OLD

This kid.

At 20 months old, Violet definitely has a personality all her own.  She is wild and sweet and funny.

Here are twenty things about this child that makes us love her more than we ever thought we could.

1. Maybe you noticed from the picture above, my daughter is wearing a swim diaper on her head. This is her new thing.  She has a fascination with hats and all things you can put on your head and pretend is a hat, including, but not limited to hand towels, a potty training seat, underwear, and pants.
2. She doesn't like food on her face, but doesn't mind at all if it's in her hair.  All in her hair.
3. She hides behind chairs and under tables to poop.  I can confirm it by asking her...and then she runs.
4. I've mentioned before how my daughter is a monkey.  I mean it.  She uses the handles to climb up the cabinets.  Next month, she'll be scaling skyscrapers. 
5. Violet likes to look in the mirror and make faces, which then immediately cracks her up laughing. 
6. There are two foods she dances for.  Bananas and milk.  
7. I don't want to jinx myself, but Violet has been a champion at brushing her teeth these past THREE days.  Before that, it was easier brushing my cats teeth than hers.
8. Violet is an independent woman.  She likes to help put away the dishes, sit in a real chair to eat, drink out of a real cup, and eat using real utensils.  None of that baby crap.
9. She says "thank you" when she gets something, and also when she gives something.  
10. She hates cartoons, but loves the most God-awful, early 90's sing-alongs. 
11. Violet learned how to jump.  So now she jumps all over the place, including her crib when it's supposed to be bedtime.
12. I brought Violet to a gymnastics class for the first time last week and she freakin' loved it.
13.  She's finally been sleeping through the night on a regular basis.  So I guess this means I have a couple months of good sleep before it starts all over again. 
14. She is a heathen in Lowes.  Jesus take the wheel.  We don't know why.
15. I think we're within the realm of the "terrible twos" because yesterday she flipped the eff out because I pulled the wrapper all the way off the cheese stick.  
16. Whenever Violet falls down or hurts herself, she says, "Wuh happen???"
17. And anytime she drops somethings or can't do something by herself, she says, in a very dramatic tone, "OH NOOOOOOO!!!!!"
18. She likes to crumple into a ball fold clothes with me.
19. Her favorite part about our weekly trip to the grocery store is the free cookie she gets from the bakery.  She called them ookie.
20. First thing in the morning is my favorite time with her.  She's super cuddly.  She'll rest her head on me and gently put her hands on my face.  She's pretty much the sweetest little girl alive.