Baby!

Just a quick post to let everyone know, we're having another baby! We found out I was pregnant just a few weeks ago. My first OB appointment isn't for another 2 weeks, so we don't have an official due date yet. However, if our estimates are right, I'll be due in August (2009). All of the boys think it is girl. I would love to have a girl, but I have an inkling that it might be another boy. We'll just have to wait and see. Seth has already started picking out names, his favorite is Sari (from Transformers Animated). Well, just wanted to let everyone know. We'll keep you updated.

Vacation Rerouted

The extended Palmer family had been planning all year to go to Galveston Island for our summer vacation/family reunion, a tradition started about 3 or 4 years ago. Everyone was excited and so ready to relax at the beach. Then, Hurricane Ike hit the Galveston/Houston area. Galveston Island was basically shut-down and locked up. Linda still wanted to get the family together since everyone was going different ways during the holidays and it would be the last chance for everyone to get together. So vacation was rerouted to Frisco, home of the grandparents. It was a little crazy with the shift in plans but it was a lot of fun. Aaron ended up having the whole week off due to power loss and such at work and with employees. So we left Wednesday for the 4 hour drive to Dallas (instead of the planned 1 hr trip to Galveston). We put together a scavenger hunt for the kids and other fun stuff. Friday, we went to the Texas Rangers baseball game in Arlington. Saturday, Aaron went to Six Flags with his sisters and brother-in-laws. I (the motion sick one of the family) took the kids to the Dallas World Aquarium with Grandma. I loved it and I think the boys did too. We also took our yearly family pictures. Check out the vacation photo album to see some of our pictures. It was nice to spend time with family, especially since the Youngs and the newest addition, Xylee, were moving to Utah for a few months.

It was also nice to get away for awhile from the craziness that is Houston post-hurricane. At that point, it was still difficult to get gasoline, many people were without power, and there were lines outside of grocery stores just to get in. We were afraid we might not be able to get home because while in Dallas there were freeway signs saying things like "Do not go to Houston," "Limited fuel between here and Houston," and stuff like that. Luckily, things had calmed down by the time we returned and we even managed to visit Aunt Sandy and her boys in Conroe on our way home. They had their power returned just a couple of days prior to us coming back. After almost a month of postponed and rerouted activities and unplanned "vacations," we are finding "relaxation" in the return of normalcy to our lives.

Romeo and Juliet

New neighbors moved in next door just a couple of weeks ago. They have kids Seth's age and 8 yrs-old. We made a point to introduce ourselves since, the kids had already met and were exchanging toys and cards through a hole in the fence. The neighbors soon learned that they could climb up their tree and rest on the fence. Our boys figured out that they could climb the fencing left out from Cocoa's kennel, to reach the top.

Amazingly Seth really hit it off with 8 yr-old Alyssa, who also loves Transformers and Pokemon. Seth moves faster than I've ever seen when he hears Alyssa outside calling for him. He'll also play outside for hours when she's outside as well. I looked out the window one day to see this scene. In the back of my mind I heard "Romeo, O Romeo, wherefore art thou O Romeo." :)

Hurricane Y"Ike"s

Many people have called to check up on us here in Houston after we received a direct hit from Category 2 Hurricane Ike. So, I thought I'd blog to let everyone know how we were as well as to document our experience.

We found out about the Hurricane evacuations Thursday morning. The Houston area is divided into evacuation zones, from coastal to A through the alphabet. We're in Zone X. Zones Coastal, A, B, and C were under mandatory evacuation. The rest of Houston area was being advised to stay and shelter in place. So, being unprepared, I ran to the store to stock up on essentials as well as getting some much needed groceries. At just 9am the stores were already packed and sold out of water and other essentials. We did the best we could to get the things we needed and get prepared. Since we are on the northwestern side of Houston, we prepared ourselves to weather the storm. Friday, we cleaned up debris outdoors, washed all our laundry and dishes, and set up the boys twin beds in the hallway of the house (the most central place without windows).
The boys loved it. We explained to them the hurricane and how we needed to be safe. They thought it was like a pajama party with flashlights. Luckily this kept them from being scared.We put Cocoa in a makeshift kennel in the garage. We tried bringing him inside at one point but he was so anxious we couldn't keep him under control. Our power went out about 4 am Saturday morning. Then, the storm hit us about 7 or 8am. It was scary. You could hear the winds howling and the rain pelting the house. It continued for about an hour or so. Amazingly the boys slept through most of the hurricane. When they woke up, we stayed in the hallway until we felt safe. The boys loved reading books with flashlights.

By about 10 am the hurricane had pretty much passed completely. We even opened some of the windows to let in some wind to cool off. The power came back on around 4pm and luckily, I cranked the A/C because the power went out again around 11pm. Poor Joshua, got sick and started throwing up around 4am. As soon as we got him back to bed, he'd throw up again. He was so tired Aaron set him up with a pillow and blanket in the bathroom. By 8am the power was back on and has mostly been on since. We have running water but are being urged to boil it or drink bottled water for now.

It has been quite an experience. As far as we can tell no damage has been done to our home or most of the homes in the neighborhood. However, the empty retention pond behind our house is now about half full. Now, the plan is to help others and wait until things return to normal. We didn't have church Sunday and Aaron won't go back to work until Wednesday. We were fortunate but we have heard that others, even in our area of Houston, weren't as fortunate. Two days later, Aaron's Uncle Paul and Aunt Meg are still without power, and she's on critical lifecare machines. Luckily they have a generator to keep everything running. We know that we have been truly blessed and thank our Heavenly Father repeatedly. Thank you to all those who checked on us, helped us, and kept us informed.

Frustrated but Started

So, I had this beautifully created blog page made. Then, I tried fiddling with it, completely ruined it, couldn't fix it, and had to delete it. So I'm starting again, frustrated, but ready to try again. I hope that this blog will help us to keep everyone updated and informed. Thanks for reading!