Hurricane Irene

Dear Isabella,

Last night, you slept through your very first hurricane. It's rare that we actually get a hurricane up here in New Jersey, but we did! It was scary, I won't lie to you about it. Mommy didn't get much sleep last night. I may have slept for about 3 hours. But you? You slept on the air mattress in between Mommy and Daddy. I first had you in your Pack n Play, but when the tornado warnings started, I scooped you up and first went into the closet (we camped out in the basement for the night) and then took you behind the bar. 

Oh, honey, it was scary! I hope and pray that when you are a mom, you never have to fear a storm like that. There were so many tornado warnings in the area for three hours. We thankfully never got anything like that. The Lord protected us, for sure. It's been windy, and of course, it's been windy enough that a piece of siding fell from one of the homes in our unit, but we're still not sure if it's from our home or a neighbor's home. The trees are still standing (for now) and I'm praying that the Lord continues to protect us as we go through the rest of the day with the tail end of Irene the Beast. 

Mommy is so glad that you slept through the storm. You were restless at times, but Mommy wasn't asleep anyway, so it was okay last night. I can't even begin to tell you how it feels to hear the warning messages on the TV for a tornado, pray that you don't lose power, scoop a baby up, and go hide somewhere safe. I was very fearful of what Irene had to offer us, none of the things we would ever want. I never want you to experience a night with that many scary tornadoes touching down everywhere. I have never experienced that before last night, and I really would prefer to never experience that again.

This morning, the flooding is insane. They knew all along that the flooding would be the main problem. I am thankful that we got less rain that originally predicted, but it's not a whole lot less and many roads are flooded. Mom-Mom and Poppy still have electricity, but the basement has flooded. Aunt Peggy is by a river, but they did open the flood gates, so hopefully, the river will not rise above flood stage, since she chose to stay home. But only God knows what will happen!!

Oh, Isabella, I am just so glad we were able to buy a home that has been our safe place, our refuge. It has kept us safe thus far, God will continue to watch over us. Right now, you are sleeping on Daddy's chest and it's just a beautiful thing. It's a picture of peace after the storm. I love you very much!


Love,
Mom