I can't believe it has been almost a month since my last post. This is obviously what happens when you return to work after being at home for an entire year. Sorry for how long this is, but I wanted to update on the craziness.
I will begin this post with Snowmageddon 2014. This past Tuesday morning, I watched the snow falling outside my classroom window. Students asked if they were getting out of school early, to which I replied, "The news said we would just get a dusting, so I don't think we will get out early today." I watched as the snow came down harder and harder. I texted David to say that it looked like I was going to get stranded in Liberty Park if a decision wasn't made to close the schools soon. At 10:00, a call was made that we would close at 11:30. I received a call that Amelia's school would close early as well, so I left my school at 10:50 to go get Amelia. I tried to get out of Liberty Park for an hour and had to return back to the school because there was no way out. Amelia was my main concern, and I begged David to get to her. I knew there was a real possibility that I would be spending the night at my school, and I didn't want Amelia spending the night at hers. We made some phone calls and my grandparents thought they could get to her. My grandfather was able to drive his ATV to her school and pick her up. She stayed with my grandparents and my cousin, Dusty, who was able to make it to their house. David made a break for it with a coworker who had four wheel drive. It took them almost 4 hours, but they made it to the house. All afternoon, I had been in a group text with some of my neighbors. I found out that my next door neighbor was at the Federal Reserve building in Liberty Park and could probably get to me in his four wheel drive truck. I knew this was the best chance that I would have to get out of my school and get home that night. Around 5:00, Brian pulled up in front of the school. He took me back to the Federal Reserve building with him and fed me dinner. Around 7:30, we decided to take our chance and try to get home. We almost wrecked twice from sliding on black ice, but we finally made it home around 9:30! I have never been so glad to be home! I was then ready to go retrieve Amelia. I spoke to my grandmother and my cousin and they both assured me that Amelia was fine and was falling asleep on the pallet they made for her on the floor. Amelia ended up spending her second night away from us since we brought her home from China a year ago. They told me to stay at home and come get her the next day if I was able to drive safely. David ended up driving to pick up my sister-in-law, Toni, who is 7 months pregnant and was stranded at one of our neighbor's houses, She came to our house for the night until my brother could meet us the next day. This ends day one.
We woke up early on Wednesday morning ready to make a plan to retrieve Amelia and get Toni to Will. We left our house around 8:00 in David's jeep with four wheel drive and drove to my grandparents' house. It was touch and go for a minute, but we were able to get through this:
We made it safely to their house, and Amelia was THRILLED to see us! I teared up when she jumped into my arms. I was so relieved to have her with me. My grandmother said she did great and slept all night. We decided to leave Toni there because Will was driving his four wheeler to come pick her up.
David took us home and then took Dusty to get his truck. He ended up being gone all day. David picked up the husband of a friend of mine and was able to reunite him with his daughter who had to stay at daycare all night. He also helped escort a bus with children who spent the night at school safely to their homes. Amelia and I spent some time playing in the snow with our neighbor, Aidan, and his dad, Brian, who brought me safely home.
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| Taking the gloves off. She's about to realize this is a mistake. |
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| This is the moment Amelia decides that she is "all finished" with the snow. |
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| Bailey on the other hand, LOVED the snow and spent the majority of the day laying in it. |
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| Stomping off her boots before heading inside. |
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| Bailey decided he was not ready to go inside and continued to make trails through the snow. |
Amelia loved stomping in the snow, but she did NOT like having her hands
cold and wet. She managed to stay outside around 10 minutes before she
was ready to go inside. She kept asking me to "wipe it off" of her
hands and cried because they didn't stay warm. I explained that we kept
our gloves on when we played in the snow for a reason. We had a great
dinner of homemade gumbo at Brian and Tracie's house that night with
some of our neighbors. The children had a blast playing together.
On Thursday, school was still closed. Brian and David decided to go on a mission to retrieve cars. Mine was still at school, David's was at his office, and Brian's wife , Tracie, abandoned hers on Valleydale in a parking lot when she hitched a ride with a state trooper. The boys were on their mission all morning. Amelia and I decided to paint and play since we were snowed in and Amelia had no desire to play outside in the snow. I made homemade spaghetti for the neighbors for dinner, and we had another great evening together.
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| Amelia played inside of this bag for a good 45 minutes. |
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| Then, we painted... |
School was cancelled again for Friday because there were roads still iced around the city. Since it was Chinese New Year, we went to Kobe with Brian, Tracie, and Aidan and then took a trip to Costco. Amelia was in Heaven. That night, Poppy and PawPaw came for Chinese dinner to help us celebrate.
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| Happy Chinese New Year! |
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| Amelia had learned some sight words, so she was "reading" to Poppy and PawPaw. |
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| Yummy dinner! |
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| Amelia decided that she likes Hot and Sour Soup more than Egg Drop Soup. |
On Saturday, we traveled to help RuRu move into her new apartment at the retirement home. It has been a difficult decision, but it was time for RuRu to move into a smaller place where she wouldn't be so shut in at home. Amelia was really excited to help RuRu move and did a great job with unpacking. Her favorite activity was riding RuRu's walker down the LONG hallways of her new "house". We were able to get her all settled in for the night before heading back to Birmingham. There is still a lot still to go through at her old house, but the main things have been moved with her and we will get to what is left at another time.
We headed back to Birmingham to see a friend who was in town from Japan for the weekend. We took Amelia to the "party" where we were able to visit with Britt and his family. His family was very supportive of us through our adoption, and this was the first time that they have been able to meet Amelia in person. It was great to watch how comfortable she was with everyone and how she enjoyed playing with her new friends. We came home after dinner and visiting, and Amelia crashed.
It has been a very long week! There is more snow in the forecast for next week, so hopefully, we will be able to get home before it gets bad!
