I know... I;m WAY behind in blog updates!! Maybe I will catch up this weekend!!
Well, in one of the last posts I mentioned that Ruston's grammie (Rachel's mom) got to come visit for a week. She actually extended her visit about a day and a half due to the great Nashville flood of 2010!! May 1st and 2nd we got A TON of rain... about 13 inches in 2 days. The Cumberland River flooded something ugly, into Nashville and everything, but the dams along the river were also about to overflow, so they had to release some waters out of those. When they did this in order to prevent the dams from breaking, it caused worse flooding, including flooding Johnny and Cindy's house (Jason's aunt and our babysitter!). After the water receded, I went with Johnny and Cindy to assess the damage and take pictures (since I happened to have my camera and they didn't).
You can see the water line in these pictures. It got about 6 inches into most of the house, except down in the den, which got about 3-4 feet. You can see on the left in the picture above where the window is in the den.
Below is the dining room. That is MUD after the water had receded. There was mud EVERYWHERE.
Their laundry room also got about 3-4 feet of water. You can tell that the box freezer (full of meat and everything) had been floating, and this is how it was left.
Cindy pointing out the water line on the tv in the den.
And you can see the water line below which was in the dining room... like I said, about 6 inches.
More mud...
This is the backyard. We were surprised that all the toys were still there, although very muddy. In the back you can see some puddles that shouldn't be there.
This is another den picture. Apparently the blue tub used to be along the wall with that computer monitor sitting on top of it. That just tells you how much things were floating!
Down the road... that water is usually not there at all... and there is a road underneath that.
Yes, that's a school bus, and yes, that's a house. That school bus is parked in his driveway. At first we thought the bus had been carried there by the river (which normally is just beyond this house, not IN it), but later we found out he had parked that school bus there beforehand.
Another road covered by water that usually doesn't exist there at all.
This is the home of another relative of Jason's. The water was about half way to 3/4 the way up the walls in their home. They rented the house, and got lots of money from FEMA to replace their belongings (thank goodness!).
This is a picture of an outbuilding of a house that's along the river. Usually the river is at least 10-15 feet away from this building... and as you can see here, the building is almost fully submerged. If you look REALLY closely, you can see the mudline on the roof of the building... it really was almost completely under water. Another interesting fact: we thought about buying this house (which you notice is still for sale), but were told that the river floods every once in awhile. Good thing we didn't buy it!!
SO... since Cindy's house was flooded and they had to find places to live, Brooklyn came to live with us for about 3 weeks (until the end of school, then she wanted to be closer to her friends to hang out with them for the summer). Taco got completely spoiled during this time since she fed him A LOT. :)
I will also say that it was completely different to have to adjust to having an 11 year old living with us. Not only did I have another person to feed, but I had to make sure she got her homework done, and get up and to school on time each day! Eyes into the future....
Anyway, luckily the waters have receded, and the rebuilding has begun. It's amazing to see how quickly people have worked toward rebuilding things, and the charity around here is also amazing. Benefit concerts and whatnot... Nashville and Tennesseans really know how to help themselves instead of waiting for everyone else to help them! It seems like it was WAY longer than 6 weeks ago that this all happened!
And he's a HAM for the camera... he'll smile as soon as he sees it!
Spoons are also great fun... "I'm ready for some food, mama!"
Fat and happy!!
Ruston was having fun crawling all over Kaycee with Alyvia, although he didn't seem to notice her too much yet.
Alyvia riding on Ruston's back. Ruston wasn't really sure what to think, but we thought it was funny. :) Oh yeah, Silas and Jason went fishing while we stayed at home.
This playdate wore Ruston out, as this was the first time he fell asleep in his high chair.
And then he was tuckered out in his crib too. I don't usually check on him when he's sleeping for fear of him waking up, and I ESPECIALLY don't take pictures due to the flash, but he was soooo passed out, he didn't even flinch.
He's a side-sleeper, just like mommy and daddy.
At about his 7 month mark, he learned that pulling himself up was really fun. It didn't take him long to figure out that the futon was a great way to get places!
Funny thing was, when he first started walking along things, he only went to his left, which ended up being a problem when he got to the edge of anything. Watching him attempt to go right was somewhat amusing, but you could tell he was pretty frustrated by it. 
And even though he has outgrown his bouncer, he likes to play in it like this.
For cuteness sake:
Yes, he was laughing and having a grand ole time!
Ever since Brook was staying with us, Ruston's bear has been on the floor. Ruston really enjoys playing all over it, climbing on it, around it, and just laying with it.
Gotta have a couple more pictures standing up... and pushing buttons on the Xbox.
He was blowing bubbles and raspberries in this picture below... he can't stand or move around doing anything quietly. Usually if he's quiet, we know he's in something he probably shouldn't be!
See those spurs?
One of his tnturkey friends is getting it mounted for him since it's his first longbeard ever. Good job Jason!!! We ate one of the breasts that day, and the other is still in the freezer!
And he really enjoyed showing off his new skills!
Boxes and baskets are always fun...
and so is being dumped out.
This picture below is for my mom... when she was here she was saying she should get an up close picture of his eyes because of his long eyelashes. I think he looks like a girl in these next couple pictures.
But even if he looks like a girl, he's still got the GREATEST eyelashes ever... and he's extra cuddly. :)
You can see the water line in these pictures. It got about 6 inches into most of the house, except down in the den, which got about 3-4 feet. You can see on the left in the picture above where the window is in the den.
Below is the dining room. That is MUD after the water had receded. There was mud EVERYWHERE.
Their laundry room also got about 3-4 feet of water. You can tell that the box freezer (full of meat and everything) had been floating, and this is how it was left.
Cindy pointing out the water line on the tv in the den.
And you can see the water line below which was in the dining room... like I said, about 6 inches.
More mud...
This is the backyard. We were surprised that all the toys were still there, although very muddy. In the back you can see some puddles that shouldn't be there.
This is another den picture. Apparently the blue tub used to be along the wall with that computer monitor sitting on top of it. That just tells you how much things were floating!
Down the road... that water is usually not there at all... and there is a road underneath that.
Yes, that's a school bus, and yes, that's a house. That school bus is parked in his driveway. At first we thought the bus had been carried there by the river (which normally is just beyond this house, not IN it), but later we found out he had parked that school bus there beforehand.
Another road covered by water that usually doesn't exist there at all.
This is the home of another relative of Jason's. The water was about half way to 3/4 the way up the walls in their home. They rented the house, and got lots of money from FEMA to replace their belongings (thank goodness!).
This is a picture of an outbuilding of a house that's along the river. Usually the river is at least 10-15 feet away from this building... and as you can see here, the building is almost fully submerged. If you look REALLY closely, you can see the mudline on the roof of the building... it really was almost completely under water. Another interesting fact: we thought about buying this house (which you notice is still for sale), but were told that the river floods every once in awhile. Good thing we didn't buy it!!
SO... since Cindy's house was flooded and they had to find places to live, Brooklyn came to live with us for about 3 weeks (until the end of school, then she wanted to be closer to her friends to hang out with them for the summer). Taco got completely spoiled during this time since she fed him A LOT. :)
I will also say that it was completely different to have to adjust to having an 11 year old living with us. Not only did I have another person to feed, but I had to make sure she got her homework done, and get up and to school on time each day! Eyes into the future....