Storms

I freaking hate storms.

(I mean really)

And if you live in Middle Tennessee you know that Monday morning we were under tornado warnings. I found myself calling my husband in Nashville and saying "What do I do?"

"What do you mean?" he said.

"I have a baby now!"

Never before had I really found the need to shove myself in the back of our walk-in closet behind Cody's sweatshirt section...until then. 

Clearly I have no sense of self-preservation.

So I wrapped up Cade (who was napping) in his fluffy owl blanket, grabbed his pacifier (??), a towel, my phone, and iPad and we crammed ourselves in the corner. I could hear wind and the power was flickering. I couldn't get the radar to load on my iPad. I called Cody and said "Call me when it's over."

As I sat there surrounded by hoodies, sitting indian-style with Cade in my lap wrapped in a blanket, I thought, "So this is motherhood."

"So we're napping in the closet today? I can do that."

Because right at that moment I was a bundle of nerves. I said about 30 Hail Mary's (a habit in moments of crisis) and watched him. I knew I'd do whatever I had to to keep him safe. Don't get me wrong, the first time I saw him I couldn't imagine loving anything like I love Cade. But this was the first time I'd been scared for him. Not for myself. Just for him.

Cody called after about 10 minutes of our closet hideout and said it had passed our town. I asked him 3 times if he was sure before abandoning our post and checking out the news myself. Of course the storm was over for us. I'm quite sure this post sounds way more dramatic than it really was, and all we experienced was some bad wind. But in the moment, I was in panic-mode.

Of course, right before we came out of the closet, I heard a howling. Not wind howling. Cat howling.

Shit.

I forgot to snatch Chloe off the end of our bed and bring her into the closet with us.

She had decided 10 minutes of being locked out (because that's how she sees it) was enough and she was pissed. 

Next time I'll grab both my children.