We started our day with an outdoor church service at Mountain Brook Community Church. I didn't realize until today how bad the damage was on 280. I knew that the electricity had been out for a couple of days, making traffic down this MAJOR highway much worse than it already was. On Thursday, Barry and I tried to grab a "quick" bite at a restaurant fairly close to our end of the road. It took us half an hour to get there, and when we did, the whole strip was closed. The neighborhood behind the Summit mall, called Cahaba Heights, was hit pretty badly, maybe the worst in Birmingham. If I'm not mistaken, this damage was caused by the early morning storms on Wednesday, the ones that knocked our power out as well.
The Mountain Brook Community Church is on 280, not far from Cahaba Heights. They had been organizing volunteer teams to provide aide and relief to their surrounding area. The church itself had lost power and, though it came back on Sunday morning, the decision had already been made to have the service outdoors. It was really a beautiful service. Everything about it was very natural, no fluff or pizzazz. The band sang and the preacher preached from a flat-bed trailer still attached to the semi that brought it in. Chairs were set up in the parking lot with coolers of water on the ends of some of the aisles.
Canon came with us. It's the first church service he's been to since he was about one month old and screamed horrendously as soon as the congregation got quiet. He didn't scream this morning, but we did have to take him away from the masses a few times, just so that his low talking wouldn't distract any of the other attendees. Despite our various trips to the other side of the parking lot, I did manage to listen to a good bit of the preacher's sermon. I can't quote him exactly, but I can try my best to paraphrase. One reason that he wanted to have the service outside this morning was to remind us all that a church is not just four walls and a roof. A church is people. People who come together to pray and worship and share their faith. It made me think about all of the people who have been praying for Tera over the last several weeks. We are not all under the same roof or contained within the same four walls, but we're still connected through the same purpose - to help Tera heal through prayer. Maybe it's a stretch, but I think that makes us all a church together.
The preacher closed the service by saying that there really is no conclusion. From here, we should go out and find a way to serve, either financially, prayerfully, or laboriously. Some of the other members of the church came forward to give information on how we could do all of this, specifically the manual labor kind of service. Yesterday, Barry had expressed interest in helping our friend, Sae, load some a truck with supplies to take to some of the storm victims. Because of the timing of it all, I asked him not to go. We were at the hospital, and I needed his help with Canon, and I selfishly wanted to spend time with Tera. After this Sunday morning service, I felt terrible for asking him not to go. Of course, it didn't bother him in the least, but I felt like I had held him back from doing something important. I made a commitment then to call an organization downtown - the Christian Service Mission - to offer my services this week.
After church, Barry went to play flag football with Sae while Canon and I went back to Lydia's to pack all of his things for his return to Dothan. After loading the car, we went to Barry's game. Canon has a very hard time watching Barry play in sporting events. He doesn't understand why he can't go out on the field and play, too. Thankfully, Sae and Leslie were there to help me keep him on the sidelines. While Barry went back to the house to shower and get his own stuff ready to return home, Canon and I ran a few errands them met him at the hospital for them to say good-bye to Tera.
When they were finally on the south-bound interstate, I spent my time with Tera.
Tera now officially weighs 5 1/2 pounds (2515 grams). She got her first vaccination today. We originally thought her first shot would be the DTaP, but because of her brady yesterday (remember the poop?) her pediatrician decided to start off with a milder vaccine. She got her Hepatitis B shot this afternoon before we arrived.
See her boo boo? She hasn't had any other episodes since that one, so we're hoping those are all behind us.
In the early evening, one of the nurses came around to take her Mother's Day picture. She was doing this all on her on, on her day off, and with no reimbursement. Just because she loves the babies and thinks their mothers deserve a good picture. Even more, she had a Studio-on-Wheels that she pushed around the floor, posing the babies for their close-ups.
When she finished, I got a chance to take a few with my camera as well.
Tera has recently begun trying to suck her thumb. She finally found it during picture time, and I had a hard time getting it out of her mouth. It was very sweet to see her sucking it though, as much as I'm going to hate it a few months down the road.
This is the picture the nurse got of Tera.
This is probably the meanest thing a mother can say, but I have to admit that I finally understand what my grandmother was thinking all those years ago when she nicknamed my mother "Magoo." The rumor goes that my mom was not the most attractive baby and that my grandmother had seen a Mr. Magoo movie in the late weeks of her pregnancy. When my mother was born, her looks, paired with the recent trip to the cinema, earned her the nickname that would eventually just become her name. No one but credit card company representatives know my mom as Cecilia. I can remember growing up in a house that daily received mail addressed to either McGough Hamilton or Mr. McGough. I could never understand what would possess my grandmother - a brand new mother at that time - to think that her baby was not the most beautiful baby in the whole world . . . until I saw this picture. Call me crazy, but doesn't she look a little like Rain Man? Barry has been joking for weeks that she is a very attractive 30-year-old man (because she looks just like him!).
Moving on to my older child - who closely resembled Elmer Fudd when he was an infant - Canon spent his first night in his Big Brother bed tonight. They called me from the bed to say good night. Canon couldn't sit still. He was crawling all over the place, exploring his new surroundings. I found out later that Barry had to lay with him for quite awhile (a couple of hours, I think) before he finally fell asleep. Canon has always been really easy to get to go to sleep. He fusses a little bit, but usually gets over it quickly and will talk or sing himself to sleep. I'm hoping that practice will pick back up again once he gets used to this new bed. I don't know that I'll have two hours to lay with him every night.
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