diary of a sleepless night

I really wanted to write this post on Thursday, but I was much too busy (and tired) getting ready for our vacation, going to a doctor's appointment, and driving down to Oskaloosa to see my grandpa in the hospital. We are now in Wisconsin visiting Chad's brother, Mark (who spoils the girls rotten!), and leave tomorrow for a house on the Fox River that we're sharing with some old friends from Michigan for a week. Well, our friends aren't old... we've just been friends for a long time!

Anyways, Wednesday night was insane. Here is what my diary might have looked like if I had the energy to actually write one in the night:

12:30 a.m. - Finally get to bed after packing and getting stuff ready for our trip.

1:50 a.m. - Wake up to a heavy thunderstorm. As minutes pass, I realize this might not be just a thunderstorm... is that a train I hear...? Okay, so maybe it doesn't sound just like a train, but it's loud and very scary now that I can't see a thing out of the windows due to how heavy the rain is blowing around. I love a good thunderstorm, but this doesn't seem like a normal thunderstorm... Gotta wake up Chad so he can share in my concerns.

2:15 a.m. - The power goes out. We decide we should get the girls and bring them to the basement, although we haven't heard any sirens... but would we be able to hear them over the noise of the wind? Probably not. However, as we're about to wake them up, the wind starts to die down.

(All times from here on are complete guesses... couldn't see what time it was since the clocks weren't working.)

2:30 a.m. - The water alarm in the basement goes off, signaling that our sump pit is filling up with water and since the power is off, the pump isn't working. Chad goes to the basement and starts hauling buckets full of water upstairs and outside.

2:45 a.m. - I have to pee.

3:15 a.m. - Water alarm. Chad heads back to the basement to haul out more water.

4:00 a.m. - Millie wakes up and begins screaming when she realizes it's pitch black and their night light and noise maker are off. This wakes up Addie who also commences screaming. They come to bed with me. Chad goes to sleep in their bed, since he's been kicked out of ours.

4:05 a.m. - I have to pee again.

4:15 a.m. - Water alarm. Chad hauls more water.

5:00 a.m. - Millie has been awake this whole time twirling my hair (which is what she does when she's tired). Very sweet, but it has kept me awake (at this point I've been awake since 1:50). She gets bored and starts calling for daddy, which is waking Addie up, so I bring her to sleep with daddy.

5:15 a.m. - Water alarm. Chad hauls more water.

6:00 a.m. - Power is back on! No more hauling water! Although I do have to pee again.

7:30 a.m. - Addie is up and ready for the day. Mommy is still trying to fall asleep.

• 1 1/2 hours of sleep - $0.
• 40 gallons of water hauled out of the basement - $0.
• Backup sump pump (which we ordered last week) and delivered Thursday (a day late) - $140.
• A night full of memories that we can hopefully laugh at someday once we finally catch up on our sleep... - Priceless.