Hurricane Ike & the baby formerly known as Ike

Introducing Miles Tyler VanDyke,

he basically flashed the camera the instant the ultrasound came on.

We think he knew we really wanted a boy!

He is already crazy, the technician was having to chase him all over.
The only picture he let her have is him doing this somersault.
(He's actually laying on his head, that's the blob in the lower right, and kinda curled up)

Pretty good shot of his tiny feet (which Nicole now feels kicking her almost every night)

Another shot of him already being very active.

... and now for the rest of the story.

On the Monday before the ultrasound (which was Wednesday afternoon just north of Houston)we were convinced we would be evacuating our home probably following this appointment. By Tuesday they were saying Hurricane Ike was supposed to hit Corpus Christi, which meant we'd be fine. We went to the appointment assuming the same, and came home to our neighborhood boarding up their houses. At that point we discovered that they'd reforcasted Ike to Galveston. We boarded up our house and packed the essentials and actually left all within about 3 hours only to have a flat tire about 20 miles off the island and return home that night. We left again in the morning and had around a 10 hour trip to McKinney, TX to stay with Scott and Ashley (trip normally takes 4.5 hours but included a tire change and significant traffic).

Hurricane Ike hit Galveston directly at around 2 am on September 13th. We found out from a neighbor who stayed on the island that we had 4-5 feet of water in and around our home. The island is currently still without electricity or water, and approximately 25,000 people rode out the storm and are now having to be evacuated. We don't know much more than that right now, but we're thankful that things weren't actually worse and are also anxious to get back. We've filed claims through our insurance and FEMA in preparation for return. We're not sure at this point when we'll be able to go back and we know there will be a lot of work when that day comes. We do want to thank everyone for your thoughts, prayers, and concern which are deeply appreciated. Please continue to keep our community in your prayers as we recover.

More information and pictures are available at www.msnbc.com and our local newspaper www.galvnews.com.