There's no place like home...

It's barely April and Riley has already survived his first Oklahoma tornado! Last night was probably one of the scariest of my life--and I've lived in Oklahoma forever.

Although it had been storming all night, around 1:30 it started hailing insanely and I had to get out of bed to see what was happening. It sounded pretty bad and not long after, our TV went out (we have satellite). I went to the back porch and could tell that things were intense. Then, my voicemail signaled and I saw my mom had called. I knew that was not a good sign. I called her back and found out that the tornado warning was in effect for us and the eye of the storm was headed our way.

We got Riley out of bed (at 2 a.m.) and headed to a closet under the stairs. I listened to my mom as she tracked the tornado for us and I started to panic--alot. Then, the electricity went out. I knew this was a bad sign and all I could think about was Riley. I cried. And cried some more. Then my dad called to check on us and once again, this freaked me out.

I held on to Kevin and Riley as tight as I could and silently prayed while my mom talked us through the reports. The fifteen minutes of the storm traveling through Edmond seemed like years. Then, my dad called back and said it had passed us. I heard the weather guys say something about I-35 and I knew we were okay.

Scared, but relieved, we got out of the closet and started lighting candles. Outside it was spooky calm and pitch black and all of our neighbors were in their yards with flashlights. Thankfully, we were untouched and the storm just missed us.

It was the closest call I've ever had and my first brush with a scary situation as a parent. It was unreal. I didn't care if I landed upside down in a tree--as long as our son was okay.

Of course now I'll be buying a weather radio and a storm shelter is on the wish list for the near future. Nightime tornados are so not cool.

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