water woes and ebay

We woke up this morning to some nasty thunder and even nastier lightening. Patrick was leaving for work and I figured since I was already up, I'd just stay up. It was pouring down rain, the streets were flooding, but the basement was still dry. I was still aprehensive, but thankful for the dryness. Soon after Patrick left for work, I took my shower, slipped on some shoes and went down to check the basement again. Alas, as I opened the back porch door, I could hear it. The sounds of flowing water. Looking down into the dark abyss, I didn't want to turn on the light, but I did. It wasn't as bad as I expected, just the typical rivers of water.. but still a few dry spots here and there. I could see the fans were already running so I came back upstairs and waited. Later on, well after the rain had stopped, I took another trip down to turn on the dehumidifiers and looked around to make sure nothing was endangered by the water. That is when I seen it. 2 boxes on the floor, one on top of the other. I went over, moved the first box to a table, and opened the second. Just a few halloween/fall decorations.. right? Moving a halloween placemat to the side, my heart sank into the sump-pump pit along with the hundreds of gallons of water spurting up through our floor. Missy and Allie's baby albums were in the bottom of that box, soaking wet. As I hurriedly yanked them out of the box, dripping with water, tears were already welling up. I started to look through them and added to the river at my feet. Missy's baby book is almost a total loss. The book itself is a goner. I can still read most of the writing, so I can transfer information to another book. About 90% of the loose papers inside the album seem salvageable, but will always show water damage. My biggest loss there is her ultrasound pictures. The images are washed away, leaving shadows of black and white, no dicernable parts left. These are something that cannot be replaced, so I cried some more. Allie's album is not quite as bad. It is more of a scrapbooking album and most of the contents were contained inside plastic sleeves. A few things show some water damage, but other than the album itself, nothing is a complete loss. Now I am dealing with the 'bad mom' thoughts for having their albums in the basement in a box in the first place, especially in a cardboard box that is suseptable to the water that I know we get down there. I'm heartbroken to see all the memento's for my first born sitting in between layers of papertowel beside me now as I type, hoping that I do not have to throw them away.
In an effort to restore her book to as close to original shape as I can, I started to scour Ebay for a replacement. I was doubtful that anything could be found to replace an 8 year old babybook. Thank the Lord for Ebay! There it was, starting bid $4.99! I have bid on it and am waiting for the end of the auction. I also ordered a new scrapbooking album to put Allie's back together. So now what? Now I wait.. drink my coffee and eat my soup.. and thank God that I was able to save what I could, and that the most important things, the girls themselves, are still here.