Micah Leigh

Baby Brother was born at home early Tuesday morning on his grandfather Pop's birthday. We are all thankful he arrived before the big snowstorm on Wednesday, because we've been without power (which also means without water) since Wednesday night! 

It has been an adventure of birthday week! First Pop/Micah, then mine, and now Geeda's! It has been beautiful outside but I know at least Geeda and I would appreciate the gift of a hot shower... maybe tomorrow?

Welcome to the world, my little Micah-Man! You are already a blessing to our family!

Ode to My Father-In-Law (And Family in General)

In case I haven't mentioned it enough (which I'm sure I haven't), an essential piece of our home-improvement progress is all the generous help we've received from Archer's family over the last 6 months. The process of our settling into The Big House has been a family affair from the beginning, and we are overwhelmed by the generous gifts of time and energy we have received.

My father-in-law Butch has definitely put in the most hours and blood, sweat, and tears into our projects, helping us make our dreams (and needs) for The Big House a reality. In honor of all his effort, and his birthday today, I decided to write a little poem.

To the tune of Old Tannenbaum

Oh Father-in-Law, Oh Father-in-Law,
How thankful I am for you!

Oh Father-in-Law, Oh Father-in-Law,
How thankful I am for you!

Your son is strong, but so are you,
I cannot count, the things you do
Oh Father-in-Law, Oh Father-in-Law,
How thankful I am for you!

You move our stuff from here to there
To fix a house for a crazy pair!
Oh Father-in-Law, Oh Father-in-Law,
How thankful I am for you!

You slice your hands, get soot tattoos,
You stacked more wood than we'll ever use!
Oh Father-in-Law, Oh Father-in-Law,
How thankful I am for you!

Removing lead, and poison plants,
Protect our babes from itchy pants.
Oh Father-in-Law, Oh Father-in-Law,
How thankful I am for you!

You trap the mice, and fill their holes,
No more infest, God rest their souls.
Oh Father-in-Law, Oh Father-in-Law,
How thankful I am for you!

The Reading Machine, is never old,
Our girls know Pop is fun four-fold,
Oh Father-in-Law, Oh Father-in-Law,
How thankful I am for you!

Thanks for your time, your sweat and scars,
We are so glad that you are ours!
Oh Father-in-Law, Oh Father-in-Law,
How thankful I am for you!

One Project Not to do while 38 weeks Pregnant

You might be a little crazy when you watch an episode of This Old House and realize you have done half of the projects on the show in the last week. with a team of two amateurs who have other full-time employment.

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/m/tv/video/0,,20869122,00.html

Staining antique floors today, my Noelle says I'm just like Rehab Addict. 

Now that it's done, I realize I am way too pregnant for this particular project. 10am-5pm on my hands & knees means my everything aches and my knees and wrists are pretty banged up and bruised.

I spent the entire evening in bed. My big girls are aspiring masseuse, which is lovely. Maybe I'll be able to move in the morning?

Progress in Pictures

We are pretty much eating, schooling, and working on the house(s). The tenant in the Little House moved out and the emptiness of the house revealed several unexpected issues there. So in addition to the expected landlord responsibilities of carpet cleaning and repainting, were added floor and fridge replacement as well as a variety of other repairs. 

Then there is our house bathroom/laundry project. 

Our bedroom is the workshop:

Laundry room almost ready!

Whoops, tile shop missed 10sf of our order... Tile all snipped and laid out ready for the last few sheets before installation:

Batch4 is 37 weeks + 5 days cooked. We had better hurry up!