We got the YUCK...and then Christmas came!

Sam got the yuck (fever, snot, coughing, body aches) from school. He was pretty sick for about 4 days. 

I got the yuck from Sam. Mine turned into influenza and then bronchitis with the beginnings of pneumonia. One night I had so much trouble breathing I ended up in the ER. After some antibiotics and breathing treatments they sent me home and after 2 weeks I am feeling better.

Arlo caught it from me, though he maintained a pretty snotty cold and nothing worse.

Megan, my sister, came for the holidays and ended up with some sort of hybrid version of it all. She's back in Maine in now and seems to be on the mend enough that she's going out tonight to celebrate the new year.

Matt and my Dad escaped the yuck. 

How? We will never know. Though you could find them anywhere in the house by following a trail of Emergen-C wrappers and that may have had something to do with it!

Megan arrived on the 18th and my Dad on the 20th. On the 21st, despite the below zero temperatures, we drove to the Peacock Road Tree Farm in Laingsburg. Matt and Dad braved the cold outside and cut us a tree while Megan and the boys and I hunkered down inside with hot chocolate. I was only 3 days out from the hospital and knew I would not be able to engage in the festivities, but wanted to tag along anyway.

Megan, Dad, Matt and the boys took the train out to see Santa.

The boys each sat on Santa's lap and were given candy canes and sleigh bells. They got to tell Santa, once again what they wanted for Christmas. Sam: a Spiderman Truck.  Arlo: Candy and a truck.

The tree was expensive. In fact it was the most we've ever paid for a tree (we haven't paid for a Christmas tree since 2002, so it all worked out in the end). But, it was really pretty. Matt and dad trimmed it up and we decorated on the 22nd.
I found this really ornate and pretty cast iron tree stand in the laundry room of this house. We decided to use it being that this year's tree is so big and the stand seemed to be very sturdy. However, by the time we'd completely decorated the tree, including putting the angel on top, we realized the tree stand was leaking water all over the hard wood floors!  Dad soaked up all the water from the floor and out of the stand and the next day he and I went on a tree stand search. It was not an easy task to find a tree stand large enough to hold a trunk 8" in diameter 2 days before Christmas! But, we did....and then after un-decorating the tree...

...we decorated it again!

Here you see the tree and fire and all the gifts Santa brought early on Christmas morning. My Dad and I were up before the boys! I was so excited and SO hungry! It was fun opening ALL the presents and the boys had a blast! Santa brought the boys everything they wanted and more!

We replaced almost all of the toys that the boys lost in the fire, which why we had such a huge Christmas. I was worried that they would be so overwhelmed that they wouldn't really appreciate the gifts or the time were spending as a family. However, both boys did really well! Sam was so into all the activities; the advent calender, the tree adventure, the gift wrapping and even taking turns opening gifts and the excitement and joy of giving. I was so proud of him and of Arlo.  They really enjoyed having my Dad and Megan, or "Megit" as Arlo called her, here for the visit and I miss them so much already! Megan left on the 28th and my Dad on the 29th.

Tonight we will bring in the new year with some friends at their house. They are hosting an "Around the World" New Year's celebration with a toast at every hour for the new year in one part of the world or another! It is a family friendly event and I put the boys down for late naps to aid in a smooth, late evening!

March will be a big month for us with moving back into the house and the new baby, but beyond that, let's hope that 2009 is a lot less stressful for our family!

Happy New Year to All!!!

Whew, he made it to TWO!

There have been some close calls...Arlo is a wild child! We, very gratefully, celebrated his 2nd birthday last Friday. It does seem like yesterday that he was born and was this tiny (errr, not so tiny) little baby boy.

However, in two years he has blossomed into a fantastic, explorative, and expressive little toddler. Running and climbing everywhere, talking up a storm, eating like a champ and asking so many questions...he really is a joy (and a lot of work) to be around.

Arlo has a wicked sweet tooth, likely inherited from me! He LOVES candy, especially lollipops. We hosted a play group on his birthday and had cupcakes with lollipops on top! Quite a splurge on my part, but you only have one birthday a year, right?

We had a wonderful weekend filled with holiday family events. The university hosts Santa every year in the arboretum and it is filled with poinsettias, including a huge poinsettia tree. We braved the crowds of families with 2, 3, and 4 year olds and managed a quick photo session. Not an easy task with two wiggly boys.

Arlo wasn't sure about Santa and if you ask him about seeing Santa he'll say, "Santa cary Arlo", meaning "Santa scared Arlo". Sam told Santa he wants a Spiderman truck for Christmas and Arlo felt a little better about Santa after he gave him a candy cane...which disappeared in a matter of seconds!

Over the weekend we began a new family tradition of building a gingerbread house. The boys loved the entire process, especially our little sweet tooth who kept eating the candy decorations. 

All weekend Arlo kept asking, 

"eat ginger house, please, please, please?" 

When he was told that we don't eat the house right away he wasn't too happy as you can see below!

We've been seeing this face a bit more these days between Arlo's recent new fears of moving toys and Santa and his assertion with independence. The two's have hit and though he usually takes these developments in stride, we're definitely seeing more tantrums.

Where are we at?

Specifically, we are in the very beginning of another Michigan winter! It has been snowing every couple of days over the last week or so and most of it is sticking around. We got another inch or so this morning and more is expected this evening and into tomorrow. Being that we LOVE winter, we're all pretty excited. I took this photo at our house last week during the first snow.  I just had to go by and see what our space looked like with the first blanket upon it. So beautiful. We miss being there.

Along with the winter weather comes more time inside....it's inevitable and we find lots of fun things to do! The boys were sent a cute little gift package from a dear friend in Kansas including gummy Army men (her husband is in the Army) and lots of stickers! Arlo entertained himself for quite a while with his book!

Winter also brings some great capitol area activities including the Silver Bells in the City celebration. We went last year, as well as this year, and loved the electric lights parade and the lighting of the tree with the fireworks. 

So cold, so fun, so worth it.

The house work is moving right along, too. Below is a photo of the bathroom when we bought the house. You can see the octagonal window and the HUGE vanity and double sinks.

We opted to put in a regular double hung window and replace the large vanity with one pedestal sink. You can see the basic changes below, though it is still hard to visualize where things will be. Once it is all done I'll post before and after pictures.

The house has now been fully smoke cleaned and sealed, which is the white powdery looking stuff all over the walls. We have all the new windows in upstairs and it is nice to have the plywood removed from the window spaces. It makes the house feel more like our home. Below is the master bedroom.

And the dining room all sealed. You definitely don't smell smoke anymore...now it just smells like sawdust and paint! Smells I much prefer!

Of course, when ripping apart an old house there will be surprises and what you see below are the remnants of a fire from possibly 30 years ago that began in our mud room wall and then smothered itself. The previous owners likely had no idea the fire ever started and were very lucky it didn't progress. The cause of this little surprise was taken care of...an improperly sealed 220 wire. Ugh. It was a little scary to find this, but the contractor has assured us that it is all being dealt with appropriately. 

Next week the new plaster walls will begin going up and by the end of the week the new siding will also begin going on. It is beginning to feel like we'll actually get back in by February 1st....

Are you Two or Four??

Saturday we were driving in the car. Matt was talking to me about something random.  I can't even remember what and Arlo pipes in and says," Daddy, why?"

Matt responds, "I don't know why. Why do run around the house and destroy things?"

Arlo is quiet for a few moments, then says, "Mmmmm, ahhhhhh, wanna touch, Daddy."

"Why?" is the latest word/question/phrase and we're hearing it all the time. He'll even ask Sam and Sam's common response is, "I can't know why, Arlo."

Big Steps

When I remember the potty training process with Sam it seems like it was such a long, rough road. He really resisted and thanks to my blog posts I can say with confidence that it took us the better part of a year to get him officially potty trained!

Arlo has been much more interested in the potty and the whole idea. 

He watches Sam and though he rarely asks to go or tells us when he needs to go, he doesn't fight it when I take him. Last night I sat him on the potty before bed and he pooped! Then again this morning he made a little deposit on the potty. I think if I am persistent and regular about taking him, he could be fully potty trained by the time the new baby comes. We'll see how this winter plays out, but I am going to shoot for that.

Happy Halloween...err, Voting Day!

Rebuilding

We are rebuilding! (And I found the cable to upload images from my camera to the computer, so now I can share...)

The first image was taken this summer and is a reference point for what the roof line looked like before the fire. There is a gable in the center of the roof that was a part of the original structure of the house. I never really looked closely at the roof line before all this, but now when I see it I think it looks funny. The contractor asked us if we wanted to replace it; there is no structural purpose and is an energy sink. We decided to save some money and energy we wouldn't have then rebuild it.
This picture was taken about a week ago after they had removed the shingles (that we just had replaced in June!) and all the sheeting and are in the process of replacing the trusses. Most of the trusses were damaged by the fire or the construction was not up to the current building codes.
And here is the roof with the shingles replaced and the gable removed! I really like the new roof line. It is very clean and simple. It was amazing to see how fast they removed and replaced the roof...all in about 4 days!Once they finished the north roof they had to deal with another building code issue in the south part of the house. Apparently the three dormers were not supported properly and three HUGE beams had to be craned into the side of the house.

You can see they had to cut a hole in the side of the house to fit the beams in! I haven't been up there to see them installed, but I am hoping next week to get inside and see the progress there. They have been soda blasting the rafters and framing to clean the smoke and soot. Click the soda blast link to see a Youtube video of the process...very cool!

And last, but certainly not least, this photo was taken yesterday morning after they had removed the south roof shingles and were preparing to replace sheeting and put on new shingles. Smoke damage was significant in the south side and thus the replacement will be faster than on the north side, but still time consuming.

I will keep updating as I have more to share. Next week the smoke removal team will be inside all week hand cleaning every inch of the house to remove the smoke and then shortly after that they will start rebuilding the insides! Matt and I have a lot of decisions to make in the next couple weeks!

3's Company

3's company and 4 is a crowd? Is that the saying?

I had hoped to post ultrasound pictures along with this, but we still have no scanner or printers here at the temporary Grieshop homestead...words will have to do.

We'll be welcoming another Grieshop BOY into our family in mid-March!

We weren't going to find out, then I decided as we walked into the ultrasound room that I needed to know and I feel much more relaxed knowing the sex. We're excited...and a little scared!

Out of Touch

We moved into the new place and while having a nice living space has helped all of our stress levels decrease....I have been way out of touch without internet!

Pat and Jim are here visiting and helping a lot, as usual and are watching the boys while I am at a local coffee shop taking advantage of free wi-fi!

This will be short, but we should have our own wi-fi on Friday and I can update more regularly...including pictures of the progress on the house!

If you need our new, temporary mailing address, please send me an email and I'll give it to you!

More later...

We have a home!!

Today we found a house to rent for the next six months while our house is being repaired! 

This place is amazing!!

(click the link for detailed photos)

My good friend Jane went to see her chiropractor, mentioned our situation; he mentioned that he has a friend that leases homes for sale; she gave me the contact info; I gave it to our housing guy; he called the woman....and by 4:00 this afternoon we had a beautiful house to live in! We move in Friday.

The amount of stress that has been relived from my body is amazing. I feel younger, lighter and so much more at ease.

House Fire: Update

We met with our insurance adjuster and a fire restoration company on Monday and we learned a lot...some of it was good news and some of it was not so good news:

• At the earliest they see us back in the house by February 1st.
• The dollar amount of damage is LARGE! More than I had expected.
• We lost 95% of the things on the second story. Some of the stored items in one of the bedrooms will likely be able to be restored. We all lost all of our clothes and shoes. Winter items were in closets on the main level, so they are ok.
• There is extensive water damage on the main level, though the furniture should be able to be restored.
• When we begin reconstructing the house the city will force us to get everything to code which is part of the reason it will take so long. However, when it is all done it will be so nice to not have to worry about those things anymore.

This first image was taken on Friday night, before the fire and the second image is of the same spot in Sam's room. The following images are from around house. They are fairly disturbing, so be warned. I only post them as a sort of closure for me and because so many of you have asked.

Yarn...

I have so many wonderful knitting friends asking about yarn...the most common question I get is, "Did your yarn survive?"

I must really be known as a knitter now!

Survive is a tough word to define...physically it is there. Will I ever use it again, no.  

We were told today that we lost everything on the second floor of the house....that is all of our "things". Structurally there is a lot of damage, but a lot of the walls and floors can be refinished and what needs to be will be rebuilt.

I can claim the loss of yarn in our insurance claim and purchase it all over again....so there is some yarn shopping in my future.

Not sure about needles and things of that sort...I would imagine some of that can be cleaned.

More later...

House Fire

We had a house fire last night. It was very scary, but we are all fine. Even the cat and the dog are fine. 

The fire started in a light switch in Sam's room and it spread very fast. 

There was a lot of damage from fire, water, and smoke, but most of our valuables and furniture on the lower level are okay. 

We stayed with close friends last night and will be here tonight and then the insurance company is putting us up in a hotel for 11 days after which they will find a house for us. It will likely be 2-3 months before we can move back in to our house.

The boys are doing really well. They were very freaked out yesterday, but they are very comfortable with our friends and seem to be adjusting to the changes okay.

I'll post with more detail later. In the mean time, just know that we have been taken care of very well. The Red Cross gave us disaster funds for food and diapers, friends have brought clothes and shoes for all of us, and we are fairing with grace.

I do have photos and will post them later, but they are pretty disturbing. Please don't worry, call if you want and I'll talk if I can.

Additions

Just a few things that I have been meaning to write about, but have either not had the time to do it or felt that there were more important things to write about!

Pregnancy Update:

Last Tuesday I took the boys and met with Kip, one of the three midwives at the Greenhouse Birth Center. We finally decided that the home birth midwife we interviewed didn't feel right and our other option locally for a home birth is the birth center. They will do home births if requested as long as there are no other mothers in labor when you go into labor. Their policy is such that they have two midwives at every birth and they can do multiple births simultaneously at the birth center, but not at individual homes. An average birth month for them is about 8 births and due in March, including myself, there are 14 women!  There is a good chance I will be making the trek to the birth center; however, they have great birthing tubs and the prospect of a water birth excites me. The other bonus is that I have been so involved with the birth center in the last year I already know all the midwives quite well and I love them all. I feel very comfortable there. I  am a board member! Some home birthing women would never settle for this situation, but both Matt and I feel very certain that this is the right decision for us.

The meeting with Kip was wonderful! We went over the usual health/birth history info while the boys played in the toy room (and Arlo played everywhere). We had easy, comfortable conversation, except for when I had to stop Arlo from getting into something, writing on something or eating something he shouldn't! I heard the heart beat and it was in the 130's/140's, very normal, healthy and strong.

I'll go back in 2 weeks for my 16 week check up and this time I am not bringing the kids!

Knitting Update:

While I was in my 6 week stint of ick, I didn't do any knitting and it has taken me a couple weeks of feeling good and catching up with everything else to reach a point where I feel like I can sit down and knit. But I finally made it to that point and I have been knitting!

I finished this sweater for my friend Stacy and her new baby, Carter. It only took me 8 weeks! Now I just need to mail it and I hope that doesn't take me another 8 weeks...

I started my next project, Ginger's baby's sweater, last night. I am finally knitting with actual Debbie Bliss yarn; something I have wanted to do for years, but could never really afford. It is such a pretty color and so nice to knit with.

Chicken Update:

We finally have eggs! But our silly chickens laid the eggs in a mud puddle outside! I conferred with my friend Ann and she suggested putting a wooden egg in one of the nesting boxes to encourage them to lay in the appropriate place. We'll see...so far no more eggs, but the weather has been dark and gloomy and cold and wet. 

First Day

Today is a day of firsts...Sam's first day of school, Arlo's first day without a big brother around all day, and my first day with Sam gone all day. WOW! I simply can not believe this day has come.

This is the "All About Me" poster Sam and I had to make for school. It was his first homework assignment. I love the "hot dog train" and the trail-a-bike drawing he asked me to make. 
Sam and I worked on a quilt together for his nap time at school. He requested the quilt when we first learned that he would be taking a nap. The process started with us looking in my fabric stash. He found the red bug fabric ( I bought 8 years ago to make Matt boxers, never did...good thing) and then we found the red cotton (bought about 5 years ago and made Pat a table cloth). From there he told me he wanted his name on the front and we went to the fabric store. He chose the batik green and yellow fabric for the bug body and the shiny wing fabric. Over a week of nap times he would play in the sewing room while I sewed. He loved watching it all come together. Then he and I looked at fonts on the computer. He chose the "varsity" style because he said it looks like a baseball shirt!  We printed his name out and then cut out the letters in the fabric.  At his orientation last week we learned that the kids needed pillows as well and Sam requested a matching pillow...so, you see I used some scraps and it all looks pretty nice. He is very happy with it.

Last Week

SAM: 

• had a toothache 
• went to the dentist
• had the tooth pulled
  
• now has a "tooth hole"
• put the tooth next to his bed for the tooth fairy (who came tonight, shhhh)
• went school shopping and acquired new Spiderman shoes and lunchbox
• went to preschool orientation and met his new teachers

ARLO:

• added "bee" and "hello" to his list of words which includes so many words his mama can't even list them
• caused his mother to say "OH, ARLO!" approximately 500 times
• fell asleep in a pile of blankets next to the bonfire we had last night
• intentionally farted in his mama's face while getting a diaper change

MATT:

• did 5 loads of laundry over the weekend to help his lovely wife catch up
• harvested all the buckwheat in the garden using a borrowed scythe 
• built an amazing bonfire for his family and some close friends
• taught another week of his class which is challenging him in good ways
• harvested and ate approximately one dozen pears from his pear tree

AMANDA:

• finally had enough energy to keep up with her three very busy boys...
• but didn't have quite enough energy to post a long list of recent photos....soon to come....

Big Boy...

Sam opted to take a shower tonight over a bath with Arlo. I asked him to please wash his hair and use soap. He spent about 10 minutes in there, turned the shower off, stepped out, dried himself off (dropped his towel on the floor), walked out of the bathroom and said, " Whew, my just had a really good shower!"

He had washed his hair and even dried it. 

Then he crawled into my bed and began telling me about all the rocks he collected today.

When did he become such a big boy?

11 Weeks

Today marks 11 weeks in the pregnancy. I am beginning to feel better more regularly and the bad days have become less than full days. I might feel really cruddy for part of a day, but I haven't had a whole nasty day in a while. I am still puking from time to time (like after our fancy anniversary dinner!), mostly I feel pretty good. As long I get to bed before 9 p.m. and take the Zofran regularly, I do alright.

Friends keep saying to me that "girls steal their mother's beauty"...and I think they say this to cheer me up!! Though I am looking pretty grim these days and am definitely ready for the "glow" to set in! The hormones are doing a number on my skin this time, with pretty bad acne on my chest, back and neck. The photos below were taken yesterday. I think you can tell I am beginning to show already and I have finally opened my box of maternity clothes....ugh.

We met with a midwife on Saturday and she seemed very nice and competent, but there was something about our personalities that didn't feel right. Matt felt pretty uncomfortable around her and after a few days to mull over the meeting, I also felt like it wasn't a good fit. We did here the heartbeat and the placenta and of course, I cried!  We're going to keep looking into our other options for home births and keep plugging along through this first trimester.