Some Work is Being Done

We are finally able to work again on the house. All of the drywall has been hung except in the garage. This weekend Chris worked on getting the main line placed for the electrical. It has been slow going for him because the ground is still so frozen. He said alongside the house where the sun isn't shining all day, the dirt was just being scraped off, like shaving chocolate off a candy bar. Chris started to back fill yesterday and couldn't even move the digger, the ground was so icy the wheels just spun. Hopefully today they can get the dirt moved.


But we know have a heater running. Chris installed a temporary heater so we don't have to use gas blowers now. It was so fummy in the house yesterday, they had two heaters running on jet fuel. It was awful.


Thursday afternoon, Madi, Jason, Tabatha, and I made a trip to Topeka. We went to Jason's old store and picked up paint. We hit the jackpot actually. They had a bunch of five gallon buckets of paint that was either paid for and nobody ever picked them up or they were mistinted buckets of paint. But we ended up getting 40 gallons of paint, enough to paint the whole house, for $100.00!!! Chris was so proud of me, he kept saying, "Wow, you did a good job today." Which is a big compliment from Chris, usually he grumbles, no matter what kind of deal I get. So we are hoping we can start painting in two weeks.


Happy New Year!!! I sure hope 2008 is a great year for everyone!
Love, Amy



Our sink hole in the front of the house. We actually want this to happen though, hopefully it starts settling more on the other sides of the house.



All that's left to drywall. The office, part of the stairway and the master bath. (This was all completed yesterday)



Left side is the livingroom with the hallway leading to the pantry, laundry room and garage on the right.



Right side is the kitchen area.



Chris' dirtwork for the electrical.

A Little Bit of Everything

Another Christmas day has come and gone. It's been a busy last two days. We spent Christmas Eve day with my family and opened gifts that evening. We then had our own Christmas at home. We quickly left and opened gifts and had lunch with Chris' parents and brother. Madi took a nap and we headed to see his grandparents. At 5:00 we then made it back to my parents house to visit awhile before finally heading back home to a very messy house and one tired, cranky baby. All in all it was a great Christmas.

Madi is still not quite into opening gifts yet. We ended up opening about half of them. She just can't sit still long enough to realize what is going on, plus everything is in boxes and it takes me forever to get it open. By the time I get all 25 of the twisty ties off of a baby doll or farm set, she has lost interest. I think next year, all of her gifts will be opened and assembled and then wrapped in a new easy open box. It has to be easier that way, right? The only thing that did keep her attention was all the candy she received. I think her Christmas day diet consisted of smarties, cookies, chocolate candy, a few bites of ham and mashed potatoes and two bananas. If I wasn't so worried about her ever pooping again, she would probably eat bananas for every meal, she loves them.

Chris and I also decided last night, after seeing the pile of presents and wondering what we are going to do with everything, that next year we should go together and get something we really want or need. It sure is silly buying gifts just to buy gifts. Neither one of us had any idea what to get each other this year. Chris has everything under the sun and I don't do anything that doesn't revolve around Madi, so I don't need anything. I was more excited about the new digital camera that I got Chris than anything. I may have to get me a new one.

I love my digital SLR camera but it is so big and cumbersome sometimes that I just don't take it with me everywhere. For example, I have no pictures of Madi's baptism because I didn't want to ask someone to take pics with my big old camera. So, I got Chris a Sony Cybershot camera. It is so small and the coolest part is, it is a 12.1 mega pixel camera!!! That is twice the resolution of my camera and about 10 times smaller. I can't wait to see what the pics look like once they are downloaded. And it also takes movies, which is so cool, I can now take movies of Madi and download them onto my computer and blog!!! So excited and it isn't even my camera!!! That's why I may need to get my own. The other cool thing about it...it was free. How you ask? We have a Sony credit card that gets used for a majority of Chris' work expenses (gas, tools, etc.) So for every dollar we spend we earn one point toward Sony products. Which then convert to one point= $.01 to be redeemed. Therefore, his camera ended up costing me nothing including the shipping. We can also earn points by entering the answer to the bonus round puzzle from Wheel of Fortune. And if my Wheel of Fortune spin id ever gets picked, we could win $50,000 for having a Sony Card. I'm not holding my breath for that to ever happen, but wouldn't that be cool! (Sorry, I kind of went off on a tangent there.)

We finally got some work done on our house at least Saturday, not sure about Sunday. Jon said it is no holding some heat. They got the drywall up on the ceilings and maybe the wall separating the garage and the living room. Not sure exactly, I haven't been out for two weeks now. But hopefully this afternoon or tomorrow we can make it out to look. We finally got power again last Thursday and now it is a muddy mess out there. We may not be able to get to the front door without making a huge mess of ourselves. We were supposed to have the appliances and tile delivered Monday. When I first set the delivery up I thought that would be pretty cool having it delivered that day, but of course with all the craziness the last two weeks and then the holiday, I completely spaced it off. It dawned on me at 4:00 Monday afternoon that they were supposed to deliver that day. We really are no where near ready to have the appliances yet but we got such a great deal the day after Thanksgiving. The lady said then that they could only hold them for 30 days. When I called Monday to reschedule the delivery, that guy told me that I bought them, I could have them hold them as long as I like. So we may have them wait to deliver even longer. Our thought was to have them deliver to the shop and we would move them later when we finally need them. But that makes me nervous moving them so many times, our last appliance purchase we moved them ourselves and ended up with a huge dent in the side of the refrigerator and a dent in the front of the dishwasher. I don't want that to happen again.

Jason and Tabatha were at our house first thing this morning to see if we wanted to go shopping with them. It was so early, Chris was just leaving for work and Madi and I hadn't even gotten dressed yet. But we had a nice time this morning. And it is so much more fun shopping with others to help with Madi. Plus Jason is so cute with her. We pull in somewhere and he is the first one at her door to get her out of the car seat and then he carries her almost the whole time we were shopping. And of course Madi is just in love with Jason and Tabatha. I should say Jayce and Tabby (as Madi would call them).

I will leave you with some pictures, sorry I rambled today!!

Love, Amy



Madi playing Santa, she delivered most of the presents until she started throwing them.


Uncle Jason and Madi making pancakes in her new kitchen.


Madi not waiting her turn.


Madi lounging on her new John Deere tractor and trailer she got from her Uncle Jon.


(Did I mention Madi was really spoiled by everyone this Christmas, I guess that happens when your the only grandchild in the family!)

Photo Friday (with words)

What a strange and busy last two weeks. We are slowly moving back into our old routine from before the "Ice Storm of 2007." I worked down at the shop for about a week answering phones and getting invoices out. We figured that between the four guys, 2 teams of 2, they did 40 service calls in a week. That's a lot. Now we are just hoping that the overnight shipping charges that the parts house is going to charge us isn't going to break our bank. We didn't alter our prices to compensate for the overnight freight charges, so we are a little scared to see the bill from the parts house. Chris and the guys took a much needed day off today. It will make for a nice Christmas break for them.

We just found out last night that we finally have power restored out at the new house. That's 10 days that it has been out. We are definitely looking into getting a whole house generator installed. I can't imagine being without power for that amount of time with little ones in the house, so we need to figure something out.

Monday I took Madi to the doctor. She woke up with her eyes all matted, draining, puffy, and really glassy looking. She looked awful. We found out she had pink eye. We knew she had been exposed to it the week before but she went 4 days before she started showing symptoms. But luckily we got her started on eye drops right away and within two days she was looking much better. We finish the prescrip. today. That was the first time we have had to take her to the doctor for anything other than her well-baby checkups.

Last night Madi got to see Santa Claus at Kennedy and Coe, where Chris' dad works. It's pretty neat what they do. Santa comes in and they all get to sit on his lap and get their pics taken. Then they get a present. They do this every year for the kids or grandkids of their employees. Madi has been so excited to see Santa. She says "HO HO HO." And she is also singing Jingle Bells. It is too cute. I hope to get it on video and get it posted soon, it is just too cute. She was really shy when Santa came in and came right up to her. She is now burying her head and closing her eyes when she gets shy, it was hilarious. Even after Santa left she would not look up. Luckily we sat right across from where Santa sat to meet everyone so she was able to watch him from a distance and see all the other kids sitting on his lap. After about 15 minutes I asked her if she wanted to see Santa now and she knodded her head and got a big smile. She did an awesome job sitting on his lap. She had the cheesiest smile and had everyone rolling.

I probably won't post again until after Christmas, so Merry Christmas to everyone. We hope you have a wonderful day with your family and friends.

Love, Amy

Chris with his new snowblower. It took him an hour to blow all the snow from the driveway.

This picture doesn't do justice. If you are familiar with the old airport runway on East Crawford that's what this is. The limbs that have been picked up and dropped off so far are all the way across the runway and about a 1/4 mile long.

Madi insisted on wearing her sunglasses while she ate lunch.

Madi eating a cookie. This is right before she spilled a whole glass of red punch down the front of her shirt. What a mess.

Cowering from Santa.

Madi and Santa Claus!

Photo Friday

My Hero

Since Tuesday morning at 6:30 am when Chris left the house, he has been non stop. He left the house early Tuesday morning to go out and start helping people who needed it because of the ice storm that hit Kansas Monday night. We were out of power at home but we were safe and had a heat source, we were going to be fine. But others we knew didn't have the luxury of a fireplace or a good safe heating source. So, out he went to get generators hooked up to furnaces. He also has been working with the City of Salina getting the waste water systems back up and running. And working for individuals to get their electrical services hooked back up to their homes.

Yesterday, I worked in the office answering phones from about 10:30 to 5:30 and then transfered the shop phone to my cell so I could go home and spend some time with Madi. In that time, I took 21 calls of people needing power restored to their house. Most of the cases are tree limbs falling and hitting the power line to their homes and ripping the wires out of the meter boxes or just ripping the whole box off the house. I can say so far the people I have talked to are being polite and patient. But I am afraid what tomorrow, this weekend and next week will be like. There are just too many people to get to and patience are going to be wearing thin when people are living without power for days on end. Today, I have stayed home with Madi but still anwering the work phone. It has been a bit slower with only 7 calls so far today. Chris' phone is still ringing off the hook and I don't know how many names he has taken. They are just trying to get to as many people as they can in a day.

There was an editorial on the newpapers website today that was reminding people to say thanks. They thanked the power crews, police, firefighters, the city crews, dispatch personnel, and power company operators. But I would also like to thank Chris and his employees for being out there working so hard to help the thousands of people that are still without power. And all the other businesses just like Chris' that are putting in long hours to help all those in need.

God Bless,
Amy

More Pictures

Right now it is cold outside. It has been raining for most of the evening. I just looked out to see what it was still doing and our entire roof of our back deck is covered in icicles. On our way home from getting our pictures done, the temps were right around freezing. It should make for an interesting day tomorrow. They were already closing down schools and activities for tomorrow.



Here is a sneak peek at the photos we had done tonight. I had Tony email me one. She is such a ham. It didn't go as good as I had hoped. She was very clingy and whiny all day, so I don't think she is still feeling quite well yet. Plus she didn't know who Tony was. We were able to get a few good shots but it took her a long time to start smiling and she did not want to sit for anything. Tony's daughter Marta came in and helped a little. She's probably 7 years old. But then all Madi wanted to do was play with her. We decided not to press her anymore and we would get together again and do some more pics. After we were done, we sat around and chatted for awhile and Madi went and played with their three kids. She had a blast. They were running all over and had crayons out. She was in heaven. Can't decide if playing and having fun with the kids was a good idea or not. She got warmed up to Tony and his wife and kids but she may only want to play next time we try and do pics again.




Sunday after Madi got up from her nap I called Chris to see how late he was going to work. He wanted me to come out to the house and bring my camera. I figured they must have gotten some work done if he is telling me to bring my camera. So of course, I couldn't wait to go out. Took Madi to Dan and Jane's and then picked up some hot chocolates for the guys. The three bedrooms were completely sheet rocked and they were working on the main bathroom. Chris got all the plumbing done except for the kitchen, which will be done later, and had it pressure tested for leaks. But it was cold out there. It was only 22 degrees outside. They had the heater blasting at the rooms they were working in so it wasn't so bad in the bedrooms. But Chris was finishing up downstairs and by the time we came back up, my legs were numb. I can't imagine working outside in that cold weather. Of course, I didn't have the layers on like the rest of them, but I don't think it would make it much better. Check out my photo albums for the latest pics on the house.

Me freezing, I don't normally have my pic taken, thanks Chris!

Chris working on the water lines.

Take care, stay warm, and have a great week!
Love, Amy

My Crappy Week

What a week it has been. I should have known it was going to be a bad one, Madi did have a doctor's appointment this week. We are cursed with sickness related to a doctors appointment. I don't think it had anything to do with the doctor's appointment but this always happens.

Madi had her appointment at 10:30 Tuesday morning. Wednesday night at 10:30 we are laying in bed and I hear Madi cough. I thought that was weird, she hadn't coughed all day. And then it sounded like she was choking. I ran into her bedroom and she was covered head to foot, entire bed was covered in vomit. It was horrible. Madi is 18 months old now and this is the first time she has ever thrown up. My poor baby was so scared, she had no idea what was going on. I put her in the bath tub and cleaned her up while Chris was cleaning up her room. After she woke up some and I got her out of the tub, she acted fine. She wanted to play, everything was great. I put her in bed with us, I wanted her close in case something happened. She tossed and turned and couldn't get settled. I finally took her back into her bed and turned the monitor way up so I could hear everything. She tossed and turned for about 15 more minutes in her bed and then I heard her cough again. Again I went running for her room and she was covered in vomit. We ended up camping out on the couch for the rest of the night. She threw up a couple more times and finally was able to get some rest. I "slept" on the floor beside the couch, which was a good thing. I learned that Madi is not ready for a big girl bed. She fell off the couch three times.

Thursday we spent the day being lazy and catching up on our rest. Madi didn't eat much or drink much for two days. Friday evening we went to The Hickory Tree in Smolan for supper with Chris' parents. Great food, but Madi didn't want anything. She finally ate some fruit for Jane. We went home and Dan and Jane climbed in the car with us and we went and looked at Christmas lights. Madi loves looking at the lights. She says "Woooooow." And her new love is Santa Claus. Her face just lights up when she sees Santa on tv or we look at books or my snowglobes with Santa. If you ask her what Santa says she'll say, "Ho Ho Ho" and then grins. We'll see how she does in a couple of weeks when she sees the real Santa in person.

After looking at lights we went back home and watched a movie and were just plain lazy. Chris and I both had upset stomachs and just thought we either ate too much or the desert didn't sit well. Just wasn't sure, until 12:30 when I woke up and started vomiting. Oh, I hate being sick, I hate throwing up, it is just about the worst thing ever. I threw up a couple more times Saturday morning. Chris left to go work at the house. I don't even think he knew I was sick when he left. I was hoping I would feel better when I got up, but that didn't happen. I called my mom and she came to my rescue. She came over and spent the day taking care of us. Madi finally ate better last night and drank quite a bit of juice yesterday. I was getting worried about that too. Her diaper was hardly wet yesterday morning. We both took a three hour nap yesterday afternoon and I felt better when I woke up.

Madi is back to her ornery self today. Except for a headache and a little lightheaded, I am feeling better too. I guess it was a good weekend to feel under the weather, it is so nasty looking outside, I wouldn't want to be out and about anyway.

Here is a pic of Madi from Wednesday morning. She was so uncooperative and I should have known something was up when I got my camera out and all she did was cry everytime I pointed it at her. She is usually ready for pics with a big "Cheeeeese." I should have saved some of the crying ones. I took 50 pics and three turned out half way usable. Of course she isn't looking at the camera in any on them. Oh well, we will try again when she is feeling better. I just hope she is well enough and cooperates for Tony tomorrow night.



Chris has been out working on the house Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night this week, and of course this weekend. They started hanging drywall. He also worked on plumbing yesterday and got all the piping ran for the master bathroom and main bathroom. He was hoping to get it pressure tested today so they could continue hanging sheetrock in those rooms. But he was missing some caps this morning and I don't know if he got what he needed since it is Sunday. The work on the house is going to turn into just evening and weekend work from now on. Jon is going back to work Monday. His help didn't pan out like it was supposed to from the very beginning so this will be for the best. We are pretty much at the mercy of the weather at this point anyways. They were able to get the north and south sides of the house done with siding Monday and Tuesday when we had such nice weather to be outside. The back is going to have to wait awhile. It is just too cold and windy to be outside working right now. Chris said it wasn't getting much warmer than maybe 30 degrees in the house yesterday. But hopefully once they get all the drywall hung for the ceiling, it will help to keep some of the warm air from the heaters in the house. I haven't been out to see it since Tuesday so hopefully later this week I can make it out and get some new pics.

Take care and be safe.
Love, Amy

Madi's Checkup

Madi had her 18 month checkup and shots today. She is now 24 lbs 10oz., a gain of 3 lbs 3 oz. and is 32.5 in long, up .9 in. She has finally made it into the 50 percentile for her weight. The doctor was very pleased with her progress. We did an autism screening questionnaire and no problems there. Her doctor said she is very advanced with her development and is a pretty little girl. I am such a proud mommy!!



The poor girl knew shots were coming too. I laid her down on the bed and she immediately started wailing. She had two shots so the nurses did them at the same time, one in each leg. They put pretty shiny band aids on and she wanted nothing to do with them. As soon as they left and I started putting her clothes on, she ripped those things off and threw them on the floor. But the tears never last long with her. She was fine and ready to go by the time I got her socks and shoes on and out the door. I am crossing fingers and toes and knocking on wood that she doesn't get sick with these shots again. I told the doctor about her getting so sick after shots the last several times. She said that we are done with the nasty, high temp shots until Kindergarten, so she shouldn't get sick this time. I sure hope so, she is miserable for days with high temps, no appetite, and grumpy.



I am so excited for next Monday evening. We are getting our family portraits done with our photographer who did our wedding photos. He does such an awesome job. I am also hoping to get some pics of just Madi. I take a ton of pics all the time of Madi, but I haven't had too many chances to get professional pics done of her. Of course, we had that awful experience with Sears last year for our Christmas pics, but got a few nice ones of her. And then the beautiful pics that my cousin Andrea took but those were last year in September. So we are due for some new pics. My big decision now is what we are going to wear. Should we all wear the same color shirts, casual or dress up, Christmas colors or black or white? Having a lot of trouble with this, and of course Chris' response when I try to get his feedback, "I don't care, whatever you decide." Ahhh, why can't he help me out? Any suggestions would be much appreciated! Here are a few of my favorites.



Tony's


Andrea's

Sears




Sunday afternoon Chris was wanting cookies so I decided to just make some. I had all the ingredients here. I got started and Madi has been wanting to help me cook lately, but I am always doing something around the stove and I just didn't want to get her started with that. But I thought mixing cookies would be perfect for her to help me with. She had so much fun. I got out this old step stool that my brother and I used when we were Madi's age and she was able to stand at the counter and help. She measured out flour, and had it all over the floor. And then she would take a bite and mix some more. We poured in the chocolate chips and she was shoveling them in before I could get them mixed into the batter. It was a lot of fun and kept her attention long enough to get it all mixed and then she was done. I finished the rest by myself and she went off to play. Worked out great, I didn't have to worry about her being around the oven while they baked.

Cheeeeese!




Wow, big picture post. I have never been able to get blogger to publish this many pics in one post! Have a great rest of the week.
Love, Amy