Pic of the Week

I've been fruitlessly trying to post a super-cute video of Will and Eva playing and giggling together for the past 3 days now, so I'll just give up my dreams move on. Instead I will post a picture of sir William from last week.

The other day we were heading out for the morning and I let Will play in the back yard so I could finish getting us packed up. When I came outside I took a quick scan of the backyard expecting to see him playing with the ball he had when he first went out and was puzzled when I didn't see him. Then, I saw him.

Sitting in the chair. Reading a book that I didn't even realize he had brought outside with him. He even stayed a minute while I ran in to get the camera. Love it.

Her World...

Having a crawler in the house again reminds me of just how precarious this stage of development can be. Atleast with toddlers the world is less about discovering every single shiny and potentially dangerous thing in their line of sight (and putting it in their mouths), but about balls and playing with the dog and books and toys. Also, toddlers can avoid getting hands and legs covered in dirt and crumby stuff when you don't have time to vacuum and sweep every 2 hours.

So it seems we are back into baby-proofing mode. Due to the fact that we moved downstairs after Will was past this stage, everyday it seems I have to find new ways to make this apartment a good place for a crawler. Take the dog's water and food dishes for example. When we lived upstairs the dog dishes were conveniently locked behind a baby gate in the pantry. Downstairs there is no pantry, so I find myself continuously putting them up high when Che is not using them. And let me tell you, when I forget Eva sure does make the most of that oversight.

Aside from the challenge of having a crawler in the house once again, It's been so cute to watch Eva discover her environment. She's especially interested in what her brother is doing. The absolute best thing is when Will and Eva start to laugh at one another, the very first signs of playing together. We've been trying to catch this on video with little luck. For now I'll post a video of them sharing a good laugh as their dad reads a book.

Projects Completed

After 2 long months, the house projects involving the mold removal have been completed. Coupled with the awesome feeling of being back in our own home after a month away is the great feeling that comes with getting these projects behind us. Here are some photos of the completed areas and if you want to see some before shots (minus the basement) go here.

Project #1: This is just a small portion of our basement, but the section that holds our new organizing shelf. The new system along with the extensive cleaning that was done has made this area of our home a place I'm no longer scared of.

Project #2: We were approved for a 5 year forgiveable loan based on our income that is meant for environmental hazards in your home (and some other things) like mold, so we were able to apply that money towards contractors for this project. I decided to play around with color and am happy with the outcome.

Project #3: Kitchen ceiling. While the contractors worked on the bathroom, Rodney set to work at finishing the kitchen ceiling.

The only major project left is the sunroom. Months ago Rodney gutted the room and this summer he sprayed it with the same chemical solution that the other areas in the house got, but it's still in decontrucion mode and therefore unusable. The plan is to have it completely finished by next summer, but I am so so so overjoyed that these first 3 projects are completed that I can wait for the sunroom to be done. Rodney keeps saying that we're no longer poisoning the kids and I have to say that this is probably the best feeling of all.