Lucky!

Boy, we are lucky! We had a second estimate done on our basement and the man suggested calling out a plumber to snake the drains and check for tree roots before going any further. This way, we would be able to tell for sure if our drain tile is broken or clogged. We gave one of our neighbors (who is a plumber) a call and he came out and found a huge root ball in the storm drain! Since the drain was plugged, the drain tile couldn't drain and water started to rise around our foundation. This explains why we had both leaks last week. Once he pulled it out, we heard all of the water around our house drain into the line. We are very, very happy to say that our water problem is fixed! No expensive bills, no attorneys and some peace of mind! It stinks that we had to deal with all of the water and cleaning everything out of our basement, but on the plus side there are no longer any 70's flashbacks when you go down there :)

In the meantime, we have been working diligently to get the nursery done. We just have a few more things to do and we will be finished. We found some great vinyl wall decals that look really nice in there! I am starting to have more and more contractions every day and would not be surprised if the baby arrives a little earlier than expected. We are hoping to have everything ready within the next couple of weeks. We will post some pictures soon!

Yikes!!!

Well, we have had a really eventful week. Unfortunately, it was not the good kind of eventful. It started last Sunday with some water in our basement. We were really fortunate to find the leak only hours after it appeared to have started and were able to rescue our basement belongings before things got worse. Really only a corner of the basement was ruined and Travis spent the remainder of the night pulling up wet carpet and paneling. For the next couple of days we ran fans and a dehumidifier and things were looking dry, until Wednesday. By this time we had had 4.5 inches of rain in our area over the course of 5 days or so. Wednesday evening, we were just about to begin the process of moving some of our stuff back into the basement when we discovered we had more than 3 inches of water in the other half of the basement.....just great. Travis spent yet another 2 evenings pulling down paneling and getting all the water up. This time we couldn't tell where the water was coming from.

Here is where it gets pretty interesting. We called out a basement company to investigate what the issue was. They think we have a broken or clogged drain tile under the house. They also said that there looks like there have been a lot of prior leaks, floods and shoddy repairs done to the basement and there was evidence that this has been an ongoing problem for a long time. Our neighbors even informed us that the house had a major flood while it was still on the market and the owners had to call in trucks with special equipment to suck out all of the water. This would have been fine, however, the people the sold us the house did not disclose any of this! The box on the disclosure statement regarding basement water and/or foundation issues was checked "no". They were also the original owners, so they would have been here for ALL of it. Nice, huh? Seems strange that our inspector also missed some obvious signs.

Now we are stuck with thousands of dollars in basement repairs to install a new drain tile and sump pump. Needless to say we are really upset and will be contacting the previous owners to explain that we feel they are responsible for the cost. Who knows where this will go, but we have a sinking feeling we may need to get an attorney involved.

The good thing is that the basement was only partially finished, in the 70's, so seeing the carpet and old paneling go was not a heartbreaker. Travis spent the entire weekend getting everthing out. He pulled up every inch of carpet, removed all of the paneling and insulation. We also had to pull down the framed walls.

We have a couple more quotes to get this week on the repairs. Hopefully this weekend we can get everything fixed so that we won't have to worry about the water anymore.

Pregnancy Update

It has been a while since I have updated on our pregnancy. Seems weird since my pregnancy with Mason was so complicated and we were updating everyone frequently. We are in our 32nd week and will be 33 weeks on Monday. I can't believe the time has gone by so fast!

So far, everything has been checking out ok at our appointments. We have had three clean ultrasounds and her hear beat sounds great at every appointment. She has been very, very active and will sometimes make me really uncomfortable with all of the kicking and moving around.

I have been feeling pretty good with the exception of some hip and leg pain. I think my sciatic nerve is being pinched a bit. Some days are much better than others. Sleeping has also become difficult, but that is to be expected this late in pregnancy. I try and nap when Mason naps and it really helps keep me going for the day. I will just enjoy this luxury while it lasts!

We have an appointment coming up on the 13th and I believe they might do another ultrasound to see what kind of position she is in. They also want to check her weight to see where it is. Mason was a pretty good size at 33 weeks, so there is a concern that she might be a pretty good size too. We have decided for the moment that we will attempt a VBAC if I go into labor before my due date. We are also planning on scheduling a c-section around our due date. If I were to go past my date, they can't induce labor because of the prior c-section and I would end up with one anyways, so it makes sense to schedule one for my due date. It is a tough decision because both methods (VBAC and c-section) come with risks to me and the baby. Unfortunately, there is no easy answer.

We have also decided to remove the name voting poll from the blog. Unfortunately we have lost interest in those names. We are having a heck of a time deciding on a name. We want her to have a special name just like Mason has. We have decided to put a small list together and pick an official name after we meet her. There haven't been too many names that have jumped out at us so far, so I am not sure what kind of a list we will have together when she is born.

Phase I Pics

Here are some pictures of the kitchen drywall and lighting. We still have lots to do in the kitchen after the nursery is complete. I will post more pictures after we finish the next phase (trimming out the window, painting the cabinets and putting in new countertops).

Little Project - Phase 1 Complete!

Today, we were finally able to complete the first phase of our kitchen remodel. The drywall is done, painted, and all of the lights are installed and fully functional! After many, many strange and unexpected setbacks (such as mismatched paint, faulty switches and faulty lights) we are now ready to call it quits and move on to the nursery. I will try and post some pictures soon.

We hope to get the nursery painted this week. We have decided upon a very light pink color called "princess pink". We hope that our ultrasound technicians were right when they said it would be a girl :)

Recycle, Recycle, Recycle

I wanted to take a minute to write about a topic that is very important to us. We have become avid recyclers since moving into this house and after Mason was born. We have been making a concerted effort to "go green" based upon a fear that we have for future generations and how life will be like for them if we continue to waste our precious resources and pollute the environment. Plus, we really want to teach our children how precious and beautiful our environment is and how to take steps to preserve it.

We are so excited that our township will institute a state of the art recycling program in April 2009. Currently we are able to recycle glass, aluminum and plastics 1 and 2. Even with the limited program we have now, we still somehow find a way to fill up our bin every week (mainly with Mason's tube feed cans). With the new program coming up we will be able to recycle all plastics 1-7, glass, aluminum, paper, junk mail, magazines, cardboard, plastic bags, etc. Travis and I estimated that 90% of our trash will be recycled with this new program. Take for example a yogurt container, we will be able to recycle all of it now! We are so excited about it! I think our family looks at us like we are crazy...yes, we are this excited about a recycling program. We literally can't wait!

We are going to start some other green projects around the house as well. All the new paint we buy has been VOC free and we have been slowly making the switch to natural cleaners, etc. We are also investigating steam cleaners that steralize and clean without the use of harmful chemicals. This spring/summer, we are going to install a rain barrel to catch the downspout water for watering our garden and plants.

Feel free to comment with your own "go green" tips and links!

March for Babies

That time of year is coming up again! March for Babies is on 4/25/09 in our area. Last year Travis walked for Mason and was able to raise more than $1,000 in donations thanks to your generosity.

We have set up a bit of a different goal this year. There were many people that expressed interest in walking with Travis, so we decided to create a walking team. Our team will represent CDH and will hopefully help to raise some awareness. Our goal is to get 25 walkers this year to participate with Travis and Mason. If each walker raised $100, our team will generate $2,500 for the March of Dimes, a truly special organization.

I really wish I could walk this year, but the event is only 2 days away from my due date.

Please check out our Team Page and register to join us!