Addition Update

No new progress yesterday...lots of rain. Today they got the basement walls formed up and as we speak they are pouring concrete into the walls! Tomorrow the forms come off and they pour the basement floor! It is SO good to see things moving in the "putting back together" direction!! Demo is fun but this is SOOOO much more exciting for me!! We are doing good and are thankful for the help so many are offering! Yesterday I finally started thinking about making some preparations for the baby whose arrival is sneaking up on me! I bought some diapers, found some onsies to be washed and am just mentally processing for what is to come! Brian is back to work and I am most concerned that he is the one that gets overwhelmed as he has way more to do with this project than I do! He has to work all day and then come home and work on the house! Bless his heart! He is a good man and I am SO thankful for him everyday! I told him the other day...4 kids seemed so overwhelming...now as we wade through 2 surgeries, multiple sicknesses, an attic remodel still in progress and of course this new addition process and then adding another family member in the midst. When the addition is done and the attic is done and everyone is settled in their new rooms, having 4 kids is gonna seem like a piece of cake! =) (I know that is a stretch, but let me cling to that for now!! =)) Anyway...here are a few pics from today!!



Kelli and Andrew watching from their bedroom window

Extreme Home Makeover Demo day!

Well it has been quite a day around here! I took way too many pictures to post all of them on here, but they are all kinda cool, so I just threw them all in a quick video! Saves time for all of us!! SO it is all uphill from here!!! New footings being poured tomorrow!!!!!! Praise the Lord!!!!

The Temporary Kitchen Set Up

Lauren and I emptied all the "china" out of the cabinet and it works great with food stored in it!

We are using 99% disposable products so there aren't many dishes, although I am washing the plastic cups and silverware, so we just drop what needs to be washed into the red bucket and then in the evening after dinner it's upstairs to the bathroom to wash dishes!! =) Once I can easily get outside I will probably do them with the hose....there is just something not right about washing dishes in the bathroom! =)

The Littlest Patient

Emily had her ear tubes placed this morning and did a great job! We had to be at the hospital at 545 this morning. They got her all ready and took her back to the OR at 710. The guy that came to get her was super nice and when he asked her if she was ready to go, she put her arms out to him and didn't hesitate a bit! I was so shocked at how good she did that I didn't even cry....for like a minute...and then of course I did a little bit...come on...I am a mom AND I am pregnant AND I haven't gotten hardly any sleep because of this stupid cold! She was in recovery by 730 and back in my arms at 746 (not that I was keeping track or anything!). She was very fussy when she came back. They had warned us about that and we remembered Andrew doing the same thing when he had his hernia surgery. They say that kids coming out of anesthesia just don't know what they are feeling and don't know what they need. After not quite a half hour she calmed down and then very quickly was getting back to her normal self. She had some yummy apple juice and teddy grahams and we headed for home shortly before 9! The doctor said there was thick glue-like fluid behind both eardrums and that it would not have cleared up with any other treatment than getting in there and getting it out. So he cleaned it out really good, sent the gunk to be cultured, and then put the tubes in. She will get antibiotic drops for 7 days and then we follow up with the ENT doc in 2 weeks and then every 6 months until the tubes fall out. They can stay in for up to 2 years. Thank you so much for all your prayers!


In the waiting room...


Daddy getting me dressed in my hospital gown...


Mommy time...


Back from the recovery room trying a drink of apple juice...







All tuckered out...



Ready to go back home!!


Back at home feeling good enough to sit at the table and have a snack! A mouthfull of grapes...

My Sweet Kelli...

Today my sweet Kelli turns 5. I was thinking back today to the day she was born and the day before and thought I would just share from her baby book what I wrote down about the story of her birthday...

When Daddy came home from work on May 6th, I told him all the events that had happened that day, and that you would probably be making your entrance soon! Dand had plans to build a retaining wall the whole length of our driveway that coming saturday and we debated whether we should still order the blocks? We decided that we would go ahead and order them because if you decided to be stubborn and take a few more days then daddy could still work on his wall! So that night after dinner Mommy, Daddy and Andrew took a trip to Menards and ordered everything Daddy would need. We went back home and got Andrew in bed, picked up the house a little bit and then mommy and daddy got settled in for a good night sleep too! At 2am I woke up and my water had broke. I woke daddy up and told him that it was time! He called Grandma Mauch to come stay with Andrew. As soon as Grandma got to the house, Daddy took me to the hospital. I still was not having any contractions. My friend Tracey got me all settled in my room, then Beth Post, a nurse mommy worked with for 5 years, took over. I had my 1st contraction at 3am and then things went quickly from there! Our midwife, Kim, arrived and said I was dilated to 7 centimeters. I was doing well, staying calm and using breathing to keep me relaxed. Daddy helped me into the shower to see if that would help and it did! So I stayed there for a while and then back to bed. My body was telling me that it was time to push so I did and 20 minutes later I watched in a mirror as you delivered! Kim laid you at the food of the bed and daddy and I kept looking trying to see if you were a boy or a girl?! Kim finally siad, "It's a girl!" We couldn't believe it! We were sure you were going to be another boy! What a wonderful surprise! You were born at 641am weighing 8 pounds and were 21 inches long! We Love you, Kelli Renee! Welcome to our family!"

Just a few weeks old...



5 years old...

Pics of the day...May 7th

Today Brian pulled off all of the aluminum siding from the part that will be demo'd on Monday. The siding will come off of all of the house over the next couple of weeks as the whole thing will be resided.




Lots of holes!!




The wallpaper in the bathroom (it is actually kinda cute...old fashioned toilets and bathtubs)

Some of the details

Okay...well I figured I best get some of the details up here before I don't have the opportunity to do so! I am sure there will be a million pictures I could put on her over the next weeks and I don't want to overwhelm you so I will do this post and then maybe a picture of the day or something like that until the baby comes and then you may just have to come visit to see the progress that has been made! =)

So here is the current set up from the outside...


This whole back "leanto" section of the house will be demo'd (Extreme Home Makeover style with backhoe on Monday!!)




Faded section will be gone



The roof lines are exagerated here, but this will be how the new addition will sit. There will be kitchen on the left and a large laundry/bathroom/mudroom on the right.



The total addition will be 26.5 x 14 glorious feet! I can hear that kitchen's heart beat already!!

Day 2

All in a days work...

So this is my kitchen. I have heard it said that the kitchen is "the heartbeat of a home". Well if that is the case our home is in need of a cardiovascular intervention. It serves it purpose, but it is small. We have been talking for 5 years about doing a kitchen addition. Sometimes we have been so close that in my head I have already been cooking meals in it! But for one reason or another we have always changed our minds about the timing or it just has been postponed for one reason or another.


Well, we started talking about it again recently, like really recently, like last Friday recently, and wondered if now is the time to move ahead...


I hesitate even mentioning it, because I would hate to have to explain to people again why we have changed our minds yet again.

But for some reason....

this time I just have this feeling...

that it is really going to happen...
















What do you think??? Think it's okay for me to get excited about our new kitchen addition???

My Girlies...

What would life be like with out girlfriends?? I sure couldn't imagine!!








And though I am as big as a house...I will still post this cause I love my girls!