Four Way - Hooray!

 If Jeff and I weren't very best friends we might get sick of working together all the time.  But since we are best friends we think it is the coolest thing ever that we get to build this house together.  And we are rockin' it besides...(most of the time).

 As soon as the windows arrived, we started wrapping the house (not the first time I've wrapped a gift to myself...).

 Don't clown my ladder.  It worked like a charm.  The scariest part of installing the windows was worrying that I was going to hit the glass with my hammer.  And my arms felt like noodles the next day.

 I'm getting all sorts of mad skid steer skills.

 The day after we got the house wrapped and the windows installed was Sunday - the only day we don't work on the house.  Jeff was a good sport and gave into the kids begging him to jump with them.

 These three amigos are such good little helpers.  They crack me up and they love being together.

 Doors and windows.  Yippee! 

 This was taken the day we passed our four-way inspection, so it had to be documented.

 We zoomed off for a day to have family pictures taken and spent the night on the mountain.  I can't deny that it is beautiful this time of year, but I'm still not ready to kiss summer goodbye.

 It was too cold and we had to get back so we only got to hike around a little bit.

 And just for the record, we live in the most beautiful state.

 This week we got curb and gutter.  When Jeff and I were prepping for this my friend suggested that I learn how to drive the backhoe so I wouldn't always be the one stuck with the shovel trying to shoot grades.  I'm pretty sure a backhoe is a little out of my league.

 After our four-way, it was time to start insulating.  I took Isaac and Titus to Home Depot to pick up everything we would need so that when the insulation was delivered the next day we would be all ready to go. 

Our trip to the bathroom should have been an omen.  It was some sort of strange foreshadow that nothing about this insulation project would go smoothly.  Since we had to drive for over an hour before we arrived at Home Depot, our first stop on arrival was the bathroom.  And since there are no carts allowed in the bathroom, I was holding my 20 pound 10 month old.  And since there are no hooks upon which to hang anything in the bathroom, I was also holding my purse.  And since a four-year-old in a bathroom wants to touch everything that could give him hepatitis, I was also trying to corral Isaac.  And since it was that time of the month I had to change my tampon (sorry for the graphic details.) And since you have probably never tried to use the bathroom under these precarious circumstances unless you lost a limb or have children, you would have no idea how incredibly impossible it is.  So you should try it for the sake of empathy.  Go ahead and try to hold a 20 pound bag of flour on your hip while you unbutton and unzip your pants, pull your pants and your underwear down, sit on the toilet, retrieve said sanitary item from your purse, oh and remember that your 20 pound lap ornament is alive and tends to grasp anything and everything, and is attempting to squirm out of your one-handed death grip.  Try to wipe yourself, remind your four-year-old not to touch that, or that, and remember not to touch anything yourself as you try to make your way to the sink and wash your hands, using only one hand.  Try to wrestle yourself back into your pants and underwear and help your four-year-old wash his hands using your one free hand.  Got it?  Good.  Now go shopping. 

Miraculously, the boys were angelic throughout the entire two-hour Home Depot marathon.  Unfortunately when Jeff and I attempted to use the things we had purchased, things didn't go as planned.  It simply wasn't working.  It was taking forever and was a huge mess.  We finally threw in the towel and called some old-school insulation company to come rescue us.  We'll end up blowing the insulation we purchased into our attic.  Lesson learned: some projects are NOT DIY.
When all of this house-building and mommy-slacking begins to feel overwhelming, God sends me a this sunrise during my morning run to remind me that He knows me, He loves me, and He will continue to help me.  That I depend on. 

The House We Built: Part III

Every day I hear, "Your house is moving along so fast!"  I've decided "fast" is a relative term.  Like, I am a fast runner if you put me up against the speed at which roses bloom.  I wouldn't term the waiting, waiting, waiting of this project "fast."  To me, "steady" seems much more applicable.

 These trusses, for example were three weeks out, which actually turned into 4.5 weeks thanks to our genius truss dude.  When they finally arrived, it was certainly a photo-worthy moment.

 And yay for when the trusses were finally set!

 This was shot right after the porch cap was poured.  When Isaac and I were nailing the tar paper around the perimeter, he said, "Wow mom! That sounded like a hard hit."  I replied, "It was.  I am the toughest mom ever."  He protested with, "You're not the tougherest mom in the whole world!"  When I asked who was tougher than me he answered with, "Kandi (his aunt), and her dinner is better too."

 We subbed out the plumbing and the heating and air, which means that part did actually move along fast.

 This was our "tough" shot taken after we had been working on the roof for 15 hours, half of that in the rain.  We are basically the coolest two-man construction crew ever.

 Our 15 hour roofing stint was very gratefully supplemented by the generosity of our good friend Dan.  Our friend Todd let us use his roofing gun and helped for a while too.

 And who wouldn't want this super star on the construction site? 

 My three boys (including the one who basically lives in a stroller these days) work hard on the scrap pile.  It only took three tries before they figured out that nailing the flag to the flagpole before trying to erect it was easier than trying to hammer it on after the pole was up.  They crack me up.  Note Levi's tool belt.

 Am I an expert roofer?  No way.  Will I do whatever I can to help?  You bet.

 Daisy took a break from babysitting to be the photog.  She is super great.

 Told you we were the best two-man team ever.  Even if Daisy didn't quite catch our whole selves in the shot.

 This chick is an essential part of our crew.  She is the do-whatever-she's-asked, never-ever-complain, best-helper-ever.

 Really? Does it get better than this?

I bought this pair of gloves the day we scraped the ground for the house.  Almost exactly two months later, they are on the verge of retirement, and I must confess, a source of pride for me as evidence of how hard we have worked.  And the roof?  Finally done.

Hospitalized

We don't go to the doctor unless we have a really good reason to...like having a baby.  As in: when I went to the doctor before I got married, the address they had on file was the one I had moved from when I was seven years old. Outside of when they were born, none of my children has ever been in the hospital...until now.

My kids had gone down one day early for a family reunion.  Titus was sick and didn't sleep a wink through the night.  I was getting ready to head down to the family reunion and kept thinking if I could just get gone then he would sleep on the way and wake up feeling better.

But I really felt like he might need to see the doctor.  I called the office and learned that our pediatrician was the one on call, which I took as a sign that we needed to go in.  So instead of heading South to retrieve my children and join my family at the reunion, I headed North to the pediatrician.

As soon as the doctor entered the exam room, he told me I needed to take Titus to Utah Valley Regional.  I was so scared!  I was intimidated by the sheer size of such a facility.  I almost asked the doctor to give Titus a blessing as we left his office on the way to the hospital, but I was too close to tears.  As soon as I got to the car, the tears came and I started to pray.  I called my mom and asked if she could keep my kids for a little longer and called Jeff to fill him in on the bad news.

From the moment we arrived at the hospital they took excellent care of us.  I was so impressed my the kindness of every single person we encountered.  It is not as if they get paid more for being nice, but they were fantastic. 

It probably helped that Titus was the perfect patient. 

Every staff member that entered our room had to be in full sterile dress, so mine was the only face Titus saw until Grandpa and Grandma came for a visit.

That cheered our little patient right up.

When the cousins came, Titus was unhooked from most of the machines and monitors, which made their visit a lot more fun for everyone.

Titus was diagnosed with reactive airway disorder, which is basically baby asthma.  With any kind of mild infection, his lungs become so inflamed that he can't breathe.  When he can't breathe he can't sleep, and he refuses to eat, which means he becomes dehydrated and it becomes even more difficult for his lungs to clear out.  For now we are getting used to regular treatments at home and trying to manage his flare-ups as best as we can.  We are praying that as he gets older and his lungs get bigger he can outgrow this. 

In the meantime, we are grateful for bunches of tiny miracles along the way.  Interesting, isn't it, that when things aren't exactly going our way we recognize so many ways that God is watching over us?  Like the way my sister followed a prompting so my children were automatically taken care of throughout this ordeal.  Like the way our insurance worked out.  Like the way Titus responded to his medication.  Like the Sacrament that was administered to me on the Sunday we were hospitalized.  I know that God is always aware of me and my needs.  I see it every day.

The House We Built: Part II

 Building a house is an all-consuming project.  Everything, and I mean everything else gets put on hold in deference to the ever-growing to-do list for the house.  My kids have been really good sports about putting their needs on hold.  They all pitch in and do their part (except Titus) and we are having a lot of fun along the way...

 ...like this night that the kids were helping Jeff with some trenches and ended up mud bathing instead.

 Jeff taught me how to drive the bobcat, so the kids each got a turn too.

 I spend most of my days in greasy, dirty, jeans with holes and I rarely wear make-up anymore.  I don't shower to start the day, I shower so I can climb into bed.  And I haven't been cooking much lately either.

 Levi is dad's right-hand man on this project.  He is always willing to go with dad and do whatever needs doing.

 We got the foundation tarred and then got the window wells put on (be glad you didn't see me jump the fence and traipse around the stock yard with my tape measure trying to measure and find the right window wells.)

 It was a laaate night getting the rough plumbing in.  I think our neighbors were about ready to kill us when we were still using the jackhammer to get through the footings at 11:00 at night.  So sorry.

 I spent the next day backfilling trenches and prepping the floor for concrete.

 After another late night of setting grade stakes, the basement floor was on it's way early in the morning.

 Then it was time to start framing.  The subfloor was a big step.

 This part makes it start to seem like a real house!

 There is so much unseen work to be done.  Tying in the sewer line...

 ...and the gas line.  After laying the bedding sand, I only got this trench halfway backfilled before I was off to soccer games.

 Throughout the whole process, I have been thinking a lot about what it means to lay a sure foundation.  So much of what we have done will be unseen, but is essential in making sure we have a safe, reliable home.  When we poured this slab inside the garage, I sketched "Helaman 5:12" into the concrete as a reminder of the importance of sure foundations in our lives.

 Right before school started, we had a family sleepover in the camp trailer at the construction site.

And when we woke up this crew was back to work on our house.

Every step is exciting.  We are getting closer each day.