We shall build an ark!

We awoke to quite a flood yesterday. Seems the supply line from the toilet in the downstairs bathroom burst sometime Tuesday night / Wednesday early morning, spraying water throughout the first floor of our house. After a few hours with a wet/dry vac Kevin got most of the standing water out of the house. We got a plumber out ASAP and the insurance company sent over a disaster clean up crew who got to work. They attempted to salvage the carpet in the living room & dining room, but after a while they gave up and decided to remove the carpet along with the kitchen cabinet & bathroom vanity "kick boards". We're living at Hermvy's house for a few days while de-humidifiers and fans try to dry out the house. Anyone have suggestions on paint & carpet colors? Oh wait, you probably want to see pictures of the house to decide, and maybe even some of Nicole too, right?! Well, I'll try to remember to pick up the camera & computer at the house today and see if we can't squeeze that on to our (i.e., Kevin's) to-do list.

Slight delay . . .

But when we have to spend the morning with a wet/dry vac to clean up a huge flood in the first floor of our house, it might be a little while longer until those pictures get posted! Ahh, the joys of being a homeowner.

Just a quick post to say

I'm sorry. I've been meaning to post pictures of both the house and of Nicole. Who knew working and moving and parenting would leave so little spare time? Anyway, with the NCAA tournament coming up, I have a self-imposed deadline to get pictures posted. Because if I don't get it done before basketball starts, I won't get it done until April. Maybe this weekend? Hopefully. Stay tuned.

Home Sweet Home

Wow, what a whirlwind 24 hours it has been. First Bubby and Grandpa arrive from Baltimore for their "grandkid fix" (we have no delusions that it's the warm weather or even us that's attracting them to Arizona), then we find out the offer we put on the house (on January 14, mind you) was accepted! It's going to continue to be a crazy few days, since the deal is contingent on us closing on February 25. So we'll drag Bubby and Grandpa along with us as we do the house inspection, look at appliances and who knows what else. I'm sure that's exactly what they wanted to do during their visit with Nicole.

Soon we'll have over 3,100 square feet of space (most of which is located in the mater bedroom), plus a gigantic backyard (with pool and built in BBQ!), which is mind boggling given in the tiny space we've been living in since July 1. We can't wait to start entertaining and have everyone over. And for you out-of-town folk, it's a 4 bedroom, so we have space for you, too!

Just in case

It occurs to me that I put up some pictures in the links on the right that I never mentioned in a post, and some of you might have missed them. Well, here they are. They are from early December and our first day in Baltimore, as well as a few of Nicole's cousins (and aunt and uncle) that my parents had.

Finally

It's only been about 3 weeks, but I'm finally posting the photos from our trip to Baltimore. There are quite a few, and I'm only posting a fraction of what we took. So enjoy.

Meanwhile, Nicole has been sick for a lot of 2008. Just a bad cold. Must be these rough Arizona winters. But she's much better now and back enjoying day care. She weighed in at 15 lbs, 12 oz at her 9 month checkup (5th percentile) so we've upped her food and are trying to fatten her up. She's doing great with it and loves all the new things she's eating -- yogurt, cheese, eggs, chicken. She also had her third tooth pop through, her first up on top.

And for those who care about me and not just Nicole, I start a job this week. I'll be an editor for an educational publisher working on their online classwork. It's a 6-month stint, but a lot can happen in 6 months.

Here are the pictures.

Excuses, excuses

Nicole came down with a nasty cold somewhere between Baltimore and Phoenix, and has been home since, with the exception of a half-day at day care yesterday (after which they decided no matter how much they had missed her, they were sending her home). Needless to say that's kept me from having much time to post, let alone deal with photos. But as her snot is clearing up I see some blog updates on the horizon. So stay tuned.