Just An Update

I haven't blogged about anything significant in a while, so I figured now would be a good time to sit down and do so!

Last month, around the 12th or so, we noticed we had some leakage in our laundry room.  Not knowing what it was, we tried to figure out the source of the leaking and after a week discovered it was the water heater.  What shocked us was that the water heater was only 7 years old, and when I went poking around to find the source of the leak, I discovered that there was a patch job where it had previously leaked.  At that point we knew that it was going to get replaced.  So we called a company in and for $1,000 we got a brand new water heater, an anodized rod put in the water heater to reduce mineral buildup and we also paid to extend our warranty to 11 years instead of the usual 5 or 6.  We also had to pay for the plumber to redo the duct work because it was done very improperly and was a major code violation!  So at least we've got a brand new water heater that's up to code.

Then after months of waiting and having to refile our amended return, we received our First Time Home Buyer tax credit on the 8th of this month!  After going out to dinner to celebrate, we tackled the major expense that we knew about when we bought our house; replacing our furnace.  After calling around and researching and having estimates done, we finally picked a company to replace the furnace AND they also insulated the attic, which is great!  Unfortunately, due to unforeseen situations, we were not able to get our furnace last Monday as scheduled, but we'll be getting it installed tomorrow.. I hope!  We're very excited and happy to know that we'll finally be getting our clunker furnace replaced and taken out and having an energy efficient one put in.  And based on the gentleman that came and did the bid, he said because our current furnace is so old, and because of all the energy rebates we'll be receiving from not only the federal government, but our gas company, we'll be seeing a return in the next 5 years.. and that's something I like to hear!  Of course, with a new furnace we'll need a duct cleaning, which won't be done until after we get the furnace installed and when we get a referral from the HVAC company.  I'm very excited about the furnace because I know we won't freeze AND go broke this winter, and because the biggest expense will be out of the way and we'll most likely never have to replace the furnace as long as we own the house; and we plan on being here for a VERY long time.

Everyone's been doing great too!  Jeff's been working and doing his thing at work, and has recently made a ton of breakthroughs with work, and has recently made strides that have resulted in making his job much easier.  I just had my 24th birthday on Friday, and we celebrated by going to Lonestar Steakhouse for dinner.. nothing says grownup date like eating at a place that you don't get a toy with your meal!  And then today -well yesterday seeing how it's after midnight now- marked mine and Jeff's 6 year anniversary as a couple.. and what a crazy, but fantastic 6 years it's been!  I am constantly amazed and have felt blessed many times over because of him.  If I have to name his one redeeming quality, it would have to be his capacity of forgiveness and understanding.. I guess I just named two!  He's helped me through so much, and I KNOW I would not be the person that I am today without him.

Speaking of Jeff and I, I can't go without mentioning our two daughters!  Without US, THEY wouldn't be here!  Zoe's going through a stage right now that testing our patience and and nerves!  Last month, she decided that everytime she made a trip to the toilet, she would bomb the toilet with tons of TP, sometimes using the entire roll.  It was driving us up the wall, and we finally came up with a solution; we got a cheap wooden spoon, and triple bagged some grocery bags, and had her scoop the TP out of the toilet using the spoon.  She did NOT like that at all, and has not done it since then, which is a great thing.  And just for the record, we were tolerating it, but the final straw was when she did it in our downstairs bathroom and it resulted in a main sewer line clog and we had flooding all over the bathroom floor and all over the hallway carpet.  I think it was an unorthodox method, but at the same time, she needs to realize that in life there's consequences for every action, and that there will be repercussions for those actions and sometimes it's gross and not very fun.  However, she stepped out of this habit and has now started regressing with her potty training, something she's done so well for the last 6 months.  However, I know this is normal, and eventually she'll get through it, we just have to be patient and work through it!  One of her recent hobbies.. well it's been a hoby of hers for a while, but has recently started taking off is photography!  She loves to set up these little scenarios and take pictures; her favorite place is her closet.

These are some of the pictures she's taken.

Zoe's also been growing VERY well, she's about 40-41 inches tall, and weighs in around the same in pounds, and she's actually about to hit another growth spurt we think, since she's starting to chub up a little, which usually happens before she starts growing again.  It's a bit unnerving to realize my almost 4 year old is only EIGHTEEN inches shorter than me!  She's also been slowly learning how to write her letters, but it's something that we need to work on more.  She knows how to write A, C, D, E, M, O, R, T, Y and Z, so we need to work on the other 17 letters of the alphabet.  And of course, here are some recent pictures of her.

These are some of her self portraits she's done!  I think they showcase her personality perfectly.

And of course, we can't forget little Ruthie!  Don't get me wrong when I say this, but I feel exceptionally blessed with her as our daughter.  She's always been behind in terms of her milestones being met, and her size, but she just has such a wonderful demeanor and she's got a zest for live that Zoe never really had.  She doesn't talk much, but she still is able to communicate her point across and is able to tell us her wants and needs.  And of course she's just so patient and rolls with whatever is tossed her way, because let's face it; Zoe kind of bosses her around like the bigger sister she is!  And for the most part, Ruthie just takes it as it comes; however she's got a streak in her where she will get spunky right back.  She's also got an amazing sense of humor and finds simple joys in doing silly things like running around us in circles and saying hi every time she gets to our left or right side, or she likes to pull up our shirts and stick her finger in our belly buttons and runs off laughing.  One of the first words she started saying coherently after the monosyllabic stuff was 'tickle'!  She'll come up to us and start saying 'tickle-tickle' with a big grin on her face and start tickling herself, so you'll know she's ready for some tickles!  She's learning fast now though, and is in the early stages of her vocabulary explosion that kids tend to get when they are around 18-20 months.  She does know some sentences, like "I all done!", "I a good." and "I don't know." and "I want ..." which usually ends in a mumble because she's still learning how to talk.  She did learn milk which is good!  She's kind of a picky eater, but we've discovered she LOVES anything with rice and a sauce; which is usually coconut milk and curry since we love Eastern Indian curry in this family!  She also likes noodles of any kind, and her favorite fruits to eat are bananas and tomatoes.  You read that right, she LOVES tomatoes!  We've been getting tomatoes finally in our garden, and she loves to polish off the smaller ones we've been getting.  We're still trying to introduce her to other things, and her palate has been expanding to eat other things; however she's NOWHERE near where Zoe is with her palate.  And of course, I need to add some pictures of Ruthie as well!

These I think show how she's so inquisitive and yet she's got a certain sassy spunk about her.  Zoe took the first one, and I took the second one.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the update.. and thanks for reading through all of it, it's a LONG one!