Sigh...

In January, after we return from our tour of visiting family, we have a pile of mail to sort through waiting for us.  I always squirm as I open the credit card bills from December and Christmas.  I don't worry too much, because I have a budget and I can cover them.  In the same pile of mail, we always rejoice when we open Brian's check from his Christmas caroling gigs.  Yeah!  Additionally, this year we received a health refund that was totally unexpected.  Double yea!

And then the weather here got warm...

And then the weather got cold...very cold...very, very cold.

I awoke in the morning to a chilly house.  I went to turn on the faucet to brush my teeth and NO WATER.  Shoot.  As my parents say, "It's always something."  I had to skedaddle out the door, so I left Brian in charge of trying to sort everything out.  Unfortunately, it was a day where I am in class all day with no time to check back in to the situation at home.   When I did make it back to the house, I was greeted with love from slightly smelly boys because we still had no water.

Brian had learned that it wasn't on the city's side of the meter, so it had to be near the meter or in our house.  We had no water seeping out of the walls or puddling on the floor anywhere, so we suspected it wasn't a break anywhere.  Brian set up our little electric heater near the meter just in case it was frozen, and still we had nothing.  I felt along all the pipes I could see in the basement and none of them felt overly cold or frozen.  It was 7 o'clock at night and I was at a total lost at what was wrong with the water situation in our house.  I caved and called a local company who had a 24hour hotline.
The plumber on the phone thought it was likely a frozen pipe somewhere.  I said we might as well wait until the morning since it was just going to get cold again that evening.

Day two without water and we were using baby wipes for washing up.  The plumber was on his way to the house just as I was leaving for the morning.  I got back home around 1pm and the plumbers (now there were 2) were still there = bad sign.  Brian filled me in on the situation...

Plumber 1 shows up.   Tamlin immediately says hello and informs him that he is a superhero.  Jude squeals at him.  Plumber 1 goes into the basement and beats around on the pipes for awhile.  He comes back up and informs Brian that somewhere in the pipes is a clog.  He thinks it might be something that came in through the city system because of a nearby rupture that happened recently.  He says thinks it is mostly likely clogged at one of several junctions where the pipes narrow and gives an estimate of $1200. Ouch.  Well, we got to have water, so Brian gives him the go ahead.

Plumber 1 begins cutting into the pipes, and discovers that it is frozen...completely frozen.  Plumber 1 calls in plumber 2 for help since the frozen section is nearly 2 feet long.  This is really odd since the frozen pipe is in our basement, which is still fairly warm.  Plumber 2 suggests that they bring the pipe out more from the wall and replace the pipe with newer flexible ones to help prevent any freezing in the future.  In the end, they replaced most of the water pipes in the basement with these newer ones.  They wrapped up around 4pm and I handed over the credit card for the bill.   Sigh...at least we had the checks first before this unexpected emergency :-)

We now have water again and Tamlin is still a superhero.

While I'm updating...

I realized I haven't mentioned Jude's latest accomplishments during the Thanksgiving / Christmas holidays.  Our little bugger is getting big so fast, and man-oh-man is he a thinker!

• Readily goes up and down the stairs on all fours.
• Is really trying to go down the stairs on just his feet while holding a hand...he wants to be like big brother.
• Mastered spoon and fork for eating, but with lots of mess.  He likes to stab the food and then take it off the fork with his other hand before placing the morsel into his mouth.
• Climbs up on whatever he can and hollars if he can't get up (and Tamlin can). 
• Lately, he's climbing onto his rocking moose and going to town (big grins)
• Great at fine motor movement, like placing little marbles into little tubes on the marble racetrack or cars onto the matchbox wall tracks.
• Loves to make things turn, spin, click, and light up.  He loves light switches.
• Takes his socks off, attempts to put them back on again.
• Tries to put his own shoes on, but hasn't managed yet.
• Pushes his arms through his shirts when dressing, which is usually helpful
• Removes his binky from his mouth, places on changing page, right before getting shirts pulled over his head. I think he got tired of having it pulled out of his mouth as the shirt was pulled upwards.
• Can turn his push night light and musical animals on, such as his gloworm and giraffe buddy
• Loves to "read" books, especially pop-up books and books with lift flaps.
• Has been "trying" to throw things deliberately, like his brother.  We toss plush birds around and Jude has been trying to get in on the action
• Attempts to jump by squatting and standing up quickly (no feet leave the floor).  He thinks it is hilarious.
• Has been trying to figure out doorknobs, but just barely reaches them.
• Still only has 5 teeth...but is gnawing on lots of things, like his shirt sleeves.  Can fit his entire binky into his mouth.  Lately, he has been attempting to lick his own nose.

Ever day brings new adventures with my little man!

Tam's latest sayings

Tam is talking up a storm as well.  I am often so surprised at the phrases he has picked up from us or from school...or at his logic!  Here are few of his most recent sayings.

No, that's not on sale - I guess Brian and I say this a bit too often at the store...Tamlin now tells Jude he can't "play" with a certain toy because it isn't for sale.

What do you want for Christmas?  - We got this question a ton throughout the month of December.  He also like telling us what he wanted...a blue car and a marble track.

Let's get that maybe for my next birthday / Christmas - Whenever he sees something he thinks he wants and we tell him that he already has too many toys.  What a logical solution.

Bam! - This seems to be his go-to phrase of the moment.  He thinks it is hilarious and often bursts into giggles after saying it.

Maybe in 5 minutes. - Everything is 5 minutes or 5 times; it's his favorite number at the moment.

Be careful driving; it's slippery outside! - This came after we drove through a snowstorm (slowly) to visit his grandparents in Mars.  I kept telling him I couldn't drive fast because I had to be careful in the slippery snow.

Never Ever - He picked this up friend his cousin Ciearra during our last visit.

Wordless Wednesday

The boys attempt to conquer the snow...

 

Tamlin made snow angels and snowballs

 Jude attempted to move...fell...and the snow defeated him.

He HATED getting snow on his face and immediately started bawling after this photo.

Good thing snuggles  and a Christmas cookie helped.

Jude's latest words

Mama, Daddy - occasionally said, but readily points to us or goes to us when asked
Hi - sometimes with a wave, often said to get your attention
Bye - Again, sometimes with a wave
Roar - Loves to roar like a monster or a dinosaur
Go, go, go - sometimes said on the way out the door

Hot - Often repeated after we tell him something is hot
Woof - When he sees a dog
Wow - Said when he thinks something is awesome
Uh-Oh - Frequently heard when something is dropped, spilled, or broken
Bath time - Said with glee and a clamoring up the stairs to the bathroom.  Both boys really like playing in the bathtub.
Apple - Just started saying this accompanying with a point to the fruit bowl and the sign for please.

And a whole range of quacks, giggles, squeaks, and other incomprehensible noises.
Still only signs please and down.  He's great at shaking his head when he wants to say No.
Oh, and Shelly says he said her name...but we haven't heard it yet :-)

Welcome 2013

A new year....

Let's see where it takes us...

Keeping our fingers crossed, our eyes peeled, and our hearts open to change!