Our little munchkin

It's been a few weeks in the new house now and we're still making progress toward the big finish. We're much more comfortable these days with all sinks and toilets working, as well as a dishwasher and even a SHOWER! Wow, what a difference after just a few weeks. The wood stove has been a terrific way to heat the house, getting both floors up to a cozy temp quickly each morning. Here Kieran shows you the best way to soak up the heat.


I have to send a huge thanks out to Wendy and Bob for their super cozy fleece car seat liner. Kieran really hated his car seat until I installed this. Now he'll even take a nap in it if we let him. Thanks you two! Big thanks from this little sleeper too :)


Kieran has the most endearing way of sneezing. His arms never fail to fly up and cross in front of his chest. Here he is mid-sneeze.


He's growing fast, but not quite fast enough to wear that cute little suit from Grandma yet. We tried it on for a walk last week and this is what we got. We still took our walk but poor little K didn't get to see much most of the time as he slid down into the belly of the suit. Maybe next week?
What a typical Kieran look. Over the last month he lost much of the hair he came with but it's now being replaced by a downy cover of light blond fuzz. At our last visit Kieran weighed in at 13 lbs 8 oz and is over 24 inches long. He still has big paws for his size though!

Latest house pictures

We had some help from a professional tile guy last week and he cranked out both showers and the tub surround in less time than it would have taken Max and me to decide on which tiles to buy if we didn't have to have them ready for the pro. This is the shower in the downstairs bathroom - also the one that's finally operational. Tonight I took my first shower at home in more than 7 years. What a treat!


Rufus has had quite a good time exploring all the water sources in the house since we moved in. Toilets are still a little scary for him on account of the flushing, but he is still very intrigued. Showers are a bit of a mystery...where is that drip coming from?!? And he's come close to jumping in with me in the tub during each bath. We're certain he'll do it one of these times.


Here's the upstairs shower/tub tiling job. We have to order glass walls and a door for this one so we're still a couple of weeks away from using the upstairs shower.


And the tub has come a long way since we first moved in and used it as a kitchen sink! Now it's a luxurious place for a hot bath when we're ready for some relaxing.


The rest of the upstairs bathroom has come into shape as well. Now there are two places in the house that are starting to get organized...we're also enjoying our fully functional kitchen. What a change from cabin life! Hey Mom, take a look at that floor! Nice work :)

Latest house exterior pics

After months in the chill blue shadows, the afternoon sun is finally hitting the house, streaming through the trees and into our windows. It seems like an eternity has passed since we put up scaffolding and started hanging foam sheets and furring strips. A major warm spell broke the cycle of low morale and interrupted progress that plagued our siding job. Set back by cold- snaps, illness, and labor problems, our siding guy has officially used up the fiber-cement planks we had on hand and completed 3 out of 4 sides of the house. A re-supply is to arrive soon and he assured us it would only take another day or two to finish. Yeah, tell me about it! Forgive us for not showing the backside of the house this time.
To Mette's relief, the scaffolding departed today on a flatbed truck. White metal corner trim will complete the gingerbread house look and match the vinyl windows nicely. We even set out some birdseed. The chickadees and redpolls give our cats something to watch from the bumpout windows.

The west and north sides of the house: We plan to build a wrap around deck on the corner facing you in this image. We still need to hang the corrugated galvanized panels on the exposed portions of the basement walls. Thought we'd wait 'till it warmed up a bit for that, and now it has. I've run out of excuses not to do it.


Getting it milled was the easy part, now I have to have it kiln dried and planed into window sills, door and baseboard trim. We may need to throw a bit of cash at it, but I think having interior trim made from our own birch trees will add to the character of our home. Don't ask me how much CO2 it will take to dry out and stabilize this wood. It's going to look 10 times better than the cheap trim used in most spec homes.


Bye Bye...see ya next time!

Kieran now

Kieran has changed so much in the last few weeks. He's been such a trooper through the move and settling into the new house. He's now in 3 month clothes and he's really starting to use his voice. It won't be long until we can understand what he's telling us.


He's a very active baby. Here's a little video clip of our little guy. If these legs are any indication I think we'll be pretty busy when he's mobile!

Work continues on the house

Max and Kieran worked on arranging the hearth stones this week. The wood stove was moved when Max and our friend Duff put in the laminate floor and we have to get the hearth under it before we can move it back and enjoy fires again. We all miss the wood stove but it should be up and running again by the end of the weekend.


Project manager Suki inspects and approves the slate arrangement that Max has chosen.


Max and Kieran celebrate a job well done. With so much work to be done on the house Kieran push-ups are about the only exercise Max gets these days. To help out Kieran has continued his weight gain to challenge Max's muscles. He registered at 11 lbs. 7 oz. at his 1 month checkup.


Finally Daddy got to give Kieran his second bottle (a first for Max). Piece of cake. They're both good at this task.

Many firsts

There have been many firsts during the last week. Right before we moved from the cabin Kieran began reaching for his toys hanging on the boppy seat. Very exciting!! His next first hasn't yet been caught on camera but he's been smiling for almost a week now. They're quick but they're awfully cute and are generally accompanied by happy kicking feet. So far the biggest smile I've seen was for Max. Kieran loves his daddy.



Rufus lost his first rolled up paper ball under the new stove. When we cleaned underneath the cabin stove we found at least two dozen paper balls. Maybe it's a game for Rufus and not just bad luck.

Kieran checked out his new crib for the first time. He likes spending time there talking to the animals but so far he hasn't slept in it yet. That'll be a hard transition for both of us!


He got his first bottle just two days ago. After all my worry that he wouldn't take a bottle he sucked it down like he'd been doing it all his life. This baby is good at everything! And Grandma got to feed little Kieran for the first time.


And Kieran took a quick first nap with his buddy Rufus.

Grandma's visit and moving

Then all of the sudden it was time for grandma (Nielson) to visit! She arrived early on a Sunday morning and Kieran slept through their first meeting.


Grandma had a few days with us at the cabin before moving day during which she enjoyed sleeping with the cats on the cabin floor and using the outhouse at -40F. She likes to bring stories home from her vacations and we don't like to disappoint. I'm sure she'll be talking about our stellar accommodations for some time! Luckily moving day came at the end of the week. Being that it was -40F and being that moving is always stressful and never any fun we don't have a single picture from that day. Best that we all forget it as soon as possible and jump right into the new house! It wasn't quite finished but cardboard counter tops and a Jacuzzi tub for a kitchen sink work in a pinch. It's been great being in the new house this week. We get more done every day and look forward to a finished house very soon. Here's the current state of the kitchen.


Grandma had a wonderful vacation in Alaska. Here she is finishing the tile in the upstairs bathroom. What could be more fun than that? Mom would want me to mention that these are her work clothes and that we didn't have a working shower yet. Oh, and that she was sawing tile...she doesn't wear bright yellow ear protection all the time :)


And here's grandma grouting the downstirs and mudroom floors. I'm sure she's feeling relaxed and rejuvenated after her time with us. We didn't give her much of a vacation but she's made a huge contribution to our home that we'll enjoy for years and we expect she will too when she comes back for real vacations in the future! Please come back Grandma! We promise we won't have any tile jobs for you!


We all caught up on our beauty sleep while Grandma worked. Well, one of us did. Good thing he's the cutest one.

Last weeks of January

We can't believe it's been a whole month since we last updated this...so much has happened! We've been a bit frantic getting the house finished, keeping a baby happy, packing, moving, staying warm, and visiting with a grandma. Kieran has taken it all in stride though. Here he is way back at the end of his second week putting his sexy on for all you ladies out there.



In the meantime the painters started and finished the painting.


Then the cabinet crew came in and installed the new cabinets. They did a great job except for one sticky drawer. Of course it was the first one I opened and I decided I'd made a terrible mistake on these low quality cabinets. Luckily the rest slide like butter and we only have the one to attend to...and I've changed my mind about the cabinets ;)


Kieran has been growing and growing, and sleeping plenty too. He can stretch like a champ as he demonstrates here during an afternoon nap. This was Kieran at 3 weeks.