tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8000677176306702892024-02-07T15:10:30.434-08:00JAG JourneysAlihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14397307206604229435noreply@blogger.comBlogger66125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800067717630670289.post-86351616728330859862018-07-31T19:48:00.000-07:002018-08-02T16:41:17.350-07:00A name for Baby G #2Since it took five days after Lauren's birth to <a href="http://jagjourneys.blogspot.com/2015/07/a-name-for-baby-g.html" target="_blank">decide on a name for her</a>, we didn't really focus on choosing a name ahead of time for this baby. We casually talked about names a few times during the last month or so of my pregnancy, but figured it would probably take us several days to name the baby after it was born anyway so no need concern ourselves about it too much beforehand.<br />
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Well, we definitely didn't think that it would take us even <i><b>longer</b></i> to name this baby than it had taken us with Lauren! A whole nine days after Baby G #2 was born - after waffling between the three girls names we could kind of agree on - we finally decided on one. So, without further ado, we'd like to introduce to all of you...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmuE9-XZzFLZzopIsmx7Zr5UO5SDbSRRkJa1uLaLn2mAIYhzvbDQvtx5U7BfmdOGaAvDXFmZDzOZHY5TL0mG1kiEhdVpBzJ4nAj2VlwjdZM29IUOlnOiIw3HCjPec1PpGHHfuFw1heAuY/s1600/38465687_10155311347111537_4733098413103513600_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1108" data-original-width="1600" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmuE9-XZzFLZzopIsmx7Zr5UO5SDbSRRkJa1uLaLn2mAIYhzvbDQvtx5U7BfmdOGaAvDXFmZDzOZHY5TL0mG1kiEhdVpBzJ4nAj2VlwjdZM29IUOlnOiIw3HCjPec1PpGHHfuFw1heAuY/s640/38465687_10155311347111537_4733098413103513600_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Camden Reese</span></div>
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Meaning of the names:<br />
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Camden: Enclosed or winding valley (English/Scottish origins).<br />
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Reese: Ardent, fiery (English/Welsh origins).Alihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14397307206604229435noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800067717630670289.post-59789412022333223102017-10-13T16:13:00.000-07:002017-10-13T20:59:58.275-07:00Litchfield FairFriday, September 8 - the day after we arrived in Maine for an almost-weeklong visit - Jonathan's mom had the idea for us to go to the nearby Litchfield Fair. None of us had ever been to it, but we had such a fun time!<br />
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We found the animal barns first, but before we could get too far past the entrance we saw a miniature horse team that was taking fair-goers for wagon rides, and decided to take a ride first. Lauren thought the horses were so cute and had a fun wagon ride with Mama and Dada while Nana and Grandpa took pictures when we returned. Once we got out of the wagon she even got to pet the two small horses, which she also really liked.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGwNLiDBfkkq-dzNywiT1ArTVEQyV27v4vbRPVvUP2YuQ-8nKwIWhuHV_twWtmB4EZz80KqXbGx3tOxUcMJ8yuxzmZGr7wgUY-nL8F29M0jl9vEUc0KuzfSDELmejNhu7GF_3uGGqqaMtu/s1600/edited-1148.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1068" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGwNLiDBfkkq-dzNywiT1ArTVEQyV27v4vbRPVvUP2YuQ-8nKwIWhuHV_twWtmB4EZz80KqXbGx3tOxUcMJ8yuxzmZGr7wgUY-nL8F29M0jl9vEUc0KuzfSDELmejNhu7GF_3uGGqqaMtu/s640/edited-1148.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In front of a wooden barn</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyM3gFs7PfbYztCH7Q4OgVY6WXf7CmFyQGZRPyL1fIFGP3e_kLTlhsqYgmLFpJMTBd5yrEnnPsnGvlu-UxyD1-LGN2yg5hYqaoqbADPSrgFFHBd1RxLOM3BW9lk6m8ulCawR4Ry-FV4Tqg/s1600/edited-1151.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyM3gFs7PfbYztCH7Q4OgVY6WXf7CmFyQGZRPyL1fIFGP3e_kLTlhsqYgmLFpJMTBd5yrEnnPsnGvlu-UxyD1-LGN2yg5hYqaoqbADPSrgFFHBd1RxLOM3BW9lk6m8ulCawR4Ry-FV4Tqg/s640/edited-1151.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These are actually mini horses, not ponies</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lauren was a fan</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVJWWocT07-wFfNGqYnucjZfMob6fgTdtvXPXQDqkxLfzPTQt4dzeVgYuDn7yoydS85EgJSBo1xWSAjdWc2v31zvnHUDmn8b3VefxirqBumYdQ1A2dHAIfj8TUeBwwt0TS14FrWtxMIMLW/s1600/edited-1154.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVJWWocT07-wFfNGqYnucjZfMob6fgTdtvXPXQDqkxLfzPTQt4dzeVgYuDn7yoydS85EgJSBo1xWSAjdWc2v31zvnHUDmn8b3VefxirqBumYdQ1A2dHAIfj8TUeBwwt0TS14FrWtxMIMLW/s640/edited-1154.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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After our wagon ride, we continued into the animal barn, where Lauren got to pet (but didn't really want to hold) some bunnies, and see calves, mother pigs with their piglets, and sheep in their pens. She seemed to really love seeing most of the animals, but was quite distressed by one adolescent calf who couldn't seem to stop mooing loudly at frequent intervals. Even when we moved on to the other half of the barn, behind a partial wall, we could hear the calf above other sounds, and after a little while Lauren was done with being in the barn, even though she was enjoying watching the sheep.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsivU8lRb64RlYwGROxdo8XfdmgS4nCcGwib9PtOonnrpOHa5mvTAK18R5lGCxYawqw6dh5Vf1bc769pT21T7Yxa5uhmHPkmDWpGaFTo95HlEAu52MrKNpzRCQbOjCjeY4Xm8oX3tbKq3j/s1600/edited-1160.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsivU8lRb64RlYwGROxdo8XfdmgS4nCcGwib9PtOonnrpOHa5mvTAK18R5lGCxYawqw6dh5Vf1bc769pT21T7Yxa5uhmHPkmDWpGaFTo95HlEAu52MrKNpzRCQbOjCjeY4Xm8oX3tbKq3j/s640/edited-1160.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meeting a bunny</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsw23ywezsbsrzMfBP7oNRaEr6_3EAmH9_wyJn3LtGW_5b0U4rLbFYofK6pDCOnPed0sBK-f7hbLDi1B5x_LEmkUWZMGwTeOzJ5Mad26sAhFOKKsDRY5QtaejnXZC972ri4sjTyz2DjTf6/s1600/edited-1165.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsw23ywezsbsrzMfBP7oNRaEr6_3EAmH9_wyJn3LtGW_5b0U4rLbFYofK6pDCOnPed0sBK-f7hbLDi1B5x_LEmkUWZMGwTeOzJ5Mad26sAhFOKKsDRY5QtaejnXZC972ri4sjTyz2DjTf6/s640/edited-1165.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So soft!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHDjNeCr_Ok3OoAMeP2LTySFQhXqzkqEpyu-CBravIuTQAgnQYYtkpeakj8lNNMDDg_4E3bhR-JWQrX3cLxWFdAgzap0wsPrJDLDLLNoaYzpIF4sKSqX37ngoEt1b_736HH3ZTyRi2bdku/s1600/edited-1171.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHDjNeCr_Ok3OoAMeP2LTySFQhXqzkqEpyu-CBravIuTQAgnQYYtkpeakj8lNNMDDg_4E3bhR-JWQrX3cLxWFdAgzap0wsPrJDLDLLNoaYzpIF4sKSqX37ngoEt1b_736HH3ZTyRi2bdku/s640/edited-1171.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieoLLXPOWTU0t2pwZ6Ue3rJF7svreFpSz8n3Oa-DNZiA-ADAcu10tBusLS8odOarIifkNjkeYRNNTOTkld-CB4Iqfng2LfiE9okQc_ilWx1EYVOBUA7J8bjBP1yct4djxz6rgHgA8k4pK9/s1600/edited-1173.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieoLLXPOWTU0t2pwZ6Ue3rJF7svreFpSz8n3Oa-DNZiA-ADAcu10tBusLS8odOarIifkNjkeYRNNTOTkld-CB4Iqfng2LfiE9okQc_ilWx1EYVOBUA7J8bjBP1yct4djxz6rgHgA8k4pK9/s640/edited-1173.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wool there you are (while wearing wool pants)</td></tr>
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Next we moved on to another building filled with local historic items. Lauren had fun sitting in an old-fashioned school desk, and surprisingly was fascinated to watch a woman spinning wool into thread on a manual spinning wheel.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM6WDZ7owzZo0TZr11eTqEubIAYuAdom1qktK7d8gSLFY6WP7lZcQo0xiAqkGq4uQZOQak9KIF8aKcZ74nsQng1u2pFspWZHZFMbWK8V3DlZmOOgvV0wwnbAuTs2lJo0vBZmd6AbTW8Q_M/s1600/edited-1175.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM6WDZ7owzZo0TZr11eTqEubIAYuAdom1qktK7d8gSLFY6WP7lZcQo0xiAqkGq4uQZOQak9KIF8aKcZ74nsQng1u2pFspWZHZFMbWK8V3DlZmOOgvV0wwnbAuTs2lJo0vBZmd6AbTW8Q_M/s640/edited-1175.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The seat of higher learning</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt1kgmP-WKJQrtgYzEXeRH5_FYH-jINwf0rgFbQIAufLZZ5bgnH0ZMo3ShoM948FyxdSVeg02G0s5eHrmVkTaz2iQcMGidwG3SLsj8crENe5UPO8uDn9dGY99Yiz6FbXtwk68TcvUSba3D/s1600/edited-1176.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt1kgmP-WKJQrtgYzEXeRH5_FYH-jINwf0rgFbQIAufLZZ5bgnH0ZMo3ShoM948FyxdSVeg02G0s5eHrmVkTaz2iQcMGidwG3SLsj8crENe5UPO8uDn9dGY99Yiz6FbXtwk68TcvUSba3D/s640/edited-1176.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watching some spinning</td></tr>
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After that we had a bit of lunch and then joined the gathering crowd at the pig arena. We thought it was going to be a pig scramble where young children try to catch piglets and get to keep the one they catch to raise as their own. Instead, it was a sort of pig race where the pigs were kept in a small enclosure until they were let free and then their owners tried to call their pig over to them using a treat as a bribe, all while not being allowed to leave their seats. The actual race was interesting to watch, but we didn't enjoy the set-up when the helpers were getting the piglets into the enclosure. The pigs were not happy to be taken out of their pens in the barn and brought on leashes to the arena and let out loud, unhappy squeals as they struggled against the other end of the leash. Lauren was quite dismayed at the sound, but once the pigs quieted down in their enclosure again, she liked watching them run their race.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Idm0jjM_04vfY_fBvhOAOaAPma6GXgzdwecTEVMX94tIdy-gr-LMJqKSEjoLXAA_OA7Mw-vYsFf28BvE0XEX2qTWmT3IftgmP-1J-_RpY79nLJ2g0aJ5lnTFENa_Fp9VBQ2k8cDcMXrE/s1600/edited-1177.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Idm0jjM_04vfY_fBvhOAOaAPma6GXgzdwecTEVMX94tIdy-gr-LMJqKSEjoLXAA_OA7Mw-vYsFf28BvE0XEX2qTWmT3IftgmP-1J-_RpY79nLJ2g0aJ5lnTFENa_Fp9VBQ2k8cDcMXrE/s640/edited-1177.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Those pig squeals are loud!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-vcUSUim1-tGH8NgE1CZ-S1_oJqPUCZ0LDZHMm3JuRbgUxD_Vp3QcJT2okmLQgRIMaqKaCiuVN3RnCWM4amu-8T2smV48AMOBU7InY-Y7FL1AsKAn9QN0HpWeSREjasJ9UP-vexdbJmZh/s1600/edited-1183.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-vcUSUim1-tGH8NgE1CZ-S1_oJqPUCZ0LDZHMm3JuRbgUxD_Vp3QcJT2okmLQgRIMaqKaCiuVN3RnCWM4amu-8T2smV48AMOBU7InY-Y7FL1AsKAn9QN0HpWeSREjasJ9UP-vexdbJmZh/s640/edited-1183.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watching the pig race</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXamLADmNxefgO3AjFI0i-PPaax6SJ7Cnpurbhluu-_rcH2F65KuvcXRMDwu0g1WeqKnC6Puk6N19nzM25gm-aD9MPleKK4LWr6URItZd2ctqu4U5yBPbT8KpoQDcSxJyKNATACzi6yPA5/s1600/edited-1189.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXamLADmNxefgO3AjFI0i-PPaax6SJ7Cnpurbhluu-_rcH2F65KuvcXRMDwu0g1WeqKnC6Puk6N19nzM25gm-aD9MPleKK4LWr6URItZd2ctqu4U5yBPbT8KpoQDcSxJyKNATACzi6yPA5/s640/edited-1189.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They were not very fast</td></tr>
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After watching a couple pig races, we left the arena and spent a bit of time in the blacksmith shed, watching the blacksmith work. Jonathan and Lauren played a large iron triangle before we moved on. We walked through the arts and crafts tent a little bit before Lauren raced out a nearby doorway and found a picnic table right outside, which she quickly climbed onto and immediately bent her head to pray for food. She was quite certain that if she prayed, the food would appear, and lucky for her, it did. :)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimMNX00z8xJG62DRM7UZ2xdovZUyxt0lQHSLojUWHBN0oExopn2dc1GFPJAQf0fK6W9QyB8ynGmWbVfppu7Md9svg9IbOWbhaBzSXW7yyRiPeDBFZUk-l8iir_b9348qiQ6N39xDtczGI-/s1600/edited-1194.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimMNX00z8xJG62DRM7UZ2xdovZUyxt0lQHSLojUWHBN0oExopn2dc1GFPJAQf0fK6W9QyB8ynGmWbVfppu7Md9svg9IbOWbhaBzSXW7yyRiPeDBFZUk-l8iir_b9348qiQ6N39xDtczGI-/s640/edited-1194.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blacksmith</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9qtxUQANQuoL52SQMvfyOekyhZoQPWz8l-aO_lk3KgOWCU4pJbZe8rmkc-vzrkY24ReWDlRxI8NnUA6AENDijdNYpLKRkMS9nKmT6VU-iLUFI2vAVkAgzGafIgucJUpVdxeY5Fv4tqs12/s1600/edited-1197.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9qtxUQANQuoL52SQMvfyOekyhZoQPWz8l-aO_lk3KgOWCU4pJbZe8rmkc-vzrkY24ReWDlRxI8NnUA6AENDijdNYpLKRkMS9nKmT6VU-iLUFI2vAVkAgzGafIgucJUpVdxeY5Fv4tqs12/s640/edited-1197.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of her creations</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfkd5byyCYLhFzMafY0ksippE4vYwCuCulWG6dMH38eUnA0Cye_xU35nVi-AXak2NKo3T2VD4U2eT8VNi8qeIvXApHzlgD1nuZO_WKQbDptQusBeCDMt94H8JVC0qtJs3bVpMh8_uAFt5q/s1600/edited-1208.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfkd5byyCYLhFzMafY0ksippE4vYwCuCulWG6dMH38eUnA0Cye_xU35nVi-AXak2NKo3T2VD4U2eT8VNi8qeIvXApHzlgD1nuZO_WKQbDptQusBeCDMt94H8JVC0qtJs3bVpMh8_uAFt5q/s640/edited-1208.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Might there be any food?</td></tr>
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<div>
The last place we explored was the best! It was called Wheeler's Wee Farm and was a miniature farm set up especially for children. Lauren received a basket upon entering the enclosure and filled it up with all kinds of items from her farming experience. The first stop was a touch tank with sea animals from the Maine ocean. Lauren touched a few of the animals, but then suddenly, before any of us could react, reached her hand in the tank and whipped out one of the sea stars! We quickly had her give it back to the volunteer and had her touch it instead. Next, she helped dig for clams at a sandbox set up with gardening rakes and plastic clams. One clam went into her basket, and she moved on to a lobster boat (an actual motor boat that was done up to look like a lobster boat), and took a plastic lobster out of a lobster trap to add to her basket. After that, the real farming began as Lauren planted some seeds (dried beans) and picked a plastic carrot to put in her basket. Then she went into a silo to collect a cup of chicken feed (unpopped popcorn) and another of cow feed (dog food, I think). We put the cow feed cup into her basket to be used later, and she carried the chicken feed to a chicken coop with real chickens in it on the other side of the silo and dumped it into the coop (in a section the chickens couldn't reach) and then took out a wooden egg for her basket. Next Grandpa helped her pick an apple from a wooden apple tree (the apples were so realistic-looking that we all thought they were real until we felt them) to add to her growing collection of items in her basket. Then she moved on to a really cute lumberjack display where Grandpa helped her use a plastic chainsaw to "cut" a thin birch trunk. After she had her fill of firewood cutting, she got to add a round of birch wood to her basket. We then moved on to the last set, a small shed made into a barn where Lauren fed the wooden cow and then milked it before getting a small milk bottle to put in her basket. When we left the barn, we found ourselves at a sorting station. While Lauren had enjoyed the whole farm experience, this might have been her favourite part. She had such fun sorting and organizing the items in her basket into the different bins and crates. It was the kind of activity she really loves, and I think she still wanted to do more when her basket was completely empty. Once she had all the items put carefully into their correct containers, she was given a wooden dollar token for all her hard work, and then we went into another shed set up as a little general store where she got to pick out one snack to "buy" and take along with her. She chose a small bag of pretzels and then we went back into the farm area for some pictures of her in a couple cut-out photo areas. Then we said goodbye to the farm and left the adorable set up for other children to explore. It was one of the cutest and most well put together children's areas I've ever seen, and I was almost as much of a fan of it as Lauren was!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp55s_U0d-elboO_H_EWmskCFxpEzox6Gbp_EM2cV1_ejNEHLDHTLFz3O8quuDLURV0ggHmE5D7oZ39-oAPnAn2Rerao2RyEnStyMnQ9kTiih7f14VwSP36jvsI9CvPNEWbHF5_qJf7Hk0/s1600/edited-1209.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp55s_U0d-elboO_H_EWmskCFxpEzox6Gbp_EM2cV1_ejNEHLDHTLFz3O8quuDLURV0ggHmE5D7oZ39-oAPnAn2Rerao2RyEnStyMnQ9kTiih7f14VwSP36jvsI9CvPNEWbHF5_qJf7Hk0/s640/edited-1209.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can I have it?</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrTJwiHj98jbyl9PnUdKS0fD_85iocSXsg247oSC9EaimdU1Cz3YuI2oPk-aTiyUXlZYRUPYgAoxG-FOgydB0inzzdtTGv5KIM3YLfxeSlniEHSV4V8aNhJ39C1yIMlUoZ78gy-2iwgltx/s1600/edited-1210.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrTJwiHj98jbyl9PnUdKS0fD_85iocSXsg247oSC9EaimdU1Cz3YuI2oPk-aTiyUXlZYRUPYgAoxG-FOgydB0inzzdtTGv5KIM3YLfxeSlniEHSV4V8aNhJ39C1yIMlUoZ78gy-2iwgltx/s640/edited-1210.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtselSBlVO4-lx-WEnSvo0SxUWR9OX1JbzM3CwfU7PKBoNDpPWIkX4CFt_g1R09c2GQLGB_hW8lP0PlXjtqB6c-k_AKxLip3tMqKNCOnUeSARhZuO8BiXGpPaikgFgtbvG5fu4HGs8R-g0/s1600/edited-1212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtselSBlVO4-lx-WEnSvo0SxUWR9OX1JbzM3CwfU7PKBoNDpPWIkX4CFt_g1R09c2GQLGB_hW8lP0PlXjtqB6c-k_AKxLip3tMqKNCOnUeSARhZuO8BiXGpPaikgFgtbvG5fu4HGs8R-g0/s640/edited-1212.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Digging clams</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9i-93AKEIDYzXMBBGzilbVmTP_lZusvkBeAYMA2wF7dPbQYv-XxmKnGmOpv-1UiMF-Dr6uUx0joomvg2YQYNUlCUxRBJS8F5dWAG5qcx7bduZ5HDZGSvHNfSLNJncRZGkAH1x5y0_RYot/s1600/edited-1218.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9i-93AKEIDYzXMBBGzilbVmTP_lZusvkBeAYMA2wF7dPbQYv-XxmKnGmOpv-1UiMF-Dr6uUx0joomvg2YQYNUlCUxRBJS8F5dWAG5qcx7bduZ5HDZGSvHNfSLNJncRZGkAH1x5y0_RYot/s640/edited-1218.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Planting beans...</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwFDnAmSSijBjHKzM1wCoClt2B2CWChnGZcjINYgh1eObeW70vdlEdDVzygNRFUtCLhyphenhyphenBhRUrhjrASnMPuefSCg96tbZTjA3DbzjrewmPvdyBfn7RxgUDDfsj-aTwh3l3CyK3i0v0yo2Dc/s1600/edited-1220.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwFDnAmSSijBjHKzM1wCoClt2B2CWChnGZcjINYgh1eObeW70vdlEdDVzygNRFUtCLhyphenhyphenBhRUrhjrASnMPuefSCg96tbZTjA3DbzjrewmPvdyBfn7RxgUDDfsj-aTwh3l3CyK3i0v0yo2Dc/s640/edited-1220.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0VccSSuGrUKOYywZ_5MEc-Yjaw4Bimq78S2Qix_PxAD83nF_l1mha7eLH_y-qdZYyRq3dgXZCLRQv76j73Rg1JNfmxdrQN3wKArN7TalDBcQFc9jocEshaL44ln5lbL2lxLAmhcEUWRf_/s1600/edited-1222.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0VccSSuGrUKOYywZ_5MEc-Yjaw4Bimq78S2Qix_PxAD83nF_l1mha7eLH_y-qdZYyRq3dgXZCLRQv76j73Rg1JNfmxdrQN3wKArN7TalDBcQFc9jocEshaL44ln5lbL2lxLAmhcEUWRf_/s640/edited-1222.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...and harvesting carrots!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-179Gy_w7Yr6JRqX6IQ4YNYikMrNsZbw_kvwR94pohmpNyi4vfQEXermkLbDWEIOEKUEh3AECq-wrDArPRv0LpaaQsBUl-7v-lRvlrmyOgYiYnChtXJY9qbn_KpuB8F-Fh_puhE8P28Qr/s1600/edited-1224.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-179Gy_w7Yr6JRqX6IQ4YNYikMrNsZbw_kvwR94pohmpNyi4vfQEXermkLbDWEIOEKUEh3AECq-wrDArPRv0LpaaQsBUl-7v-lRvlrmyOgYiYnChtXJY9qbn_KpuB8F-Fh_puhE8P28Qr/s640/edited-1224.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting the feed out of the silo</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpWt-WHLFHeicschbO4PIRm8f6aRlaCcE079azOJ4Ra_h4CsDAVZW9Xu8HdQyxKU5DiaUDEkD2TT1C85VMP-D_dgNWlnJD8y41aTSPF-hRr4doUNm6LC1sAzrnJcoStZ6mS6SvAKZNUHHu/s1600/edited-1226.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpWt-WHLFHeicschbO4PIRm8f6aRlaCcE079azOJ4Ra_h4CsDAVZW9Xu8HdQyxKU5DiaUDEkD2TT1C85VMP-D_dgNWlnJD8y41aTSPF-hRr4doUNm6LC1sAzrnJcoStZ6mS6SvAKZNUHHu/s640/edited-1226.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gotta bring it to the chickens and cows</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOqbpyiH-J8YovdZxjqG3trCzh0SCBwza9R_lHQwfSf0djD-GA47sV1hDj45b3EupT_D4fQ_Tu9nx4e_aSW-BrkeKktoTCU5tZLNoE6L_2k7-NDnVMI5CFMU6nLHkwoIwZkGjoSW-ohD3O/s1600/edited-1227.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOqbpyiH-J8YovdZxjqG3trCzh0SCBwza9R_lHQwfSf0djD-GA47sV1hDj45b3EupT_D4fQ_Tu9nx4e_aSW-BrkeKktoTCU5tZLNoE6L_2k7-NDnVMI5CFMU6nLHkwoIwZkGjoSW-ohD3O/s640/edited-1227.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stopping to pick the apples</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOJST6kaFMeaUMv9evp7CsqtHYD4yGTlDE8Cn91soOSep1J3RztAtAwegioVwy_2YzFOeSm9m459HGaI9LT56KsI8D0AJFDdTtaD94xRNkDITLQ4viQhg4Z1pMGnKlNV4v8477oDqGfecl/s1600/edited-1229.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOJST6kaFMeaUMv9evp7CsqtHYD4yGTlDE8Cn91soOSep1J3RztAtAwegioVwy_2YzFOeSm9m459HGaI9LT56KsI8D0AJFDdTtaD94xRNkDITLQ4viQhg4Z1pMGnKlNV4v8477oDqGfecl/s640/edited-1229.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quite a collection</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqlImsGY5O1VnTI_Ly4_vUgC3NvWf_P4h7rYMf4NEHd5lER80tGoFXm4uOn_BSUt0qyYKv_MUQmdKxe1xEE7xEYv5iKnLbd2KdVoe-88AcyQ5r6Nm0oi6giE3-3d028C-mNZPdz8FaAmM7/s1600/edited-1230.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqlImsGY5O1VnTI_Ly4_vUgC3NvWf_P4h7rYMf4NEHd5lER80tGoFXm4uOn_BSUt0qyYKv_MUQmdKxe1xEE7xEYv5iKnLbd2KdVoe-88AcyQ5r6Nm0oi6giE3-3d028C-mNZPdz8FaAmM7/s640/edited-1230.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Budding lumberjill</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhumhKBVR1KvbZ9QRLf3WJKserg993wFWe9tkmjmdXcNj0Jn3CZdJtrfEeGnw7_WY3BfuiiDDQSnaCe2ZQobsoDCV_xhBPjSIMrTWIB0lG6to2R9_1GHa3kI010V7dCUNZ9YPI5lq-z5yiv/s1600/edited-1231.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhumhKBVR1KvbZ9QRLf3WJKserg993wFWe9tkmjmdXcNj0Jn3CZdJtrfEeGnw7_WY3BfuiiDDQSnaCe2ZQobsoDCV_xhBPjSIMrTWIB0lG6to2R9_1GHa3kI010V7dCUNZ9YPI5lq-z5yiv/s640/edited-1231.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgcdeUXd6Oh7698zKfES7DGwf0c_HJDehX6BxBz6WBpTHdYnP9c4qA7JxZNZk-FQ_SpPptlBNXjdi_t7pBEGVaO9bDCwokYIYqwdxdOoZ3feEHbzaw7XIJsCx6dEem1xnJ8GDP6Xht1JTb/s1600/edited-1233.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgcdeUXd6Oh7698zKfES7DGwf0c_HJDehX6BxBz6WBpTHdYnP9c4qA7JxZNZk-FQ_SpPptlBNXjdi_t7pBEGVaO9bDCwokYIYqwdxdOoZ3feEHbzaw7XIJsCx6dEem1xnJ8GDP6Xht1JTb/s640/edited-1233.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grandpa shows her how it's done</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicbbS3M1iFoFCwQ_h04F9OcWiM8wm_1nIHuCWCH4EqZdBzWn0E5l5k3qJ1Y5HlPQGHqn7qFpj56btT7B5tR6oVQ5n0A0OcDzMK40NEzU4wuqJ0Dnh5H00NevLwXOLpCWMCiRTLFzjWbRto/s1600/edited-1236.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicbbS3M1iFoFCwQ_h04F9OcWiM8wm_1nIHuCWCH4EqZdBzWn0E5l5k3qJ1Y5HlPQGHqn7qFpj56btT7B5tR6oVQ5n0A0OcDzMK40NEzU4wuqJ0Dnh5H00NevLwXOLpCWMCiRTLFzjWbRto/s640/edited-1236.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Udderly fascinating</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRcAB-ZQMaGwBBSDRqWp6nCJqMuE6-4-AKhVxitBckr21jp0TkoTRrxtsxcUSUUOKoRjEfKblR42tCqrkb2whJ8r5StG4IE8ZyEc6VSsJX_d5UltszkZvl_IO6767MAQEhuAA8z8GMWov4/s1600/edited-1238.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRcAB-ZQMaGwBBSDRqWp6nCJqMuE6-4-AKhVxitBckr21jp0TkoTRrxtsxcUSUUOKoRjEfKblR42tCqrkb2whJ8r5StG4IE8ZyEc6VSsJX_d5UltszkZvl_IO6767MAQEhuAA8z8GMWov4/s640/edited-1238.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How does this work?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_JJeIwVL-5DYAHZC6s9iiDxK3bqBGYHiZX8kNy31jqPVJbhL_gh4CUTtABdVAfqKXPIrybplIx4s6jHOxy4q_66tpVvR59NmA5cqXsxJ-V9yH3DZUb5zjCrAUH1f_C6830WCsjkUbX4YL/s1600/edited-1245.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_JJeIwVL-5DYAHZC6s9iiDxK3bqBGYHiZX8kNy31jqPVJbhL_gh4CUTtABdVAfqKXPIrybplIx4s6jHOxy4q_66tpVvR59NmA5cqXsxJ-V9yH3DZUb5zjCrAUH1f_C6830WCsjkUbX4YL/s640/edited-1245.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sorting it all out</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO6c1KXrXuH_iAEvghnkoCB-JriNNIzTLRiPaxLCPnq1GugnU23ChAuyQKTGHx1WC_hpwsKjsQpuUmFl0p288111gp2s9g8VBRy_a5t3BzMsIDiNp-vZtGWJqAV_9HCngp61j_PhcsIb0b/s1600/edited-1250.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO6c1KXrXuH_iAEvghnkoCB-JriNNIzTLRiPaxLCPnq1GugnU23ChAuyQKTGHx1WC_hpwsKjsQpuUmFl0p288111gp2s9g8VBRy_a5t3BzMsIDiNp-vZtGWJqAV_9HCngp61j_PhcsIb0b/s640/edited-1250.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I just wanna be a sheep, baa baa baa baa</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6mXTZTD-zigXdXISRnyTXYDjLU-zkH1petn7QoWrMQldhOozHhB3EzuXqgPLUX30qb-R00jHmJiwVEh5wBHSjYVMyeEojRrFQfobF2QOv5AMVgc0HB4Lqb0kt82Xyh8ylQ3FYhr3YwdPa/s1600/edited-1251.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6mXTZTD-zigXdXISRnyTXYDjLU-zkH1petn7QoWrMQldhOozHhB3EzuXqgPLUX30qb-R00jHmJiwVEh5wBHSjYVMyeEojRrFQfobF2QOv5AMVgc0HB4Lqb0kt82Xyh8ylQ3FYhr3YwdPa/s640/edited-1251.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXSkxBSHjy5FeO_z3mO2CeqxIpFCEAoT4fs3Ug_YFFkv5i3BB_dCxNfe8GSUjDLCF4MmXyf-KYFtSrg7gUhrrq2TbcrpzqKwNqw3iRFsZyC9Mbxosz1TJJwJDea0jWoSotkgO1EfFnmese/s1600/edited-1256.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXSkxBSHjy5FeO_z3mO2CeqxIpFCEAoT4fs3Ug_YFFkv5i3BB_dCxNfe8GSUjDLCF4MmXyf-KYFtSrg7gUhrrq2TbcrpzqKwNqw3iRFsZyC9Mbxosz1TJJwJDea0jWoSotkgO1EfFnmese/s640/edited-1256.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not so sure about being a chicken</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ZX3JWOGsgw9SLUYQFhWKctXEiwn-jfzR4X9mKT4wPjYCzBCTCAdzb85hhDA9izNrOsljSOKwcgoPGs1sT3QJJ5emz0dhZuLh98sUHa8rpALRQzHGNOQH8RqMd3jfCHY-jqb3h-Qr3fwR/s1600/edited-1258.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ZX3JWOGsgw9SLUYQFhWKctXEiwn-jfzR4X9mKT4wPjYCzBCTCAdzb85hhDA9izNrOsljSOKwcgoPGs1sT3QJJ5emz0dhZuLh98sUHa8rpALRQzHGNOQH8RqMd3jfCHY-jqb3h-Qr3fwR/s640/edited-1258.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A great time!</td></tr>
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<div>
After all that excitement, it was time to get home for Lauren to have a late nap after all her adventures of the day. We thoroughly enjoyed the Litchfield Fair and especially Wheeler's Wee Farm, and hope to be able to come back and experience it again someday!</div>
Jonathan Gerranshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08350359095262722861noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800067717630670289.post-75956032714722399822017-06-02T22:03:00.002-07:002017-06-02T23:21:42.479-07:00Mother's Day PhotoshootOn Mother's Day evening, we went to a local flower farm. Jonathan had been there several times before while Lauren and I were visiting my parents in BC. The day before, we had actually gone there with some friends on Sabbath afternoon in hopes of being able to see the grounds at the back, which is often booked for weddings. There was a wedding that Saturday, though, so Jonathan called on Sunday to see if it would be free sometime and found out that there were no weddings scheduled that day, so we were finally able to look around there. We took quite a few photos while we were there and these are the results. Enjoy the view through Jonathan's lens. :)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibQC1QDtL2H-Asyu076uIEnWuL1MSGr_OsqgjaIK08QM1yS-Z_PMNXPZw9kSWtEl4lJmdRrgwBZ3ntn8w1U8itikXZdURZBmZZ_hB2NNoOwpsyYkKlRZrYJv8NT8352eh-PQYqH2nxOBs9/s1600/edited-0447.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibQC1QDtL2H-Asyu076uIEnWuL1MSGr_OsqgjaIK08QM1yS-Z_PMNXPZw9kSWtEl4lJmdRrgwBZ3ntn8w1U8itikXZdURZBmZZ_hB2NNoOwpsyYkKlRZrYJv8NT8352eh-PQYqH2nxOBs9/s640/edited-0447.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This chicken was roaming the grounds and Lauren was fascinated with it.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMw5PQ6z2e7gNwmZlCSoplO2zSka49zhVNAzNnGtVknBIzJT60oD4rdtSzQ5e1N61v6ABBRmH3fJB5k2X5IbsunY1WaR5Dcs5vANs62S9QD1fDs7L-w5JXKLxjFjZkHkom45i7cpRawGpE/s1600/edited-0448.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMw5PQ6z2e7gNwmZlCSoplO2zSka49zhVNAzNnGtVknBIzJT60oD4rdtSzQ5e1N61v6ABBRmH3fJB5k2X5IbsunY1WaR5Dcs5vANs62S9QD1fDs7L-w5JXKLxjFjZkHkom45i7cpRawGpE/s640/edited-0448.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just after this shot, she moved one step closer and that was too close for the chicken, who put up a fuss and
<br />
scared Lauren quite a bit. But later when she saw the chicken again, she wanted to go right back up to it...</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">She enjoyed going up and down these stairs many times</td></tr>
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Jonathan Gerranshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08350359095262722861noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800067717630670289.post-50234674686842611592017-03-22T07:30:00.000-07:002017-03-22T12:56:33.440-07:00Living room hardwood floor finished!<span style="font-family: inherit;">Finally, we have finished the living room floor! We've been waiting for this since we moved in, basically, and things kept getting in the way of working on it, and then when we finally did get to it, it took much longer than I had anticipated.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A bit of background for those that don't know: the majority of our house had hardwood originally, and I <a href="http://jagjourneys.blogspot.com/2016/09/our-flooring-saga.html" target="_blank">refinished it all</a> before we moved in. This room, however, was originally the garage, and so didn't have any hardwood, because carpet was installed when it was converted. Since we were restoring the wood floors in the rest of the house, it made sense to install hardwood in this room as well.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We waited a long time to start, because once it started raining in the fall, we discovered that the roof had leaks in that room. I went up on the roof on several different occasions squirting roof goop in various places hoping to stop the leak - there wasn't anything hugely obvious, instead, there were many small things that could have been contributing. Once we felt that the leaks were taken care of, we finally started working on the room.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLj-8xjxBCDy2XeJKuIBzEcqQJa6YFyne7pvc69LprZGeZpxrhE-NbOMLDTP_r5yI4K1FVs0_AAt7mcw5zCAg5tEsErN9cQWx-PppmOQ5hYRdKQmXQuzmr4wHYY_vB8LxHKFXDAWvT7fX6/s1600/edited-8492.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLj-8xjxBCDy2XeJKuIBzEcqQJa6YFyne7pvc69LprZGeZpxrhE-NbOMLDTP_r5yI4K1FVs0_AAt7mcw5zCAg5tEsErN9cQWx-PppmOQ5hYRdKQmXQuzmr4wHYY_vB8LxHKFXDAWvT7fX6/s640/edited-8492.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A before picture from May 2016 when we bought the house. There was laminate in the dining room and kitchen, and terrible<br />
carpet in the rest of the house. This was before we knew about the hardwood underneath everything (except for this room).</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lauren observing some of the beginning stages. The row of new looking plywood was new because what was there was actually<br />
T1-11 siding, which in addition to being too thin, i.e. not the right height, is not nearly stiff enough to be used in a floor. The blokes<br />
who did the floor in this room were clearly not professionals.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm3Omdf4kmDLG4rfQjqDtdTZXDNwyXP-mfW6xt_hWcBQFbT20HwePmepT7UQ0oNIhMtCn-hzcr5_XMdMXO6MK3D9xb7pzgjqaFlMQl0LbfYOraFVVXa-hjC-_nFSNdDyfs_2X4tnf2pOFR/s1600/IMG_20170116_143804.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm3Omdf4kmDLG4rfQjqDtdTZXDNwyXP-mfW6xt_hWcBQFbT20HwePmepT7UQ0oNIhMtCn-hzcr5_XMdMXO6MK3D9xb7pzgjqaFlMQl0LbfYOraFVVXa-hjC-_nFSNdDyfs_2X4tnf2pOFR/s640/IMG_20170116_143804.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lauren showing her Bow Bow what Dada is doing.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeqeAnsdXcfX25771cRtM7mECL907XbxkviMl7NOXAqIa7RRmYMiM4CsEF-bqg3PLkcT9pc6-yD77zUiIqkb8H6ffnAPb6eKbbEZJFFlNbPwIofHZcnwbk4-asPYBmKJmXupNcRG986jLc/s1600/IMG_20170117_091440.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeqeAnsdXcfX25771cRtM7mECL907XbxkviMl7NOXAqIa7RRmYMiM4CsEF-bqg3PLkcT9pc6-yD77zUiIqkb8H6ffnAPb6eKbbEZJFFlNbPwIofHZcnwbk4-asPYBmKJmXupNcRG986jLc/s640/IMG_20170117_091440.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Viewing the room through a cardboard tube. At this point the cardboard boxes have ceased to act as an effective barrier for Lauren.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6CZMHYKIrC01RnFSi23v6SeoScZHia0ytn7SzJ2sy5texcTZb53lcsmlsNRq05BUsA6sqcz2KC3Wly8U4nuo674usHmpj3uHCVvIS87KObtCPxbRtu41B0wYnRvBPqrGWqkcubJMKfVzG/s1600/IMG_20170205_140151.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6CZMHYKIrC01RnFSi23v6SeoScZHia0ytn7SzJ2sy5texcTZb53lcsmlsNRq05BUsA6sqcz2KC3Wly8U4nuo674usHmpj3uHCVvIS87KObtCPxbRtu41B0wYnRvBPqrGWqkcubJMKfVzG/s640/IMG_20170205_140151.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before we started laying the floor, we had to blow cellulose insulation into this exterior wall, as there was none.<br />
It made sense to do this before we had a nice new floor to potentially mess up.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-1cru9uSduEvOrj0q4fOo2jiUISx2kadHwPpxQO9XNYYVR4cgYLHsch3THbD4JD3pGxzYA-CzzZ8ZiLQ4ioxxhyIZEyetgILnmm0Db7s-uE4eK0HrI7B3yOjpo-SBYDHPp08Nhku2ooOm/s1600/IMG_20170122_172701.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-1cru9uSduEvOrj0q4fOo2jiUISx2kadHwPpxQO9XNYYVR4cgYLHsch3THbD4JD3pGxzYA-CzzZ8ZiLQ4ioxxhyIZEyetgILnmm0Db7s-uE4eK0HrI7B3yOjpo-SBYDHPp08Nhku2ooOm/s640/IMG_20170122_172701.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watching Dad and Josh (a friend from church) blow in the insulation - very dusty work.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpyUmBLL_VKvHk0t58ef6-PcKmHgsk1Rwbxiq9Iyvcj6xShI44HOLt-vfINqRHz3opiyrUz_MTYp5J8ahaFLa69vf1PVCt2n5LDQf_u3q8sH3mEOqil_LJ4CTv7JKZ5QFfJsYSb3VGdqyA/s1600/IMG_20170205_140440.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpyUmBLL_VKvHk0t58ef6-PcKmHgsk1Rwbxiq9Iyvcj6xShI44HOLt-vfINqRHz3opiyrUz_MTYp5J8ahaFLa69vf1PVCt2n5LDQf_u3q8sH3mEOqil_LJ4CTv7JKZ5QFfJsYSb3VGdqyA/s640/IMG_20170205_140440.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adding blocks to screw the hole plugs to in order to patch it all up.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitl5p_irasD4C1qRQHAfiInhSoIuLJcKqFxwRzaREzZSGN62dMrAmLQkqexW1ERuSArc_6Wp6Dgf7St3i-MQ0PSpoHKW36RPH51WQpPBJWgP6rjhOqLhhuz8-G4SSIzWZQdAeid8c3BuuE/s1600/IMG_20170205_183041.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitl5p_irasD4C1qRQHAfiInhSoIuLJcKqFxwRzaREzZSGN62dMrAmLQkqexW1ERuSArc_6Wp6Dgf7St3i-MQ0PSpoHKW36RPH51WQpPBJWgP6rjhOqLhhuz8-G4SSIzWZQdAeid8c3BuuE/s640/IMG_20170205_183041.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mudding. It's a sturdy woodstove.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm1BNtSm0TGMi4rY5AGylk38EIPJ3WY6-cifVNl38EvcDBLr4AqjGEpuBsHeZNh0vNixAoo1FGDuq4-0XKGtuufZsE4Wg5ldCRPpHN6BXIzkBlxbpgAb3qeJS9xqkaQmapJy-tgiM3mQvk/s1600/IMG_20170219_174705.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm1BNtSm0TGMi4rY5AGylk38EIPJ3WY6-cifVNl38EvcDBLr4AqjGEpuBsHeZNh0vNixAoo1FGDuq4-0XKGtuufZsE4Wg5ldCRPpHN6BXIzkBlxbpgAb3qeJS9xqkaQmapJy-tgiM3mQvk/s640/IMG_20170219_174705.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After finishing the insulation and painting the floor to seal it off from things beneath it, we got started laying the hardwood. I had a friend<br />
(Josh again) help me get started, and am very glad I did, as he and I worked through some previously undiscovered issues with the<br />
peculiar way the floor curves.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS4E-CJpC8QXCmX7RnpGPxgdih_-090qvWApf6Rp6FwODkVIr2odEdz3ZuYpVOcB7huBH7wyTdhwgyhpy1T65z2TwvZwAFHB0BXBjF8ExukeFiyoAWChBzmQgM8N32XPt86f1O6DfOMidm/s1600/IMG_20170219_174721.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS4E-CJpC8QXCmX7RnpGPxgdih_-090qvWApf6Rp6FwODkVIr2odEdz3ZuYpVOcB7huBH7wyTdhwgyhpy1T65z2TwvZwAFHB0BXBjF8ExukeFiyoAWChBzmQgM8N32XPt86f1O6DfOMidm/s640/IMG_20170219_174721.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is how much we got done the first day - doesn't look like much, but it took a lot of prep work to get this far.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj24SCGgbEQRFWByfBdfG0TrVuVCYTwyqnydU0nDOrNezsxYoBxlAS26HWqYrMSu72bYku7LfP5I1_ZU64U9PfciPngCeaCQ4Nznfm_bu7UKcv4GpxUiLg-gPvMMuRSRgPE3qn7vJ8BjFb9/s1600/IMG_20170305_174101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj24SCGgbEQRFWByfBdfG0TrVuVCYTwyqnydU0nDOrNezsxYoBxlAS26HWqYrMSu72bYku7LfP5I1_ZU64U9PfciPngCeaCQ4Nznfm_bu7UKcv4GpxUiLg-gPvMMuRSRgPE3qn7vJ8BjFb9/s640/IMG_20170305_174101.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After renting a nailer for a two-day stretch on a long weekend, I realized that this would take a lot<br />
longer than I expected, and ended up purchasing a refurbished nailer which was about the cost of<br />
3 days of rental. It has since paid for itself.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHgfpjfMMffGE-4xh_5av4jFDkFEm2g76S18yt9V-o2gHvtKBO1zQGvrz8PNnaGTNZYL-RHxANYqgddwCmSBahms0FGvqxWizHoQnS-a98uoiK7yvIVD9x4Laiz3VmEG8xPUnuMxxU88Ks/s1600/IMG_20170228_161211.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHgfpjfMMffGE-4xh_5av4jFDkFEm2g76S18yt9V-o2gHvtKBO1zQGvrz8PNnaGTNZYL-RHxANYqgddwCmSBahms0FGvqxWizHoQnS-a98uoiK7yvIVD9x4Laiz3VmEG8xPUnuMxxU88Ks/s640/IMG_20170228_161211.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lauren using the boxes of hardwood as a stepping stool for looking out the window.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuJAYe4NOHEyA5Zi4e98dCVHG4oWNE-Wreo9GlGzj83ZV5c-ziHVVAWQJeMacrCORHC2C1400hglEA0MZjGvOIKBm6AtSiZoCd0k74O3q818sQV5gDCUaH-K6SuSIWpCHZPFcOjXlK63W-/s1600/IMG_20170305_154104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuJAYe4NOHEyA5Zi4e98dCVHG4oWNE-Wreo9GlGzj83ZV5c-ziHVVAWQJeMacrCORHC2C1400hglEA0MZjGvOIKBm6AtSiZoCd0k74O3q818sQV5gDCUaH-K6SuSIWpCHZPFcOjXlK63W-/s640/IMG_20170305_154104.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our newest flooring installer</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqBE6UZKd4X7mVAUikGR9e9Qhl-LNZ5lFt6Yy0xbDqlJc7vaHdZXivlR5a9dXhkwc1yU8tjaHGkKV0_lDnX454ymJylePm4jrEeuMiKkdIfLe0DGoVi4pOMvlhyphenhyphenMog6s7K4TiqPPYgJP8n/s1600/IMG_20170305_154108.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqBE6UZKd4X7mVAUikGR9e9Qhl-LNZ5lFt6Yy0xbDqlJc7vaHdZXivlR5a9dXhkwc1yU8tjaHGkKV0_lDnX454ymJylePm4jrEeuMiKkdIfLe0DGoVi4pOMvlhyphenhyphenMog6s7K4TiqPPYgJP8n/s640/IMG_20170305_154108.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting it lined up just right</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGKCkOT4hvg5qXy4uYx7PqtP0CBNAOAyZEFWZl9AQkwHpyXVX7NEQ_OOEqSnSC-u4YP1mfILSTp8Rb3TugoyXTY1VBUOLfKtMG1b_8XExFS0MVRloHO_wIjiH7X956jcgdvNQWRGK18ZVQ/s1600/IMG_20170305_163555.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGKCkOT4hvg5qXy4uYx7PqtP0CBNAOAyZEFWZl9AQkwHpyXVX7NEQ_OOEqSnSC-u4YP1mfILSTp8Rb3TugoyXTY1VBUOLfKtMG1b_8XExFS0MVRloHO_wIjiH7X956jcgdvNQWRGK18ZVQ/s640/IMG_20170305_163555.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Need a longer piece</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMKRFgp2eNzm-0dPvAVlB0pbBlMiX0Vq4LcofP5xpu2O8YykOI8ChX3t2YlplfR8SvT9K2RQ7vqGtFsj23JvILs1cTSxIDDIochcOyfJ5CkpycAUxA6tQ-LpVZ6q4HEm5zVwIrzFad2z54/s1600/IMG_20170305_174115.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMKRFgp2eNzm-0dPvAVlB0pbBlMiX0Vq4LcofP5xpu2O8YykOI8ChX3t2YlplfR8SvT9K2RQ7vqGtFsj23JvILs1cTSxIDDIochcOyfJ5CkpycAUxA6tQ-LpVZ6q4HEm5zVwIrzFad2z54/s640/IMG_20170305_174115.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Things begin to get interesting as I reach the stone work around the woodstove area</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX6zjR_QHCxhC5zT-6-KF6flDm7tXfUZPCfp3u0dDqsvtPbApwZyasfSEeUaHCTwN_zyo9AaGqIo_LSD_jYh9orNLJZmP8TB91h9FV3cs3m5CXR_wdWsZYC57pfb89hCFc6xakYNP1o5VV/s1600/IMG_20170312_115754.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX6zjR_QHCxhC5zT-6-KF6flDm7tXfUZPCfp3u0dDqsvtPbApwZyasfSEeUaHCTwN_zyo9AaGqIo_LSD_jYh9orNLJZmP8TB91h9FV3cs3m5CXR_wdWsZYC57pfb89hCFc6xakYNP1o5VV/s640/IMG_20170312_115754.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First diagonal cut complete. All of the acute angles like this that I couldn't do on the compound miter saw were done freehand on the<br />
table saw. Especially fun when two different angles land on the same piece due to a change in the direction of the border boards.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhESFgUYLrrGS1Qa_cI1eDD-yTj_ki4gkGYRCtSpinypvuyqRm1VTqhXLrnzSNxgeiOTUpJpIKF45qc0wQ_0HLWcedNXjwvd4VA2cDODOowhrG3kG3KOwiiWujmvUcEolUw29MTkNs5EA1_/s1600/IMG_20170312_115246.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhESFgUYLrrGS1Qa_cI1eDD-yTj_ki4gkGYRCtSpinypvuyqRm1VTqhXLrnzSNxgeiOTUpJpIKF45qc0wQ_0HLWcedNXjwvd4VA2cDODOowhrG3kG3KOwiiWujmvUcEolUw29MTkNs5EA1_/s640/IMG_20170312_115246.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking good, Dad!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfz1EEighZYbrdtWImX54Zbo4LCiJmRxzQPdW8D6ay3Xu5GHi8vngMRbtssMOS7sQ82ODFSYy80vl8zh-ti_bHFFG6MG0-sgZTWlxrpURWz70GDle2UpzHvA38Q4xQVVrXYEhrEWZRZ3qU/s1600/IMG_20170312_164340.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfz1EEighZYbrdtWImX54Zbo4LCiJmRxzQPdW8D6ay3Xu5GHi8vngMRbtssMOS7sQ82ODFSYy80vl8zh-ti_bHFFG6MG0-sgZTWlxrpURWz70GDle2UpzHvA38Q4xQVVrXYEhrEWZRZ3qU/s640/IMG_20170312_164340.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Progress shot</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3LHLhKT8V-wURm3x3xoCBjToKYkGhLQkvePnjiDAYw6lvIq8fLVaXeIIw-EMSAPzi7qEfuzKsBvd7PNLFO0tXW6DnRfYS1cRDSzIHKZPPkqvSLjCJQE4h0H-hXnjYruGxLNI5iUBHGyXy/s1600/IMG_20170319_100416.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3LHLhKT8V-wURm3x3xoCBjToKYkGhLQkvePnjiDAYw6lvIq8fLVaXeIIw-EMSAPzi7qEfuzKsBvd7PNLFO0tXW6DnRfYS1cRDSzIHKZPPkqvSLjCJQE4h0H-hXnjYruGxLNI5iUBHGyXy/s640/IMG_20170319_100416.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lauren hanging out with her Mow (pronounced Mau, meaning Meow)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq6yD5dvnyMbDDxY1QxhQg3dcWhxeAiDh_S7F-0wlaaL6kYOQiCgLXUEQmNxeojaZx6ZM_Es6DHUBirPsmqWmi3cy2VrHFtbD24fROFx2NS31WzSq_dCy3lbyC-pOC4pT1gmBjABjW12-d/s1600/IMG_20170319_170016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq6yD5dvnyMbDDxY1QxhQg3dcWhxeAiDh_S7F-0wlaaL6kYOQiCgLXUEQmNxeojaZx6ZM_Es6DHUBirPsmqWmi3cy2VrHFtbD24fROFx2NS31WzSq_dCy3lbyC-pOC4pT1gmBjABjW12-d/s640/IMG_20170319_170016.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Floor complete!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGvSkjxz2cxz2-G-xyn9k5PB7lhtdzQk_V8NojTG0ZY3at5o9fORTz39Ot76VSr07yETz7TWb9ASM51g-630RXnrOvU9gW7N3v2vdYKWLtr0gruJMd4lVzb4LOt5QOxSS7Stduf6HzyOht/s1600/IMG_20170319_203217.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGvSkjxz2cxz2-G-xyn9k5PB7lhtdzQk_V8NojTG0ZY3at5o9fORTz39Ot76VSr07yETz7TWb9ASM51g-630RXnrOvU9gW7N3v2vdYKWLtr0gruJMd4lVzb4LOt5QOxSS7Stduf6HzyOht/s640/IMG_20170319_203217.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Putting a couple last coats of paint on the baseboard</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGW97l3wmL3BrDN3vKlbNIbMGxeOCDRDs0D3CpQyn5oXVFVF3IWOJcBO0-lAQSzF-e4A7dQevpsk-fweEiDDiui4vb7f_2TXLfYVONu9iOfHm8WARu5ow9IzVuxnxFHKa2OmVFm2pgY0ox/s1600/edited-0271.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGW97l3wmL3BrDN3vKlbNIbMGxeOCDRDs0D3CpQyn5oXVFVF3IWOJcBO0-lAQSzF-e4A7dQevpsk-fweEiDDiui4vb7f_2TXLfYVONu9iOfHm8WARu5ow9IzVuxnxFHKa2OmVFm2pgY0ox/s640/edited-0271.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Baseboard installed and room cleaned out. Only 10 months after we bought the house... :P</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi6UHAyrvKbgQv3eufIzxgG0TREueOryGtmIQmz5ihV8iMns4h3tOOyjQCHxIybZMG0mTz1PSrAf-kAr7tjhyphenhyphenOPDGhPQcLCkG52E6mjoP7DS8uJKHtwAHkChVAyCudZ4zRf9p_gNJiHQpu/s1600/edited-0268.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi6UHAyrvKbgQv3eufIzxgG0TREueOryGtmIQmz5ihV8iMns4h3tOOyjQCHxIybZMG0mTz1PSrAf-kAr7tjhyphenhyphenOPDGhPQcLCkG52E6mjoP7DS8uJKHtwAHkChVAyCudZ4zRf9p_gNJiHQpu/s640/edited-0268.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Though it's not perfect, I'm really happy with how this part turned out. I plan on filling the gap between the wood and the stone with<br />
some mortar that matches the stonework mortar. Note: the baseboard on the right side looks bad because it's not actually installed yet.</td></tr>
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All in all, we're really happy to have it finally done, and glad that we will at last be able to unpack our books and set up our living room in a more usable manner. Many thanks to all the helpers - Josh, Ali, and Lauren :)Jonathan Gerranshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08350359095262722861noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800067717630670289.post-84287558858029779022016-10-24T21:28:00.000-07:002016-10-25T23:32:34.639-07:00Lauren's first stepsWhen Lauren and I traveled to BC this summer to visit my parents, Jonathan really hoped Lauren wouldn't start walking until we returned home. She had been pulling up on furniture and walking herself along it for a few weeks by then, and we imagined she might start standing soon and then walking not too long after.<br />
<br />
But Lauren seems to be a girl who does things her own way in her own time. She took her time starting to roll, army crawl, and crawl on all fours, and she seemed to feel the same way about walking. She's really enjoyed this phase of pulling up to stand using furniture, walls, cabinets, and legs, and walking along holding on to objects, and didn't seem to be too interested in exploring further transportation methods. I've been trying to follow the RIE approach in regards to physical development, and have given Lauren opportunities to practice her gross motor skills but let her take the lead in what she's comfortable doing. It's been really beautiful to watch her grow and progress on her own terms. I haven't minded at all that she hasn't been an early or even an on-time walker. I know that life will change drastically with a walking baby and I was more than happy to postpone that new stage for several extra months.<br />
<br />
A few weeks ago, Lauren started to let go of objects and stand alone for a few short seconds. Slowly, she's built up her balance to stand for longer amounts of time and has become much steadier on her feet. Soon she was standing alone in the bathtub (because of course she needs both of her hands to rub shampoo into her hair) and on the soft surface of our bed, which takes some skill.<br />
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For the past week or so, I've been periodically setting Lauren out in front of me as I knelt on the floor and asking her if she could walk to me. Until today, she's always fallen to her knees and crawled on over, crawling being the obviously faster method. But today, when I decided to try it again, she stood steadily for a few seconds and then took several steps over to me and fell into my arms. Even though I knew it was really close to happening, I was still quite surprised. Then I realized that I should document it and ran to grab my camera so I could show Jonathan in case Lauren didn't feel up to replicating her efforts in the evening once he was home from work. When I asked her to walk to me again, with the camera recording her efforts, she happily obliged and then did so several more times throughout the afternoon. And thankfully, Lauren was happy to show Dada her new skill this evening!<br />
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We can say with certainty that our girl is truly a toddler now!<br />
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Alihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14397307206604229435noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800067717630670289.post-4494988411777624582016-10-13T19:53:00.000-07:002016-10-15T17:10:19.349-07:00Pumpkin farm visit<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
On Sunday afternoon, we went to a nearby pumpkin farm as a day-early Canadian Thanksgiving celebration. Before leaving, I was sure I had Lauren's shoes along but I couldn't find them once we got there so she looked a little unkempt, but it didn't seem to faze her much. She definitely made the most of our visit and thoroughly enjoyed herself! She especially loved watching (and trying to pet) the animals, waving to the hayride- and train-goers, and playing in the dirt. :)</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lauren really wanted to play in the dirt<br />
rather than get her picture taken with the sunflowers.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lauren gets a wagon ride.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heading to the car with our pumpkins.</td></tr>
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Jonathan Gerranshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08350359095262722861noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800067717630670289.post-58216875921551524492016-10-03T21:01:00.000-07:002016-10-04T23:20:33.578-07:00Mini stories: Toilet playThis afternoon I needed to finish up some work in the office, so I told Lauren she could play with the toys she has in the office or she could play in the living room or her bedroom. She played in the office for a few minutes before crawling off to check out her bedroom. Not too long later, I heard her crawling in the hallway, but didn't think much about it. A few minutes later, she showed back up in the office and said a few baby words to me. I turned around look at her and respond and saw that her shirt was quite wet. I suddenly realized what had been keeping her occupied during her time away. Before she was done her nap, I had tossed a toilet fizzy cleaner into the toilet in the ensuite bathroom. I had been planning to scrub the toilet once the fizzy had disolved and Lauren had woken up (the water lines to the toilet are on the same wall as her bedroom and when we flush the toilet, it sounds like a waterfall in her bedroom). Of course, I'd forgotten all about that once she woke up and a little someone had found the toilet lid up and decided to play...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The evidence</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUMgOeX9d9Fq_OVhsfE3RB28suf3TyfH0ayPWyaIn_ZTkO74-SwzA2oNbX6leo4Bo_OW5KdQklVr9IfaPU9yixHqv9Zl7xIFZxyOFk-xp5x7JUWZPBvqKpLEcdhD2-tuSpUT-E2XCvAcA/s1600/IMG_20161003_162139.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUMgOeX9d9Fq_OVhsfE3RB28suf3TyfH0ayPWyaIn_ZTkO74-SwzA2oNbX6leo4Bo_OW5KdQklVr9IfaPU9yixHqv9Zl7xIFZxyOFk-xp5x7JUWZPBvqKpLEcdhD2-tuSpUT-E2XCvAcA/s400/IMG_20161003_162139.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The culprit</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv7RQz-UFCLFuuhnCfL0pj60IPtk8iOQM4USTXva7wAQAGPrL3kdkyHmerZB865gEjSY85Co4eNhldumnwqyfuruwY33gHlxso5YPc_8hXcrYbOyhERmv1LnB0NiPuJPGJz68NsbmMTD0/s1600/IMG_20161003_162149.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv7RQz-UFCLFuuhnCfL0pj60IPtk8iOQM4USTXva7wAQAGPrL3kdkyHmerZB865gEjSY85Co4eNhldumnwqyfuruwY33gHlxso5YPc_8hXcrYbOyhERmv1LnB0NiPuJPGJz68NsbmMTD0/s400/IMG_20161003_162149.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The aftermath</td></tr>
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Alihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14397307206604229435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800067717630670289.post-49514918123964601482016-09-29T12:38:00.000-07:002016-10-26T13:54:34.501-07:00Mini stories: Here's a book, Mama!Lauren is happily playing in her room so I head to the bathroom. Of course, she mysteriously knows what's going on and crawls at her fastest speed to join me. (Again with the lack of baby-proofing, we need to get our priorities straight here!) Once in the bathroom, she heads straight for her baby bathtub, reaches in and grabs the bath book that I gave her to look at while she was on the toilet just a little while before, and hands it to me. Thanks for looking out for me, kid! I'm not sure what I would have done to amuse myself while sitting here without this book. It's pretty clear that she's my child! 😆<br />
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Alihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14397307206604229435noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800067717630670289.post-16099804868513590272016-09-28T13:58:00.000-07:002016-10-26T12:58:39.708-07:00Mini stories: Puddle x2Lauren and I had a shower this morning. (Our house isn't totally baby-proofed, so I can't lock her out of the bathroom, but if she's in the bathroom, she just pulls back the curtain to get at the water or tries to climb in, so putting her in the shower with me is just easiest.) After we were done, I decided to let her crawl around the bathroom and bedroom diaper-less for a few minutes while I got dressed and combed my hair. She has a really slight rash, so I figured a little naked time would be beneficial. Once I was dressed and my hair was decent, I picked her up to go outside to our drying rack on the back deck and grab a freshly dried cloth diaper. Came back inside and while heading to the changing pad, stepped in a puddle. Ugh, she had peed on the bedroom floor (thank goodness it's hardwood!). So I put her down in the bathroom, grabbed a couple cloth wipes, and mopped it up. Come back in the bathroom to get her so I can put that diaper on her butt only to find that she had just peed on the bath mat. Double ugh. Clean that up as best as I could (then tossed it in the laundry hamper), pick up baby, get that diaper on her, and then breathe a sigh of relief and laugh at myself for imaging that she'd be safe for a few minutes without peeing. 😆<br />
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Alihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14397307206604229435noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800067717630670289.post-11606552714020175312016-09-11T22:55:00.001-07:002017-03-22T01:09:08.700-07:00Our Flooring SagaHey all,<br />
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This is a long delayed post - the floor was finished in June - but it might still be interesting to see the differences in the floor from when we closed on our house to when we moved in a month later.<br />
<br />
When we bought the house, we had no idea what was hiding under the carpet. We intended to simply tear it all out and replace it, as it looked terrible. First, some pictures of what the house looked like before anything was done to it:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiALovP0fqsWi3GHv69fHumFje2Ff6vHroam9a6-G7eCzU2mCGEmLt4uqhUWWWApq6jJCSVLXh1NZ_5PAZQcr21WkQ9-jbb2nPOa86N8JWH7lIzmwsaY8PD2HD9h1SrE3XmHF1UL-c2CEj4/s1600/edited-8492.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiALovP0fqsWi3GHv69fHumFje2Ff6vHroam9a6-G7eCzU2mCGEmLt4uqhUWWWApq6jJCSVLXh1NZ_5PAZQcr21WkQ9-jbb2nPOa86N8JWH7lIzmwsaY8PD2HD9h1SrE3XmHF1UL-c2CEj4/s640/edited-8492.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Living Room</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwujhU7sEWXZJVrQE7zxgT5oDUoSh2Cj3BA0zxDxvlLiWuhnGW1m-O5i3bz9AqZIhgY6Mb7gW-YH3ZQrpi3otuNvDHumStCnTi2QtgwmeV1OCkr4vATWQE0hVNrKfucrp0NPtK8LQVdOC8/s1600/edited-8494.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwujhU7sEWXZJVrQE7zxgT5oDUoSh2Cj3BA0zxDxvlLiWuhnGW1m-O5i3bz9AqZIhgY6Mb7gW-YH3ZQrpi3otuNvDHumStCnTi2QtgwmeV1OCkr4vATWQE0hVNrKfucrp0NPtK8LQVdOC8/s640/edited-8494.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Family Room</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtCvianh92mx2HaGq-WZokkZ716iwYToYIG1hLzlf1PA7-u93_CPPNSdgp0ChsP1cX7T8Vys4ZpXYhO1aQcMtLvd3QJPPl5Ha1lgrLXRpjTxzGEQuy6ZZruQqt1FR-ZPIB9MCeEYRj_9lj/s1600/edited-8495.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtCvianh92mx2HaGq-WZokkZ716iwYToYIG1hLzlf1PA7-u93_CPPNSdgp0ChsP1cX7T8Vys4ZpXYhO1aQcMtLvd3QJPPl5Ha1lgrLXRpjTxzGEQuy6ZZruQqt1FR-ZPIB9MCeEYRj_9lj/s640/edited-8495.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kitchen, from Dining Room</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIk-oL9A_h7FcD1T1ljA8hfmFnB8ziHrPFhIMr2YYKBLlZegLRLDmr7UE-gfa4-jYsap41UsH0cZHi4tTPqVD2bgUHCzSUH1ah9Sd9KC2udd01vVfXY5E7klWFx0PKVzxmSkarSxoLCo_g/s1600/edited-8496.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIk-oL9A_h7FcD1T1ljA8hfmFnB8ziHrPFhIMr2YYKBLlZegLRLDmr7UE-gfa4-jYsap41UsH0cZHi4tTPqVD2bgUHCzSUH1ah9Sd9KC2udd01vVfXY5E7klWFx0PKVzxmSkarSxoLCo_g/s640/edited-8496.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entry and Hallway</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSlhzdLl-8Hz0_1IWmoy-_oooFG4Z0WKbI2pkLqFR15X7IrQUE3F4s1TZOIVoStj6zgcMeTU9sbatmFt2Y63_vE2vFzLAsLcxCTT5Iolmn8QzWNtyBVGHK1qRZxEHSiFqRgLlZJo0VhitU/s1600/edited-8507.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSlhzdLl-8Hz0_1IWmoy-_oooFG4Z0WKbI2pkLqFR15X7IrQUE3F4s1TZOIVoStj6zgcMeTU9sbatmFt2Y63_vE2vFzLAsLcxCTT5Iolmn8QzWNtyBVGHK1qRZxEHSiFqRgLlZJo0VhitU/s640/edited-8507.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Main Bathroom</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimVVY7zOkT2-J5CJPTJgr9l3T8gGFmUKlyFXIB4yFIcqyq2V4aK8CMipDjw5ITeZdDxFnqn1cgpfSaEcEBzx30sfNWR6P2hfXnX0aYi7-5jIaXFZ8x6QKQcDThcH9zaHQ3W4uAE42IDOQ8/s1600/edited-8510.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimVVY7zOkT2-J5CJPTJgr9l3T8gGFmUKlyFXIB4yFIcqyq2V4aK8CMipDjw5ITeZdDxFnqn1cgpfSaEcEBzx30sfNWR6P2hfXnX0aYi7-5jIaXFZ8x6QKQcDThcH9zaHQ3W4uAE42IDOQ8/s640/edited-8510.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back Bedroom (Lauren's room)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLNG2eRKlTwm8NhTsaLixhhfTZX0GlpQ5Q6TcH4YmqYvam97S-eHV2zEeUXfjawCmjms6YGN4gAj1-tpOYYZgrw3JfZAiAmiscR1hsUnBOON7KpX1cnhUcl9UoOmj8NwUM0ZBa1gvk3ExJ/s1600/edited-8511.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLNG2eRKlTwm8NhTsaLixhhfTZX0GlpQ5Q6TcH4YmqYvam97S-eHV2zEeUXfjawCmjms6YGN4gAj1-tpOYYZgrw3JfZAiAmiscR1hsUnBOON7KpX1cnhUcl9UoOmj8NwUM0ZBa1gvk3ExJ/s640/edited-8511.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front Bedroom (Office)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh86gu0O-6sYPhrAesFxiQu8tFqC3WwKvzxIAS7OpKrrDDCFtJtqB4zCafGbv4yygGEuM9BmerwXisfcVTic9dXYLpeUFhQGqEtdmULExA0-LTu3JCV-EXEUaQF9xeZPpfZO8EFYXVEHzrN/s1600/edited-8512.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh86gu0O-6sYPhrAesFxiQu8tFqC3WwKvzxIAS7OpKrrDDCFtJtqB4zCafGbv4yygGEuM9BmerwXisfcVTic9dXYLpeUFhQGqEtdmULExA0-LTu3JCV-EXEUaQF9xeZPpfZO8EFYXVEHzrN/s640/edited-8512.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Family Room (again)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9wB26PFqktdIq_2CbVzIxbhpdw_flWnzpacliNLpaRYUrtMDiJXBRV-dvZyjheUIhezAiF-3nNfpuvistNUF45NECJwzMNj1rAQWyhcDihNOWuR_t3G6alYzinubKq1CVprkFOzXY97On/s1600/edited-8515.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9wB26PFqktdIq_2CbVzIxbhpdw_flWnzpacliNLpaRYUrtMDiJXBRV-dvZyjheUIhezAiF-3nNfpuvistNUF45NECJwzMNj1rAQWyhcDihNOWuR_t3G6alYzinubKq1CVprkFOzXY97On/s640/edited-8515.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Master Bedroom</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVEu6Gy_xcafCw-SqEGXRFx_-UsBfGEnad29eG0jXh7uWUmrRqEMlZxdZTUyYXtv3X_SBak0kpoKc-lFv_tU4CQ9T2JS7ieKNX986tyfUTvV0qNUtLMH-SF0wqw2wAfWnWOeuM8bqf6ah2/s1600/edited-8516.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVEu6Gy_xcafCw-SqEGXRFx_-UsBfGEnad29eG0jXh7uWUmrRqEMlZxdZTUyYXtv3X_SBak0kpoKc-lFv_tU4CQ9T2JS7ieKNX986tyfUTvV0qNUtLMH-SF0wqw2wAfWnWOeuM8bqf6ah2/s640/edited-8516.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Master Bedroom 2</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk1kO070oT__sdTGm3-P2EdpsMh6HkQH5MhnRX8i8EdnFSeuI6lDkZ8VPtAK5Ai4SvrQMInDjhDFXNwrlIe0Xv9tRt1w0zaG4XwozpgZM0xM1Khx4ALxl6VHfokOleBrxE2G5JXkRGBOVf/s1600/edited-8518.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk1kO070oT__sdTGm3-P2EdpsMh6HkQH5MhnRX8i8EdnFSeuI6lDkZ8VPtAK5Ai4SvrQMInDjhDFXNwrlIe0Xv9tRt1w0zaG4XwozpgZM0xM1Khx4ALxl6VHfokOleBrxE2G5JXkRGBOVf/s640/edited-8518.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Master Bathroom</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div>
The first full day we had access, I started pulling out the carpet. I started in the living room, and found plywood underneath, as I expected. However, when I started pulling the carpet up in the family room, I was very surprised to find oak hardwood underneath! Here are some pictures from after all the flooring was removed.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW5u7GCcLgyd-BZkLU4Gp1sb_kqYkaYU9II65ztpO8KDolFHfgJ-wbh4qsRh0gDNtSH3ksWG5g71S22Bdsjjr3GvQd-ZZTSnRVCLni-X0GdMsy2H80CEsQlxKmRJ9n6ZIep3zv9oxtNqT3/s1600/edited-8528.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW5u7GCcLgyd-BZkLU4Gp1sb_kqYkaYU9II65ztpO8KDolFHfgJ-wbh4qsRh0gDNtSH3ksWG5g71S22Bdsjjr3GvQd-ZZTSnRVCLni-X0GdMsy2H80CEsQlxKmRJ9n6ZIep3zv9oxtNqT3/s640/edited-8528.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Plywood in Living Room</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJt4e7UYOgQaJMms9zLdX8waDY4WtDet3RJI_02-_6-XPGkE8aCEaM1gmOLga_pvm6M_BK9xWRpMtxS7GIWAmBStd-02FrVKFM-mFZxfS1atMXDz8R-CICaLRYA5kGjneftA9EC7JTicAX/s1600/edited-8529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJt4e7UYOgQaJMms9zLdX8waDY4WtDet3RJI_02-_6-XPGkE8aCEaM1gmOLga_pvm6M_BK9xWRpMtxS7GIWAmBStd-02FrVKFM-mFZxfS1atMXDz8R-CICaLRYA5kGjneftA9EC7JTicAX/s640/edited-8529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oak in Family Room!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAlpHf7EAHYG53mFJd_nJRsNXbLc0oW88XhgXVXGI9PRjL5JpkTXbpOQ-ebAxPw_iL58NAO7FT6qq1iOkioNW7J6bl3x0fOvnIdSRFvXe1NVoI305wexje48Y3REp06R7KqJPMux1LlqsL/s1600/edited-8543.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAlpHf7EAHYG53mFJd_nJRsNXbLc0oW88XhgXVXGI9PRjL5JpkTXbpOQ-ebAxPw_iL58NAO7FT6qq1iOkioNW7J6bl3x0fOvnIdSRFvXe1NVoI305wexje48Y3REp06R7KqJPMux1LlqsL/s640/edited-8543.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dining Room/Kitchen (complete with asbestos tile remnants in dining room)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXk4i5KkNEIl3wQMVlDIyYcvW6lOA0tXwf0r9cQLCMpR4T8DveQ4DhE69icUvU3HDgL8U_VFzPBfG77v1_GuEz_pWxdUEPEaJqFuZ2JhN_2rCbhOggEE7F4OKfOUuD_dj4j8JLchQ9MHZb/s1600/edited-8588.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXk4i5KkNEIl3wQMVlDIyYcvW6lOA0tXwf0r9cQLCMpR4T8DveQ4DhE69icUvU3HDgL8U_VFzPBfG77v1_GuEz_pWxdUEPEaJqFuZ2JhN_2rCbhOggEE7F4OKfOUuD_dj4j8JLchQ9MHZb/s640/edited-8588.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dining Room after asbestos removal</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbG9mQox8Su4ptWN4espcWzhmFnr4a_vAe66jEO-APHNT70nKqke1kDvTm8dNWzswR_rU322iEK2rEUECzCirTNgkWwC7PW0erWNR-NLoESvqb3IJYBoF2X0sCjDTYYee41pSnE4W_IdxL/s1600/edited-8547.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbG9mQox8Su4ptWN4espcWzhmFnr4a_vAe66jEO-APHNT70nKqke1kDvTm8dNWzswR_rU322iEK2rEUECzCirTNgkWwC7PW0erWNR-NLoESvqb3IJYBoF2X0sCjDTYYee41pSnE4W_IdxL/s640/edited-8547.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hallway</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji6PEry0Hx0lUvdC0-_fIBISnsRdzeImJFNLfe3DQ2KGiPIdQqlRo882UwE1xSJNfKXq4iKYa5fy7evI1S80VbOqz8LPUgdLFtiGuSkX9YAtBm5GutcyduP5k_TZiyQTPMEYA1kFNSdP94/s1600/edited-8548.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji6PEry0Hx0lUvdC0-_fIBISnsRdzeImJFNLfe3DQ2KGiPIdQqlRo882UwE1xSJNfKXq4iKYa5fy7evI1S80VbOqz8LPUgdLFtiGuSkX9YAtBm5GutcyduP5k_TZiyQTPMEYA1kFNSdP94/s640/edited-8548.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entry (complete with asbestos tile)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiUuj9_lkant_syo3CbyNaKkbo7eesAqKPr5h42R0pbY5Jwvg2E6vmqhnb29VL_sfxPs4AoeuOkpdzcguUOxRYLcn9ENlxy7ppMAw_l-pbGV6kqRXmOf224Hl8AhfQHgSBPgO8SjsO7_Mk/s1600/edited-8596.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiUuj9_lkant_syo3CbyNaKkbo7eesAqKPr5h42R0pbY5Jwvg2E6vmqhnb29VL_sfxPs4AoeuOkpdzcguUOxRYLcn9ENlxy7ppMAw_l-pbGV6kqRXmOf224Hl8AhfQHgSBPgO8SjsO7_Mk/s640/edited-8596.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entry after asbestos removal</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSTUeyIYR1CsOVtUVC2XK9q48U9_GA_0uEtcNkVi287akNZ8VoFdA0-d0mlIcH2xEz5XWaLW1zjWKxioReBaqcf57LJbHt738AYUZAnKfrG_0YWpPuCOZQZXBMm2MTKJ4kCgi8czBQPZeb/s1600/edited-8530.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSTUeyIYR1CsOVtUVC2XK9q48U9_GA_0uEtcNkVi287akNZ8VoFdA0-d0mlIcH2xEz5XWaLW1zjWKxioReBaqcf57LJbHt738AYUZAnKfrG_0YWpPuCOZQZXBMm2MTKJ4kCgi8czBQPZeb/s640/edited-8530.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front Bedroom (Office)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs8m_QgxDwUxl72XQlMJZL2FVIDvE5FtAD6CmR1woOKV3XnyXNzs7-w5z8VaK6wR1I_ulVCM8RbenyBFi3fq7fiGRRAKgrP__SeUlE26rCuBYCe3LVIYtAEQWxGCH-1A1Gijwd6sz7bIWe/s1600/edited-8531.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs8m_QgxDwUxl72XQlMJZL2FVIDvE5FtAD6CmR1woOKV3XnyXNzs7-w5z8VaK6wR1I_ulVCM8RbenyBFi3fq7fiGRRAKgrP__SeUlE26rCuBYCe3LVIYtAEQWxGCH-1A1Gijwd6sz7bIWe/s640/edited-8531.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front Bedroom 2 (closet floor is almost completely white from baseboard being spray painted)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBTNNRMcHBcOw0gmLEqBec-BfmPIDGDWGqVC7n4zN0NnbKXZaVtntb2RRwvXXQngAOWaA3JShXfVVDhii0uJMQ5afU_LrI7c-8Vk5NRaRAoOtpoksIx9qvfErHNvc8_O0ko0xGpO6MRvNV/s1600/edited-8532.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBTNNRMcHBcOw0gmLEqBec-BfmPIDGDWGqVC7n4zN0NnbKXZaVtntb2RRwvXXQngAOWaA3JShXfVVDhii0uJMQ5afU_LrI7c-8Vk5NRaRAoOtpoksIx9qvfErHNvc8_O0ko0xGpO6MRvNV/s640/edited-8532.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back Bedroom (Lauren's Room)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbaScmdGeISgdaKWHAr40Bnhanrhyphenhyphen4jL97A8YmMb3IxQ7uRcERMm80tt-s0jj4I_BoI82FfhxnF6Wh0OIuxI3cbnUSoXZwH4cS09JtS3eiGbNoDR7rX7kec252DzVWwRPoSJ4HLS0TFsFK/s1600/edited-8533.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbaScmdGeISgdaKWHAr40Bnhanrhyphenhyphen4jL97A8YmMb3IxQ7uRcERMm80tt-s0jj4I_BoI82FfhxnF6Wh0OIuxI3cbnUSoXZwH4cS09JtS3eiGbNoDR7rX7kec252DzVWwRPoSJ4HLS0TFsFK/s640/edited-8533.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Master Bedroom (apparently the closet area was an addition as there is not original hardwood in that area)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8PHdw5EfvwtXTnggr3KirQjuSZMmnp6vLwYgCwQ6hKP2zCVZe6bXHNS0Xat6BZ6DulH1aIY5eTiO6vpLcJwwQu3e33eJZzTkS5iSU0hYVweHYae7KGd5K788-RlZM6pSVnYELqWR_B912/s1600/edited-8534.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8PHdw5EfvwtXTnggr3KirQjuSZMmnp6vLwYgCwQ6hKP2zCVZe6bXHNS0Xat6BZ6DulH1aIY5eTiO6vpLcJwwQu3e33eJZzTkS5iSU0hYVweHYae7KGd5K788-RlZM6pSVnYELqWR_B912/s640/edited-8534.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Master Bedroom 2</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Of course we decided to keep the wood floor and restore it rather than slapping some carpet over top of it! Next step: refinishing hardwood floors in (most of) an entire house!<br />
<br />
The first task was to pull out staples. In every room that had carpet, there were staples from the carpet pad around the edges and across the middle wherever a joint was in the pad. Ali very kindly did most of the rooms that had been carpeted. The dining room, however, was far worse - there had apparently been some other floor put in at some point with very large staples covering the entire floor. After more than 12 hours of work, here is what I ended up with. I pulled out approximately half of the staples, the others had been sanded off and I had to set them into the floor.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYwlAExZtROfM1iQtYPX8gQ3W4ryFYxZWIrYimb5lxrS9tctQbaZsNX2lexe_YJydYlwFMr9VZYwY8INWk6RM35Wo-oUNxY-geFFpCL3EQzHmnrAZZU-CDnYdS4GRG75Xykt0A0NX8EXBo/s1600/2016-05-27+17.49.29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYwlAExZtROfM1iQtYPX8gQ3W4ryFYxZWIrYimb5lxrS9tctQbaZsNX2lexe_YJydYlwFMr9VZYwY8INWk6RM35Wo-oUNxY-geFFpCL3EQzHmnrAZZU-CDnYdS4GRG75Xykt0A0NX8EXBo/s640/2016-05-27+17.49.29.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prodigious staple pile (my poor knees)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Finally after all the staples were pulled I was ready to sand the floor. I started with a drum sander.<br />
<div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNJ9tiCW8UxhWlwkFikZWwF8RmJIvjUyHxwoP83UNJBlFyv1BMcWOtIBFMjuZoKlqg7ejZaVbnZ9bOVOA5D1KMHfLEqkNRaQ-EJyV-41H1s9kNlGgu-b8v-0IGpnk7t0-lhZ97DQ1GAy0N/s1600/edited-8603.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNJ9tiCW8UxhWlwkFikZWwF8RmJIvjUyHxwoP83UNJBlFyv1BMcWOtIBFMjuZoKlqg7ejZaVbnZ9bOVOA5D1KMHfLEqkNRaQ-EJyV-41H1s9kNlGgu-b8v-0IGpnk7t0-lhZ97DQ1GAy0N/s640/edited-8603.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The "big machine" as the pros call it</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjX3qfzvIQAn1p4Dl7KApUUtDkGRWhXJHEFGLqss2XmiTzwegVjvpuY12yRuBK0tzGd74sclJ0J7Ou_NyQowg2bkiL3FQ6vH-7o9eXd5SBHPPtw4pJN_bM4FcUJrIyeN9AVo_F-dixBMJR/s1600/edited-8595.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjX3qfzvIQAn1p4Dl7KApUUtDkGRWhXJHEFGLqss2XmiTzwegVjvpuY12yRuBK0tzGd74sclJ0J7Ou_NyQowg2bkiL3FQ6vH-7o9eXd5SBHPPtw4pJN_bM4FcUJrIyeN9AVo_F-dixBMJR/s640/edited-8595.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sandpaper for days</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSgiNF8DOcjtM06zlifF6JgEuoYHFXU-f4yBWP5GBpymLYLgINlxVtoCbWxbg_9-LpclG8lHMB2QWqkxpgZdY9FKKy05SiLgJlS-VjpM9NSeMWDQLHrLujynUNo7LNVf4wwUuQTib7NLe9/s1600/2016-05-29+20.40.02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSgiNF8DOcjtM06zlifF6JgEuoYHFXU-f4yBWP5GBpymLYLgINlxVtoCbWxbg_9-LpclG8lHMB2QWqkxpgZdY9FKKy05SiLgJlS-VjpM9NSeMWDQLHrLujynUNo7LNVf4wwUuQTib7NLe9/s640/2016-05-29+20.40.02.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Family room and dining room done</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I switched to a planetary orbital sander after the first pass.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHSqVMnmuq9zi1TY72l4-xBn_BqfETTUqIgG6gHQCGDcntQSIE6vR7vaf0H2qg60ehIqIxCjLBlv7-7Lfe8UmG0b18cVtLbLp7aCth9nfKs71VkyJzwD66arDWMSfU3MAN9S09_5TiwnPx/s1600/2016-06-01+14.50.57.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHSqVMnmuq9zi1TY72l4-xBn_BqfETTUqIgG6gHQCGDcntQSIE6vR7vaf0H2qg60ehIqIxCjLBlv7-7Lfe8UmG0b18cVtLbLp7aCth9nfKs71VkyJzwD66arDWMSfU3MAN9S09_5TiwnPx/s640/2016-06-01+14.50.57.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Orbital sander</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Finally, after a couple days of sanding and very careful vacuuming, I started applying the polyurethane.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY0Tpq-b_8oHAbPUbGppKDGSLM15WUYlUvBBnkumI1kUStGx7dpstO5XfRRBsKpTG8g8FgPhs5s0Hhasioo4rnN5jouaiB_w7kduiNfI0JTcUBu2bfgFU4MZbIRgthxCCpNUHlsf53HUnl/s1600/2016-06-03+12.42.35.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY0Tpq-b_8oHAbPUbGppKDGSLM15WUYlUvBBnkumI1kUStGx7dpstO5XfRRBsKpTG8g8FgPhs5s0Hhasioo4rnN5jouaiB_w7kduiNfI0JTcUBu2bfgFU4MZbIRgthxCCpNUHlsf53HUnl/s640/2016-06-03+12.42.35.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First coat!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Three coats later, here are the finished results!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWPTAE47vGi8_g9d5czPPbqBVVwDVu6wvRVmsgFm1NDDyIl5Wq_Kf1QgBxHGm5PNMRLfcd2nIn29XfqiBJMhGCeR28Mf9hiM_UmKtSLMnUI4mmJliofzQ40gvRoWJ0U_J_6B3oHfjwU6-T/s1600/edited-8604.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWPTAE47vGi8_g9d5czPPbqBVVwDVu6wvRVmsgFm1NDDyIl5Wq_Kf1QgBxHGm5PNMRLfcd2nIn29XfqiBJMhGCeR28Mf9hiM_UmKtSLMnUI4mmJliofzQ40gvRoWJ0U_J_6B3oHfjwU6-T/s640/edited-8604.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Living Room (not much different yet, we'll be putting oak in here as well, eventually)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1UYVqk3mqGa2lQYVGMzzr6rmg8ekhYPiZeZ-utxU4Mhah0ylVKTVPwPs5RrbBCweM-eUKIb73uDayEVRAWCbd5oc8aVm1amn5iVaGLo0beWBlCSaOy8KGg9a5VeUOFqogPrlircJ1xYn-/s1600/edited-8605.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1UYVqk3mqGa2lQYVGMzzr6rmg8ekhYPiZeZ-utxU4Mhah0ylVKTVPwPs5RrbBCweM-eUKIb73uDayEVRAWCbd5oc8aVm1amn5iVaGLo0beWBlCSaOy8KGg9a5VeUOFqogPrlircJ1xYn-/s640/edited-8605.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dining Room</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjePJ-bEM-DfiJRCoyVFvnWS5kOxSLzd5QMFA1Nz1fP01wRDTEDG4ONJe21JHZWAiowI7KxBfgnk9aHDiHbuWdnzPeHUJuV1LJ1i6MX3bQVQqpW52SSB34jxpg2p6hyqhDRbW1lkxuv3rm4/s1600/edited-8610.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjePJ-bEM-DfiJRCoyVFvnWS5kOxSLzd5QMFA1Nz1fP01wRDTEDG4ONJe21JHZWAiowI7KxBfgnk9aHDiHbuWdnzPeHUJuV1LJ1i6MX3bQVQqpW52SSB34jxpg2p6hyqhDRbW1lkxuv3rm4/s640/edited-8610.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dining Room and Family Room (That patch by the patio door will be replaced with tile eventually)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm60TBKCv57axi3jN_1rnIt0XHJ7ZjoKrRnWeBGI1Igyf1hdjUW6acFsY-00Tp910QJfSJC0EAm877_Yki0TmLcIFr0xtTHdPHDub4D8RneNDCmGpmWab25tCGeuFkRMNyh-T1rHJl3o-0/s1600/edited-8612.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm60TBKCv57axi3jN_1rnIt0XHJ7ZjoKrRnWeBGI1Igyf1hdjUW6acFsY-00Tp910QJfSJC0EAm877_Yki0TmLcIFr0xtTHdPHDub4D8RneNDCmGpmWab25tCGeuFkRMNyh-T1rHJl3o-0/s640/edited-8612.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hallway/Entry</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHl8h99hO0KPtf3CYNgdfdupS9R8ywND2M8bg1Ef1syLd3uFxFeWe_uBMhuzXedVkNtkzFDuhWkn3hEHt7wntFl1nXtkw_mf_JuxQzSfItY-l3hSAETZpvmRqwY_kNN3qFZlPxVlwW4B8m/s1600/edited-8614.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHl8h99hO0KPtf3CYNgdfdupS9R8ywND2M8bg1Ef1syLd3uFxFeWe_uBMhuzXedVkNtkzFDuhWkn3hEHt7wntFl1nXtkw_mf_JuxQzSfItY-l3hSAETZpvmRqwY_kNN3qFZlPxVlwW4B8m/s640/edited-8614.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front Bedroom (Office)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiggJB8Hcqo7wBF8GWpou5nZ1WjOWTzkygDYwtEc02V2L68DuuAF8Fs5OTcUCYiQ9JIGOwK3ldCGtnaMsb-TZpQj5qLgO-IdErrNPcyGmBnYrpA0WhGNvYzrAbo-yJOzD9EZr9dWgaC00e2/s1600/edited-8615.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiggJB8Hcqo7wBF8GWpou5nZ1WjOWTzkygDYwtEc02V2L68DuuAF8Fs5OTcUCYiQ9JIGOwK3ldCGtnaMsb-TZpQj5qLgO-IdErrNPcyGmBnYrpA0WhGNvYzrAbo-yJOzD9EZr9dWgaC00e2/s640/edited-8615.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back Bedroom (Lauren's room)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Master Bedroom</td></tr>
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All in all, this took way longer than I anticipated, and I think next time, I'll probably leave it to the professionals, but I was sure happy to see the floor when it was done!</div>
Jonathan Gerranshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08350359095262722861noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800067717630670289.post-77974016686837386412016-01-22T23:32:00.001-08:002016-02-06T23:50:30.389-08:00First foods<i>I first learned about <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby-led_weaning" target="_blank">Baby-led weaning</a> a few years ago from a blog that I follow. The blogger, a mom with two young children, wrote a post on ways their family saved money while their children were babies and toddlers. One of the ways she mentioned was Baby-led weaning, which she described in <a href="http://www.viewalongtheway.com/2014/02/30_ways_to_save_money/" target="_blank">her post</a>. I was fascinated, and immediately went on to do some more research of my own. The practice very much appealed to me for more than one reason. (See below for links to learn more about BLW.) So once I had a good idea of what BLW actually was, I decided it would be a perfect way to introduce solid foods to my kids.</i><br />
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While in BC over the Christmas holidays, Lauren - then not quite 6-months-old - had her first few tastes of food. As BLW suggests, I had been planning to wait until she was at least 6mos before starting her on solids, but she has been interested in watching people eat and reaching for food and plates for quite awhile now that it just seemed unfair to make her wait much longer when she was very obviously ready to try solid foods. While out to eat at a Taiwanese restaurant, I saw Roiboos tea on the menu and, on a whim, decided to order some and let Lauren have a taste as it's supposed to be great for soothing babies with gas, even from a young age. We offered her small tastes from a spoon and she loved it and kept sipping it down until we decided she'd probably had enough. The next week, my mum bought some baby rusk crackers (the melt-in-baby's-mouth kind), so we sat her in a high chair at the table and gave her one. She was very eager to reach for it and put it straight in her mouth. She gave some interesting (dubious) looks as she tasted it, but kept on putting it back into her mouth for more tastes, and even tried sucking on the bib where it had dropped when she lost hold of the actual cracker. In the end, she seemed to be a fan of the taste, if not the soggy, melt-in-the-mouth texture.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Photo credit: Glenda Quiring)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Photo credit: Glenda Quiring)</td></tr>
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When Lauren and I got back home the next week, Jonathan and I spent an evening ordering a few items that we needed in order for Lauren to begin eating solid food in earnest. In hindsight, we probably should have gotten them before Christmas so we could have already had them and been right ready to jump into solid foods as soon as we returned home. The items came quickly enough, though, and when they arrived on Monday afternoon we quickly opened the boxes, set up the new high chair, buckled Lauren in, snapped on her new bib, and gave her some cucumber sticks to gnaw. She loved them! She chewed on them for quite awhile until she had sucked off all the soft seedy parts and wasn't interested in the rest of the cucumbers anymore. She still seemed to want to chew on something, though, so I found a silicone Food Hugger for her to chomp on for a bit since we didn't have any other baby-appropriate food items in the house right then. She was quite happy to munch on that, too, even though it wasn't real food.<br />
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I think it's safe to say that our first couple dabbles into solids went well, and that Lauren is more than ready to explore the world of food and is loving the start of her BLW journey!<br />
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<b><i>Links to learn more</i></b><br />
<i>If Baby-led weaning sounds interesting to you and you'd like to learn more, here are a few links you can read to begin your research into BLW.</i><br />
<i><a href="http://www.rapleyweaning.com/">RapleyWeaning.com</a> & <a href="http://www.rapleyweaning.com/assets/blwleaflet2.pdf">BLW leaflet.pdf</a> & <a href="http://www.rapleyweaning.com/assets/blw_guidelines.pdf">BLW guidelines.pdf</a></i><br />
<i><a href="http://baby-led.rhgdsrv.co.uk/whatisbabyledweaning.htm">What is babyled weaning</a> - BabyLed</i><br />
<i><a href="http://www.liverenewed.com/2013/03/baby-led-weaning-helpful-resources-green-in-365-baby-child-care.html">Baby-led Weaning: Helpful resources</a> - Live Renewed</i><br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/2855840155/"><i>Baby Led Weaning public Facebook group</i></a>Alihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14397307206604229435noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800067717630670289.post-14760012399967117322016-01-14T20:08:00.000-08:002016-03-04T23:53:05.317-08:00Swimming classLauren had an adventurous couple days. Yesterday morning, she and I went to a Music Together demo class (we sat in on a class currently in session to see how it worked). It was a fun 45 minutes of singing, moving to the music, and "playing" various baby-safe instruments. Lauren intently watched the other babies - all older than her and most of them quite mobile - and took everything in. She especially loved the parts when we all stood up and moved with the music, and she grinned through most of those times. I didn't take any pictures since we were active and involved the whole class, so you'll just have to imagine her little smile. :) I think it was good to visit the class, but I'm not sure I'll sign up for the 10-week spring session. Even though the classes say 0+, I think Lauren would get a lot more out of it if she was more mobile and could do some of the actions and activities. Also, I think the class is geared more for parents who don't have much musical experience or training, and both Jonathan and I have quite a bit between us, so we could probably do many of the same things with Lauren at home. I did love the socialization aspects of the class, though (for both Lauren and me), so I will think about it, but likely will just try to get to story time at our local library instead, at least for the time being.<br />
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In the evening, we had our next adventure of the day; Lauren went to her first swimming class. She has always enjoyed the water (well, except for her first sponge bath in the hospital when she was a day old) and loves wiggling and splashing in her baths, and in the pool or hot tub the few times we've taken her in at our complex. I thought it would be fun for her to have some more time in the pool, while also getting to see other babies and kids and interact with them. I found a couple parent-tot swim classes in the area and checked out their websites before deciding on one. I signed us up for an evening class that is just after Jonathan gets out of work so that he and I can alternate going in the pool with Lauren and both get to experience the class with her. This week Jonathan took her in. They were the only parent-kid group in the class, but apparently there are several others who come most weeks. Lauren loved being in the pool and although she wasn't able to do all of the activities, she seemed to enjoy looking around at the others in the pool and interacting with the swim instructor. I snapped a couple pictures and took a short video, but unfortunately for some reason the lighting in the pool area is really strange and the photos and videos are a terrible colour of green. Jonathan was able to edit the pictures to lighten the colour, but the video is as is. Hope you enjoy it anyway. This evening we had a make-up lesson since we missed last week due to not yet being back home from Christmas travels. I took Lauren into the pool today and again we were the only ones in the class. Lauren had fun again, but hopefully next week there will be more people in our class so she can watch the other babies and toddlers and learn what she's supposed to do for the various activities.<br />
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Alihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14397307206604229435noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800067717630670289.post-69799418248845931962015-12-07T21:43:00.000-08:002015-12-10T18:12:08.283-08:00Gearing up for winterIn preparation to go up to Canada for Christmas, yesterday we decided to try Lauren in a couple warm outfits we had stored away for her to use in the (hopefully) cold and snow.<br />
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One was an outfit we had found on REI's clearance webpage this summer when Lauren was really tiny and we had actually been looking for a sun hat for her. We never did find a sun hat, but instead saw a 6-month+ jacket and snow pants set at a vastly reduced rate. Even though the heat of summer was making it nearly impossible to even imagine snow and cold, we decided to jump on the deal and hoped that Lauren would fit it by Christmas. The snow pants fit pretty well, but the jacket gave her a lot of extra padding! :D<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yep, fingers can still get to the mouth :)</td></tr>
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The other outfit was a fuzzy, brown, one-piece zip-up with bear ears on the hood and bear faces on the feet that her Nana in Maine sent her. The legs were a little too long still and the arms were quite a bit too long, but the second we zipped her in, we couldn't stop giggling at her bundled up bear-self and couldn't quit taking pictures!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robot-bear</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Practicing her bear growl :D</td></tr>
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I think Lauren will be cozy and toasty warm during our fun in the snow in BC in a few more weeks! :)</div>
Jonathan Gerranshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08350359095262722861noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800067717630670289.post-89691885273197474722015-12-03T21:11:00.000-08:002015-12-03T22:44:29.026-08:00American Thanksgiving weekendLauren's first American Thanksgiving was her second Thanksgiving celebration. She had experienced a small Canadian Thanksgiving meal back in October when her <a href="http://jagjourneys.blogspot.com/2015/10/beckys-visit-canadian-thanksgiving.html" target="_blank">Aunt Becky was visiting</a>. For this occasion, we spent a quiet and restful Thanksgiving Day at home with each other.<br />
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We started the day with a Thanksgiving story. The only one I could find in my personal library was an Amelia Bedelia book. It was a longer one and obviously over Lauren's head, but I still enjoyed snapping a picture of Jonathan reading to her. About halfway through the book, Lauren took a break from reading and played with some toys instead, but kept looking back at Jonathan and I as we finished reading through the book together. At one point she got most of her body off the ground. It might not be too long until she's able to roll from her back to her front!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Intent on the story (for the moment)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"You guys still back there?"</td></tr>
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In the afternoon, after Lauren woke up from a nap, we went outside and got some pictures of her and a few family pictures together with the leaves in our apartment complex.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wrapped in a blanket to keep her warm</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Needed a little something to munch... ;)</td></tr>
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After Lauren woke up from her late afternoon nap, Jonathan took a few videos of her and me. In the first one, I taught Lauren a Thanksgiving song that my friend Danielle had taught me and my fellow volunteers during our US Thanksgiving dinner in Tanzania in 2010. In the second one, we were finally able to capture Lauren's adorable laugh on camera. Until that evening, we never seemed to have a camera handy when she broke out into laughter, so we were really happy to finally catch her giggle in action!</div>
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We were rather delinquent in actually having Thanksgiving meal. A couple from our church hosted an "orphans" Thanksgiving meal and we contemplated going, but all we really wanted was to just relax together at home, so we ended up doing that instead. And since we'd had a great Thanksgiving meal, complete with both pumpkin and apple pies for dessert, when Becky was visiting, we didn't especially feel like we had to have another fancy meal. However, we did want to do something a little more special than usual, so on Friday we walked to the grocery store (which, happily, was much less busy than usual), got the ingredients for some special dishes, and prepped the food that afternoon. Then on Sabbath when we came home from church we had a small modified Thanksgiving meal, just some favourite dishes, with a dessert of a store-bought pumpkin pie for Jonathan (I don't enjoy it) and a Q-family special, homemade cheesecake. It was simple and delicious, just our style!</div>
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On Sunday we carved out a little time to take a dip in our apartment complex's hot tub. The pool isn't heated, so once the weather got cooler we've taken to just warming ourselves in the hot tub. I'm always super nervous about taking Lauren in pools and hot tubs because I really don't want her to have an accident... Of course she's always wearing a swim diaper when we go in, but I still get nervous about potential leaks. Thankfully, it hasn't happened yet and hopefully that trend continues. Lauren loves the water, and quite enjoys our warm dips.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lauren is sporting my baby swimsuit. The elastic is pretty useless, but the fabric has held up great since I used it 30 years ago!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Practicing her back float...while chomping on her fingers. :)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wrinkly feet, time to get out</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bundled up against the cold air</td></tr>
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Alihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14397307206604229435noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800067717630670289.post-71253103227113417822015-10-23T18:38:00.000-07:002015-11-28T23:02:14.027-08:00HaircutsI've been needing to get a haircut for a while (like months), but it has become imperative now that Lauren's beginning to learn how to grab and hold and tug. So last Sunday two of us got haircuts. Now the little one just needs some more hair to grow. :)<br />
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Alihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14397307206604229435noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800067717630670289.post-21024279955076716022015-10-15T17:18:00.000-07:002015-12-18T21:40:37.292-08:00Becky's visit & Canadian ThanksgivingLauren's Aunt Becky came to visit over Columbus Day/Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, Oct. 10-13. It was great to have her here and so fun to introduce her and Lauren. She was supposed to arrive late on Friday night, but because of a delayed flight, finally arrived in the wee hours of Saturday morning. We took her to our new home church, Loomis SDA, and we enjoyed visiting after church since we hadn't been there for a couple weeks prior. In the afternoon, Jonathan's uncle Shawn and cousin Rachel drove the two hours from Reno to visit with Becky and in the early evening we all went for a walk by Lake Natoma together. When we got back we had a pizza supper and Becky and Rachel made a dessert treat before Uncle Shawn and Rachel left to drive back to Reno.<br />
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On Sunday, Becky orchestrated a Canadian Thanksgiving meal with Jonathan as her sous chef. I was able to make the cranberry sauce - a Thanksgiving tradition for me - in between attending to Lauren. Lauren woke up from her nap just as we were about to eat, so we were able to include her in our family Thanksgiving photo. She seemed quite mesmerized with my plate of food. :) That evening we played some games together.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entertained by toys while the adults make Thanksgiving dinner</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thanksgiving dinner</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maple leaf apple pie!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pre-meal shot (taken just before Lauren woke up from her nap)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Baby contemplating the plate of food</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Aunt Becky, it looks good enough to eat!"</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pre-meal shot of all four of us</td></tr>
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On Monday we had an adventure planned. We had heard that there were roads all the way around Folsom Lake, so we decided to try to drive around the lake, which stretches quite a ways north. We made a picnic lunch, packed up our swimming gear in case the lake was a nice enough temperature for us to want to go for a dip, grabbed our state park pass, and headed out. Boy were we in for a surprise! As we entered the first state park closest to our house and saw the lake, we were shocked to see how much the water had dropped from the last time we'd driven by it (when Jonathan's parents were here in September). The water was so low that much of the lake bottom could be seen and we realized that swimming was kind of out of the question. Since we weren't hungry yet, we drove up a bit more north to another state park and drove around the extensive groups with the help of a very handy map of the state parks around the lake. We were amused to see some four-wheel drive vehicles descend off the park roads and into the former lake bottom for some off-roading. We decided to head to one other state park to actually eat our meal, but weren't able to find it the road to turn off on, so ended up at a farther one that didn't actually have any picnic tables, so we just ate our lunch in our car in the very dry and dusty parking lot. We kept driving north on the west side of the lake until we got to Auburn and we enjoyed driving around the downtown core and seeing the old-timey, gold town shops and statues before turning around and heading back south. We did find the one state park that we'd missed on the way up and checked it out and then continued on back to our house for our final evening of visiting together.<br />
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Tuesday morning, Jonathan said goodbye to Becky before leaving for work. Around 11 a.m., Lauren and I drove Becky to the airport where we said our good-byes. Although it was a short trip, we all had a lovely time together.<br />
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Thank you so much for all your help while you were here, Becky. A special thank you for helping so much with the meals and especially for helping bring our Canadian Thanksgiving dinner to life! It was so nice to have you here!Alihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14397307206604229435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800067717630670289.post-53686246695326600442015-09-27T22:03:00.000-07:002016-03-25T22:10:05.915-07:0039/52<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXf637JeqkTU1osvZcQzbJjzH1G_M11KyG6eUd7Kap2uMTTiIE4tjrnfI0Mqw0Tdil2Lne7shHOXmbT6EPAhvbe3dFJl5EG5QC4gP27Wb-mx69XUAX7OPluKyDTIbeITDm2-6_KIjMQZnK/s1600/edited-6470.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXf637JeqkTU1osvZcQzbJjzH1G_M11KyG6eUd7Kap2uMTTiIE4tjrnfI0Mqw0Tdil2Lne7shHOXmbT6EPAhvbe3dFJl5EG5QC4gP27Wb-mx69XUAX7OPluKyDTIbeITDm2-6_KIjMQZnK/s640/edited-6470.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Lauren: Enjoying a hot tub dip.<br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">[Photo credit: Dad]</span></i><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Joining with Jodi from</span><a href="http://www.practisingsimplicity.com/search/label/the%2052%20project" style="font-size: small;" target="_blank">Practising Simplicity</a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> with a portrait of our daughter, once a week, every week, in 2015.</span>
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[And a bonus picture this week because we loved it also... :)]</div>
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Jonathan Gerranshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08350359095262722861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800067717630670289.post-87253514353979239502015-09-25T22:51:00.001-07:002015-11-28T23:02:04.415-08:00Winter of 2014-15I know, it's September and we're in California, what am I doing posting about winter??<br />
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The thing is, I had wanted to post this since sometime last winter, but never got around to it until now. Last winter was a pretty brutal one for many places in North America. I thought it would be interesting to put together a few facts as well as some of my pictures, both from working at U-Haul as well as just winter in general.<br />
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First, here's a <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2015/03/23/top-10-snowiest-u-s-cities-this-winter/" target="_blank">list of the top 10 snowiest US cities</a> this past winter. Bangor made #3 with 131.5 inches, or basically 11 feet. Keep in mind that this was as of March 21, but Bangor got snow till mid April!<br />
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I found a <a href="http://www.city-data.com/forum/weather/2234739-snowfall-totals-2014-15-season-17.html" target="_blank">forum thread</a> later that shows snowfall data from July 1, 2014 to May 6, 2015, which includes every snowfall this past winter. It shows Bangor got a total of 139 inches, or 11' 7" of snow (on the last page of the thread)!<br />
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However, not only was it snowy this past winter, it was also cold! February was the coldest month on record for Bangor, with an average temperature of - get this - a whopping 6 degrees F! There were many days that it didn't get warmer than -20 degrees F. At that temperature, it didn't matter that I had a base layer, second layer, sweatshirt, and my snowboarding coat on, it only took being outside for a minute or two in the wind before I was shivering.<br />
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And Bangor wasn't the only city with record snowfalls. Boston broke both the winter and monthly records with at least 110 inches as of March 15 and 64.8 inches in February alone, and there are many other cities in the US which had high snowfalls as well. The funny thing is, Alaska had very low snowfalls this winter, making it necessary to postpone the Iditarod, their annual sled dog race, until there was enough snow for them to actually do it.<br />
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All this snow and cold was especially driven home for me (Jonathan) since I had taken a job with U-Haul the previous July, and was keeping the job until finding employment in my field after graduation in December. I worked at U-Haul till mid-April, which means I experienced firsthand this winter in all it's frosty glory. Each time it snowed, we had to clear snow off of trucks, as well as move them around to allow the lot to be plowed. This was made much more difficult by the fact that the manager was stockpiling extra trucks against the opening of a new U-Haul center in Bangor, so our lot was chock full the entire winter.<br />
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February was especially difficult - there was a period of two or three weeks where there was another foot or so of snow every 2-3 days. Even our boss partially gave up a few times and let half the lot sit for a few storms before calling in a loader and having us completely clear the lot one day.<br />
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All in all, it was a pretty incredible winter to go through, and if I had only had waterproof boots, I really wouldn't have minded it all too much - I really do like winter. Working at U-Haul this winter, however, almost made me stop liking it. :P<br />
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Below are some pictures I took (mostly poor quality ones taken with my phone) that show some of what happened this winter.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHW0oHOzk2SfAu_VE2-H08sEhvqnXLhUPlEBRjmphPO4h4131LX1DoRo2TFLglsSFzzqOhnkXkUXXRXUisI5XpMjfwjH5f3FX6p0vfOWH3lcZZU-4Gw7pjkEebiAiemrW4sSanlg0Us81A/s1600/2014-11-02+11.57.07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHW0oHOzk2SfAu_VE2-H08sEhvqnXLhUPlEBRjmphPO4h4131LX1DoRo2TFLglsSFzzqOhnkXkUXXRXUisI5XpMjfwjH5f3FX6p0vfOWH3lcZZU-4Gw7pjkEebiAiemrW4sSanlg0Us81A/s640/2014-11-02+11.57.07.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First snow - November 2! Started early this year.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZq0GZA6nL3cRXLzzD4Q_K-_c-DTOYJQJo6YRGEkD9met5o6xquOPwqlRYDZAbq3Fx8Q-FUG4De3g4mpjqV1WOcGaqbgNmXtTnpcdfz4kWgiHeFZBY_cmw_1Zmp4NCP8l63wTcfKHIUkd8/s1600/2015-01-12+14.36.51.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZq0GZA6nL3cRXLzzD4Q_K-_c-DTOYJQJo6YRGEkD9met5o6xquOPwqlRYDZAbq3Fx8Q-FUG4De3g4mpjqV1WOcGaqbgNmXtTnpcdfz4kWgiHeFZBY_cmw_1Zmp4NCP8l63wTcfKHIUkd8/s640/2015-01-12+14.36.51.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Januray - the trusty '89 Accord took me to and from work many times when the not-so-trusty Astro was broken down</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRM71EU146R_DXnq-nVIXjqq2pdhIZVwpZVTPrnW3gr8JUv-HdMsatlOJEb7tELMP59YREhgXAxzhq0bSKsBlXP01SQrIpmEI1HGlPuLx7v8BZ9rIij-sx8cmmFnjcbNIAFcGHz6jUDAQa/s1600/2015-01-28+15.58.23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRM71EU146R_DXnq-nVIXjqq2pdhIZVwpZVTPrnW3gr8JUv-HdMsatlOJEb7tELMP59YREhgXAxzhq0bSKsBlXP01SQrIpmEI1HGlPuLx7v8BZ9rIij-sx8cmmFnjcbNIAFcGHz6jUDAQa/s640/2015-01-28+15.58.23.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carving a path through drifts</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijpixBuUr9sHp89LOlJW7Co27DGTNLOC-wDwbQif25RZetPyRQNMMs0SRCU7ltT366Dx7Tp03jh412RDmW1sO0D5_fGYvPTvcwKb2zYoLWpNbcPOvVKdiYHRR2GfxMC7avjbDatyU63z8j/s1600/2015-01-28+15.59.20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijpixBuUr9sHp89LOlJW7Co27DGTNLOC-wDwbQif25RZetPyRQNMMs0SRCU7ltT366Dx7Tp03jh412RDmW1sO0D5_fGYvPTvcwKb2zYoLWpNbcPOvVKdiYHRR2GfxMC7avjbDatyU63z8j/s640/2015-01-28+15.59.20.jpg" width="368" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deep drifts</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXbd08VaCxggj9vmyTocdoqhgypW1oYoFSeA5QFb88lxXMgXInDXmijKGrPJk3_YhjEia_Ec0VP7OtVLl7T9J6YZBtdn4JISB1o23Sj-RIwj6m-Br7sehpAQdQWexZzf0nd7TZXq9VJ-AZ/s1600/2015-01-28+15.59.42.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXbd08VaCxggj9vmyTocdoqhgypW1oYoFSeA5QFb88lxXMgXInDXmijKGrPJk3_YhjEia_Ec0VP7OtVLl7T9J6YZBtdn4JISB1o23Sj-RIwj6m-Br7sehpAQdQWexZzf0nd7TZXq9VJ-AZ/s640/2015-01-28+15.59.42.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prepped for another storm. Did I mention no U-Haul truck has 4-wheel drive? You can see burnout marks in the foreground...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimm1PWyRkTcswykdwHTpBXH8znaYrA7zn6wLABVu6jwTP9V_kSgPbpytj2s89qTAp96yLsfu47TJ7iyPQZ6l533fY30oL-yKnP7KQns6WJ_sAv9lhiLVbkBDVrNuyz4Z14eFiA6XyHr-9g/s1600/2015-02-01+12.44.25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimm1PWyRkTcswykdwHTpBXH8znaYrA7zn6wLABVu6jwTP9V_kSgPbpytj2s89qTAp96yLsfu47TJ7iyPQZ6l533fY30oL-yKnP7KQns6WJ_sAv9lhiLVbkBDVrNuyz4Z14eFiA6XyHr-9g/s640/2015-02-01+12.44.25.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Had to shovel out trailers each storm</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsXpSF4U10nrIgWnlk8sofM9EELihReUKVRXgn-pK68RrLK2nv0tWFl3Hfi7CpZeLyFwiECRgCrh5uP_a0gQOPSg3Ndx1IEkSkWjvpse0L_X3s3UNP5G3HgHRJcu7kwBpc_Lmw2UqWaaJs/s1600/2015-02-03+11.52.21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsXpSF4U10nrIgWnlk8sofM9EELihReUKVRXgn-pK68RrLK2nv0tWFl3Hfi7CpZeLyFwiECRgCrh5uP_a0gQOPSg3Ndx1IEkSkWjvpse0L_X3s3UNP5G3HgHRJcu7kwBpc_Lmw2UqWaaJs/s640/2015-02-03+11.52.21.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They can get pretty buried...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyd7ONXEvtB1thk6fyVB2zDk6ZQDISL_eOYS3D5CpQEHdEep4wm-5CttzXNqoB3YX8RbKo-kPVt8QJ3ILybFWqc8VgJGJlaallw0MPPlUqqgY1BHePOUcYF9KoPjk-LCyYaGPsDbODDyuY/s1600/2015-02-03+12.53.02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyd7ONXEvtB1thk6fyVB2zDk6ZQDISL_eOYS3D5CpQEHdEep4wm-5CttzXNqoB3YX8RbKo-kPVt8QJ3ILybFWqc8VgJGJlaallw0MPPlUqqgY1BHePOUcYF9KoPjk-LCyYaGPsDbODDyuY/s640/2015-02-03+12.53.02.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unearthing trucks. We probably had around 10 windshields crack from using the heat too much in the cold</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit2qkc1QUipYB8PZ97212mqH0jNRCI3TYXtw5197VROayu_u_GmCfQPFBMDbM0PsaLPA-f6MZHMs1b_a0M17Afs0a6fOIwLraS1moJQvqnNH91tR99ZgK5kGE-a8bXi1V1K3sRi2jOwexW/s1600/2015-02-03+14.16.56.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit2qkc1QUipYB8PZ97212mqH0jNRCI3TYXtw5197VROayu_u_GmCfQPFBMDbM0PsaLPA-f6MZHMs1b_a0M17Afs0a6fOIwLraS1moJQvqnNH91tR99ZgK5kGE-a8bXi1V1K3sRi2jOwexW/s640/2015-02-03+14.16.56.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Where do we put it all?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFD_Tf2JlYXILHxpF1gFkj1qFqG8TWcXuFFgXfzAXn0IltES6_Tdf4gkT0LmD_xVs2PnuckIhVHpV4oeAt_dEQw4JWns8IC5JOpvZ9LlsbpRDQGEflwmb_7wHVigM88V17gf2BfqNE4SfA/s1600/2015-02-04+13.31.12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFD_Tf2JlYXILHxpF1gFkj1qFqG8TWcXuFFgXfzAXn0IltES6_Tdf4gkT0LmD_xVs2PnuckIhVHpV4oeAt_dEQw4JWns8IC5JOpvZ9LlsbpRDQGEflwmb_7wHVigM88V17gf2BfqNE4SfA/s640/2015-02-04+13.31.12.jpg" width="368" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cleaning off a tall 26-footer with a roof rake which is missing one of the extension poles... this was most of the winter.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAPcPqPOP28PG-2pHGNwB2BOXZURIwINqoTXeFtMByJKM1kt2q9utg5n1jzfO4ISySaQl2Y3KPlo3XrpIbbEvoZkXdqw4eeRGI49HhQb4MZBjIRHmKXXNxo6zTlTNODjNfYivpvGlMhhGV/s1600/2015-02-04+14.10.15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAPcPqPOP28PG-2pHGNwB2BOXZURIwINqoTXeFtMByJKM1kt2q9utg5n1jzfO4ISySaQl2Y3KPlo3XrpIbbEvoZkXdqw4eeRGI49HhQb4MZBjIRHmKXXNxo6zTlTNODjNfYivpvGlMhhGV/s640/2015-02-04+14.10.15.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Down back" - this area didn't get cleared as often</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx8Z8anYZ0vHM2UIRe0PhcCzqN8JvsmndwjfS1L75VM7yuZvJoP6gtwtsvzYCcw0pO0mr4RHaqp_MGzHSzE0z-Lir8TNHNJ8gVDSYrPnGuzel0bFAffbAxdVDwqGm8oNxCHo5kFHKenfME/s1600/2015-02-04+14.56.38.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx8Z8anYZ0vHM2UIRe0PhcCzqN8JvsmndwjfS1L75VM7yuZvJoP6gtwtsvzYCcw0pO0mr4RHaqp_MGzHSzE0z-Lir8TNHNJ8gVDSYrPnGuzel0bFAffbAxdVDwqGm8oNxCHo5kFHKenfME/s640/2015-02-04+14.56.38.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Row of 26' trucks out on the road so the lot can be cleared.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_oL05QKOujHFDeukoQgo0CuxYRABepOJwBYJYM_4ofA_ErtD-kdJ0w40WxHuB0CBx1rGLSxj5ij7v5hS83E8Rg2nGXTyzpllVzDjqVKM7c9abAyqqemT7ydtJVwUbCw5laHEdD2ZibZ9J/s1600/2015-02-06+11.56.30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_oL05QKOujHFDeukoQgo0CuxYRABepOJwBYJYM_4ofA_ErtD-kdJ0w40WxHuB0CBx1rGLSxj5ij7v5hS83E8Rg2nGXTyzpllVzDjqVKM7c9abAyqqemT7ydtJVwUbCw5laHEdD2ZibZ9J/s640/2015-02-06+11.56.30.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bringing in the big guns</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUZDRjru0Ej4QbDIRjfVsQr-4pkkKxWJEPnIkimhHpk37yAYBMJna9Mf6cYrD8ywiSDeQ5cvwGMeNy29gnkk0WBeUnTn9Yb9z3TIKeBa5FxMNFOtZ1PnQhChZUKO5PAYxoozzLIxJ1V7GN/s1600/2015-02-06+11.56.47.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUZDRjru0Ej4QbDIRjfVsQr-4pkkKxWJEPnIkimhHpk37yAYBMJna9Mf6cYrD8ywiSDeQ5cvwGMeNy29gnkk0WBeUnTn9Yb9z3TIKeBa5FxMNFOtZ1PnQhChZUKO5PAYxoozzLIxJ1V7GN/s640/2015-02-06+11.56.47.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Didn't take much time with this</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmMaIic8HfjKTLc6MVIWJ3F-J1WgWqJPR6pbS6LdWs08uqUd1rnWor-aEwGyILbT2umM_zWJaZ2yUGQ90-c2tr7LIlcbTKZTgmcPieOyB_RkR-sfw7mCdorDyKLFNtXJ5ae518ZUlDhORn/s1600/2015-02-25+12.13.52.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmMaIic8HfjKTLc6MVIWJ3F-J1WgWqJPR6pbS6LdWs08uqUd1rnWor-aEwGyILbT2umM_zWJaZ2yUGQ90-c2tr7LIlcbTKZTgmcPieOyB_RkR-sfw7mCdorDyKLFNtXJ5ae518ZUlDhORn/s640/2015-02-25+12.13.52.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Those overhead doors are probably around 7 feet tall</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv4EyCkDMw45pyIaafVu4bSnZ7gfdmCEFeUyYtI_ouqUxKTYlJApCvX4P5I4VU7e7Qiw8tTDJ9VbyegNtiBJjqhCdA4k-AnfpNL-Rdsxe4EOF75D3zE-CA5TFQcMKHk3V3eNSLPGhu09jS/s1600/2015-03-04+14.35.24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv4EyCkDMw45pyIaafVu4bSnZ7gfdmCEFeUyYtI_ouqUxKTYlJApCvX4P5I4VU7e7Qiw8tTDJ9VbyegNtiBJjqhCdA4k-AnfpNL-Rdsxe4EOF75D3zE-CA5TFQcMKHk3V3eNSLPGhu09jS/s640/2015-03-04+14.35.24.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">March 4: first time seeing pavement in a couple months!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg31RDsy60MPcZ-ppSaPaIXJMbdBbUR9GEAlqEbn-ATyvamGiHZWVPH_n_Hw6PKf5sUFmPzj4aMV8iYud_LqEHVYiQE8k8QsXQtXqt_0VE-sYXVHmV9PImTMuk1rDTd0gVzleFrE7fi0Vm/s1600/2015-04-07+07.14.45.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg31RDsy60MPcZ-ppSaPaIXJMbdBbUR9GEAlqEbn-ATyvamGiHZWVPH_n_Hw6PKf5sUFmPzj4aMV8iYud_LqEHVYiQE8k8QsXQtXqt_0VE-sYXVHmV9PImTMuk1rDTd0gVzleFrE7fi0Vm/s640/2015-04-07+07.14.45.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More snowfall April 7</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD_r3b_YzUOpuhYJsm6EFCAQWDVQdHkHjBtsyVm6x00lxub07SNxwa-NfnGn9lsQrVcvklFoDydG18u2P9J6-jy4M5Ioe6Dc2CXz4ERIXXYcsiSNPMyxd0idRp_UnNXcEPWYDbxyOJj0-l/s1600/2015-04-09+06.59.38.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD_r3b_YzUOpuhYJsm6EFCAQWDVQdHkHjBtsyVm6x00lxub07SNxwa-NfnGn9lsQrVcvklFoDydG18u2P9J6-jy4M5Ioe6Dc2CXz4ERIXXYcsiSNPMyxd0idRp_UnNXcEPWYDbxyOJj0-l/s640/2015-04-09+06.59.38.jpg" width="368" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">April 9 - more snow</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwBnS_yzaguOU4bMOfd5t8Rti3Zs-odQitA-_-l20zvCnOwppPSDCY9dEBrk9QEF9LJo4Zw6_J1gbPbJCnM4PhE6s6zZG2aNUb9qaCjXchRdy_JF8waXcuMIk8adDYeTXaxTgqfX9w90mb/s1600/2015-04-24+06.47.19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwBnS_yzaguOU4bMOfd5t8Rti3Zs-odQitA-_-l20zvCnOwppPSDCY9dEBrk9QEF9LJo4Zw6_J1gbPbJCnM4PhE6s6zZG2aNUb9qaCjXchRdy_JF8waXcuMIk8adDYeTXaxTgqfX9w90mb/s640/2015-04-24+06.47.19.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And just for one last kick in the pants, as we were loading up our U-Box to move to California, it snowed April 24th!</td></tr>
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It wasn't all bad though, we were able to get out and enjoy the snow a few times throughout the winter.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0LAdwYE97yNWopLRpekqW75rvtkF3BWT1U9sNgeOMb6OMWZ5hmgpM4Xk9nRCEewUfqOJkJyn7mb_QhJ26mxAuCs0KebRswvAmWDCYAOTiExSJhjIZWri0z0KoCQ8QoVMGy98XtnM8xV4V/s1600/edited-5013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0LAdwYE97yNWopLRpekqW75rvtkF3BWT1U9sNgeOMb6OMWZ5hmgpM4Xk9nRCEewUfqOJkJyn7mb_QhJ26mxAuCs0KebRswvAmWDCYAOTiExSJhjIZWri0z0KoCQ8QoVMGy98XtnM8xV4V/s640/edited-5013.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ali learns to like cross-country skiing!</td></tr>
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Jonathan Gerranshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08350359095262722861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800067717630670289.post-87723735182794619272015-09-20T19:52:00.000-07:002016-03-06T20:36:32.312-08:0038/52<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmgSme9paKRkQCxX7VAZkL1cf3NNRVwOnQz1HCCwGa-NIv5BYMlnlqQCY0dh_WApkcdq4QXGDKs87NohD8EADAV3HLPd3uJRsxtEDe1R_rmQ-vlGl-UcUELBbeXBFAIkgMbjFUscyDgxem/s1600/edited-6323.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmgSme9paKRkQCxX7VAZkL1cf3NNRVwOnQz1HCCwGa-NIv5BYMlnlqQCY0dh_WApkcdq4QXGDKs87NohD8EADAV3HLPd3uJRsxtEDe1R_rmQ-vlGl-UcUELBbeXBFAIkgMbjFUscyDgxem/s640/edited-6323.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Lauren: At the end of an epic 4-hour nap.<br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">[Photo credit: Dad]</span></i><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Joining with Jodi from </span><a href="http://www.practisingsimplicity.com/search/label/the%2052%20project" style="font-size: small;" target="_blank">Practising Simplicity</a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> with a portrait of our daughter, once a week, every week, in 2015.</span>Jonathan Gerranshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08350359095262722861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800067717630670289.post-41753454443016043792015-09-13T00:18:00.000-07:002016-03-06T00:26:33.798-08:0037/52<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6DJB5NpYT8BUQcU4Pb3Mn1NyWqM1iFUocG4VCOfwZX6KCh7o-rTn4aKIA9SDmLWPusyCVUWwmrsUNE4_ETV6118kL3dsh0qKs8A1FaAgEYmSLCEA9LfySprTPoqTXARtNBAVk6KRwzZoq/s1600/edited-6271.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6DJB5NpYT8BUQcU4Pb3Mn1NyWqM1iFUocG4VCOfwZX6KCh7o-rTn4aKIA9SDmLWPusyCVUWwmrsUNE4_ETV6118kL3dsh0qKs8A1FaAgEYmSLCEA9LfySprTPoqTXARtNBAVk6KRwzZoq/s640/edited-6271.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Lauren: Snoozing hard after an early morning meal in Mum and Dad's bed.<br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">[Photo credit: Dad]</span></i><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Joining with Jodi from </span><a href="http://www.practisingsimplicity.com/search/label/the%2052%20project" style="font-size: small;" target="_blank">Practising Simplicity</a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> with a portrait of our daughter, once a week, every week, in 2015.</span>Jonathan Gerranshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08350359095262722861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800067717630670289.post-16899293164648165112015-09-06T22:54:00.000-07:002016-03-06T00:27:04.497-08:0036/52<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0NT-xXckWNiPjhqfoe_WX6CuAGULGxWKv1XpKEVBcZO5gBKNgbMvQUAJTWuZMd2sy_dGgXAIyjQPn-r1Ko1Ljk_soii6S6pO0ROyLqhS9S_a0zSzmhFDc_5mpODWSu7hJ9D59STDXJwDV/s1600/edited-6255.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0NT-xXckWNiPjhqfoe_WX6CuAGULGxWKv1XpKEVBcZO5gBKNgbMvQUAJTWuZMd2sy_dGgXAIyjQPn-r1Ko1Ljk_soii6S6pO0ROyLqhS9S_a0zSzmhFDc_5mpODWSu7hJ9D59STDXJwDV/s640/edited-6255.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Lauren: Kisses from Mama.</div>
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">[Photo credit: Dad]</span></i><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Joining with Jodi from </span><a href="http://www.practisingsimplicity.com/search/label/the%2052%20project" style="font-size: small;" target="_blank">Practising Simplicity</a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> with a portrait of our daughter, once a week, every week, in 2015.</span>Jonathan Gerranshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08350359095262722861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800067717630670289.post-29490731378427293662015-08-30T22:52:00.000-07:002016-03-04T23:18:26.657-08:0035/52<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMI7vw3Z7YAXHfRLoyagME6aFPLWFyceOLn1TPfypLltE7w9jIGhq8Zp-E91gIefih4qy7AvU4nk3lOx-eFjZ1RC9Jy_KUAjKFGdADcP47L34SaUjF5WW4IDgqb2EHexse2Lx760zLg7ea/s1600/edited-6213-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMI7vw3Z7YAXHfRLoyagME6aFPLWFyceOLn1TPfypLltE7w9jIGhq8Zp-E91gIefih4qy7AvU4nk3lOx-eFjZ1RC9Jy_KUAjKFGdADcP47L34SaUjF5WW4IDgqb2EHexse2Lx760zLg7ea/s640/edited-6213-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Lauren: Posing for her baby dedication photo.<br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">[Photo credit: Dad]</span></i><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Joining with Jodi from </span><a href="http://www.practisingsimplicity.com/search/label/the%2052%20project" style="font-size: small;" target="_blank">Practising Simplicity</a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> with a portrait of our daughter, once a week, every week, in 2015.</span>Jonathan Gerranshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08350359095262722861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800067717630670289.post-41421592879311514412015-08-30T20:08:00.000-07:002016-02-06T21:59:34.746-08:00Lauren's baby showerSince we moved to this area during the last trimester of my pregnancy and knew very few people here before arriving, we didn't really expect to have a baby shower for Lauren. The one person we did know before we moved here was a friend of both of ours from Southern, Kelsey. She invited us to her small church plant, which we visited a few times before Lauren's birth and eventually decided to join. Although the members were extremely friendly and welcoming, we never imagined they would give us such a special welcome into their church.<br />
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Just a couple Sabbaths after <a href="http://jagjourneys.blogspot.com/2015/07/first-sabbath-at-church.html" target="_blank">first bringing Lauren to church</a>, we stayed for a potluck after the service, and during the meal Kelsey and the wife of one of the head elders, Suzanne, told us that they really wanted to plan a baby shower for Lauren and us. We were so surprised and delighted at the sweet and thoughtful idea, especially since we were so new to the church and hadn't even transferred our memberships yet.<br />
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On Sunday afternoon, August 23, we met at Suzanne and Mike's house where they and about 15 other church members gave us the sweetest baby shower/welcome party. We started the shower off with introductions, and by the time we got around the circle of people we felt like we were at least a little bit more acquainted with the members who had been able to come. Next Suzanne's daughter, Ashley, led us in a few fun games. Then those of us who wanted to do a craft gathered at the dining room table where Kelsey showed us how to make cute fabric flowers that could clip onto baby headbands or later (when she has more hair) can be worn as barrettes. Once everyone had made one, they gave them all to us to wear on Lauren. After the craft, we had delicious refreshments (Lauren woke up around then and also had a meal) and then after eating, Jonathan and I opened gifts. Then we all just visited for a while at the end of the shower until people started dispersing.<br />
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It was such a nice baby shower and we were so thankful for the generous idea of our kind, newly-found church friends. Thank you so much, Loomis SDA Church, for the sweet baby shower for Lauren! We so appreciated it and all the thoughtful gifts you gave our baby girl!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0AmMdIvpWuDGDVZuCkKkCh7Z54LwEywJm_B00N6xB7ydsReVHEZgUsL7X9vhAE8kLbU9sWhyphenhyphenKT4eVZIqajTO85-reMJKS_C-tGV_BJmZNheOGGp6rZoKwreGG4l50CoyXclP4RUW34Xan/s1600/11850858_10154081929163362_1458061460_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0AmMdIvpWuDGDVZuCkKkCh7Z54LwEywJm_B00N6xB7ydsReVHEZgUsL7X9vhAE8kLbU9sWhyphenhyphenKT4eVZIqajTO85-reMJKS_C-tGV_BJmZNheOGGp6rZoKwreGG4l50CoyXclP4RUW34Xan/s640/11850858_10154081929163362_1458061460_n.jpg" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Suzanne burping Lauren after food and during present-opening</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGz732f9rJBYyxzFsbWycwrWReMD8GcGhbgkoAWe4E9GHyuSuxZ4Ki0A0uXGIbsqz7xj_6ewtgCZies3L1b_VBKyU69cS44r-ImGFIaSnuN8iK1LUndinbtLKvzzp9bXN7qWU3YCAO2Woq/s1600/11908020_10154081929918362_2039405901_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGz732f9rJBYyxzFsbWycwrWReMD8GcGhbgkoAWe4E9GHyuSuxZ4Ki0A0uXGIbsqz7xj_6ewtgCZies3L1b_VBKyU69cS44r-ImGFIaSnuN8iK1LUndinbtLKvzzp9bXN7qWU3YCAO2Woq/s640/11908020_10154081929918362_2039405901_n.jpg" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kelsey playing with Lauren</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaIEf4SEBV7VIBZ7ivIqpPp-IK0saQ1WLgOY4gDuvkfAi52o6zpJq8CoRdFK3VQR49126HF1xMUBnkil7pj3eOC5Ys06SIRjJppQd_l01pk2J_vc2xEE3QxLGpIbRMKg1z0b2-PncoPX3r/s1600/11897160_10154081929648362_992112132_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaIEf4SEBV7VIBZ7ivIqpPp-IK0saQ1WLgOY4gDuvkfAi52o6zpJq8CoRdFK3VQR49126HF1xMUBnkil7pj3eOC5Ys06SIRjJppQd_l01pk2J_vc2xEE3QxLGpIbRMKg1z0b2-PncoPX3r/s640/11897160_10154081929648362_992112132_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(I neglected to tell them they could take the bib off Lauren for these pictures...)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKZ0C_pLb4g0TC1wF6yeMwj9Lpwq26W8sPTG3Bbc3R94t9inDqtIS7l0tOm0lVc0ZeIC6Qe0yYqErqLoQB-YMOmkya2HZ-Q9kaUjiqtgqM6gekj31_11bm7zPpJFVy3UTr-imJt7TyphkT/s1600/11911540_10154081929593362_722961074_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKZ0C_pLb4g0TC1wF6yeMwj9Lpwq26W8sPTG3Bbc3R94t9inDqtIS7l0tOm0lVc0ZeIC6Qe0yYqErqLoQB-YMOmkya2HZ-Q9kaUjiqtgqM6gekj31_11bm7zPpJFVy3UTr-imJt7TyphkT/s640/11911540_10154081929593362_722961074_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ashley holding Lauren</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5HJAnUI6OJwgwcOOJVFB716ao6cilWolSb7bBjcfhJLn24-GG_BOLCcCa-0G4zhx60k4Os7wR_DQCt4Bzz6pAYoHTE0u73hFAjSMmmHGN7pDn-wxgh9NyW178l4FVqZsR4NNCTxdnBUwk/s1600/11924694_10154081928948362_1847536261_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5HJAnUI6OJwgwcOOJVFB716ao6cilWolSb7bBjcfhJLn24-GG_BOLCcCa-0G4zhx60k4Os7wR_DQCt4Bzz6pAYoHTE0u73hFAjSMmmHGN7pDn-wxgh9NyW178l4FVqZsR4NNCTxdnBUwk/s640/11924694_10154081928948362_1847536261_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The whole group</td></tr>
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<i><br /></i>
<i>*Like a new mum trying to get to an event on time, I was scurrying around our apartment just before we left for the baby shower and put my camera down near the door only to forget to put it in the diaper bag before we left... Thankfully Ashley was able to capture some pictures of the afternoon on her iPad and graciously sent them to us. Thank you so much, Ashley, for getting some great shots of a special occasion!</i>Alihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14397307206604229435noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800067717630670289.post-48391154137159012532015-08-23T22:49:00.000-07:002016-03-04T23:15:11.984-08:0034/52<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Lauren: Watching the cameraman.<br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">[Photo credit: Dad]</span></i><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Joining with Jodi from </span><a href="http://www.practisingsimplicity.com/search/label/the%2052%20project" style="font-size: small;" target="_blank">Practising Simplicity</a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> with a portrait of our daughter, once a week, every week, in 2015.</span>Jonathan Gerranshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08350359095262722861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-800067717630670289.post-19901577846983873662015-08-23T17:48:00.000-07:002015-12-03T22:53:28.833-08:00Lauren's pre-birth storyI started writing Lauren's birth story but then realized that a good chunk of it actually took place before we even checked in to the hospital for the induction. In order to keep her actual birth story shorter, here is her pre-birth story.<br />
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The week of Lauren's birth - and the several weeks preceding it - were a blur of OB appointments and hospital visits, where we sometimes stayed for hours, once stayed overnight, and always came back home to a chaotic apartment filled with boxes and suitcases, disheveled kitchen cupboards, and clothes lying all over the place. My life and apartment were unorganized, and now my pregnancy was unorganized as well.<br />
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On Monday, June 29, I went in to the hospital for a scheduled non-stress test. It was going very well and the nurse supervisor, who had just come into my room near the end of the test, was about to unhook me from the monitors and let me continue on with my day when one last automatic blood pressure reading went off. That one was through the roof. We can argue all day about if the nurse just coming into the room had any effect on the reading or not, but the fact is that although all the prior readings had been in my late-pregnancy normal range, that last one worried the nurse and she left to call the on-call doctor (which was the same doctor who had been on-call the Thursday before when I had ended up staying in the hospital overnight to do a 24-hour urine test) to find out his opinion. I knew instinctively I wouldn't be leaving the hospital any time soon. The nurse soon came back to tell me that the doctor wanted me to stay the night again, and have more blood tests and another 24-hour urine test done to see if any of my levels had changed from my stay the week before.<br />
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While the nurse set up the bathroom in my room to start the urine test, I texted Jonathan and he arrived a few hours later. By that time my blood pressures had gone higher and higher, and each time the next BP measurement was drawing nearer, no matter how much I tried, I was unable to relax myself enough for the BPs to go back down to my normal levels. After a couple more hours of Jonathan and me trying in vain to bring them down in an attempt to have the on-call doctor let me go home, I was done. I knew staying in the hospital was keeping me from achieving lower BP readings again, and I knew that these sustained higher ones were not beneficial to either me or my baby, although the baby's heartbeat still looked great. The nurses kept telling us the on-call doctor would be coming in soon to talk to us, but soon kept getting pushed back, and finally they said he would be coming in the evening after seeing his last patients of the day. Anxious and frustrated, I told them I was going home. The nurses were surprised and dismayed. They tried to talk me out of it, but I was so absolutely done lying in that hospital bed, having my baby constantly monitored, and having blood pressures taken every half hour. I knew it wasn't a popular choice, nor the recommended one, but I also knew that if I stayed, induction would be pushed and I wasn't ready to make that decision without the counsel of my own doctor, who was still out of town until Wednesday. I agreed to bring home the equipment to continue to take my own 24-hour urine test and that I would bring the sample back to the hospital the next afternoon and get another non-stress test. After signing papers saying I was checking out against medical advice and listening to the come-back-in-immediately-if... speech yet again, we headed to the lobby where I waited while Jonathan brought around the car. The nurse assigned to me for the afternoon waited with me and walked me out to the car, telling me even at the last minute when I was belted in that she wished I would stay, that my insurance might not cover the cost if something happened while at home after I'd left against medical advice, and that she really hoped I'd have my baby in my arms by the time she was scheduled to work again on Wednesday. I wearily nodded, said goodbye, and we drove off into the late-afternoon sauna-temps traffic.<br />
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I took my BP again immediately upon arriving home. It was still high, but I was still worked up. After lying down on the couch for awhile and still having a high BP when checking again, Jonathan convinced me to have a bath. When I got out of the bath and checked my blood pressure again, it was back down to my regular readings. I laid low, lounging on the couch for the rest of the evening.<br />
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Early in the afternoon on Tuesday I headed back to Folsom to return my 24-hour urine sample to the hospital. The nurses took the sample and set me up in a room for my non-stress test. Although I was nervous for the test after what had happened the day before, my blood pressures that day were much better, back within my normal levels. Unfortunately, once again the nurses were concerned with my BPs and called the on-call doctor. He also wasn't too impressed with them either and wanted me to stay in until he could come talk to me. I knew that he, too, would want to admit me and start an induction. Jonathan came to the hospital in the afternoon and not long later, the nurse assigned to me came in to the room to ask me if she could put in a saline lock, just in case I had any seizures. I told her I would really rather not have one, as I was hoping to be able to leave later that evening. She was very nervous about this and tried to convince me to let her put one in. When she finally realized that I was serious, she told me she would leave all the equipment in the room just in case I changed my mind or if my blood pressures got really high again like the day before. She put the basket of supplies on the counter by the sink and laid out several different paraphernalia before leaving the room. A few minutes later she was back, this time with an armful of padding, which she proceeded to fasten to the sides of the hospital bed. I was quite surprised since no one had done these things the day before when my BPs had been much higher, nor the night the week before when I'd ended up staying overnight. In any case, I let her continue on as I knew it would make her feel better about me not having the saline lock in.<br />
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Once she was done and left the room, Jonathan and I visited until the doctor arrived to talk to us. He had a kind bedside demeanor and gave us a nice explanation of why he thought I should agree to an induction, which we appreciated. After talking to us, he said he would let us think about it for awhile. We talked it over and decided that we still wanted to wait one more day and talk to our own doctor when she got back. When we told the nurse, she was surprised by our decision and told me how concerned she was for me, but in the end she took off all the seizure pads, had me sign discharge papers, gave me the speech of things to watch out for once again, and let us leave. We left the hospital in the evening and I was relieved when we finally got home, but also worn out. We took some time before going to bed to get a hospital bag ready in case our doctor wanted us to go back in to the hospital in the morning. Then went to bed for what we imagined might be our last night alone in our apartment, and very likely the last night as just the two of us.<br />
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On the morning of Wednesday, July 1 (Canada Day!), Jonathan called our OB's office bright and early at 8 a.m. to make an appointment to see her. We wanted to tell Dr. Haskins what had been happening while she was gone on vacation and get her opinion on what she would recommend moving forward. We finally heard back from her office just before 10 a.m. and her receptionist told us we could come in to the office at 3:45 p.m. for an appointment. We were surprised that it took the office so long to get back to us, and also that the doctor was fine to see us later on in the day, but were grateful on both accounts as it reassured us that she probably didn't think our situation was dire since she wasn't asking us to come in right away. With the appointment made, we continued on with our day. We added a few more items to our hospital bag, and Jonathan was able to set up a time to test drive a car around noon. When we got back from the test drive, we relaxed for a bit, ate a meal and then did some final chores before heading out to the doctor's office. We brought with us everything we wanted to have at the hospital since we weren't sure if Dr. Haskins would send us right over to the hospital after our appointment to be induced or not.<br />
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At the appointment, my blood pressure was amazingly low for what it had been most of the past few days, 136/92. I was so surprised since the day was warm and we had driven to the appointment in our car that still had no working A/C. The nurse taking my BP told me she had been instructed by Dr. Haskins to have me lie on my side in one of the exam rooms for 5-10 minutes after taking my initial blood pressure and then would take my BP again and see if it had changed, but because this initial BP was so good, she asked the doctor if I needed another BP taken. Dr. Haskins said no, so we went straight to an exam room to wait for her. A few minutes later, Dr. Haskins poked her head in and told us she needed to go across the road to the hospital to catch a baby who was nearly ready to be born, and asked if we could wait until she got back. We really wanted to talk to her that day and said we didn't mind. We moved back out to the waiting room until Dr. Haskins came back in about half an hour and then went back to the exam room for our appointment.<br />
<br />
We had a great talk with Dr. Haskins and were so glad that we had waited to see her again and discuss things with her before just going ahead and being induced like we had been recommended to do on both Monday and Tuesday evenings. Jonathan and I mentioned that we'd ideally like to wait as long as possible before inducing so that the baby could continue growing and maturing as long as possible, but Dr. Haskins told us that actually, in pre-eclampsia patients, even ones with just mild pre-eclampsia, babies usually actually lose weight in utero rather than continue to gain since the blood vessels in the placenta can constrict, which means decreased nutrient flow from the mother to the baby. Once we heard that, our reservations about induction lessened dramatically. We were still nervous about the procedure for several reasons, but we certainly didn't want this baby - already small at the 25th percentile in an ultrasound the previous Thursday - to get any smaller. Dr. Haskins also told us that the stress of pre-eclampsia, while potentially harmful to mothers, actually often helps babies' lungs mature and babies usually do great after delivery. Then she talked to us about the different options we had, and gave us her suggestion, which was that in this situation, even though the only thing amiss was my blood pressures, she would recommend induction sooner rather than later, before anything drastic might take place that could potentially mean even more interventions and/or health risks to me and/or the baby.<br />
<br />
Next she checked my cervix, which was 2.5-3 cm dilated and really soft, "like warm butter on a summer day." (What a visual! Jonathan said he remembers her saying I was 95% effaced, but I don't recall that. I might have been thinking about the soft butter comment at the time, though.) Dr. Haskins ended up stripping my membranes in an effort to try to kickstart labour naturally, and then told us to discuss what we wanted to do while she went to do a quick ultrasound for another patient. Jonathan and I talked and finally decided that if I would ultimately need to be induced, we might as well start it going sooner rather than later since Dr. Haskins was going to be the on-call doctor for the next three days and we would prefer her being the doctor to be with us during delivery. When Dr. Haskins came back, we told her we would be fine to go in to the hospital the next morning to start the induction. She told us she thought that was a good decision, and called the hospital right away to see if they had a time slot and scheduled the induction for 7 a.m. Thursday morning. She said she would be at the hospital at 7:30 a.m. to check on us. We left the office around 5:30 p.m. and went home to eat supper, relax, and get some more last-minute things done, and then went to bed a bit earlier than usual to ensure a good night's sleep before our lives would suddenly be very different.<br />
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Next up: Lauren's birth storyAlihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14397307206604229435noreply@blogger.com0