House Update

Lots of things happening at the house!  Things are coming together... But still a lot to get done before move in. 

1. The two new fireplaces are finished and look absolutely amazing thanks to my talented uncle who took our vision and made it better!  Probably my favorite thing we've done so far! This is the outdoor fireplace/patio.

This is the opposite side that is going to be a sunroom!

2. The living room fireplace got a new face lift as well!

3. We now have a working HVAC! Yay for no more nightly fire building runs!

4. The walls in the basement have been framed out and are ready for drywall and josh had started on the dry wall work upstairs.

5. We have a layout for the kitchen and have ordered cabinets!  We are going to save a ton of money by getting unfinished cabinets and painting them ourselves.  We have better drawings somewhere but I can't find them right now.

6. We have ordered the flooring for the upstairs and downstairs.  We found a great price on dark stained bamboo hardwood that will go through out the upstairs...Everywhere but the bathrooms which will be tile.  We also found some decent laminate hardwood for the family room and laundry room area in the basement, these are going to be the only finished rooms down there for a while.

Next up is finishing drywall work so we can start the overwhelming task of painting and getting the sunroom built.

Update on Whitman

So many of you have probably heard that Whitman had an anaphylactic allergic reaction to a pistachio on Friday night.  It was a mother's worst nightmare when I got a call from my MIL saying that Josh has called 911 because Whitman wasn't breathing well and was projectile vomiting less than a minute after Josh had given him two pistachios.  I was a minute away from being there and I drove like a mad woman after hearing those words.  When I arrived I was hoping that Josh has just overreacted in calling for an ambulance, but it was all to plain to see that it was not an overreaction.  My normally super sonic high energy boy was a limp rag with glazed eyes, puffy cheeks, copious amounts of drool, wheezing, and working to breath.  I held him and monitored his breathing until the ambulance arrived a minute later.  They quickly assessed the situation and we headed to the Frankfort ER.  After a neb treatment by the EMTs the wheezing was gone, but his cheeks continued to swell and he couldn't swallow.  Once we arrived in the ER they took an assessment and history, this felt like forever.  I just wanted them to give him some epinephrine because the problem was so obvious to me, but the doctor was concerned initially that he aspirated on the nut.  The nurses started an iv and finally gave him a shot of epi, iv benadryl, and iv steroids. There was a brief moment of fear when his heart rate dropped after the injection of epi and benadryl. Still not sure what the exact cause was, but the meds did their job and after an hour the swelling was almost back to normal. The doctor in Frankfort was not comfortable sending him home, but felt he needed to be seen by the UK doctors for observation.  So Whitman and I went for a second ride in an ambulance to UK. By the time we got to UK he was pretty much his old self.  They observed him for a couple hours and gave him some oral steroids to prevent a rebound reaction and sent us home with a prescription for an epi pen. 

It was a very scary night but I am so thankful for so many things that happened that made the best out of a bad situation.  First, I really believe the Lord gave Whitman peace about the situation. He was never outwardly terrified or even upset.  He enjoyed the ambulance, barely whimpered at the IV, and thanked the nurse after she gave him a shot in the thigh.  Seeing him taking it all so well helped me be calm as well.  Second, our nurse in the Frankfort ER was awesome!  I plan to write a letter thanking her for her care.  Third, I was glad we were with Josh's mom and dad.  They just took Waylon and we never worried about him.  Fourth, it was such a blessing to see a familiar face in the UK ER. Lindsay was there to show support and give me a hug...and get Whitman a popsicle!  Fifth, (and most importantly) my little boy is doing OK and completely recovered.  Many thanks to those who were lifting us up in prayer during this time.

Now our lives are changing.  I have a better understanding of parents who have kids with severe allergies.  I've always understood in my head, but seeing your child struggling like this just changes your out look on things completely. We are reading labels, educating ourselves on the subject of tree nuts, and going to get further allergy testing in the coming weeks.  For those of you who have allergies or kids with severe allergies (especially to tree nuts) any resources or helpful tips are appreciated. 

Continued prayers are appreciated as we get use to a new normal.  Tree nuts are in many things and processed along side a ton of foods.  We are learning all we can and reading every label, but right now I'm fearful that we might mess up.  We are also adjusting to carrying an epi pen with us everywhere we go.  Just wanting to keep our precious boy safe.

January House Update

We have been so crazy I haven't had time for much blogging lately. But here a fast run down of our past month.  Minor issues left us putting off packing until the last minute, packed one house into two houses(harder than it sounds), visited with my parents who were in from Panama, unpacking (still), trying to find things (still), Christmas, New Years, and now it's time to get down to some serious work on the new place. 

We are still getting things done in the new place.  Just to name a few... New plumbing is mostly installed, working toilet, electric is back on, rewired most of the electric, a few walls are framed in the basement, working on getting pocket doors installed in the master bath and closet, functioning fireplace, driveway expanded and leveled, and security system installed and working. 

The thing I'm super excited about right now is the new fireplaces that are going on the back!  They will use one chimney and one will be on the outdoor patio (The lower patio) and the other will be in the sunroom that's going to be built soon(upper patio).  My super talented uncle is going to be doing this for us as soon as the weather starts to cooperate.  I know it's going to look amazing and I can't wait to see the finished work.  Also the brick walls on the upper patio were torn off.

 We should have working HVAC this week! Yay, for no more nightly trips to start a fire!

Another thing I'm excited about is this...

It's a beautiful antique buffet that is going to be the master bathroom vanity!  I have a tulip vessel sink and gorgeous facet that is going to look amazing!  I'll probably paint it white and keep the oval pulls.  I know some will think it's a crime to paint such a gorgeous piece, but I think it will hold up better to water splashes. This is my inspirational picture from pintrest for the project!

I'm really excited because i LOVE this and mine is similar.  We decided not to do a double sink like this one because we feel space might be an issue.  

Lots of stuff happening!