Blue Ridge Parkway

This last weekend we were able to go to the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. It is peak time for the leaves to change colors and also there are a few festivals to enjoy. David and I have made a tradition of going up there in October. The first time we went, I was 8 months pregnant and we camped. The second year we went up Eliza was 10 months and we camped. Well this year Fenton is 6 weeks old and I really didn't want to tent camp with a little infant so I looked into getting a cabin. David was very disappointed that we weren't going camping. He said that I was a wuss and that his son needed to man up and tent camp. So I compromised and looked for the most primitive of cabins. I found a 18 feet by 10 feet cabin that had only 3 sets of bunk beds, a light bulb and a space heater. That meant that we could still have our fire and David could still cook outside but we didn't have to worry about the weather and wind and rain. It was appropriately called the camping cabin. We are sooooo lucky that we did get this little cabin because every night it froze. It was so cold.

We left Friday and took our time getting up there. We stopped and picked some delicious apples at a orchard, took some pics, and had some lunch.

We planned on attending the Wooly Worm festival. this is a festival similar to the ground hogs day, but this determines the winter. They race little fuzzy worms up a string and the winner of all 40 heats is analyzed and the stripes on the worm determine the winter. It is a fun little festival and we raced our wooly worms. We both lost miserably but it was still fun.

We also drove around on some crazy side roads and found a little place for David to fish. It was fun to get lost on some dirt roads that very well have lead us to tennessee.

Sunday we went to church and drove around and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. The colors were great and the weather was much better on Sunday.

We packed up and came home monday. It was a great trip to get away from the house and enjoy the mountains. We both really miss them being close.

The kids did really great on the trip. Eliza loved it and Fenton was a trooper. The downfall of this all is that we are all sick, accept for David. Poor little kids.

The house is coming really close to move in. It is all painted, the tile is in, the bottom kitchen cupboards are in, the bathroom vanity is in. We have the detail work to do and the carpet. We are still hoping for next Friday... we are praying!!!

Fenton David Hirschi II officially

We blessed Fenton this weekend and everything went really well. My sister and her family flew in from Louisville and my brother flew in from New York. It was so great to have them here and support us. We appreciate their sacrifice and willingness to come and be apart of this and apart of our family. My sister, Melinda, made the beautiful blanket for him also.

Fenton did great, no crying during the blessing and he looked so handsome. I felt so blessed to have a healthy boy and a righteous husband to bless him.

Dry Wall

the front with trim before the siding

Our kitchen
leading to the hall and kids bedrooms

front room

We found a really great group that would mud and tape for cheap. they did a great job!!! they got it all done in 3 days and it looks great, the best part is that David did NOT have to do it. We will be ready to paint next week. yeah!!!!! David has started the siding so next week we will be busy.....also we are blessing Fenton this weekend and my family is coming and we are going to put them to work....between college football games of course.

drywall

The house is coming along. The men have put up dry wall for the last 3 days. it is complete today so we have walls and we are debating if we are going to mud and tape it ourselves or hire it out... we all vote to hire it out but we have to look at our budget.
The end is near. We hopefully will be moved in by Halloween. We have not renewed our contract here so we will be living in a tent if the house isn't done by then.
Though we have been strapped with cash during the project and a lot of things have cost A LOT more that we had budgeted there have been some miracles that have occurred.
#1... For our kitchen counter top we knew that they could be pretty pricey. we were looking into all types and materials. One Friday night we went to Lowes and we saw in the clearance aisle some counter tops and they were the right dimensions, color, and quality that we wanted. For all of the counter tops, by the sink, near the stove and the island (yes this set of counter tops even had an island) was only $65.... can you believe it???? so we bought it. Now the lengths may not be exactly what we measured but we have options so work around and it is worth it to save nearly $1000.... yeah us!!
#2... we saw on Craigs list some paint for sale. we went and checked it out just in case and we bought nearly 50 gallons of paint for the primer, and all of the rooms and ceilings... little did I know that paint is pretty expensive,,, like $25 a gallon.... that adds up quick to paint a whole house... well we bought our 50 gallons of paint for $50....... yeah us!!!!
#3... I bought a nice big window for $10. I love getting deals.
Those are little miracles that have helped us on our way of redoing this house.
Sorry no pics this time. I will get them up soon. The men have done a lot of work and I am so grateful for their help and willingness to get dirty and sacrifice some time to help us out.

Black eye

David and I were watching America's funniest home videos were they showed a montage of messing children, when they got into paint, bubbles, or makeup and we both thought, "that will not be our child". Well I spoke too soon. This morning, eliza found a mascara that I threw away and had watched me put it on, so she went right on doing it just like mommy,.... well.....

the bad thing was that this was waterproof mascara so I had to bust out some makeup remover to get it off. We got most of it off before we went to church.

Things that I have learned being a mother of two for a whole 2 weeks.

I feel like I am changing diapers all of the time..... and I feel like Eliza is picking the craziest places to have a poopy diaper. I swear before Fenton I rarely changed her in public or while we were out, but now it is almost every time. And I feel like as soon as I have one child that is clean, the next child is dirty in 30 minutes. I have learned to change both children at the same time, no matter what, or at least check both of them while I am in the changing diaper mode.

I have done so much laundry. I had a clean outfit for Fenton, feeling good about being prepared and having it right by my side, but to no avail. When I changed his diaper, he piddled on his new clean outfit, not so clean anymore and just added to the laundry without even being worn.

Sleep is a luxury. My biggest fear is the as soon as I get Fenton down, Eliza will wake up or start crying.

the house

There has been some progress on the house. We are seeing the vision come together. The roof is on and roofed with shingles and the next step is the plumbing and electrical.

David has worked super hard and we are starting to see results and the vision.

Hurrican/TS Hanna, house, Fenton

With the arrival of Fenton, my parents came and visited for a couple of days. It has been an eventful week for us all. First there was the threat of Hurricane Hanna. We were watching and waiting all week and we watched as people bought tons of plywood to board up their house. We didn't take that extreme, instead we decided to put up our walls and trusses for the storm. We wanted to see if our craftsmanship could withstand a hurricane down here. David, Paul, and my dad worked on the house 12 hours a day to get the walls up, the trusses built and the roof on in time to have the storm hit Friday afternoon.

I purchased more water and filled our tank with gas and just waited. Truly we weren't expecting much but just in case, we were ready.

Well Friday came and the boys hard work paid off and they were finished right when the rain started to come. It was just a stormy day for us with a lot of rain, and not a lot of wind. We went back to the house Saturday morning and everything was still standing and ready to go. We were so grateful that our prayers were answered and it was not a severe storm.

It has been great to have my parents in town. Eliza has taken to Grandma very well. they are best friends, because Grandma is the Treat Queen. She has been a big help for me to be able to run errands or leave the kids with Grandma and get some things done.

Fenton is great. He actually has been sleeping through the night already. I know that it will probably change, but I will enjoy my sleep right now. Eliza has done really well with him. She doesn't smother him as much and is trying to be more soft. There are still times we have to be careful, but she is a great big sister.