Quick 5

Good news: the anti-lock brake system on our van works just fine!

1.  Sweet baby Bria is nine months old!  She has officially been outside of my belly longer than she was inside.  I always feel like this is a huge accomplishment.  She had her nine month check up this week, which she didn't appreciate as much as she did the ones in the past.  Something about not liking a strange man poking and prodding her, I think.  Anyway, she's just over 18 pounds and still has a huge noggin.  She got three shots.  Joya was surprised by getting two shots herself.  She needed those shots at her three-year check up, but we did that check-up on her actual birthday and neither the doctor nor I felt right about giving her shots on her birthday.  Anyway, Joya was very brave and was rewarded handsomely with a sucker in the car.

I love baby grins with the two teeth showing

2.  Bria is officially crawling forward with purpose.  It's more of a lurch and a crazy army crawl than a hand-and-knees crawl, but she is mobile.  This is such a magical time in a baby's life, when they have all the mobility but none of the common sense.  Who needs to vacuum when Bria will find all the bits and pick them up for me.

3.  As for the latest episode in Homeowner Joys, we had to have our main line cleaned out again.  If you recall, we had this done last May.  But we were seeing the tell-tale signs of the drain backing up again.  It wasn't an emergency, but we wanted to get ahead of things before it became one.  After calling multiple companies for estimates (one of which wanted $656.00), we settled on Doctor Fix-It, who would come for $99.  They were great.  During the guy's visit, his supervisor stopped by for a random check in.  The supervisor offered to put a camera down the drain for free, since he was there and all.  It turns out we have roots growing in, but not outside, like you would imagine.  Nope, they are growing in the pipes under the floor in our bathroom, which the guy said is extremely rare.  He showed me.  He also had his locator, so we could find out exactly where.  Thankfully it is easy enough to get to because it's right in front of the toilet in our downstairs bathroom. Sadly that means it will require jackhammering up the concrete in the basement to get to it.  He gave us an estimate, which you can imagine amounted to $$$$.  Thankfully we'll probably be able to take care of that in a few months.  Sadly that means using that money for that means we can't use it on a fun project, like replacing our front door or chopping down the dead trees in our front yard.  I suppose we're still in the Spend Money On Necessary Things phase of our homeownership.  This phase might last a decade.


4.  I got to experience a Parenthood Rite of Passage and attend Alaina's Kindergarten Feast today.  So cute.  They dressed as Indians and the teacher's helpers gave us parents pilgrim hats to wear.  We feasted on a traditional Thanksgiving feast with all the trimmings.  Alaina barely ate any of it, spending most of her time calling across the room to individual kids, "Hey Dylan!  This is my mom!"  "Hey Nora!  This is my mom!"  "Hey Alyssa!  This is my mom!"  It was a perfect start to the week-long Thanksgiving break that the kids get these days.

Alaina and her friend Aaliyah

5.  We're gearing up for the Marsh Family Thanksgiving/Christmas next week.  I've been working on a project that is taking up much of my time, and will be explained in full detail after next week's events.  We're excited to see everyone.  Let the craziness begin!


Happy Thanksgiving all!