Mission Accomplished!

No, ZuZu isn't here yet-- that's the second mission of the week. :) The first mission was the completion of the attic spaces. I haven't been up there yet (they finished yesterday morning, a crew from church came in and helped clean in the afternoon, and the carpet cleaner is coming today to steamclean the carpets in the bedrooms upstairs), but K went up and took pics for me.

Remember what our bat-infested attics looked like before?


(You can also see a couple of the previous posts here and here).

Here they are after:








Astounding. Truly, the guys who did this (including my husband) are my heroes.

They removed the false ceilings, removed the guano-saturated insulation, put up dry-wall, blew in insulation that will repel animals, put down a new floor, added/moved the lighting around, and added some outlets. We will paint at a later date. Right now, I am just ecstatic that these spaces are finished, clean, and BAT-FREE!!!

And we can use the bedrooms upstairs now! It's like our house just doubled in size! And, oh man, how I LOVE that I now have 4 walk-in closets (although we think one will be designated "club house" for the kids).

NOW ZuZu can come. :)

Day Three!

Yesterday was day 3 of attic construction-- there was a change in schedule, so they worked yesterday but aren't here today (they are now waiting on the insulation guy, who isn't returning calls! grrr!).

Here was one of the attic spaces at the end of Day 3:




And below is the attic space I am most impressed with. It used to have a false wall right in the entry with a second little door in it, and you had to duck through it to get into it. That wall is gone, and they ripped out the false ceiling above to reveal an almost-normal sized room:


Moses and I had some fun of our own yesterday:




And today, Daddy took advantage of the construction-less morning and took Moses for a wagon ride:

Oh-- and no more bats have made any appearances, so the count remains at 9!

End of Day Two!

Here's where we are at the end of day two:




Each of the four attic spaces looks like this. The drywall will be finished sometime next week, but we have to wait for the insulation guy to come and blow in the insulation, so it will probably be the end of next week before there are any major updates after this.

One more winged rodent bit the dust today, bringing the total "removed" to 9... I was just thankful there weren't 20 or 30 hanging from the ceiling when they went in this morning. We have (er- HAD?) a "bachelor colony," which we're told can number in the hundreds. "Nurseries"-- where the females and babies roost-- can be in the thousands. BLECH.



Moses and I had fun watching the forklift unload and lift the drywall to the roof (where they were taking it in through a window).







The neighbors are probably watching all of this and thinking, "Wow, that's going to be SOME nursery." :) But no, ZuZu won't have her own room just yet-- we're ridding the house of bats instead (and I am trying not to think of what an awesome remodel we could have done with the upstairs bathroom for the money)....


Moses REALLY wanted to go outside to watch...




Can you tell it made him really happy?

Demo Day Update

What a day! I was amazed at how fast this crew works. Within an hour, they already had all the walls and insulation ripped out of the first attic space. By noon, all four attic spaces had been demo-ed (is that a word?). The dry wall starts tomorrow!

The total bat count for the day was 8 bats "removed," and 1 got away. Darn! If it had been nicer outside, I would have sat out there to watch if any came flying out through their little bat holes.... By the way, one of the guys asked a police officer if they could get in trouble for killing bats. The officer answered that you can kill them if they are putting your health in danger. I think the bats hissing at the guys is definitely is a "danger" sign...

Here was one of the attic spaces this morning (pre-demo):





And here it is now:

Just look at all the junk that came off/out of the walls (the back end of a pick-up was also full):

Moses and I had a good day together, and he let me get a lot of work done. But there were things that I did that I wouldn't normally have done-- like, I didn't fight him when he wanted to wear his Elmo pajama shirt to preschool this morning. Here he was before preschool:

And apparently, it was the twins' birthday today, because this is how he came home:

He was so proud of his crown, I didn't make him put his stocking cap on for the walk across the street...

And another thing I let him get away with: a doughnut and apple slices for lunch... Again, not worth the fight today...

When he got up from his "nap" (he didn't actually sleep), he was inspired by all the banging her heard upstairs (he's singing "Bob the Builder" while he bangs his hammer):

And random question: Do you think a work crew would be caught dead eating the "funfetti" cupcakes I made tonight? I was thinking about sending some up for them tomorrow. :)

Demo Day!

*BAT COUNTER-- So far, 9 bats "removed" (goodbye, suckas!)*

It's day one! The crew will be here in about 10 minutes. But I took a little video today of the current status of the upstairs:



And below is an example of one of the attic spaces that is being remodeled. It is quite large and goes around the corner, and we have four of these, in each corner of the house. There is some kind of false ceiling that will be ripped out, and the insulation is all coming out, too. They are going to put up dry wall, blow in insulation (to remove roosting space), and put in a new floor. GOODBYE BATS, and HELLO, giant walk-in closets, and a big family room we've never been able to use!



A few prayer requests:

• That the bats will be driven from the house and not bother the crew at all.


• That no bats will fly into the living space.


• That I can start sleeping at night! (between pregnancy and worry, I haven't gotten much lately)


• That my breathing improves. I've been having trouble lately. I think it is anxiety-- go figure!

... going, going, GONE

My sanity, that is.

I knew I was on my way. But this morning just pushed me over the edge.

*Forewarning: This is going to be a very whiny post.*

Moses spent the morning with a friend from church, so that K and I could get a lot done around the house. There were still a few things that needed to be cleaned in the attic, and I had some various projects I needed to work on (mine were a bit more fun: like cleaning old vintage Little People toys that I’ve been gathering off of ebay—like the Sesame Street apartment building—and getting them ready to give to Moses when his little sister is born. He’s gonna need some gifts, too, ya know!).

K had already had to take a break earlier in the week from cleaning one of the attics (our attic is actually divided into four spaces, accessible from four different doors on the second floor) because he moved something and there was a bat hibernating behind it. Don’t tell anyone, but he threw a sticky trap on it and left it there for a couple days…

So he went back to the attic today to get the last two things: Moses’ Ocean Wonders baby swing, and the cradle my dad made before I was born. Both had been put in the attic before we knew of the bat situation. But both had been completely covered with sheets which were tucked underneath.

When K went started moving the sheet off of the cradle, a bat came flying out. We’re not sure from where. But there is a chance there are bats hibernating in the cradle.

MY baby cradle. My BEAUTIFUL baby cradle. That my daddy made for me before I was born.

And that is when I lost it.

K hadn’t even gotten to the swing yet. But we discussed it and it is getting tossed. It has too many nooks and crannies to ever feel comfortable putting a baby in it (by the way, my OB/GYN FREAKED OUT when he heard we had bats). So if you are in the neighborhood and see it on the curb, DON’T pick it up…

I then looked it up on amazon (during the 10 minutes our internet worked today—but that is yet another story)—it’s 116.00.

I lost it again.

Tomorrow a friend from church (who has no fear of bats) is coming to help K de-bat the cradle. The contractor and his crew are coming later in the week to demo and remodel the attic spaces. And when the weather warms, the wildlife company is coming to seal the house.
Hopefully I will still have some sort of mental capacity by the time all of this is over.

A few prayer requests...

First-- we are on the route to getting rid of bats! Please pray for us on Monday morning-- a new critter control company is coming to evaluate our house to see if they can tell where the bats are getting in. Please pray that they find the problem and can fix it FOREVER!

We've also begun working with a contractor who is going to remove all of the false ceilings in the attic, clean out the guano- and urine-saturated insulation, put up dry-wall and blow-in insulation, and basically seal it all up. That will prevent any bats from ever getting into our living space. AND, it will also mean a couple other things: 1) we will now have three giant walk-in closets!, and 2) we will now be able to use the huge room upstairs as a family room! And all of this is supposed to take place before ZuZu is born.

Second-- we obviously have a TON to do before the construction begins, not to mention all of the other "nesting" stuff I want done. I've also started some projects of my own-- like a couple of cute mobiles for the kids. So I need prayers for time to get it all done, and that I maintain my sanity in the process. :)

Third-- and this one is a little on the lighter side-- I need to learn to exercise some self-control, especially in light of some of the upcoming expenses (like the above). But there are just some things that I cannot resist. Like...

precious little flower clips...

and baby leg warmers...


and cute korker hair bows...

and ANYTHING with guitars on it for Moses...


But I REALLY need to stop spending money. Maybe that's not such a "light" prayer request after all! Taming my shopping might take more of a miracle than getting rid of bats.... Seriously, K needs to cancel my paypal account and confiscate my credit card...

We need a Christmas Miracle

I've mentioned before (although months ago) that in early 2007 we bought a restored 100-year-old home. It was in excellent, solid condition (the former owner was a professional electrician- you should see our electric box!). BUT-- unbeknownst to us, there was a "bachelor colony" of bats in the attic, which is accessible from the second floor by four doors (two in each bedroom). Here are the rooms we are talking about:








My office is currently in one of the two bedrooms, and we are using the two main floor bedrooms. I "discovered" the bats one night when I was working late, and heard something flapping, "squeaking" (there really is no way to explain the high-pitched noise of a bat), and hitting the door attic door. Generally, people didn't believe me at first (other than K and my parents) that we had bats in the attic-- but I knew it was a bat because we-- ahem-- used to play with the wild bats in our neighborhood when I was little (that is another story-- suffice it to say it was something we learned from our dad).

But lo and behold, the "evidence" soon started appearing, and we contracted with a "bat expert" to "exclude" the bats. It is illegal to kill or physically remove bats in Illinois and most states. Besides, you can remove the bats all you want—but if you don’t find where they are getting in, it is to no avail. To shorten this a bit, the bat expert did most of the job, but not sufficiently, and he stopped returning our calls—despite the “warranty” we paid for. We still had bats, and we were out the money. (The lawyer in me REALLY wanted to file a legal claim against him, but the mother in me decided it wasn't worth my time and effort).

In the meantime, we and the pediatrician had suspicions that a bat MAY have been in Moses' room one night. When a bat is found in a child's room, it is considered immediate "bat exposure," and rabies shots are ordered. Since we didn't know for sure, the decision was up to us-- but the pediatrician, who I went to as a child and who is not an "alarmist" by any means, highly recommended it. SO, at the age of 1, Moses started rabies vaccinations. As you can imagine, he has been absolutely terrified of doctors ever since.

Since then, we have never actually seen a bat in our living area. But we have HEARD bats in the walls in our living area. But thank goodness for living in a farm community. After church on Sunday, some men came over and helped Kurt inspect the entire house, inside and out. They did find more bats in the attic, and a hole outside where the bats were getting in. They sealed the hole, and we didn't hear bats (or find any droppings) for months.

We thought we were in the clear. K and I had even recently decided to hire a contractor to 1) remove all of the false ceilings in the attic and clean out the bat guano/urine (which a doctor has indicated may be causing some of my health problems), as well as any dead bats; 2) put up dry wall; and 3) install blow-in foam insulation.

That was until Tuesday morning. I was in my office working, when the squealing started. It was like nothing I had ever heard before. Multiple bats were calling to each other, or something. Then there was a scuffle and more squealing. K came up and confirmed, YES, it was definitely bats (as opposed to mice). It was TOTALLY GROSS.

And depressing. I can’t even describe the oppression we have lived with over the last two years. Every time I hear a squeak, I think, “Is that a bat?!” K inspects Moses’ room every night—and I mean INSPECTS—to make sure there are no bats. He checks the windows, the curtains, under furniture, etc. We haven’t been able to use the upstairs or the attic spaces (with the exception of my office, because I am usually only up there during bat sleeping hours), and we never let Moses up there because he may open a door and let bats into the living area.

I don’t think I have ever felt more trapped in my life. We can’t get rid of the bats. We can’t hire an exterminator to kill the bats. We can’t sell our house, because 1) WE would have the integrity to disclose the bat situation, 2) no one is buying right now, anyway, and 3) there really is nothing in our price range to buy right now. We can’t sue the former owners, because 1) we can’t prove they knew about the bats, 2) how would that look for a new pastor in the community to sue a long and upstanding member of the community?, and 3) the former owner is incredibly ill. We can’t get the “bat expert” to come back because he stopped returning phone calls a year ago. And there is no one else in the area that specializes in bat exclusion.

So we need a MIRACLE. I don’t want my babies in a house with bats. I don’t want to bring my baby girl home to a place where I can’t let her sleep in a room by herself because there might be bats (Moses was at least 18 months before we felt comfortable letting him sleep in a room by himself). I don’t want to live in fear. And the guilt is terrible-- I put my baby boy in a room where a bat may have been. I put my baby boy in a position where he had to get rabies shots. I put my baby boy in a position where he had to get more vaccinations than the average child-- and every time I hear a report that vaccines cause autism, I want to throw up.

So, yesterday was a very dreary day in our house. I think I cried all afternoon. But Moses was such a little helper. Always there to give a hug and help his Mommy. He followed me around from room to room, trying to make his Mommy smile. It was as if he was trying to say, "See, Mommy? I'm okay! Really!"

Today has been a better day. My parents located a pest control agency that specializes in bats in their area—and they have agreed (thank the Lord—and my parents!!!) to go outside of their service area to inspect our house. They are an established business (almost 2 decades) and offer a 2-year warranty, with multiple visits included in the services.

So part of the miracle may be in place. We need these people to find the problem (my biggest fear is that they won’t be able to find where the bats are getting in), fix the problem, and offer us solutions on how to prevent it in the future. We need advice on whether or not to go ahead with our attic plans (ripping down the ceiling and cleaning it out), and whether or not that would discourage future bat roosting. We need peace of mind.

Sorry for the diatribe. I needed to get all of this out, and there is no better place than a blog, right? I know there are people in much worse positions in life right now—and I am not trying to demean that in anyway. I know we are blessed in SO MANY ways. But if you think about it, please pray for us!

Before and After

For the last year, K and I have been working on re-decorating our "new" house. Okay, I will be honest-- K has been doing most of the "working," but I am very good at telling him what to do. :)


Our home was in exceptional condition when we moved in. While it was built in 1910, almost everything had been updated after 2000 (heating, air, plumbing, whirpool tub, etc). The former owner was a professional electrician (you should see our incredible wiring!), and both he and his wife were meticulous. The only reason we had to clean the house when we moved in was because no one had lived in it for a few months.

That being said, our decorating tastes differ to quite a degree. The entire first floor (living room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, and two bedrooms) was entirely wallpapered. In addition, three of the rooms on the main floor had ceiling fans with chandeliers hanging beneath. I had never seen such a thing before....

We're paint people. And we are most definitely NOT ceiling fan people (I firmly believe that God created central air so that people could rid themselves of such atrocities).

Fortunately, the entire second floor (two enormous bedrooms, hallway, and bath) were left un-papered. Unfortunately, the first floor has taken a lot longer to re-decorate than we had hoped (the wallpaper is very thick and very brittle-- no ripping it off in sheets is possible....). We're still working on the living room and dining room, and our bedroom is the last on the list. But here is the first part of a multi-post series of before and after pictures... at least, of what we have done so far!

Kitchen BEFORE (btw-- I do not heart heart wallpaper, or heart anything else for that matter!):





See the globe chandelier? Now picture it with a ceiling fan ABOVE that! lol






Kitchen AFTER:








(ummm.. please ignore the clutter.... I was getting ready for small group and needed bundles of paper goods....)


I knew the wood of our kitchen cabinets was gorgeous, but it was being hidden by the busy-ness of the wallpaper. This is much more our style! And thanks to Lisa's dad, we now have a nice, fan-less, modern light in the kitchen.

Tomorrow: Moses' room. That's my favorite. :)

Tidbits

So much has been going on lately, I thought I better do a catch-up post.

Aunt Emily
To follow-up my post on Jan. 28, I have the name of the leading Bridal Designer where my sister-in-law will be working: Amsale. I read here that the dresses range from 3,000 to 12,000. WHOA! Again, we are so proud of you, Emily! K and I can’t wait to visit you (and Jarrett) in NYC!

Moses
Moses knows 15 letters now! Most of these he has just picked up on by himself: D, E, H, I, M, O, Q, R, S, U, V, W, X, Y, Z. On the downside, Moses has been sick since last night. And after throwing up at 3:00 this morning, he decided that it was play time. I am tired…

Bats
Our bats are back. (For those who don’t know, we bought a restored/remodeled 100-year-old home a year ago, but within a few months discovered that there was a “bachelor colony” of bats in our attic). After paying a wildlife expert a ton of money to “exclude” the bats (you can’t remove or kill them, because they are protected), we discovered in the last couple of weeks that at least a few have moved back in. We heard one in the walls on the first floor this weekend. And, to make matters worse, the wildlife expert is basically refusing to follow through on his warranty. Stay tuned-- there may be future posts related to legal matters…. By the way, “bats” are apparently NOT included in home inspections, and do not necessarily have to be disclosed by the Seller!!!

The Election
I’m still in mourning for my top candidate, Fred Thompson. I know there are rumors out there that he is a prime candidate for a VP pick. We’ll see. That being said, I’ve been asked who I’ll support now. It has to be Huckabee at this point, because he is the only one I agree with totally on the life and bioethics issues. McCain supports research destructive to human life. And Romney... well that is a subject for a series of posts! Let's just say that, living less than 10 miles from a Mormon "mecca," I know way too much about the death threats to former members and all of the crazy beliefs.

Work
In the last week, two different Circuits (the Eighth and Tenth) have followed the line of reasoning I presented in two amicus briefs. What an ego boost!