Got around to the house on Friday with my Dad to finish demoing our bathroom. Andrea and I have decided that since no one is living in the house right now we might as well work on a couple of things that have always kind of bugged us. The major thing is getting the bathroom on the main floor redone. We have always wanted to do this and the quote that we got was a bit higher than we wanted. To drop it down I offered to demo the bathroom to get it ready for the framing and new work.

My Dad and I have pretty much got it done and the room is bare. The only problem at this point is the one wall needs to come down. The plaster is crumbling which is going to back for a pretty rotten and dirty job. Oh well, we do what we must.

Once it is done it will look great. We are going to have in floor heating and a nice tub and shower combo. It will be like a whole new house when you consider that we also have pot lights going into the living room and the upstairs bathroom is being repainted with a newly re-glazed bathtub.

All in all the inconvenience has been massive but I am starting to get excited about the changes.

When The Flood Calls You Have No Home You Have No Walls...

So we are currently homeless. Well not quite homeless but our home is totally uninhabitable. The toilet tank ruptured in the upstairs bathroom while Andrea and I were at work and the whole house was flooded. This happened back on September 21st.

Since then I have watched our possessions be classified as savable or not, our first floor be demolished and Declan cry as he realized that we had no walls. The most upsetting thing was laying in bed with him and Andrea while he sobbed that we had no couches, no TV, no ceiling and no walls. He told me that he was trying to be happy but he was just so sad. How can a 3 year old have those worries? Heartbreaking.

I have also felt the unbelievable support of Andrea's parents through this as they open up their house to a family of 4 for an unknown amount of time. They have patiently allowed a 3 year old to crawl into their bed at 4 in the morning almost every day because he loves to be in there with his Grandma and his Papa.

I miss my home. I miss life the way it was. I will say though that Declan doesn't watch as much TV as he used to, and we eat dinner as a family almost every night. The added support that we receive has been invaluable. I don't know how we would get through without it.

On the home front the construction has begun and things are progressing. We have decided to also renovate our bathroom since no one lives in the house currently. With the help of my Dad and Jacob we ripped out the old bathroom on the weekend and are going to finish the demo tomorrow. The new bathroom should be amazing and I am really looking forward to having heated floors!

We have had to replace almost all of our electronics because our TV and Computers were totalled. Luckily I had backed up the laptop months ago and also had the iPod which had all of our pictures on it up until a week before the flood. With a $30.00 program I was able to save all of those pictures and transfer them to our new laptop. Thank goodness because it would have been a disaster to lose the boys first years.

Dealing with Insurance is generally not a lot of fun but we have been pretty lucky. The adjuster that we have has been pretty helpful in explaining the process which is really half the battle.

We hope to be home no later than the end of the year and may be in as early as Christmas. Fingers crossed.

I will try and update as I can.

Spring is just around the corner and we are slowly beginning to warm up. I can't believe how big Declan and Rhys are now! I honestly believe that Rhys is going to be taller than Declan by a couple of inches. I look at my boys and cannot imagine my life without them. I see how Andrea is with them and her neverending patience is such an inspiration. If I had an ounce of the patience that she has I would be a whole different man.

We purchased a jogging stroller yesterday with the money that we made from trading in baby clothes and toys. I am going to make a serious effort to get out for a jog a few times a week in an effort to get into better health. Baby steps I know but I want to do it. Playing soccer again has reminded me how much I used to enjoy a good run. I can't wait for the outdoor season to begin in May!

Speaking of that, we have enrolled Declan in outdoor soccer which is going to be a blast! He is at the point where he wants to play all the time and just loves kicking the ball at the goal. I hope that we can keep that passion in him. I also hope that in about a year Rhys will be kicking the ball around with him as well.

It kills me to see how Rhys reacts to Declan. As soon as Declan comes into the room Rhys just stares at him and wants to reach out to him. So incredibly adorable. I hope that this continues because I want them to be there for each other.

All in all things are going very well!

Big Update

It has been a while. Life has been incredibly hectic for us but I am finally going to put fingers to keys and get up to speed. Christmas has come and gone, winter has been fairly mild and there has been a definitely lack of snow. I am slightly upset by this as I have not had the opportunity to get Declan on the tobaggan that I bought last year. All in good time I guess.

Rhys has become such a beautiful little boy. He is now laughing and giggling all the time and his smiles are absolutely adorable. Like his brother, this kid is going to break hearts. He is now 6 months old and from what I remember about Declan this is about the time that he will start gaining the features that will distinguish him from other little Winston Churchills.

I have been having a blast with Declan lately. Monster Trucks are his new favorite thing. His Godfather and I took him to Toronto to see Grave Digger a couple of weeks ago and he has not stopped talking about it. We had an amazing time!

For Christmas Declan was given skates and a helmet. In my family none of us ever learned how to skate. It just wasn't something that we were interested in. I find now though that I want to be able to take my kids on the ice... so I bought some skates. I have been out on them once so far and I didn't fall. I was absolutely terrified but I started to get the hang of it. I am sure that with time we will get it going. Nothing is funnier than seeing a 32 year old man skating like a 4 year old while he is being passed by 6 year olds who are racing.

Andrea and I have the boys in swimming lessons again which is nice. The pool we go to is heated which is great at this time of the year! They are in the same class so Andrea and I can switch up the boys throughout if we want. Declan really enjoys being in the water and is getting really good! Can't wait to have him in Lake Huron this summer!

We had our first night out without the kids last night and it was great! Andrea and I went to Toronto to meet Victor and Shannon at North 44 for Winterlicious dinner. The food was fantastic and the conversation and company was first class. I love that we can do that once in a while and just wish there were more opportunities to see them and catch up.

This was also the first time that Rhys had gone without Andrea's breast milk for more than 6 or 7 hours and both he and Andrea were itching for a feeding by the time we got home. I figured that I would get about 6 hours sleep before waking up for work. Unfortunately, at around 1:45am Rhys threw up EVERYTHING that he ate. What a mess. It took about 15 minutes to clean him, the bed and Andrea up. Poor kid. Poor Mummy. Nonetheless, it was certainly worth it and it definitely didn't put a damper on our night.

That's it for now. More to come soon!

A little update

So life has been a little crazy the last few months. Andrea, Declan and I are happy to announce the safe arrival of Rhys Michael Davies into our family. He was born on August 4th and is a gorgeous little boy. Declan has been amazing with him thus far and I am so incredibly proud of how he has handled the massive changes in his life. He no longer is the only little one in our family and we were slightly worried how this would go over. I am happy to report that he has taken it all in stride and has also taken to his big brother duties very well. He gets blankets and diapers when we ask and tries to show his baby brother everything!

Rhys is having some issues with being a little yellow. He is now 7 weeks old and is still jaundiced but the doctors don’t seem to be too concerned with it. He also is colicky which has not been fun for Andrea. I think that we were spoiled with how easy it was with Declan. Other than a couple of nights that were really tough he was very laid back and chill. Rhys does not take a soother so he suckles Andrea for comfort which must be awful after a while. Andrea has been wonderful throughout all of this. I have said if before and it bears repeating; the capacity for love, understanding and patience that I see in her during difficult times is superhuman. The grace in which she deals with both of our sons and their needs is saintly. We are truly lucky.

Declan is now sleeping in his big-boy bed. He stays in pretty much all night and has only fallen out of bed once. He still tosses a lot in his sleep so I generally check on him before I go to bed to make sure he still in a position that is safe for the night. He has also been getting much better at using the toilet which is great! We were out for dinner a few weeks ago and he told us that he had to go pee so he and I rushed to the bathroom. In all honesty I expected him to have gone since we had a bit of a walk to get there but once I put him on the toilet we waited about half a minute and he went! He was so happy and I was so proud of him! Once he finished and washed up he gave me a high five and we went to tell Mummy. A very successful day.

Last week we went as a family to Eli’s hockey game. It was Declan’s first game and all he wanted to see was the “hockey guys”. He and I sat in the arena while Andrea and Rhys sat in the warm area with Aunt Sara. He loved it! He cheered and clapped and learned the term “uncle Eli is on the bench” which made me laugh. All in all it was a great night and I am looking forward to doing it again.

That’s it for now. I am going to try and be more diligent in updating in the future.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes!

We have had an early arrival! Rhys Michael Carroll was born on August 4th and 1:29am. He weighed in at 7 lbs 15 oz and was almost 2 weeks early. He is a gorgeous little gorgeous little guy and I am convinced that he looks a little like me this time. We are going through the normal sleep deprived nights that we had with Declan but Rhys seems to be a bit better adjusted to sleeping which is nice. He gives us 3 to 4 hours at a time which is wonderful!

The big difference now is that we have a 2 year old as well as a newborn. I could not be any more proud of how Declan has handled this massive change to his world. He is now sleeping in a big boy bed, which we call the Spider Man bed because of his sheets, and has been great at going up without much fuss.

Because of the band, I am out quite a bit at night and one of the things that I have always loved doing before I leave is putting Declan to bed. We have had to modify it a bit now and I go to bed with him for a while and sing with him or read him a story, but mainly we just lay there. This week I still had a full beard and while he was going off to sleep he was gently rubbing my beard which was so relaxing I almost fell asleep.

Last night when I got in I went to check on him and he was curled up in his bed with his teddy close to his face. He was actually rubbing his teddy’s ear against his nose. I noticed he does that when he is sleepy or when he is just waking up. It is possibly one of the cutest things I have seen him do (other than kissing his baby brother and telling him that he loves him).

We are definitely changing gears as a family now as we try and juggle bringing up two little guys. I am looking forward to all of the things that we did with Declan and I am sure some new adventures. I am also so excited to see how this helps Declan’s development as he continues to grow. He is such a well adjusted little guy. More to come!

Lawn Work

I got home yesterday from a long day at work and realized that I had to tackle the lawn. It had been almost two weeks since the grass had been cut and it was looking pretty shaggy. I have to admit that I am being generous in the description of the frontage of my house as grass; more like broad leafed weeds with a smattering of blades where they can squeeze through. Anyway…it had to get done so I dug in.

I surveyed the backyard and realized that it has been overwhelmed by a variety of weeds and I thought to myself, “Self, that’s it! No more. Time to get rid of this rubbish.”. I got on the gloves and started pulling weeds, got the saw and began cutting back small trees that had taken root in various places and also trimmed back the lilac bush beside the house.

I cut the grass in the back and had filled our green bin with the bits and pieces that I had pulled. I moved on the front and side of the house and realized that our Birch tree has taken over. I can’t mow the lawn underneath because of the hanging branches that actually touch the ground. So I took the route of hacking away at what I could. It looks much better now!

Once I put the mower away I also noticed a hint of red at the fence in the backyard. I had discovered an unseen cache of ripe raspberries which was a great reward for the mess that I had created! When I brought them in Declan was sitting on the couch with Andrea devouring a freezie, saw the berries and proceeded to eat most of the them. No berries for Daddy.