A little of this, a little of that...

'Tis the season of new beginnings and a season of waiting. Gilbert has begun to eat solids (just as I have begun cloth diapers) and he is starting to seriously interact with the world. Pulling hair, grabbing everything within his reach, sitting up for a while...then falling over. My Mom has noticed and so enjoyed watching Gilly's hands discovering their movement. It appears as if Gilbert is constantly trying to snap his fingers. It's beautiful.

The waiting has taken many forms. Waiting for Christmas. Waiting for cement to dry and drywall mud to dry.  Waiting in line at Home Depot. Waiting for the toys to have a home in the basement (not our whole main floor space!) It's quite remarkable how much work has gotten done these past 3 and a half weeks. Walls have been torn down and other walls erected. Insulation stuffed, wiring threaded through beams, ducts redirected, toilets installed...oh and I haven't even mentioned the permits and inspectors yet! It's exciting to see and hear it all happen...and according to the dream in our minds. But as the dust is settling onto every surface I touch,  I am at the point where I am holding 

my breath, waiting for it all to be done.

  Felix lends a hand and helps feed Gilbert his first bites of brown rice cereal. 

"The man with the drill".  (That's what the doctors called my Dad 

in Emerg a couple years ago...but that's a whole other blog post!)

Kids love going down in the basement. Here we're in the guest bedroom, 

looking at the closet and doorway out to the bathroom/furnace. 

(Sorry Leo, Felix doesn't yet have a helper-hat :)

Mom's amazing at keeping the mess from getting too out of hand. 

Her work really is as vital as the actual framing, dry-walling, tiling, etc. 

The front steps are now covered with tile and saw dust. Welcome to our house...

Patrick calls this the "octopus" (Rob, thought you'd appreciate this one).

Brigitte's contribution to the work...

In-floor heating in the bathroom...the in-house engineer highly recommended it. 

I never knew just how much my Dad loves cement. 

Of course I knew he built our old house in Edmonton with a crazy 

amount of concrete. And, while Patrick was trying to ask my Dad if he could marry me, 

my Dad kept talking about the loads of concrete he poured that day. 

But seeing my Dad actually mix the cement and hearing from Patrick how my Dad scratches the 

very last bits out of the bucket, so as not to waste any, shines a new light on his infatuation 

with the grey glue.

In the first weeks Mom was a bit bored, so she sewed us some new ornaments. They are lovely.

And the baking she's managed!! I think there's been 5 different kinds of Christmas cookies baked. 

(Pfefferkuchen ran out and a second batch was made!)

The hallway down to the guest bedroom -  it now has 

tile on the floor, which will be "grouted" (is that a verb?) tonight. 

Patrick has excelled at the electrical and plumbing jobs. Lights shine brightly and no leaks! 

Well done Dr. Fletcher. This is the shower he's proudly showing us. It now has been covered with 

cement board and Dad's just working on the tile as I type. 

Never knew how to spell "soldering" before this week. 

(I have only ever heard it mentioned, never written, and never seen in person.)

A necessary part of the work...hee hee! (Kristi, this one's for you.)

In the midst of this craziness, it's been nice to sit down at dinner together and 

light the Advent candles...and talk about cement. 

Big cloth-diaper bum, but oh so cute. 

And this is our Christmas card this year (heavy sigh). 

I had such great intentions of sending out real pictures on real paper (...with our groovy new

return address stamp!) Oh well. More new beginnings (like blog Xmas cards) and more waiting (maybe Christmas cards in 2012?). 

We wish you all a blessed Advent. May our Lord give you peace and joy in whatever 

areas you are waiting, but especially as we wait for His coming.