The boy likes his privacy...

Have you ever noticed that when you give a little tot a new toy still in its box that he seems more interested in the box than the toy? I remember slapping myself in the forehead a few times when trying to get my son interested in this great new toy I'd gotten for him, but all he cared about was how many things he could do with the great big box it came in. Mind you, that was 5-6 years ago. Since that time, he's learned to appreciate the fun-filled object inside the box.

With our kitchen remodel done, I've been busy unpacking boxes and putting things where they belong in the kitchen. While I've been thus engaged, my son has rediscovered his love of big boxes. One day, after emptying a few, my son took interest in one box in particular and asked if he could have it for his reading box. I told him I didn't mind, but that he might not be able to see to read very well in there. That was no deterrent, of course. He'd just move the box under a lamp.

When Alfred came home and saw his son's cool new hideout, he made it official and wrote on it, "Alexander's private reading box. Do NOT disturb." Alex was very appreciative of this gesture. Soon after, he decided he could use this box to do some writing, too. So he picked up the same marker his daddy used and wrote on another side, "Alex's privet wrighting box. Do not disterb!!!" After Alfred and I had stuck our noses in there a few times to see what he was up to, he got a little annoyed and wrote on another side, "Alexander's secret box. With an eye." And then he drew a big eye on it so that there would be no doubt in our minds that he was watching us when we were snooping on him. It still makes me laugh to think that he actually believes this would stop us. Plus it's just too cute.

I'll be so sad when he stops taking interest in things like this...

Ta da!!!

Except for a little bit of moulding and threshold work, we are finally DONE with out kitchen remodel!!! Yippee!

I can't tell you what a relief it is to finally have running water in there. The things we take for granted! And I just love all the new stuff. The floor is so much easier to clean, the cabinets are so much more functional than our old ones, the built-in dishwasher is so much easier to handle than the portable one, and the counter top is gorgeous! It's nice to finally have a stainless steel sink, too. See pictures below!

Now that this is behind us, I can start putting my house back together. With my due date only six weeks away, I'm getting a little nervous that we're nowhere near ready for this little guy!

It's finally here!!!

Spring has finally sprung! We had our first day of decent spring weather yesterday, so we kicked Alex out of the house to play outside for the day. He and his friend Clara had fun decorating our backyard for spring. Enjoy!

Kitchen Remodel

We're currently in the process of remodeling our kitchen. I guess my mother got sick of me whining about my awful floor, the malfunctioning portable dishwasher, and the difficulty of accessing things in my cabinets. Anyway, she insisted on paying for me to get it done before the baby is born. So for the last few weeks, we've been living in a major mess, but we're starting to like the results.

Before we started the remodel, we had parquet flooring in there. It was icky bad to have that kind of floor in the kitchen. Don't get me wrong: I like parquet. It's just not good to have a wood floor of any kind in a room that frequently has wet messes. It was beautiful when we first moved in, but after a few moppings (with the proper wood floor cleaner), dishwasher leaks, food spills, and five winters of tracking in salt from the outside, it was warped, discolored, and downright scary. So we decided to take it up entirely and put down ceramic tile instead.






We went to Ikea for our cabinets. We love how functional they are. We could never find anything in our old cabinets because in order to get to some things we had to remove all the contents (which took forever). The new base cabinets have a whole lot of pull-out storage, and we mounted the wall cabinets lower than the old ones were, so now I can reach most of the contents without having to risk my life by climbing onto the counter top.





Alas, our sink is back-ordered, and we can't get our new counter-top until it arrives because the contractor needs the interior sink dimensions first. We can't get our new dishwasher installed either until we get the plumbing for our sink done. So for the moment, we are without running water in the kitchen. It's been a bit of a pain, but hopefully it will all be over soon.

They need our prayers

For those of you who don't know, my nephew Matt and his wife Randi were expecting their first baby this June. She was born yesterday, 12 weeks premature, after possibly having a stroke in utero. She was named Kayla Grace and passed away early this morning.

This is a very hard time for everyone in the family. Prayers for Matt and Randi would be greatly appreciated.

Winter Fun (Or not so much fun...)

Here are some pictures we recently took of Alex sledding and of our house after the snow storm blew through this week. We're really sick of winter here. Time for spring, yes?

Finally on board...

So I decided that our old website was just a little too difficult to keep up-to-date, and I'm hoping that blogging will be a little bit easier. With our little family expanding, it's about time we came up with a better way to keep our friends and family informed. So welcome to our new blog!

Things are going pretty well for us lately, even though we're currently living in an ice box. As cold as it's been here, though, it could definitely be worse. *Shivers at the thought of Minnesota and Mongolia*

Alfred finished with the postal project he was doing for ESS back in September, and since then, he's been able to spend more time at home. It's been great having him around more. Things will pick back up in Spring, though, so we're relishing every moment.

Alex is definitely growing before our eyes. And he's such a little smarty. He's managed to stay on the honor roll at school all year thus far. He's learning to play the piano and also taking swim classes a couple days a week. This Spring he'll be starting soccer, and he can't wait. So he is busy, busy.

I (Michelle) am trying to take it easy in my last trimester. The newest Harbich (Andrew Benjamin) is due to be born May 20, and he's already having fun trying to keep me up at night. But we've wanted this for so long that I can't help but be happy, even at 3 AM, when he's kicking me in sensitive spots and making me jump. Other than that, I'm still working with the Young Women at church and having fun with it. They're a great bunch of girls.

More updates will come shortly. There's plenty going on in the next few months, so I'll be sure to let you all know when there are updates to the blog. Thanks for checking in!