Black Mold Attacks Again!

Due to Grace’s severe dust allergies we finally had someone come to clean the air ducts in the house. I had them cleaned the day after we bought the house because the previous owner had a dog. At the time though, our HVAC unit was basically new. So I figured it was a good idea to get it all cleaned again since we had done a lot of dusty construction projects since we bought the house. We have a service contract with BGE Home but they wanted to charge $350 for full house and only 10 vents. So I scanned through a dozen flyers for duct cleaning companies and this one seemed to have the most honest advertising ($245 for full house and 15 vents). So when the guy arrived I took him to the basement to check out the main unit.

We have a whole house humidifier that we’ve never used and I thought I might want to try it out. He said no problem and he opened it up. It was COVERED in black mold. I was scared as crap. I asked him if that was because we never used it so the moisture just sat in there. He said he thought it was indicative of a bigger problem. I thought, Crap. So he opens up our main unit and sure enough. Black mold EVERY WHERE. So black mold on the incoming and outgoing. The air coil… covered in black mold. He said I shouldn’t even be running my furnace with that much on there, it’s just blowing spores everywhere. We had the windows replaced upstairs due to a black mold problem. Now I know where that black mold was coming from. Crap crap crap.
Richard popped home from work and the guy showed him all the mold. He said he couldn’t clean the ducts without cleaning the mold first but that mold remediation is expensive. Oh great. I said, well what if it grows back, how long would it take? He said sometimes it’s six months but that our basement is really “moist.” It could be sooner. We had known about our moisture problem in the basement due to plumbing we had done a couple years back and the plumber said we had a lot of pipe condensation and we should get a dehumidifier for the basement. Doh. Hindsight is always 20-20. The duct-cleaning guy said he could install a UV light apparatus that would purify the air and prevent mold from growing (but that cost money too). Anywho, long story short, we couldn’t in all good consciousness leave the mold. So we elected to get everything done: the mold remediation, the duct cleaning, and the UV light purifier system installation.

We may be a large chunk of money in the hole BUT you wouldn’t believe the difference. I cried this morning. Moses slept the whole night without snoring and I didn’t have to use any nose drops (which I usually have to constantly give him). And his eczema is looking better. It’s too much of a coincidence to not be related to getting that crap cleaned out. On the plus side as well is that our upstairs is warm again!
Needless to say, I’m glad we procrastinated on buying Xmas gifts since all our savings is going to financing this… but a healthy house, with healthy kids is the best Christmas gift ever. God, that sounds so sappy. You just wouldn’t believe how guilty Richard and I felt that the kids (and the nanny) have been breathing this crap in every day, ALL DAY long. I’m just glad it’s clean now and we know to keep an eye on it. Now our plan is to work on the moisture producers in the house. Hopefully with a tax return we can pay off this cleaning and afford to buy a dehumidifier for the basement and maybe think about venting the bathrooms and the stove hood to the outside.
On a happier note from yesterday, my bosses gave us their 2-year old pre-lit artificial Xmas tree for free! And I found a nickel on the ground at the gas station! So the day wasn’t a total bust!
Now for that Powerball! ;-)

Introducing Our New Addition...

We are happy to announce our newest family member...

Moses Ogwang Wacha

Born August 1, 2012 at 5:01 p.m.

(via scheduled c-section at 37 weeks)

8 lbs. 3 oz. and 20 inches long

Mommy and baby Mo

Big sisters! Gracie (holding Moses) and Francie.

Proud papa with his hands full!

Our stay in the hospital was relatively "normal" this time around. It is nice to have baby in-room instead of in the NICU, that's for sure! He came home with mommy and we're all tired, but happy.

Happy 2 Years Old!

Happy 2 Years Old (yesterday) to my "baby" girls. My how time has flown by. What will the next year have in store (especially with a new baby brother on the way in a couple weeks!)?

We're Having A...

BOY! We're excited to add a boy into the mix and hope his big sisters will be equally as excited once he arrives. Everything looks great for the little guy so far. Had my OB check-up and, assuming I don't have any complications, we'll try and schedule the c-section for 37 weeks (August 1st-ish). Yay!

Mild Winter!

Grace (left) and Frances (right)

Gracie

Francie

And Baby Makes 5!

5 people in our family, that is.

Well, we're expecting again! I've had two ultrasounds -- no mistaking -- it's just ONE baby this time. The 40 week due date is August 22. Due to my prior fibroid surgery and previous c-section I'm considered "high risk" again and will deliver between 36 and 37 weeks. That puts my delivery between July 25 and August 1.

This will be our last pregnancy, not only because I'm sooo done being preggers, but it's also doctor's orders given my previous surgeries and coming c-section.

We're more excited now that the news is out. We will find out the sex at the end of March. We're thinking it's a girl. Just a feeling...

A Year and a Half!

Belated post on the girls turning a year and a half old on January 18. They had their 18 month check up at that time and are doing fine.

Grace’s stats:
25 pounds 10 ounces (70th percentile)
32 ½ inches tall (75th percentile)
48.5 cm head circumference (90th percentile! Hahaha)

Frances’ stats:
26 pounds 4 ounces (75th percentile)
32 ½ inches tall (75th percentile)
47.5 cm head circumference (80th percentile hehehe)

We had noticed a hard spot on Frances' heal awhile back (probably August). But thought it was a callous or something. And subsequently forgot to ask about it at the 15 month checkup, so I remembered to ask at this one. The pediatrician thought it might be a wart! Poor Frances. Too much playing at the playground and library without shoes or socks on this summer. Lesson learned. So anyway, Richard took her to the dermatologist who confirmed the diagnosis and said the treatments available are too painful. So either we subject her to crazy pain or she rides out the wart pain until it disappears on its own (whenever that is). In the meantime she had been limping from an injury to her other foot. Turns out it was a sprain. But we're better from that now.

The dermatologist also prescribed a steriod cream for the girls' eczema. The hydrocortisone just wasn't cutting it. We had some horrible horrible eczema in the diaper area that resulted in numerous "horror" scenes of us finding blood on crib railings and sheets from the girls (especially Frances) just itching and itching. Poor babies and poor, helpless mommy and daddy too! But this cream has been AMAZING. So happy now :-) And we don't have to use it everyday. Whew!

The girls are changing so much. The pediatrician said the language explosion occurs between 18 and 24 months and man-o-man it's like a light switch turned on. A lot of the change is verbal, they can say more things. A lot is cognitive; they understand so much and can point out so many items when you ask where x, y, z is. Grace is so crazy good at that. Frances loves counting. Albeit, not in order. She has favorite numbers to say: 2, 4 and 8. Funny girl.

They also are playing with each other so much more now. It is so amusing. They like our Michael Jackson CD and love to hold hands and dance to the music. So cute. I know, need videos - but they stop everytime we bring the camera out!

Frances likes the song "Bad." She sings along, "I'm bad, I'm bad..." It's so funny. You can ask her, "Frances, are you bad?" And she says, "I'm bad." Hahaha. So cute.

We are also getting practice at "timeout." Trying to ween them out of the whole "the world revolves around me" phase. It's hard, but so far timeout is working - we'll see how long that lasts! Ha.

We put them on the scale last night and they both weighed 27 lbs. 2 oz. Chunky monkeys!

A Thing Or Two About Twins - National Geographic Magazine

Interesting National Geographic Magazine article several people have recommended to me, "A Thing or Two About Twins"

Teaser: "Twins could reveal how genes and the environment interact to make us who we are."

There are a couple links to photo galleries of twins on the left side of the article.

Sisterly Love? And Cousins Galore!

So I was playing in the hallway with the girls yesterday. They were having a grand old time, laughing and giggling. Grace was laughing extra hard - ya know, head thrown back and everything - and she lost her balance and went face first into the door trim, subsequently bounced off, and fell on the floor. Hard. It looked painful. So I wasn't surprised when she started crying. She wrapped her arms around my legs, sobbing, and I rubbed her head saying "Awww. It's okay Gracie. You're okay. I know it hurt. Awww poor baby."

Frances immediately comes up behind Grace and puts her chubby little hand up to the back of Grace's head and starts moving it back and forth over Grace's hair and commences to say "Awww. Awww. Awww." It was the funniest thing. It was all I could do to refrain from laughing - I didn't want Grace to think I was laughing at her misfortune (development note: we have embarrassment issues now).

So after a quick consoling from myself and Frances, Grace was back off running. Then I hear Richard ask, "Annie, what's on Grace's face?" And sure enough she rounds the corner of the kitchen with a big bloody smile. Literally. She got a big ol' busted lip from her ordeal. Poor girl. She's a trooper though.

So who knows if Frances really felt sympathy towards Grace or whether she was just copying mommy? Usually when one falls and cries, the other immediately performs their best fake fall and cry (also very very amusing).

Fun times with the Wacha girls.

And we're excited to hear we have a new baby cousin on the way. My how the family is growing all of a sudden!? Can't wait to meet Baby Songha this summer! Congrats Tiana and Sega!

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays from our family to yours!

Richard and Frances & Ann and Grace