Stuck at home...

My plan was not to use our blog to whine but sometimes you just need to get things out...
So about 2 weeks ago our car (which we park on the street) was hit in the middle of the night and was totaled. The person that hit us drove off so we don't know who did it and because it was an old car we only had liability insurance and so it was not covered. Matt tried getting some parts from the junk yard to fix it but now it looks like the whole car is going to the junk yard. So we've been looking for a new (to us) car.

I'll be honest, I haven't been handling this situation very well. My patience is being stretched. Being stuck in the house for almost 2 weeks and not being able to go anywhere has been extremely hard! Matt has been trying to carpool but that only happened one day last week. (however, I was very thankful for that day) If it were summer, Lily and I would go and walk around the neighborhood and visit friends and I could live without a car but when it's 18 degrees outside, I'm just not sure it's very responsible of me to take my 6 month old for a walk. So needless to say, I'm a little stir crazy. But my hubby is taking me out on a date tonight and that brightens my day immensely!

Oh btw we just bought a car last night however there are a few things that need fixing so it will probably be another week and a half before we have it. Please pray I don't go absolutely nuts.

Books,books, and more books!

So I devour books. I'm not sure how else to put it. When I pick up a book and it catches my attention, I have to finish it immediately. I'm sure it has a lot to do with my personality. I have trouble being patient and when I find a great book I MUST know how it ends. (Luckily, I have a very patient husband!) So about a month ago I started reading the Diamond of the Rockies series by Kristen Heitzmann. My mother-in-law has them and brought them to me to read. I'll be honest, I was pretty skeptical about reading them being that is was Christian fiction. I'm not sure why I was skeptical. I guess I thought they might be too cheesy. Boy was I wrong. I absolutely LOVED it! So I immediately started looking into what other books she'd written and found another series call the Rocky Mountain Legacy. Well I got online and bought the series right away and just finished the 5 books this past week. I cannot say enough wonderful things about these books. I don't think I've laughed or cried as much with any other books I've read.

Both of these series are historical christian fiction novels and love stories. (I just can't resist a good love story!) They are both set out in Colorado in a time when people were mining for gold, seeking out land for homesteads, and their main mode of transportation was horses. Maybe that's why I loved them so much. I've always loved westerns and cowboys. If I ever had a chance to go back in time this is the time I'd want to see. Life was hard but at the same time simple. I guess my love for the west started with my dad. He, to this day, only wears flannel shirts, blue jeans, and cowboy boots. In fact, I remember asking him as a little girl why he didn't wear tennis shoes and his reply was, "Cowboys don't wear tennis shoes. They only wear boots." I guess that stuck with me.

So anyway, these are amazing books in my opinion. As a Christian woman, a wife, and a mother I really connected with the main character in both series. I highly recommend reading them if you get the chance. They have both moved up to my all time favorite books. Here again is the series. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Author: Kristen Heitzmann

Rocky Mountain Legacy:
Book 1: Honor's Pledge
Book 2: Honor's Price
Book 3: Honor's Quest
Book 4: Honor's Disguise
Book 5: Honor's Reward

Diamond of the Rockies:
Book 1: The Rose Legacy
Book 2: Sweet Boundless
Book 3: The Tender Vine

Water proofing basement part 1 - DONE!

Well this weekend was the big basement project. We jack-hammered concrete from around the perimeter of the basement and hauled it out to be recycled. Mitch, Donna, Danielle, and Justin all came to join us in the "fun". We were SOOOOOO thankful for their help. Matt would probably still be jack-hammering if they had not been here. We feel so blessed to have family that gives so generously with their time. So with a lot of sweat but luckily no blood or tears we finished it - definitely some sore muscle though. This Thursday Woods Basement Systems comes and finishes the job by installing the water guard gutter system and pouring concrete back over the trench. We are so happy to not have to worry so much about the basement every time we leave and we can finally put a nice family room down there- although that's probably a project for 2011 or 2012.

Mitch did a LOT of the jack-hammering. Luckily he allows me to pay him in chocolate candy!


My sweetie - getting after it with the sledge hammer!

Everyone had a job - Mitch was jack hammering, Matt was busting it up with the sledge hammer, Justin was prying it out, and Danie was sucking up the dust with the shop vac. (Oh! and I was diligently taking pictures of the whole process :)


Do you have tickets??? TO THE GUN SHOW!! (in reference to Justin's huge muscles) Those buckets were HEAVY! I carried a few of them myself although mine weren't quite as full.

Feel the pain!

So some of my goals for 2010 include eating healthier and working out. So far I think I've been doing pretty well. I started at a new gym this week and I'm REALLY loving it. They have a daycare that I can take Lily to while I'm working out. I cannot tell you how wonderful that's been and I've only been going for 2 days! Here in Illinois the high temperatures have been in the teens and Lily and I have been stuck indoors most days. So I'm actually really motivated to go to the gym because it means I get out of the house and hang out with some adults for a while. I took a step class today with my friend Steph and is was awesome! Awesome meaning - it totally kicked my butt and I thought I was going to die at the end. It did feel really good though. So I'm praying for discipline and motivation as the next few months go by. Hopefully, they'll go by quick - winter is so long and cold in Illinois, blah!

The BASEMENT...

So Matt and I are constantly doing house projects. In fact we probably have about 3 to 4 projects going on at any one time. We love starting them but finishing them is a different story. We've been fighting with our basement since we moved in. We were told that the basement had a small "seeping" problem but was mostly dry. Well that may have been true for the previous owners but that wasn't true for us. One side of the basement was finished with carpet but that got wet and we had to pull everything up in that room. Luckily I worked for a water restoration company during that time and so I got lots of help. But this past spring was the last straw, we got home one night from going out to eat and it was pouring down rain. We were having a serious storm. I told Matt that we really needed to watch the basement because we were getting tons of rain and sure enough the basement started to flood. A few different things were happening at once. Water was coming up through our floors and corners of the walls as well as the storm drain was backing up because the streets were flooded. So Matt got his shop vac and I sucked water while Matt emptied it into the sump pump. He has a 10 gallon shop vac and we probably dumped it 7 or 8 times. (And let me just mention that I was 7 almost 8 months pregnant at this time as well.) So after that we decided that we have to do something about this problem. We can't push it off any longer. So this last week we have been prepping the basement for the "water guard system". Basically it is a drain/gutter system that goes into the floor of your basement and directs the water to the sump pump and then out of the house. Which is exactly our problem. We have a sump pump but the water wasn't getting to it so it was coming through in other places. Well you can't buy the water guard it is patented by Basement Systems so they have to put it in. However, it's about 3 times more expensive if you have them do all the labor. So guess what? We are doing it ourselves! Yep, we (well maybe not me but Matt) will be getting jack hammers and busting up the basement floor around the walls so the water guard can be installed. Oh and we'll be carrying out all the concrete from the basement out as well (this I'm probably going to have to help with). Doesn't this sound like so much fun!? Well fun, maybe not, but definitely saves us a substantial amount of cash. So in 2 weeks all the Dobsch family - Mitch, Donna, Danielle, Matt, Lacey, and mostly likely Justin and Shannon will be busting concrete. Let me know if feel the desire to come and use a jack hammer! Here are some before pictures of the basement. I'll post the after pictures once it is done.

Lily's first Christmas

We had a wonderful time over the holiday getting to spend time with family that we don't get to see often enough. Lily's first Christmas was amazing and we feel so blessed to have such a generous family. Matt managed to fit almost everything in the car but we had to leave a few things behind to be brought back to IL at a different time. Matt complained that we had too much stuff but secretly I think he likes the challenge of figuring out how every thing is going to fit into the trunk of our car. Here's some pictures:



I made Christmas shirts for the three of us to wear to our ugly Christmas sweater party we were having at our house. However, I don't think they were actually that ugly - maybe just obnoxious

Lily's gifts were as tall as her!

It really didn't take her long to figure out how this works.

Teeth!

Where has the time gone! I can't believe my little girl already has 2 teeth! She got her first in Nov. and the second just popped up end of Dec.

Food!

Lily has started eating rice cereal. It's been an interesting process which usually ends up with her getting mad at the end because it isn't fast enough for her but we're working on it. And trying not to become completely covered in it by the time we are done.

Here we go!

With a lot of our family and friends so far away, we decided to do a blog so you can see what's happening in the Dobsch family. I had hoped to start one when Lily was born but that proved harder than I thought so 5 1/2 months later I'm finally getting around to starting one. We've definitely had our hands full after Lily's birth and she is getting more and more fun every day. We are really enjoying being parents! Here's some pictures from the last few month just in case you haven't seen them!

July 20, 2009 - Lily was born! 9lbs 1 oz, 21 inches long. She was big girl!

First family of three picture! (Don't laugh - that's what you look like after 20 hrs of labor)

First bath! She absolutely loved it.

Lily and mommy enjoy some tummy time together!

Daddy feeding Lily.

The first few months were rough but we made it through!

Our beauty in her 3rd month. Starting to get a personality.

Halloween 2009. Outfit from Grandma Dobsch.