Office Renovation

On Saturday, Michael held his office renovation open house. The renovation began last fall, and while the office was only closed for six weeks, there have been little projects to complete nearly every weekend (and lots at the end with some all-nighters for Michael). It has been a ton of work but Michael is pleased with it, which is the most important thing.

Here are some before and after pics (they seriously don't do it justice):

The exterior before.

And after (minus the bounce house for the open house).

Clinic area ceiling before.


And after (see the end of post for some in-process pics of the ceiling).

Consultation room before.

And after.

Clinic area again before.


And after.

Brush-up station before.

And after.

Reception area before.


And after.


Michael designed and created this artwork (minus the canvas prints and lettering).


The floss is rope wrapped in green duct tape. The toothpaste tube he made out of chicken wire, wrapped and sewn (by hand!) in vinyl material. The brackets are cake pans with doorknobs screwed into them and plumber's tubing as the wire.

The "curve" is styrofoam that he cut, shaved, and then covered painstakingly in teal glue with a glue gun and then melted down with an embossing gun. I did help a little with some painting, but Michael did 99% of it. Is it not seriously incredible??!!


Check-out desk.


Inspiration wall of patients he's completed. (Note the "motivation" pic in the mirror that is both forward and backward--it shows a mouth with white spots and poor brushing--which you can see from the mirror while you brush your teeth before your appointment :-).)


These are a few of the in-process pics of the ceiling, an idea that Michael got last fall to serve as both 3-D art (representing a canopy of leaves since the logo is a tree) and as sound dampening. Mom and Dad Weiler were a big help with this project when they were in town last fall.

Setting out the boards. (Yes, this project took over our garage--our lives--for months.)

Numbering the grid--there were 13,000 pieces of wood cut at an angle into four different heights, each placed randomly on the boards. We were helped by family and friends, which was a great blessing. Michael started out cutting all the pieces but then wisely found a lumberyard in Dayton to cut them--so so worth it.

Definitely a family effort, but it was worth it and we are grateful it's done! Michael said he doesn't want to do this ever again. :-)

Superbabe weekend

For my friend Joy's birthday, she wanted to go up to Philadelphia to have a girl's weekend. Michael very kindly supported me and watched the kids from Thursday evening until late Saturday evening when I returned home.

Sadly Karisa already had plans to go out of town with her husband, John, but we were able to meet her on the way up. She made us a delicious dinner (complete with homemade Oreo ice cream!) and we had a great time catching up. Then we drove up to Philadelphia, arriving around 11:30pm (wayyyy past my bed time!).

On Friday we went to the temple first thing (so grateful since the D.C. temple is closed for renovations for a few years), had lunch with some of Joy's friends at a yummy place called Buena Onda, went to the Barnes Foundation (a fancy art museum with lots of Renoir, Cezanne, some Picasso, etc.), then went out to eat at a fun restaurant called Continental Midtown, then drove to see Karisa's parents, the Babbels, and finally got back to the hotel around 11pm. Phew!

Saturday I enjoyed some time at the hotel solo while Joy and Chelsey went on a run. I worked out in the gym for a bit (quite self-consciously as a big white pregnant lady!) and then we went to the Reading Terminal Market.



Me and Chels by one of the indoor markets--so much deliciousness! I enjoyed a gyro and a strawberry ice cream shake. I brought some super yummy doughnuts home for the kids (kind of got a bit smushed but were still edible).

Here are Chelsey and Joy on Elfreth Street, the oldest street in America supposedly (I think it's the oldest continuously inhabited street). 

It was a fun drive up and back as well, chatting about children, family, church, and personal interests. I am grateful for good friends who inspire me to be better!

April happenings

Spring has struggled to arrive but is now here, and we celebrated by getting our last (sniff sniff) two trees cut down in our backyard. We had tried so keep several trees when we built the house, but they all were dying or were on their way. Now we need to plant trees to provide some privacy whenever the land behind us is eventually sold.

 It was great entertainment for a while for the boys (and me!) to watch the men work on the trees. Glad Michael isn't in that line of work, risking his life every day climbing trees and cutting them down (see the guy way up at the top).

 A leftover stump.

 While the men were working, I was also working on testing my garden soil. I wanted to check the pH of a spot where I want to plant blueberry bushes (which I will have to amend to make it more acidic and probably plant next year, sadly) as well as my garden soil.

 It was really fun to see! I added fertilizer to the garden because nearly all our levels were deficient/depleted, even though I had put in compost last fall, which surprised me.

Robbie also celebrated his birthday at school since he's a summer birthday and won't be in preschool, so I made cake pops (way too much work), which the kids thought were really cool.

 Robbie even got to be sung to and blew out a candle :-). (Can this count for his actual birthday, too, now?)

 Robbie is such a thoughtful, sweet boy. I loved watching him interact with his teacher, his classmates, and see him happy and enjoying school. I am so thankful for him.

 Robbie really likes doing science experiments and crafts, so I looked up an idea for a fun lemon volcano--it worked really well! (You cut out the top of the lemon and pour in baking soda, food coloring, more lemon juice, and dish soap to really make it bubble.)

Cutie Clara had to make an "edible cell" for science class with Mr. Good. Here is her animal cell, complete with nucleus, ribosomes, lysosomes, mitochondria, ER, and cytoplasm (nice photobomb, Robbie).

Michael continues to work hard on finishing the office renovation for his open house in May (we'll be glad when that's over!) and had to hire another employee for his front office because Gabby had her baby and decided to stay home with the baby--good for her, bad for us! The new employee, Gigi, is doing well, but Michael is also having to go in early every morning to help train her. Never a dull moment.

I am now 28 weeks and am feeling very large but grateful to not be nauseated anymore. It is fun feeling the baby kick. Henry often puts his hand on my tummy or points to it and asks, "Is that your baby?" and will make sure that we pray "and please bless the baby in Mommy's tummy" if I forget. Robbie has been able to feel the baby several times, which he has really enjoyed. He is cute--he'll come out of preschool and kiss my tummy. He also likes to rub it and say in a funny voice, "I like your big bell-eh (belly)."

Spring Break and Easter

Our Spring Break wasn't too exciting this year--Robbie had gotten sick the week before, then Henry, and then me, with a yucky cold. The weather was also quite chilly for most of the week, but on Thursday it warmed up and we were able to go to Wildwood Park with our friends, the Petersons.

 Clara didn't want to come, but she did a good job of playing and enjoying the outdoors.

 Robbie asked a couple of times if he could get in--I was grateful that the boys resisted the impulse to step out too far (I might have gotten onto them, ahem, a few times) and didn't get their shoes soaked.

On Friday, Michael had off of work and so that afternoon we drove up to Luray to visit the Luray Caverns, which are a famous landmark here but we hadn't seen yet.

 They really were quite stunning. Amazing what nature can do over millions of years!

 Posed amazed faces.

 Henry was done after about twenty minutes and kept saying, "I want to go upstairs!" We made it (the tour was only an hour) and then went to the Gathering Grounds in Luray for dinner. The kids did well while waiting--we played the alphabet picnic game and "what's missing?" before we got our food. Their desserts are so so good.

The next day was "Bunny Saturday." We went to a fun egg hunt at the Richardson family's home (in the 2nd ward) and then got to come home to another egg hunt. Since they'd already gotten some candy that morning, I actually didn't use all the candy I had purchased (it will still be good next year, right?!).

 The obligatory start picture.

 How did those robins lay a golden bunny?

 Henry was eager to find this bunny . . .

 . . . and proceeded to unwrap and eat it right there.

 And then after the egg hunt was the first session of General Conference! We were excited to hear who the new apostles would be--here were our predictions :-). Michael had just heard Elder Soares bear powerful testimony when he and Elder Renlund came to Richmond a few weeks ago, so he was particularly touched by his call to the apostleship.

And of course, our usual treats for various words to listen for. I was very touched as we felt the Spirit confirm the reality of President Nelson as a living prophet during the solemn assembly. And of course, it was a lot easier to pay attention and feel the Spirit when Henry was taking his nap . . . And to hear that a temple will be built in Richmond! So exciting! It might not be much closer for us, but it's wonderful that the Saints in Virginia will have their own temple.

 On Easter morning, the boys were both up around 6:30am, so we went ahead and dyed eggs before anyone else was up and enjoyed some pear bunnies. (In case you're wondering, Henry has a piece of Peep on his cheek.) We enjoyed watching General Conference again, although the last session on Sunday was pretty crazy, but we made it through. We had a part-member family over for dinner (they are from China) and enjoyed talking about different foods, traditions, etc. with them.

Snow and other fun

Well, despite it being the first day of spring this week, apparently Old Man Winter didn't want to go out without a bang. We have hardly gotten any snow this season, and then in the last two weeks it has snowed twice. It has been fun, though, to get a good snow in and make use of those snow clothes before they're outgrown.

When it snowed last week, Henry and I enjoyed some time out in the snow while Michael took Robbie up to Massanutten for another ski lesson. Henry was so happy just puttering around in the snow while I cleared the driveway (it wasn't deep), and then he had fun "jumping" on the trampoline. His smile is just the BEST.

 The kids love it when Michael gives piggyback rides. Thank goodness Michael is strong--Clara is getting so big!

 Running so fast.

After the first snow, we enjoyed a day in the 60s. Robbie had the idea of taking the picnic blanket outside on the back lawn and reading our new library books. I thought it was a great idea, and it was so nice to get a taste of spring.

Sadly, the warmth didn't last long, and this past week we got a deeper (about 6 inches?) snow. We took the kids to A Dream Come True park to go sledding with our neighbors, the Zopps. Kate is due seven weeks before me with a boy as well.

Trudging up the hill.

 Poor Henry got snow all in his hat and glasses when he came down the hill. It was funny and sad at the same time. The snow was pretty powdery, so the boys didn't love the sledding for too long, but I think they'll enjoy sledding more as they get older.

The snowman that Michael and the boys made just makes me happy.

I put the spring wreath up on the front door in the hopes to entice spring to come. We are ready.

And it's a . . .

BOY!

We had our anatomy ultrasound last Friday. I had really mixed feelings going into the ultrasound (pros and cons to either gender; just glad it wasn't up to me to decide!), so it was great being able to know and start mentally planning.

 It's amazing at just the length of a banana and only a pound in weight that we could already see the that he has Michael's nose, haha!

I told the kids I would be making cupcakes and that they could open them up to find out whether it's a boy or a girl.

Getting ready . . .

 Surprise!

Clara was not happy, poor kid. I tried to remind her in advance that I had no control over the result. Fortunately, she seems pretty resigned to her fate now, although I have heard her say a few times since Friday, "I hate brothers!" She is so sweet with babies, though, and I know she will love this guy (no name yet) just as much.