Wells, Wails and Wills

Last Monday was an interesting day for us. There was a pretty heavy snowfall that day and we were enjoying finally getting something worthwhile. I was working on laundry and found my washer humming but doing nothing. I had to advance the knob until things started going again and was thinking that the washer was really on it's last cycle. (It came with our first house. I think it's about 15 years old now.) When I tried to start the next load, it wouldn't even turn on! So much for giving me warning. Then I got a tickle in the back of my brain (ever get one of those?) and decided to see if we had water in the house. Two faucets later confirmed that the washer was probably ok, but we were in trouble!

We have a private well and don't have any experience with that type of thing. Worse than not having water was that I couldn't call up the city for help. So I called Chad. Chad called a pump guy that his partner knows from church. A very friendly Grandpa came out to help us. I'm guessing he's in his late 70's. His truck tires are bald and he slid past our house when he first arrived. He eventually determined that the pump was fine (thank goodness) which would save us about $1000. The problem seemed to be the electrical cable from the house to the pump had gone bad somewhere under ground. Grandpa didn't have any cable on his truck so he was gone for about an hour to get more. While he's on his errand (and I was hoping that he didn't slide off the road somewhere out there with his bald tires in our big day of snow), Chad is digging holes in the frozen ground. Parts of the cable are waiting until spring to be buried. I had mud all over my house! Over $300 and 5 hours later, we had water again.

I was just dying during all of this thinking of the three 55-gallon water drums that Chad had to empty at the old house to move them over. What a waste! And now I'm mildly panicked that the power will go out and the well pump won't work. There's got to be a way to break into the line to hook up a generator if needed. (The folks in the mid-west are now past a week with no power since their ice storms.)

So the washer didn't need to be replaced, but for that price, we could have started shopping for a new one.

In another topic (do you like my segue?), Joseph has been rather cranky. And he's always hungry. ALWAYS. He settles down best for me, but sometimes that hasn't been enough. He's usually willing to eat, but I don't always have enough to satisfy his hunger. Then I started thinking about it last night. I don't think I've been producing as much milk this time. I seldom feel the "let down" and never get uncomfortable from too much milk. I know that I'm supposed to let him nurse even if it doesn't seem there's anything there because the supply will increase with demand. I'm not sure that will be enough. And he's too frustrated to suck at an empty fountain.

So last night I made him his first bottle of formula. He was having a hard time getting used the nipple and was sucking like he was nursing instead of using a bottle. But he took over 2 ounces and was fast asleep. Was this the first time in days or weeks that he's been full? How sad to think he's been so cranky because he's been hungry. He surely wasn't starving, because we're not saving any money on diapers. He did sleep for 4 1/2 hours after that. YAHOO!!! I didn't sleep that whole time (thanks, Rebekah), but it was still really nice. I nursed him this morning (I was halfway full) and then had to give him the remaining bottle this morning before he stopped wailing. Now he's asleep in the swing (hence the reason you're even reading a blog post from me!).

Since we're in baby mode around here, I was talking to a friend about babies and we were mentioning how good of a baby Rebekah was. And she really was a great baby! (Especially compared to my friend's youngest!) And now that great baby has grown into a very willful child. It doesn't bother her to get in trouble and she wants NO help from anyone. I nearly lost my mind watching her get dressed this morning. If I was struggling that much, I would beg for help! But every time I offered to help her, she firmly turned me down. I'm sure this determination will serve her well if she keeps it. It may be the undoing of her mother. As for her sister, she's not so much willful as she is full of attitude. I really don't stand a chance!

The kids had their TaVaci Christmas Concert on Saturday. Daniel and Leah did VERY well! I'm sure Leah was the youngest one on stage, but she seemed to know (mostly) the words and actions. Daniel was full of energy and I even picked out his voice a few times. We were so proud of them! I have some videos/pictures of that as well as visiting Santa at the grocery store (wait until you see his Pepsi throne) that I will put up soon. We're all so excited that Christmas is only a week away! Chad is more panicked than excited since he still has a bit of shopping to do. That is his traditional way of handling the holiday! :)