Visit with Laura and Kids

We were glad to visit with Laura and her kids. Laura and I were both in need of a break from being cooped up in the house. Paul had fun running around. He laid down for a rest on Aidan. Paul was funny when one of the other kids was in his car. He didn't know what to think. He now has to begin to learn about sharing.

New Car

Paul had so much fun with the car games at Jumper's Junction, Dada went and bought him his own car. He likes it a lot!

Alivia's Party

Alivia Andria's 2 year old birthday party was at Jumper's Junction. Paul is still a little young for all the action, but he did have fun playing a few of the games, especially the punch-the-duck game and car games with Dada.

Visit to Speer Cousins

Friday night we visited Kate, Matt and Brian. Paul had so much fun playing, especially sliding on the big slide and sweeping with Kate's broom. He had a lot to learn from cousin Brian. All the way home Paul said, "Kate."

Visit with NiNi

We had a nice visit with "NiNi." Paul said, "Bye, bye NiNi," and looked out the window for days.

Outside, Finally!

Last Friday we finally got outside to play for a long time. It was sunny and comparatively warm. Paul had fun throwing snowballs and walking around. Too bad the only boots I have for him are 3 sizes big! He did just fine, though.

Developmental Update

Paul has been quite crabby and whiny for the last couple weeks, I'm not sure if it's cabin fever or what. However, at the same time he has made great strides with his language skills. As of his 15 month appointment (15.5 months) Paul can say 20 words that he attaches meaning to. At 15 months, he only said 5, so that is a huge increase. He can make 30 signs and lots of animal sounds. One of his words is "hat." He loves to put Dada's hats on. He also likes to pick up laundry out of the basket, put it on his head, and say, "hat."

At his 15 month appointment, he was 22.5 lbs and 31.5 ". The doctor said he is growing well.

Paul is really interested in my steam mop now. He walks up to it saying, "mom" and makes the "woosh" sound. If I say "Go put water in the mop," he will take the little water thing and pretend he is putting it in the mop.

Visit with Keli and Clay

We had a very nice visit with Keli and Clay last Friday night. It was a great break from being snowed in. We had all been quite crabby from cabin fever, and it was nice to have Keli entertain Paul and Cana for a while.

Collapsed Shed

Tuesday night, the shed collapsed. The first bay came completely down onto our construction debris. The second came down onto Shawn's truck. The third came down but rested atop the hay wagon. The other three bays were fine. It was a miracle no damage was done to the tractors. The hay wagon protected the big tractor from getting smashed. Thanks to George for cleaning off the remaining roof to keep it from coming down on the tractors.

Paul's Valentine

Paul liked his Valentine from Alivia Andria. We can't wait to go to her 2nd birthday party next week.

Blizzard of 2010

The blizzard of 2010 was quite an adventure for the Speer family. We pleasantly watched the fat snowflakes fall on Friday and all was well until nighttime. Shawn woke me up around midnight with a frantic plea that we move the whole family downstairs into the living room.

The heavy snow was snapping branches off the trees outside all around so he was afraid something might collapse on the roof. Fortunately nothing did, but it continues to be a concern if we get 6 more inches of snow later in the week.

We got about 20ish inches of snow as far as I could tell.

We woke up and I carried Paul on my back and went out to take the first round of pictures (those on the cloudy day). I was so thankful that we had electricity and cable. Until about 10:30 am that is. Then the electricity went out. We called the power company and they said it might not be back on until Friday (6 days!) We decided that we'd hang out in the house until it got close to dark then we'd stay with my uncle up the hill who still had electricity. Uncle Greg was kind enough to put us up for the night and feed us. We enjoyed hanging out with him and his family. It was nice to get to know Michael's girlfriend, who walked there from over on Lagonda road.

Saturday we decided we were going to go out to stay at my mom's. We thought the best roads would be to take 79 to 22. 79 in Washington Co was completely fine. We got just past Bridgeville in Allegheny Co and it was horrible. Completely coated in ice and terrifying. We turned around and came home. Shawn talked to Uncle Greg and they decided to try to get the alternator (tractor generator) working. The picture of Paul bundled up eating oatmeal was after they got it working as it was warming up. It was 42 degrees in the house. The alternator worked great once they got it going. We had power, but we were concerned about whether the tractor would be ok running all night. Thankfully, at 7 pm, the electricity came back on!

Today, Shawn slept in and took the day off. He helped George knock snow off the shed roof because the shed looks like it might collapse under the weight. Paul and I took another walk in the snow (the sunny pictures). You can see Paul in his pack on my back in the shadow in one of the pictures.

Now, we are very thankful to be safe and warm and hoping that the next storm (to come tomorrow) will not be bad. They are calling for 6-10".