Energy efficient?

So we called the Energy Trust of Oregon to come and give us a free home energy report. Nothing fancy, just let us know if we are missing anything besides insulation (we live in an old house with no or very little insulation).

A very laid back energy guy came over right on time. He was the epitome of an Oregonian. A little crunchy granola, wearing the Columbia Sportswear jacket and hikers. I'm sure in the spring he wears Birkenstocks. Anyway he was so laid back I swore he fell asleep a few times.

He told us we don't have insulation in the walls (surprise!) and we need to insulate our heating ducts. We also don't have any insulation under our floors except for a strip right down the middle of our house. Why? We have no idea. Next year we will be installing radiant floor heating and then insulating the crawl space so our toes will not be frostbitten in the winter.

He gave us a new shower head and faucet thingies that help conserve water. Also about half a dozen shiny new flourescent bulbs. So we scored about $50 of new stuff!

He didn't really tell us anything we didn't know and I thought he would give us more tips but hey it was free. What I found most interesting however was the Engery guy and Brian were leaving the lights on in every room they examined. I had to go and turn them off. Hummm....

Are we crazy?

We bought Marco's brother. So now we have two puppies. It will be a good decision in the long run as we actually want to leave the house without Marco. Marco and Finn are best friends and will keep each other company when we have to go out somewhere. Finn is so loving and loves nothing more than to crawl up into your lap and lick your face. When Graedon cries, he's the first one over with some kisses. We really love Finn and he fits in well. Here is Finn.

In other news, I went for an ultrasound last Thursday because my doctor measured me at 13 weeks when I thought I was only 11.5 weeks. Turns out I am 13 weeks! Yeah, I gained a week. We got to see our little guy (*note we don't know for sure if he/she is a boy/girl but I have a feeling it is a boy*). He is so cute and perfect and I guess I really am pregnant. The morning sickness is starting to go away and I'm feeling a little better. Just started walking, weight lifting and Tae Bo-ing this week and it feels good to workout again. I'm going to ask for a balance ball and a pregnancy pilates dvd for Christmas. Trying to avoid the 50lb weight gain that I have with every pregnancy yeah right. I do lose it all but I sure hate carrying all that weight.

The girls are in our church's Christmas play and I have been busy sewing two angel costumes and one magi dress. They turned out great and the girls love them. I'll get some pics posted later. I really have missed sewing and hope to get back to it soon (oh and I miss the $$ from it too - Mama needs a new van. :)

Grae just woke up from his nap all pink cheeked and adorable so I need to go cover him with kisses.

Here he is....

Everything came together perfectly so we feel confident God meant us to have Marco. The weather was perfect and sunny, the van we rented turned out to be the same type as the one we are going to buy and I didn't feel too sick on the trip!

Our rest stop on the way to Newport was the Lincoln City Beach. Graedon had so much fun at the ocean. He couldn't stop running and chasing the sea gulls. It was hard to get back in the van but the pull of the pup couldn't be overcome.

We made it to the breeders right on schedule and were greeted to about 5 male puppies all trying to get our attention. The first on that came out barked at us for a long time so we knew that wasn't the pup for us. A sweet little puppy came up calmly to greet Graedon and I so we kept our eye on that one. Another little one came to greet an anxious Ellie and treated her to a lick on the face.

The breeders were really nice and obviously cared about their dogs. After about 30 minutes of checking out the puppies we knew that the first puppy that greeted us was ours. He even crawled into Maddie’s lap while his brothers were play fighting with each other. We loaded him up in the crate we brought for him and were on our way.

He HATED the crate and whined for awhile. He then threw up and went to sleep. We only had to make one stretching stop on the way home. Marco was glad to get out of the van just as much as we were.

He sniffed his way around the house, ate all the old food on the floor, went outside to do his business, snuggled in his fleece blanket we bought him and went to sleep. He is the most mellow puppy we have ever seen. He's so gentle with Graedon and lets Grae lay all over him. All Grae gets is a lick.

Whippets are very thin skinned and don't have much fur so I made a fleece backed nylon jacket for him to wear outside. This was my test pattern so it doesn't fit him to well. At least he wasn't shivering while he was out playing with the kids.