New A/C unit and various other stuff

I don't know how many people post pictures of their new a/c units, but I have to tell you, I am VERY proud of ours!! Our a/c went out two Sundays ago...the day Shawn left for a business trip... for a week. We called someone that morning but unfortunately they weren't able to come until that evening. The news wasn't good. The next morning the same company sent someone over to discuss our options, prices, etc. My wonderful father-in-law (Tom, aka Opa) did some searching online for other companies to get comparisons. The company that came out originally turned out to have some bad reports on http://www.bbb.org/ as well as the website Tom found with customer reviews...it wasn't good. Luckily I had two other companies lined up to come out and look so I waited for them. We ended up going with Metro Express (http://www.mes-ac.com/), thanks to Tom. He found them online and they had great reviews and a good record with the BBB. Plus, two other companies were telling me they wouldn't be able to replace the a/c for another week at least, and MES was able to do it Wednesday. Hagen and I slept on the floor in the living room for 3 nights with a fan blowing on us and it actually was fairly comfortable. We just stayed out of the house as much as possible in the evenings after work and school until it was time to come home and get ready for bed.

In case you're wondering (I know you are!) the new unit is a Trane and it's a 3.5 ton, 14-seer with Puron. I'm posting pictures of it because it really made me laugh when I actually saw it - it's HUGE! Anyway, we're cool again and I will NEVER EVER take a/c for granted again.




See, here's a picture of it in comparison to the neighbors'. Our a/c unit could totally beat up their a/c unit.

These are pictures from Hagen's two-year checkup with Dr. Dan. The nurse gave him two toungue depressors so he could use the trash can as a drum. His checkup was great - he was 26.8 pounds (approximately - he wouldn't stay on the scale) and 34 inches tall. Dr. Dan was really impressed with his speech development (he says 4-5 word sentences) and other things he's learned. See - it's not just that I THINK my son is brilliant, he really IS, per the doctor. Haha. Okay, he didn't say "brilliant", but he did say "advanced". Anyway, I'm super-proud of Hagen (in case you couldn't tell).

One night Hagen was playing with my Harry Potter bracelets (he likes to put them on) and he decided to put them on Mocha. She actually put up with it for quite awhile.

For a few days there were two little birds that would perch on Hagen's windowsill for long periods of time. They've been gone for a few days now but it was neat while it lasted - Hagen thought it was really cool.

And, last but not least, a picture of the new secretary desk at the end of the hall. I've been wanting a little desk there since shortly after we moved in 5 years ago and I finally found this perfect desk. It's got more storage space than a traditional secretary and, well, it's just cute. :-)

Birthday party and Arkansas

We celebrated Hagen's second birthday on Saturday, May 24th. We had friends and family over for a party and it was a blast! Hagen got a lot of really neat gifts and I think all the kids had fun. Mom (Grandmommie) made the football cake. Shawn bought Hagen a Penn State jersey with the number 2 on it to wear for his party but it lasted about 15 minutes because we think it was probably itchy. We had it on at first with a shirt underneath and I said that would be too hot, but when I took the shirt underneath off and the jersey back on, the jersey didn't stay on long. Oh, well.












Hagen and his buddies enjoying lollipops (Hagen still says "lollilops" - it's my favorite word).

The next day we went to Arkansas with Shawn's dad and stepmom. The drive was about 9 hours total with stops and Hagen did REALLY well - I was very proud of him. We went to Fairfield Bay. Our condo was right next to the pool so that was really convenient. We had a fabulous view - we were on the third floor (the top) and it really was beautiful. I loved the huge, tall trees. Hagen liked seeing all the birds. The first three pictures were taken from the balcony.

We went on a really cool nature hike with lots of caves. Hagen was asleep in the car when we got there and he was zonked for about half the hike. Opa and Daddy switched off carrying him. When he woke up we were at a little cave that he went to explore with Opa.

Here's a log cabin that was at the start of the nature trail (Hagen's checking it out with Oma), and some pretty landscaping. This was all on the country club grounds.

One of the many evenings spent coloring on the coffee table, and some random touristy pictures.

We spent lots of time at the pool. Hagen LOVES the water and he did really well by himself (well, supported by arm floaties and an inner tube) in the big pool. There was a little splash pool for kids but we spent more time in the big pool.

His first skinned knees. We were going to a little park that also had a miniature golf course and he was running on the sidewalk to get to the park and tripped. At first I didn't understand why he was crying so hard - I thought he just slapped his hands on the ground when he fell but they weren't bleeding, then I looked down and saw his knees. Poor pumpkin!!

Opa and Oma bought Hagen a lion that roars when you press him. I asked Hagen what he wanted to name his lion and he said "Tiger". So we call him Tiger the Lion.

We ate a LOT of ice cream on the trip...this was after dinner one night when Hagen picked up the bowl and drank the rest of his melted ice cream. He was quite hyper after that...I can't imagine why... ;-)