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. :-)