Grateful

We have a whole lot to be grateful for during these past two months. We have had a variety to people come to our aid and help get this house up and running before the baby arrived. It's been incredible and this post is our opportunity to give them a major shout out as well as update everyone on the house.

But first, we have to introduce our little man. James Warren Lawler was born on February 19, 2014 at 4:08 p.m. at our midwives' home/office (which was planned). He weighed in at 8 lbs, 6 oz and 21 inches long. He is adorable and we are in love and his big sister absolutely adores him.

Ok, now the shout outs.

As I mentioned on Facebook several weeks ago, the South Buffalo-based Occhino Corp. heard about our story through a mutual farmer veteran. With the impending baby, they wanted to help get our bathroom up and running. They sent three guys out and in two days we had a working bathroom complete with a toilet, sink, bathtub and HOT WATER! Oh sweet hot water how we've missed you. I can't even tell you how many baths I took in our awesome Craigslist clawfoot tub. And one of these days we'll finish off the dry wall and paint the walls and add some storage...but that's all gravy. It's a little hard to photograph the bathroom, but you get the idea.

At the same time, another fellow farmer veteran (I'm telling you, farmer veterans rock) recommended that we contact the non-profit Work Vessels for Veterans to see if they could help us get a donated tractor. We crossed our fingers that they may have access to a used one, but didn't get our hopes up. After sending them our business plan and other documents, we chatted on the phone and these guys immediately went into action. They first were concerned about the lack of infrastructure in our house and how that could detract from our inaugural farming season. They wanted to help get us up and running and requested a priority list of the main tasks that still needed to be done. Say what?!

They hired Advanced Septic Service to finish up the septic system. The tank is connected to the house, but the absorption beds still need to be completed. They'll come out and finish the job once these ridiculous temps go away and the snow melts, which should theoretically be soon.

Then they hired Occhino Corp.(we wanted to give them the business since they helped us so much) to install a boiler and baseboard heating system. My dad provided the boiler, his former company, DBM Controls, supplied some parts, and Occhino gave us a great deal on the rest the parts and installation. After spending a week at our house, they completed the installation the Friday before James was born. It was so nice to bring a newborn home and not have to worry about building a fire in a freezing cold house.

In the meantime, Brett was able to focus on getting our kitchen sink and dishwasher up and running. Still a little rough, but it's functional! We need to add the freshly painted doors and drawers to the sink cabinet and do some sort of backsplash and open shelves above the sink. Oh and replace the current plywood countertop. But now all we care about is that we can easily wash dishes in our own house!

The majority of our systems are up and running, which honestly makes a huge difference in our day to day life. And man, do we appreciate each shower, peeing in a proper toilet, running the dishwasher, washing our hands with WARM water, and the sound of the boiler kicking in at 5:30 a.m. so the house isn't frigid when we wake up. When you live without these basic things for months, it's amazing how grateful you are to have them.

It's overwhelming and humbling when people come together to help you achieve your dream.

All we can do is say thank you. And we will pay it forward one day.