What she wanted for her birthday

Before

During

After

A few pics from Aunt Melody

Not sure why these are so small.

We Had A Family Reunion...

So the Mold Test Came Back

Good News: The mold levels are half of what they were 6 months ago.

Bad News: The mold levels are still high upstairs and downstairs. (But the levels in the basement are low).

Last December when we got the first results, I asked the doctor if it could be the dog and he said "Absolutely not". Last week when I saw a nutritionist I have known since before Jacob was born (and she works closely with this doctor/allergist), I asked her if it could be the dog and she said "Absolutely yes".

We have started washing Lucy every week, but haven't noticed anything health-wise except the dog is looking sleek and shiny.

We have prayed about what to do now for two years and no answer has come. We have cleaned the house from top to bottom and thrown away more than half of our worldly goods. We sent the bunnies away for three weeks- no change. We have poked holes in the walls to look and sealed up all heaters, light fixtures and wall outlets. I wash all laundry by hand in case the washer is an issue (it seemed to be, at least for awhile- we have a new washer now but it started causing problems after a month or so). We don't know where else to look or what else to do.

What if the mold is coming in from outside? What if it IS the dog? Something in the pipes leading to the washing machine? What if we never figure it out and we can't sell our house (three houses out of the six on our street are for sale and nothing has sold for years).

Frustrated. Still praying for wisdom and direction.

Anyone have a mold free house we could borrow for a month :)?

Getting Ready

Do we have enough plates and cups?

Enough flowers? (No, sadly. Can one ever have enough?)

Well, the dog is in trouble since she has recently taken to waking up at 2AM and barking until we take her outside. ("We"= Brian. It takes a lot to get me out of bed at that hour.) Then she sits on the rocks and looks at us ("us"= Brian). Senile old lady.

Abby's weekend fun with the neighbors mower.

Baby Birds

The birds have hatched and are chirping. Hannah thinks those are worm remains on the edge of the nest. Yum. Reminds me of this photo: (Titled "How to tell if you're mom's favorite).

HT: Amy's Humble Musings

Update

We're gearing up for summer here on the windswept plains.

We enjoyed watching Hannah graduate in May.

She is glad to be done with high school and looks forward to further studies in writing and art.

We had a wonderful graduation celebration for Hannah and Doug on the day of Doug's graduation from college.

It was such a treat to have all the cousins together again.

We had a dessert *room* for the party. You can do that when you don't have furniture in the living room.

And for those of you on Facebook, that bird we found in Hope's room one night? Apparently this momma made her nest in our front door wreath.

And she was just checking out her new neighbors!

I sent off the mold retest last week. We are testing each floor to see if we can zero in on any specific problems. We are hoping we got "it"- we'll know in three weeks when the results come back from Johns Hopkins Lab.

Writing About String Cheese When Your Heart Is Breaking

That was the title of an article I read while in a doctor's waiting room over a year ago. The author explained that she was blogging about trivial things (in this case, string cheese), while in "real life" there were several things happening that were overwhelming. I have often felt that way- blogging about little things while so much was happening "behind the scenes". But I *needed* to blog about the "string cheese" to remind myself that I did have things to be grateful for.

But right now, I just can't bring myself to keep it up. A dust sample test analyzed at John's Hopkins Lab came back showing we have a high mold count in our house. The Indoor Air Quality Specialist who we have worked with is not sure where the mold is coming from. He recommended vacuuming all walls and ceilings before taking the test again. And we have removed all upholstered furniture from the living areas since those pieces are impossible to clean once they have become contaminated.

Hannah was tested for mold allergies this past month and the bumps on her arm grew so large that they couldn't fit in the measurement device the doctor's office uses. She is terribly allergic to mold and yet can't get away from it at home, apparently. No matter how much cleaning I do, no matter what remediation efforts we have done, the problem is still there. Now Jacob is having asthma attacks for the first time. I put his rug in plastic and mopped all the surfaces in his room and he isn't coughing in there anymore, but is still having trouble climbing the stairs. All of us are having health issues that are not responding to treatments.

Some people advise to leave your home behind and all your stuff and never look back. We left one home before due to mold, but brought all of our contaminated things with us to infect our new home. If we get rid of most of our things, will that be enough? Do we live out in a tent in the front yard?

Mold is not just an allergy. It affects the immune system. Some people lack the ability to detoxify mold when they are exposed to it, which is why some are unaffected by living with it and others can die. It also depends on the types of mold present (some are more deadly than others) and the individual genetic make-up of the people living in the home.

The body gets rid of mold through the same pathways as it detoxifies chemicals. Which is why people who have been injured by mold can develop an inability to be around chemicals including fabric softeners, perfumes, scented soaps and shampoos. We built this house in a special way due to the fact that I can no longer handle chemicals after the huge mold exposure in our Littleton home. We tried to keep this home safe- but apparently it hasn't been enough.

At this point we don't believe that there is mold coming from the house itself (we have looked and looked). We will remove all mattresses from upstairs and replace them with air mattresses. We'll remove all curtains. Then wash all bedding again. And the walls and ceilings and floors. Treat everything with steam vapor. Then re-test. If the test comes back as still a problem, then we move.

I'm tired. I'm frustrated. I can't make an environment that is safe for my family, despite my best efforts. I don't know where my enemy is. I have looked for him and although the evidence is there of his presence, I can't find him.

I need to back away from the blog for awhile. I thought of deleting it, but I might want to return to it someday. In the meantime, I will keep cleaning and trying.