Welcome to Vreeman Family Website
Musings, media, and miscellany from the Vreemans in Fishers, IN
Expecting a new addition
We are very happy to announce that we are expecting Baby #2! Lorrie is now 20 weeks along, so we're halfway there! Baby's due date is January 9, 2011.
Homeowner's hack
I always love a good hack. So, when the toilet in our main floor bathroom kept running because of a bad gasket I thought it would be the perfect time to hack it with one of these inexpensive dual flush retrofit kits (the MJSI HYR270 HydroRight to be exact). You see these kinds of dual flush toilets more often in other countries - they have a small flush for #1 and the full flush for #2. Of course, after it arrives from Amazon I realize that my Mansfield toilets have some crazy non-standard flush valve which are not compatible with this kit (or any of the others like it). At this point Lorrie laughs about me and the package that boldly proclaims:
Installs on any toilet without tools in 5-10 minutes!
After a quick trip to Lowes I return with a new flush value, which unfortunately requires you to remove the tank from the toilet base to install. My most clever insight of the night was to use the pneumatic pump for bleeding car brakes to pump the residual water from the tank that is left after you turn the water off and flush it. This meant no leakage when I loosened the bolts to take the tank off from the base. Both the flush valve and the retrofit kit were pretty easy to install from that point on. After a couple of minor adjustments to get the water levels for the two stages right, we were good to go. Total time was more like an hour and 10 minutes (not including the trip to Lowes). Not too bad for something that could reduce water usage by 30%. We'll try it out for a while, and if it holds out the other toilets in the house just might get the same install.
Here's to water conservation!
Post Script: As I'm writing this we're having a thunderstorm and the power flickered off. No worries! My servers and other computers kept right on humming because of those new UPSs I mentioned in the last post. Cool.
Practice and breakthroughs
Gavin's 10 month old nervous system loves to practice. Squatting up and down, playing catch, investigating how straps and buckles work, splashing in the tub. Ad infinitum. And that's how it was with the first step on our staircase. In June, Gavin started to take an interest in the living room stairs and just kept practicing going up and down the first step over and over. This continued for about a month or so until one night when had the Sellers and Taylor families over for a cookout. Inspired by the older kids going up the stairs and the larger audience, Gavin took off and climbed the whole flight (with me spotting behind). It was a breakthrough moment and now he can't leave them alone. In the time I've been trying to write this post he's gone up them at least 6 times. Here is one of the runs on video (though 2 min 30 secs is one of his slower times).
The last few weeks have been filled fun adventures with family and friends: Mike and BZ's 40th birthday, an afternoon adventure at the Indianapolis Museum of Art with Uncle Joe and Aunt Rachel, visits from both sets of grandparents, fun at the Indiana state fair. Here is the full media collection for the last few weeks:
Gavin waxes poetic and eats some rice
Gavin does the sit n spin with a tape measure- Gavin learns to use a fork
- Gavin climbs the stairs
August 2009 gallery (Gavin 10 months) : slideshow here | thumbnails here- August Indianapolis Museum of Art adventure (Gavin 10 months) : slideshow here | thumbnails here
Family vacation - round 2
All of us thoroughly enjoyed our extended weekend vacation up at Houghton Lake, MI - especially Gavin. As you can see from the photo gallery below, he certainly didn't lack for attention. I guess that's what grandparents are for. The weather was beautiful, the setting very peaceful, but most of all we loved getting the time to spend with family to enjoy stories and laughs, good food, kayaking, late night bonfires with s'mores (every night), and all sorts of other fun. We've added a couple of videos and a photo gallery of the trip:
- Houghton Lake, MI Vacation Gallery: slideshow here | thumbnails here
Now that Gavin has turned the corner on 9 months, we've also started a running collections of photos over on Picassa. After a couple of days with constant attention from many people, Gavin has really started to perfect his showmanship.
- Gavin 9 Months Gallery: slideshow here | thumbnails here
His latest motor development (which he learned up at Houghton Lake) is pulling to stand. It's still a bit of a challenge for him, but he keeps practicing more and more each day. Cruising is not too far away!
Outrun the Sun
Lorrie and I are excited to be participating in the Outrun the Sun race against melanoma this Saturday. Lorrie is going to take Gavin in the stroller for the 5K run/walk and I'm going run the 5K. We all did a practice run this past Sunday and are ready to go! You can share in the excitement by helping support our involvement in this important initiative. All you need to do is log on to my personal fundraising page or Lorrie's fundraising page to learn more about melanoma education and research. It's easy!
Did you know:
- Melanoma affects people of every age and every ethnicity?
- Melanoma is the number one cancer in people ages 25-29?
- One American dies of melanoma nearly every hour?
Protect your skin. Protect yourself. Protect your life.
Dedicating Gavin
We've been a bit delinquent in getting this post up...our travels and catch-up slowed us down a bit. We really want to say thanks to everyone who made this such a great time - especially those who drove from out of town (many on the same day!). What a great way to celebrate God's faithfulness.
We've collected a few photo galleries of the weekend:
- Gavin's dedication and Mother's Day (Dan and Lorrie's gallery): thumbnails here | slideshow here
- Gavin's dedication and Mother's Day (Tom and Jacki's gallery): thumbnails here | slideshow here
- Gavin's dedication and Mother's Day (Rachel''s gallery): thumbnails here | slideshow here
Also forgot to mention that we've got a gallery going of Gavin at 7 months:
- Gavin 6 month photos: thumbnails here | slideshow here.
Gavin's baby dedication 05/10
Lorrie and I are excited to participate in our church's baby dedication ceremony on Sunday May 10. Similar to an infant baptism, this is ceremony is a chance for us to commit ourselves to raising Gavin according to biblical truth and hold fast to God's promises of faithfulness. Details for the service:
East 91st Street Christian Church
6049 East 91st Street
Indianapolis, IN 46250
(317) 849-1261
Service Time: 11:30AM (probably want to arrive a bit early b/c of traffic)
After the service (about an hour), we'll be hosting an informal BBQ for family and friends at our house:
13752 Wendessa Drive
Fishers, IN 46038
Feel free to come even if you can't make the service.
RVSP: dvreeman@gmail.com
