Its been a tough month. At the first of October, we had an air-quality test for our home & the results were pretty scary. We had a pipe burst in a bathroom upstairs & as it turns out… it did more damage than we thought. At the time of the test, Noah was taking 5-6 breathing treatments a day, so we knew something HAD to be causing it. The results from the air quality test revealed we had been breathing in toxic mold unknowingly. NOT the best news for a family with an asthmatic child :( We had to abandon our home while the remediation crew tore out our walls & floors ( remember the movie “Outbreak” with Dustin Hoffman? yeah, it was like that..guys in white suits with masks..the whole nine yards.) Thankfully my parents live just a few miles away & had a completely vacant 2nd- story they could offer us. I have no idea where we would be without their help…so mom, dad, if you’re reading this…thank-you for putting up with our crazy schedules & the eaaarrrrly mornings… we love you and are so very lucky to have you in our lives. We owe ya one… ;)

So here we are a month later…3 weeks of which was spent living with my parents in the home I grew up in. It was interesting to say the least. The kids went to school in mismatched clothes & I think I wore the same jeans for at LEAST 2 of those weeks ( though anyone that knows me will tell you, I practically live in one of 3 pair ;) We spent a small fortune eating out & I have NO idea how I met all of our deadlines at the studios! A giant thank-you to my wonderful assistant Leah for surviving the massive number of sessions this month & helping to edit the galleries at mock speed. It has been the busiest month we’ve had here at KKP, so I was a little overwhelmed with not being able to access my home! To all of our sweet clients & friends who expressed concern via facebook & twitter…thank-you. We love every single one of you :)

I thought long & hard about blogging this. With the world in cyber-overdrive its hard to know where to draw the line to protect your family. But knowing what I know, I felt it was important to put this out there: if you’ve had water damage or even a small leak in your home–have it checked for toxins. Living with them can cause a whole host of medical problems..some worse than others. I was shocked to learn that its not NC law to perform a mold test during home inspections! Believe me..its worth it to know. Even if it just saves you the trouble of having to surrender your home to a remediation crew, its worth it. For us its so much bigger than the inconvenience of losing our home. It means a healthier life for our son, Noah. Every day without a breathing treatment is a big deal, and today he had NONE. I can only hope this trend continues :)

As the crew rounds the corner on the construction & we slowly start moving back into our home, I’m reminded how very lucky we are. Through all the inconvenience & battling with the insurance company, I kept reminding myself… we’re ok. We’re still together. We caught it before it got worse. We will get our house back eventually… and strangely enough, I was given the gift of some much needed perspective throughout this experience. My boys are a tremendous source of joy in my life & as much as I love our home, my studios & my business, everything I need is wrapped up in these 2 beautiful little souls. They didn’t complain a single time while we were living with my parents ( actually, I think they loved being with their Nanny & Grandaddy every day ;) and their smiles reminded me that life is wild… and unpredictable… and we’re just along for the ride. I’m just grateful that I have them, and my husband Mark to share every bumpy road with.

Noah slept though the first half of trick-or-treating yesterday, so I took Emery to a field across the street to let him channel his inner Wild Thing. I made their costumes this year ( well, everything except the Max pjs..those came from amazon.com!) They were a big hit throughout the neighborhood & the boys have worn their “tails” all day today :) Hope you all had a magical Halloween!!