February 21, 2008 | Mama Smith

charming mold

When we began our search for the first owned Smith home, we knew we wanted two things in particular. An older home with character and room to grow. After spending an entire morning with our realtor, we began to feel extremely disappointed at the 70’s ranch-style homes and brand-spanking new developments we had toured.

That is until we drove past an adorable 1920’s cottage with an overgrown yard and a massive dumpster in the driveway. Luckily our realtor was friends with the women who had recently purchased the home for renovation. Even though we hadn’t decided we were moving to Greenville at this point, after roaming through the gutted, but gorgeous rooms, we knew that if we made our trek southward, this would be our home.

And we did. And it was. We’re now making a home for our family in this perfect house we never could have dreamed we’d have a year ago.

But as those of your with older homes know, there is a price you will pay with the old homes. Wonky electrical systems, ridiculous water pressure, and creatures who decided years ago to make the 50 year old attic their home.

One price we are paying is a crawl space filled with mold. That we recently believed to be a culprit in our children’s constant illness. After Levi came down with a grueling coughing virus a week ago, and quickly passing it on to his brother, we realized something had to be going on in our home with how infrequently our children were actually healthy.

So research has begun to get a moisture cover and fan for our musty crawl space and air filters for the boys rooms. Today is Levi’s one year old check-up, so hopefully the doctor will have some insight into all this frustration as well.

The mold in our charming home has not only caused our children to be sick since we moved here, but put a hold on life in general as taking care of crying, coughing, snotty children takes precedence. Some shots of our paused tasks…

Fabric for couch pillows purchased 3 months ago, still hanging out untouched by the sewing machine.

The once highly-active toddler glued to the couch and Maisy videos.

Laundry washed two weeks ago…still unfolded (although we DID finally paint our den, as you can see, on Monday evening…until midnight).

Bedspread removed weeks ago to be washed. Note picture above. Has yet to return to it’s home.

The recovering Levi in a rare moment of not crying or hacking up mucous.

This morning’s breakfast untouch…as have most meals been for the past week.

Please pray for us as we wade through these weeks of constant illness and for wisdom as we research how our home may be contributing to this problem. And pray for our poor sick boys, who are probably just as annoyed as we are that sickness seems to hunt them down at every turn.