Down by the River

Spring has sprung... for me anyways

2009-04-17T07:52:00.008-05:00

Well... it's been 4 months since I've done this! Feels like even more than that actually- we packed a whole lot in! We actually painted the first floor last October or November, so some of those pictures might be in older posts, but we've finished the bench in the "mudroom"/garage entry, painted Lily's room, and painted the extra bathroom. I'm really bad about accessorizing or decorating the rooms, so the walls are still pretty bare, but I do have curtains up in Lily's room- okay, they still need to be hemmed... (who's taking bets as to when that'll happen?!?!) We did hang roman shades in her room and I finally decided to shorten the pull cords after a few weeks.... yeah, I shortened them while they were up!!! Arrghh!!! Of course I made them so short that they didn't even go down 1/3 of the way. So Chad took them down and they are still in a heap waiting to be restrung. Soooo mad at myself for that! These aren't the cheap plastic ones either- they are the "cheap" fabric roman shades - cheap for what they are, but way more of an expensive mistake than the plastic ones from Home Depot. We also bought new appliances- thank you Uncle Sam! Okay- I guess it's just our tax $ we paid in excess last year, so we can thank ourselves! We are still trying to sell the old stove and microwave if anyone is interested! ;) I think we have the paint picked out for our room and bathroom, but we are not really looking forward to painting those rooms... cathedral ceilings.... so, who knows when that'll get done. Right now, we are willing spring to get here- I see green popping through the ground and buds on the trees- oh, and Chad's allergies are starting in all ready and he's contracted his first case of poison ivy for the year -- buy stock in Zanfel, Chad'll keep the price/share up! Poor guy gets poison ivy just looking at a picture of it and I could probably roll in the stuff and not be affected! We already have the boat cleaned/scrubbed, etc! (I don't think it got done at all last year...ooops) Our goal is spend a lot more time outside and on the water this year - so far, we're sticking to it. I suppose I should post some pictures - these will be snippits from the last few months- although all the house stuff I described above will have to wait because I don't think I even took pictures of the rooms yet.

Celebrating Eric & Angie's announcement! (okay - this was last summer...)

Me holding Brielle Kimberly in the hospital. (born 2/21/09)

Brielle at home- snoozin' in the swing.

Lily- so excited to be a big girl and hold her new cousin.

After a weekend in Green Bay, Lily inherited many hand-me-downs from Maya and Colin - her favorite were the ELMO shoes!!! Even had to sleep in them a few nights! Thanks Dewittt's!

Even MORE Elmo!!!

Snow Day - it's too cold and too much snow to go to school, so lets stay home in our swimming suit- duh, what else would we do.

Oh- and play on Mommy's computer (thank goodness for key-lock!)

Later that day(or sometime this winter) - Lily chilled in the snowbank so we could clear off the driveway. She runs away from Daddy w/ the snowblower - it's "yowd & scawy"

Christmas time!!!

Lily's first school program.

Completely mezmerized by the Elmo movie from her teachers.

Silly cousins on Christmas Eve - Yesenia & Lilianna.

A (blurry) family picture - Christmas Day at my parents house. (trying to get a 2 yr old to hold still long enough...)

In my attempts to be more politically educated myself, I think my daugter actually watched more of the inaugural events than I did....

"Look! I'm Grandpa" is what she said to me just before I took this. (Playing with my safety glasses) I guess Grandpa is setting a good example when we're not around.

You do see the irony in this don't you? Lily is putting her barrettes in Grandpa's "hair".

Lily being a ham in her new boots. I just think it's the cutest, silly picture.

Lily sitting nice with the doggies.

Lily decorating Moscow.... what a good sport he is.

Although, I think he doesn't mind the days she's in daycare...

I think this picture is so cute - can't believe a 100 lb. German Shepherd can curl up on less space than a door mat!

All dressed up for Great-Grandma's 90th Birthday party!

My Grandma with most of her grandkids and great-grandkids.

Easter at Grandma & Grandpa's house.

The Easter bunny even made a trip there...

Me and Lily - just chillin' at home.

Holiday baking

2008-12-17T11:24:00.005-06:00

While cleaning up the mess below, I thought of so many names for this post, I don't even know where to begin- so I made a list.

1. Damn Dogs

2. Cooking with dogs

3. What our floor would have looked like with white grout. (we'll stick with black, thank you!)

4. Baking with a toddler is a piece of cake in comparison!

5. Seriously, how old do dogs live to be? 4?!?! Please?!?!

(Okay, I think I may have forgotten some since the adrenaline wore off!)

In comparison to the above pictures, baking with Lily was no problem! And that was Grandma's kitchen!

Between this and the cookie exchange at daycare... I think I'm set for this Christmas!

Cluster of Milestones

2008-11-19T09:13:00.003-06:00

A few weekends ago, Lilianna, myself, Nama and Grandpa drove up to visit the Great-Grandmas. One of my Grandmas was temporarily in a nursing home recovering from illness (she has since gone back to her home) :) and was in a wheelchair more than using her walker. Since the walker was not in use, Lily was completely enthralled by it. It has a seat that flips down, so she insisted that she sit on there and be pushed like Great Grandma. It was cute. Also, notice her Packer outfit. She LOVES it! She asks "Where my Packer shirt?" about 4 times a week. Occasionally, she'll wake up and I'll hear "Go Pack Go" through the monitor. Too funny. I think she picked that up from one of the daycare ladies that is a huge sports fan.

Milestone #1 Lily's first haircut
I decided that the ends of her hair were looking a little ragged, so we had it trimmed. There was a cool little car chair to sit in, books to look at, a large fish tank on one side and a mirror on the other- and Lily just tried to turn and look at the woman cutting her hair the entire time. It's a miracle she didn't end up with some crazy spiral cut. just kidding. :) Of course, the M&M's finally worked- big surprise there. I'm sure they loved that, since this place boasts children's wellness - they have a huge play gym, use organic and/or natural hair products for the kids and give out organic lolli-pops at the end. Either way she finally sat still. And, I realized later that night that I forgot to get the "keepsake" lock of hair! :( That would have been the dark spike that she was born with :( Oh well - here is a picture.

Milestone #2 The toddler bed
Friday night (11/14) we removed one side of the crib (what will eventually be the footboard of her bed) and converted it into "the toddler bed"! I am wanting to try this potty-training method recommended by a guy I work with, but the child needs to be able to get his/herself to the bathroom at any time. As lucky as I am that Lilianna didn't try to get out of her crib, I decided that I am more tired of washing and buying diapers!

Lily trying out the new resting place.

The picture below is what happened in the 10-15 minutes it took to get the bed altered. I realize it could have been much worse (I've seen pictures from my friends that have boys!), but this was right before bed.... (whine...)

Luckily - she loves the "new bed". Friday night through Tuesday morning went great. Never tried to get out during naps or nighttime - just wanted to jump on it during the day. Yeah, Tuesday afternoon, that ended. She would not lay down to take a nap for anything, so I (not thinking of the long-term consequences) laid on the floor to keep her in bed. Well, she never did fall asleep - I however had no problem falling asleep (oops) and woke up to being kicked in the side b/c she was goofing around with her legs dangling off the side. UGH! Of course then Tuesday night, she wanted Mommy to lay down again. Errr... what the hell was I thinking?!?!
This last picture isn't really a milestone, but it was picture day a school on Monday. They have Christmas themed backgrounds as an option, so I put on her Christmas outfit - and realized after seeing this picture, that I may as well have picked out a school uniform! Oh well - it's cute. You probably can't see in the picture, but the dress has little plaid Scotty dogs on it. I found matching socks and hair pieces! She also has a pair of red leggings with the Scotty dog motif for when she wants to go outside, but refuses tights.

Happy Halloween!!!

2008-10-31T21:42:00.005-05:00

Wow - a post two days in a row- Peg, please don't have another heart attack. (Sorry - not a laughing matter I know, but I think I know you well enough that I can throw in a joke now.) I hope you are feeling better and recovering well - we think about you lots! (you are even the blogs twice!) hee hee.

So, I don't think my actions this morning are too high on the "bad mommy" list, but they certainly don't fall into the "good mommy" category. Of course the children were to wear their costumes to school today for Halloween. We decided months ago that Lily would be a witch - she loves to ride her broom (she calls it her "sweep") all around the house. She is extremely picky about the feel of her clothes, so I decided I'd just make a skirt and arm bands to go over a black outfit instead of buying one of the Target or WalMart costumes - although, at $9, even making just the little skirt was more than that! So, we thought we'd get her used to it last night- whoa - she kicked and screamed and wanted nothing to do with it. I crossed my fingers that this morning would go better and went to bed. This morning didn't go much better. I finally got the skirt on her by saying she could have a cookie. - for breakfast!!! Mind you- it's 6:15 in the morning and I am feeding my kid frosted sugar cookies with candy on them - for breakfast. Sure- I may do that - but what Mom lets their kid have that much sugar before 6:30 am?!?!? All the articles and experts say you shouldn't bribe your children - much less with food, but seriously - she's two and sometimes that's all that works. That's how I get my dogs in the house. It's just one more example that shows how similar kids are to dogs - at least the first couple years!

Tuesday this week we had friends over to bake and decorate Halloween cookies - 6 kids and 5 adults! Yikes. I kept thinking that if Chad came home in the middle of it all, I'd lose any chance of ever having any more children. There was not one empty spot on the counters filled with diaper bags, purses, food, cookie paraphanalia and dirty dishes. Here are a few pictures of the kids trashing my kitchen. :)

Lily and Chloe playing with the cookie dough.

Okay - I guess I only had one cookie picture, theses are from lunch - Laura brought a recipe for "Pumpkin" Sandwiches. Very yummy - although a little labor intensive.

So, you read above that Lily would have nothing to do with her costume. It took a cookie at 6:15 in the morning just to get the skirt on! Tonight, Daddy asked her to put on the costume and he'd give her a candy corn, and she put the ENTIRE thing on - hat and all. For a candy corn!!!?!?!! Arrghhh! Feeling a little defeated that I couldn't get her to put it on to save my life, I was just happy that she had it on and took her out Trick or Treating. We even had kids come to our house! The first time in the 5 years we've lived here! There were two groups too - all the neighbors were even surprised.

Good pic of the costume even though she turned away. Note that she is riding her broom! Too cute. :)

Setting out to get some CANDY!!

After we showed off "Lily the witch" to our whole 5 neighbors, we headed over to Chad's parents house. By then it was dark and Lily was a little more nervous about the whole thing - it was cute.

Lily is enjoying a purple lollipop - a very messy, drooly, sticky lollipop. She thoroughly enjoyed it.

Note Mommy's Halloween treat way on the right side of the picture. mmmm....

For Aunt Peg... :)

2008-10-30T20:04:00.005-05:00

This blog is for my Aunt Peg - a faithful follower, who has reminded (aka nagged) me a few times that I haven't posted in a while - sorry I haven't updated in ... whoa... almost 2 months! My excuse is that I've just been busy and after sitting at a computer all day at work, the last thing I want to do is sit at one all night. All that sitting is taking it's toll on my body - right now it's mostly my back and neck. That is an easy enough remedy, I'm just hoping I don't end up with "office ass". I realized that I have approximately 35 years left to work and I've been at this job 5 years. If I continue as a consultant chemist vs. bench chemist (basically a stereotypical lab chemist) - I will have been sitting on my ass for 40 years!!!! That's ridiculous- the human body is not made to just sit around. I've already check into getting more local field work - I need to toughen up again (i.e. sit outside in the wind and rain all day, haul around equipment, etc.) - having a baby and working in an office have made me soft - figuratively and literally!

So, this summer was full of all sorts of adventures. Since I didn't stay on top of my blog posts, I have included a ton of pictures that capture the summer fun in the sun!
Lily on the boat after swimming - looking a little chilly. Oh no - a "chilly Lily!"

On the way to dinner by way of boat- gotta have those shades! Actually, she calls them her "eyes". She'll say, "Mommy, I need my eyes" while reaching for her glasses.

Nama Evie also went to dinner on the boat.

The castle gets a fair amount of use now that it's on the deck.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!!!! Time for "Happy Bir-day Cake". It's not just "birthday cake," it has to be "happy birthday cake."

A day of IKEA shopping! Laura, Jessica, Elliott, Lily and me.

Taking a play break in the "berry basket" ball pit in IKEA. I'm not sure who had more fun - Laura or the kids!

Feeding the goats at the Milwaukee County Zoo. Chad's company picnic is there every year for Zoo-A-La-Carte. TONS of free food and beverages - they are extremely generous with the tickets! Lily did eventually warm up to the goats and walked around to feed them - note how high and tightly her legs are wrapped around Daddy- she was completely freaked out for while.

We went to State Fair with Aunt Nicole and Yesenia to see all the animals, but similar to the picture above, Lily was not eager to get to close to the animals. Bummer for Mommy - the animals are my favorite. Although, the girls did stand still long enough for us to eat an ear of corn, so that made up for it. (that's probably the second best thing about the fair for me). In the picture below, the girls were getting psyched up to go down the GIANT slide! I took them both down together on my lap- I couldn't see their faces on the way down, but they both wanted to go again!

A day in Elliot's backyard with Hailey, Elliott and Logan too. Playing in the sand - after swimming. Lovely.... I would love to send this one to daycare and the Birth to 3 program - I'm going to guess that her texture issues are getting better. Ugh- this would put me in the looney bin! You all know it's a short trip too!

Pretty tuckered out after all that swimming and sand playing at Elliott's house.

On the jetski with Daddy! Lily loved this. Pointed to it and asked for it for days afterwards.

A lot can happen in two weeks!

2008-09-10T21:23:00.011-05:00

Noon - Friday, July 25
After a half day of work, Chad and his friend, Chris (Kip), drive 6 1/2 hours one way to Salem, Illinois (about 1hr east of St. Louis) to pick up the boat Chad just bought on eBay!

New boat barely fits in extra-long garage!

Lily is already "all about the boat"

Check out the motor- it is literally 3-4 times the size of Lily!

7am - Saturday, July 26 - My little brother and his buddies start work on our deck!

That's Jeff with a pole saw.... (all you H&S guys may as well pull out a pad and paper right now!)

Ahh- the view from the lake!

Note the well pump in this picture.

The beginning of Moscow and London's new stairs to their dog kennel.

The view out the big patio doors... watch your step!

This is the end of the first day... note the spaces b/c the decking wasn't complete....

Now note the "barracade" needed to keep the dogs from running up the stairs onto the picture above... yes, they fell through, and, No- they didn't learn. Hence the scene below!

9am Tuesday, July 29 - In the middle of building the deck, the cement contractor is available to set the forms and poured the concrete a day or two later. Yeah! We actually have a driveway!!! No more gravel- oh- except for the road up here of course!

Side-house gutter was tied into driveway trench drain.

7am, Saturday, August 2 - back to finish the deck! Remember that driveway poured up above?? No vehicles on it for 2 weeks! The guys had to carry all their tools with them to the other side of the house!

Remember that well pump??? I guess it got in the way.

Although it was a mess to pull out this pump, it was nice to be able to see that the lateral going into our house was actually a separate pipe in the same hole - still sealed (to the best of our knowledge...). Before we pulled this out, we really we're sure how our water pipes were hooked up!

Note the "foreman" in this picture - Moscow is making sure the hired help stays on task! ;)

"Are you sure that dog kennel will be okay, honey?"

11pm - Saturday, August 2 - It's finally complete! (obviously, these pictures were not taken at that time...)

View from the edge of the deck closest to the lot line - my (planned) future seat to sit and brush those dogs!

It is definately an extension of our house now- it's great to be able to open patio doors, and let kids and dogs go in and out as they please. With supervision of course! We love having the castle on the deck - no more spiders! (Well there are spiders... just nowhere around the areas that I loaded full of pesticides!

Now we just need some "real" patio furniture to fill up this awesome deck!

This is what my brother has had to say to me for the last month because it took me this long to post about our new deck that he built! Thank you, Eric!!! We couldn't have done it without you!

circa 10/7/07 - Eric building the chimney chase

Remember micro machines?

2008-07-17T15:14:00.006-05:00

Last Wednesday, the post holes were dug out for the deck. Six of them are in the dog kennel b/c the deck will wrap around that side of the house as well. The dogs didn't bother them too much- with all the new dirt brought up, they had so many new smells to check out! The first picture below shows the larger/main area of where the deck will be- and you can see the water pump that looks like it's in the middle of it. That is actually a working hand water pump- that is our well (can we say "grandfather clause"?!?!) No, I don't have to get up and pump water every morning for the days water supply... there is a lateral pipe into the basement where the actual house pump and water tank are. Keeping in mind that is our well - and someday will have to be abandoned and replaced, we had to design the deck around it. I suppose we could have figured out a way to cap it off, but then we enter the murky waters of what's allowable by code, etc. So, it will be a nice decoration in the landscaping that will go around the deck.

Holes in dog kennel just to the side of the basement door. Chad had to manipulate the placement on the design some, because- of course- they landed right in front of the door. And the door will still be used- the area under the deck inside the kennel will be open.

On Thursday, the framing lumber for the deck was delivered. The semi and it's 30 ft. trailer actually made it up our road, however, the semi cab (that turns into a fork-lift thing- pretty nifty), died while trying to unload the lumber in our yard. The engine has to be running for the forks to lift mind you, so the lumber was "stuck". While trying to get the engine to turn over, he had enough "juice" to control the forks to try to drop the lumber- yeah- it didn't make it all the way down and just got pinned b/w a tree and the forks. Sucks to be that driver! I think he was all of 25- maybe. That all happened at 1:15 (they weren't supposed to arrive until after 3 when Chad got home)- he was still here at 4:00 when I picked up Lily! Someone did come to pull him out finally.

The post holes passed inspection Thursday morning and the concrete was poured Monday afternoon. Chad's friend luckily offered (or agreed to) help- Thanks, Chris!

You can see the little cement truck out the patio doors- it was like a micro machine version of a real cement truck. (Do you remember micro machines? They were the mini hot wheels cars in the 80's. Can you tell I have a brother?!?)

The mico machine version.

Chris and cement guy pouring - Chad is way in the back getting the holes in the dog kennel ready.

Chris lining up the cement chute (is that what it's called?) with the hole.

And... one more picture of the micro machine cement truck.

After the cement guy left, Kip helped Chad haul all the lumber that got stuck on the hill on Thursday into the garage! It looked VERY heavy! I told Chris we'd take he and his wife, Abbey, to dinner for all the help- his response was, "Oh, no, that's okay. We're buying a new house soon- he'll get to pay me back!" Now it sucks to be Chad! He's going to be my brother's bitch all day this Saturday (okay- not really, but he's doing a full day of electrical work and has agreed to wire their house when they build someday for all the work Eric did here)- and he now he has to repay Kip- and I'm sure he will be his bitch then! Kip helped us with some really crappy work! I could offer babysitting services, but none of them have kids! I'm still looking for that skill that could make me $$ on the side or be able to trade services for- I guess knitting doesn't cut it.

New meaning to "drinkable yogurt"

2008-07-09T08:52:00.002-05:00

This will be short and sweet with a few recent pictures~

Lily is getting her face painted by a princess at her cousin's 3rd birthday party - all the girls had pretty, sparklely make-up applied so they all looked like princesses. Lily ran right over to me and planted her face right in my lap! Yes, all the make-up was off her face and my skirt then had a "Lily face" smeared across it! Yet another reason not to buy new clothes!

Happy Fourth of July! Lily decided to drink her yogurt with her juice box straw... it actually worked! New meaning to "drinkable yogurt". I don't have any pictures of the fireworks that night, but she really enjoyed them! We took the boat out around 8:30 pm, fireworks didn't start until almost 9:30, but they were worth it. Lily would point and say "lights" or "Mama, yowd!" (yowd = loud). It was really cute.

Yesterday, we played at the Betty Brinn Children's Museum with my friend and her son. I am shocked at how long we stayed- until almost 3:00! Lily usually goes down for a nap @ 12:30 or 1:00. They had a blast- and it was great for us Mom's too!

We could tell they were both over-due for a nap by this time. They were playing "Ni - Ni" and using the turtle as a pillow.

Hopefully more house/building pictures coming soon. The post holes for the deck are being dug this afternoon! Of course, STILL waiting on contractors re: the driveway. Will hopefully hear from them soon as well.

What goes around, comes around

2008-07-07T21:30:00.006-05:00

Well, I figured I better start posting again or I will lose all 3 of my readers! :) Thank you for reminding me! I think I started slacking around the time of all the flooding- being "Down by the River" and all, we were a little concerned once the threat of dams breaking became real. Luckily, the dam above us did not break- it would have drained out a 400+ acre lake - twice the size of Lake Delton (for those of you under a rock - or not from Wisconsin- one of the largest tourist lakes in the state completely drained out in 20 minutes! Google it.

This is the southwest/west side of our property- the water is quite a ways into the yard. Our wood piles started floating away. The second photo shows both piers- one mostly underwater and the one on the left was actually floating. DH pulled both jet skis up to shore and they still had to be tied to the lifts to keep from floating away! The water receded back to normal in about 1-2 weeks and actually seems lower than normal now. Of course, we didn't pull the lifts back until this last weekend so it was much harder since there was not as much water supporting the weight. I would say you'd have to confirm this with Chad though, since we all know how much I had to do with that! I keep offering to trade him, but he'd rather do physical labor than run around after a toddler. His comments are so "cute" -C - "Does she do this [run around from one thing to the next] all day?" Me- "Yes- she's 2. That's all she does." C- "But you can't sit down for a minute- or take your eyes off her!?!" Another day around 15 months I heard, "I didn't even get to watch 5 minutes of television!" I tried to explain that his "favorite" TV shows before 7pm will now consist of Elmo/Sesame Street, It's a Big, Big World and Mickey Mouse. (Just wait until she hits the "princess stage"!) Hee hee, I love Cinderella, so that'll be fine by me!

Okay- back to the flooding- all in all- we were fine- we're up the hill a ways, so no water in the house, now we will just be at war with all the mosquitos and mayfly/gnat things all summer long!

This is Lily splashing through the puddles - somewhere in the midst of the 2 weeks of rain!- in her new sandals. They are the water sandals, so I guess she was just breaking them in. Actually, my parents picked up the castle that my cousin passed down from her kids, so my Mom was entertaining the peanut while my Dad figured out how to put this castle together.

I wish I had video of this... note that my Dad is INSIDE the castle made for small children!!! We all laughed to tears at the point when my Dad turned around- very satisfied with himself that he got this thing together- and realized he couldn't get out!!! He did manage to squeeze through the "main" door on all fours! Also note that all this took place in the garage because it was of course raining! As you can see below, Lilianna loves her castle inside or out! (Thank you Kim, Ron, Nathan & Paige! We'll send pictures when Mommy finally PRINTS OUT some of these digitals!)

Lily has also met quite a few new babies this past month! Auntie Ali and Teagan Grace (only 6 wks old) stayed overnight. (I love the look Lily is giving me- "Mom- I'm busy holding the baby!"

A smooch for baby Teagan.

While Auntie Ali was here, some other friends came out for the evening- 6 adults and 5 children- the oldest just turned 3! The youngest was baby Logan- only 3 weeks!

Jen is the ultimate "Mom" of the group - I have so many pictures of the kids on her lap! She loves them and they all love her back!

The third baby I don't have a picture of yet, but you can read about his story to his new family here: http://tryingforanothermiracle.blogspot.com/

Our friends just adopted a baby boy they call "Little Man" on their blog (she's very good about leaving out names- probably good for safety reasons in this crazy world!) So, Lily also got to meet her friend's little brother at just one week old! They are one of our regular playdate get togethers, so there will be future pictues!

I'll end the night's post with a pic of our little ham-
she has officially figured out what the camera is for and now says "cheese" as soon as you get out the camera! (or I get the look above if I'm "bugging her"! Gee... I can't wait to see her attitude as a teen!) What's that Mom & Dad? What goes around, comes around?

Time to play dress up!

2008-06-04T12:17:00.004-05:00

The last bathroom is almost done! The tile turned out better than I imagined. Thank you to my wonderful husband that puts up with my crazy design ideas and implements them to the smallest detail- much better than I ever could! Here is an "in progress" picture and two after the tiling and grouting are complete.

We still have to install the tub fixtures and the toilet, but after that, I think the work is done- will just have to decorate! :)

Yesterday we scheduled a playdate at the indoor waterpark again. Slight change of plans- Lily and I arrived to FOUR bus loads of elementary school kids- probably third to sixth graders. We called Amy and Chloe to warn them- I think Chloe and Lily would have been trampled! There seriously had to have been over 200 kids! So, Amy knew of this great little place in Delafield for the girls to play at. Thanks Amy! I will definately be going back- I loved it! Here are a couple pictures of the girls on stage.

Playing "dress up"! (okay- I put the cloak on Lily and she couldn't get it off fast enough!) I'll remind her of that when she's 15, trying on 6 different outfits before school!

You know you're old when...

2008-05-27T07:33:00.002-05:00

Back to reality after a nice long- and productive- weekend. We worked on the last bathroom more- and Chad actually laid out the entire floor on Saturday! Much faster than the first floor! Of course, because it is a fraction of the size, but it sure boosted our spirits. He just started on the walls, hopefully we can finish that this week at night- and have everything grouted by next weekend!
On Sunday, I took Lily to a park nearby while Dad worked on the bathroom. I think she was on the swings for an entire hour "weeeee" - she just did not want to stop! Of course she wanted me to swing as well- this park actually had swings high enough off the ground for me, so I did. Well, you know you're old when you actually get motiong sick on a swing! I kid you not- every swing back and forth made my ears drop into my stomach and flip around. So, I jumped off as everyone has done as a child - important words there! I thought I for sure needed two new knees after that. Ahhh... lesson learned. And, the irony, is that my 33rd birthday was the next day.
My birthday fell on Memorial Day this year- as usual, Chad had to work as he does every Memorial Day and Labor Day- so Lily and I just hung out at my parents house most of the day. I'm sure Grandma and Grandpa thought I fed her straight sugar that morning- she was so full of energy all day long- even the nap was short! I'm crossing my fingers she sleeps late this morning! I'm still exhausted! It must be that "one year older thing". ;)

The camper is GONE!

2008-05-22T10:50:00.004-05:00

Yes, it is official, we are confident our house is livable and we don't need the camper as back-up anymore. ;) It sold on eBay, and interestingly enough, my friend's sister ended up winning the auction. She did tell Chad that she'll never buy off eBay again, they really wanted the camper and the bidding went crazy the last 10 minutes- she said it was so nerve-wracking it nearly sent her into labor! (She's due in 3 weeks!) So they drove down from Marathon last Saturday to pick it up. That cash in pocket is much needed! It will pay for the driveway- IF the contractor ever shows up!!!! He was supposed to start almost 3 weeks ago! Errrr..... Look back to the older posts, and you will see this theme has stuck throughout the entirety of the project. The cable guy was also late this morning- not that it really mattered today, but it's the principle.

We have finally started the last bathroom! I think it's that first step to get the motivation to do something on it and it hopefully starts the ball rolling. So, here is a picture of the heating coils on the bathroom floor.

You can see that the tub area hasn't been started yet... *sigh*... it should go much better than the master bath, but again, it's getting that initial start to get going... My motivation is that potty training, bath time and teeth brushing will be easier in this bathroom b/c she won't be able to get into all the drawers of our stuff like in the master bath. If I need to, I can put locks on!

Now that the weather is finally warming up! we went to the park on Tuesday with a friend and her daughter. Here are a couple of those pictures. I'm finding that although Lily is quite boisterous at home and other familiar places, she takes a while to get comfortable in unfamiliar territory. It's just interesting.

I think Lily looks like my Grandma Gert (my Dad's mom) in this picture.

A hug for all the fun of the day.

Exciting new updates....

2008-05-09T11:44:00.005-05:00

Wow- we have packed a lot in since the last blog! Two weddings and tons of house work! We officially finished the tile on the first floor and more importantly, moved the refrigerator, stove and table back in! Not to mention we now have an actual living room on the first floor- complete with a couch, recliner and TV- woohoo! :P Of course now DH wants to watch TV during meals b/c he can see it from the table.... errr.... For those of you that don't know, I really don't think I'd miss it that much not having a television- I just don't watch that much and now with the internet, I can do everything from get the weather to watch movies on my computer. So, it's just one of the many things we "discuss". Chad dove right into finishing the trim on all the doors, floorboards and around the cabinets. The toilet for the first floor is sitting in the foyer awaiting installation, the windows in the garage got stained and he hopes to finish the trim on those this weekend. We decided to tie up all the loose ends this weekend- and get the boat and jet skiis ready, then we'll start on the last bathroom next week. I of course am still trying to unpack and organize while helping with the house list and trying to work as many hours as I can (and stay sane). Of course, add a toddler in the picture and you can see how the sanity thing is iffy.

The camper is up for sale now on eBay- here is the link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&&item=140229611622&ssPageName=ADME:B:EF:MOTORS:1120

I should have posted sooner - the auction ends this Sunday at 7pm. We're hoping that since Wisconsin is a big camping state and it's the beginning of the season that we'll get a good price. Keeping our fingers crossed! Here is a picture of the house without the camper blocking the view!

Of course, since DH has been cruising around eBay, he found an old 1989 T-top TransAm- pace car that is in great shape for the age and milage. hmm.... I'm not quite the TransAm type, but I can respect his likes and dislikes. I'm just wearing a hat and dark glasses if I ride in it. I'm sure we'll own one at some point- he really likes them- he's owned a few cars that look like that- maybe one was a trans-am(?), the other was a camero- while in high school.

Okay- back to the house. While the drywallers were doing their thing, they threw their garbage, including extra/partial sheets of drywall out one of the second story windows to the dumpster- and of course one hit the house and dented and broke some of the trim around the garage door below it- so that was fixed this week, along with a few other things and the gutters were put on- now that the April showers are gone and the May flowers are blooming! Ahhh.... perfect timing as usual.

The contractor doing the driveway was supposed to start on Monday.... it's now Friday. Yep, you guessed it- not a word from him. Errrr....

In the midst of all of the above, my brother got married almost two weeks ago. Chad and I were both in the wedding, so his Mom watched Lily for us. Lily even sat still long enough for me to do her hair! :) We had a ton of fun- that was the most Chad and I have danced together probably since the wedding we met at! Of course, after a dozen+ shots, his evening ended earlier than mine, which was fine so I could help wrap things up. It's still crazy to think that my little brother is married! (he's 6 years younger than I am) Here are some pictures from that wedding.

I think this is a neat picture of Angie getting ready. She's so pretty!

My parents with the bride and groom.
Whoa- look at that dress!

Lily with Grandma in church before the wedding. The only picture of Chad and I that I have right now.

Do we look like brother & sister?!?
Lily and Mommy all dressed up!

Last weekend, some friends that now live in Colorado Springs had their reception at the Sprecher Brewery. They were actually married last September (on the day of Lily's 1st birthday party) and Maria is now 5+ months pregnant! The Sprecher Brewery was great- I had never been there before and was impressed! Saz's catered- awesome! The men especially loved it- BBQ ribs!!! How many brides eat BBQ ribs in their wedding dress?!?! Here are a few of those pics.

Congratulations Matt & Maria! (and baby Meyer!)

Maria with her nephew Elliott on his first birthday! - the same day as her reception! Isn't he just too cute with his decorated walker?

Lily's exciting news of the week is that she pooped on the potty for the first time last night! Yeah! No, I didn't take a picture of that- although someone just asked me if I did. I told them I was too busy trying to keep Lily from putting her sticker (for going on the potty) on the poo itself, instead of on the potty chair. I know it's early- she's not even 20 months, so I haven't made up the little chart for the wall yet- maybe I should get on that if it'll help her get the stickers to the correct place! Raising a baby/toddler/child has been/is/will be gross enough- I don't need to add "poo painting" to the list of gross and disgusting antics.

On that note... TGIF!!! We are ready to work work work on the house this weekend!

Milestones

2008-04-16T20:28:00.002-05:00

We hit a couple big milestones this week- at least in my mind...
Last night Chad's mom came over to help clean the floor - after Chad FINISHED grouting! woohoo!! Okay, we still can't bring the furniture and appliances in yet. It has to dry for 3 days, then of course we have to clean it again then seal it. THEN we can move our furniture back and finally have a kitchen/dining area and living room! The second milestone is that we pulled the trailer out of the yard up to the top of the hill (by the road) so we can clean it and put it up for sale. That $$ will help! Anyone want to buy a camper???

Re-thinking that career change to tiling...

2008-04-14T10:06:00.005-05:00

Thought I'd post a short update of where we're at... March 14th, we moved the kitchen table, LR couch, stove and refrigerator out of the first floor and have been working to install the heated tile floors ever since. I previously posted progress of the subfloor, laying the heating cables and the tile installation. Last week involved sealing the tile before grouting (supposed to make clean up easier...). Chad started grouting on Saturday- clean up that night was AWFUL!!! Luckily Sunday went much better. We are about 1/2 way done and hope to finish in the next couple days. A friend is supposed to come help tonight and Chad's Mom volunteered for Tuesday night. I definitely will not be switching careers to tiling- I still like to design it, but intalling it is just not very pleasant. My poor fingertips are just going to fall off- it hurts to type! And yes, I have a desk job- typing away at a computer all day. I'm hoping my nails grow back in two weeks for my brothers wedding! I haven't taken any new pictures of the house, so I'll leave you with more Lily pics- they are cuter than the house anyways!

Here is Lily "being nice" to Moscow (a.k.a. "Ka - cow")

Here is Lily riding Moscow.... notice he couldn't care less... just chewing away on his bone.

No comments on the stylin' window coverings... tapestries from my college days.

Here is Lily demonstrating her self-feeding skills...

...a vast improvement from this!

TGIF!!!

2008-03-28T11:48:00.004-05:00

Spring time in Wisconsin....

Okay, I cheated- this is from a couple months ago, but it could have been from now- it just snowed again last night!!!

Whoa, as usual it's been quite a week- where did it go?!?! The first floor tiling continues- we are almost 2/3 done with laying the actual tile- I think that has been 3.5 full 8-10 hour days of 1-2 people! Mostly DH, but I've been doing a lot of the cuts for him. I am very impressed with the wide range of power tools I now have in my repertoire - various tile saws, angle grinder (that one is kind of scary!), skil saw, cordless drills (of course), air-gun stapler thing... and there have been a few others over the years. Lily has even gained a few home improvement skills in her 18 months of life experience- the other night she grabbed the mortar spreader- the one with the square teeth and started to "spread" it across the floor like we do. She knew just where to use it! That provided 10 minutes of entertainment for the whole family! It's not like she can hurt the concrete subfloor!

This is the tile to date. There is a whole other room around to the right that is done that you can't see here.

The bathroom "nightmare vanity" that I mentioned in the last post. I am very happy with the final result though. Oh- the ugly light fixtures will be replaced in the next couple years - but for $10, these fit in the budget and serve their purpose.

Of course, there are always dangers around every corner at home- especially when remodeling. Did the angle grinder get away from me or was this from changing a diaper?

Oh yes, this would be from changing a diaper!!! It's not very deep, but just abrasive enough that it has had that constant burning/stinging sensation for the last 3 days! Lily fights the diaper changes when laid on the changing table and rather that have the world come to a screeching halt if I took her away from her new shopping cart (see below) I decided to change her standing up. This actually works just fine most of the time, except this time she lost her balance and I caught her before she fell into the corner of the dresser... with my arm!!! I suppose it's much better it was my arm versus her side- she'd still be screaming! It really, really hurt!

This is Lily with her new shopping cart. WW3 ensues every time we have to separate her from it. So I have Chad or the dogs distract her in another room so I can hide it in a closet!

For those of you that don't know, my dear little angel is having eating/feeding issues. Mainly- she doesn't. She looks "slight" as the nurse puts it, but maintains 95-100th percentile in both height and weight - she packs 24 pounds into that little body somewhere! However, she pretty much exists on yogurt and cold cereal right now. I give her baby food just so she gets the nutrients from a variety of foods. Her "pickiness" began 6-8 months ago and has continually gotten worse and in the last 4-5 months has regressed. She now refuses foods that she ate readily at 10-12 months old. The newest refusal is banana- she loves to say the word, but won't touch them anymore. And this isn't just pickiness, she will flat out not eat for two days - and they I have to deal with super cranky, whiney, hungry baby that still refuses most food. The daycare is also at a complete loss. So, this morning a coordinator from the Birth to 3 program came to our house for the initial paperwork session to make sure we qualify, etc. It was supposed to last about 1.5 hours- she was here almost 3! And Lily isn't even here! There was that much paperwork, and I hadn't recived one of the packs in the mail, which would have cut out almost an hour (I'm sure it'll show up today...), but since I was her only appt today, I think she was extra chatty. And you all know I can talk! The next step will be to have a Speech/Language Pathologist evaluated her to make sure she does have the oral sensory/ texture aversions that are suspected. From there, they set up a plan for therapy. Apparently there are many things that can be done to remedy these oral sensory issues - that work for most children. (Seriously, what did parents ever do before all these fancy terms and therapy programs?!?!) :P (that was dripping with sarcasm by the way....) Although I think we over diagnose ourselves and our children with all sorts of disorders and ailments, I'm definitely willing to give this a shot, to see if it will help. My Mom keeps assuring me that Lily will not go to kindergarten eating baby food, but there are days I'm not so sure!

In addition to all this, my brother is getting married in 4 weeks. Two weeks ago we had the wedding shower for 50 people! I had to post the picture of all the gifts- CRAZY!!! That is sooo nice for them!

For all the men reading this, the picture of the "toilet paper brides" will give you a small glimpse into the stupid games we play at these showers. Out of the 6 "models", Angie had to pick the best bride made out of toilet paper and various accessories/trinkets.

This last one is my little "boho" daughter enjoying the party. Actually, she was very entertained by the cups of ice cubes and the cup holders on the tops of the coolers!

Can you believe it?!?!

2008-03-20T09:57:00.004-05:00

That's right- I'm ACTUALLY blogging! It's only been a month and a half.... not like I haven't had anything to do! I have actually written many blogs in my head over the last 6 weeks, I just never implemented them. That seems to be the story of my life right now- lots of great ideas and intentions, but no implementation. Ask my co-workers... if I still have a job after this remodel, it'll be a miracle! You would think that the financial strain of working part time while trying to fund a major home-makeover would be too hard, but I don't know how we would have done all the little errands and running around if I hadn't been part-time! I think we can see the light at the end of the tunnel now - unless it's just another contractor light.... - so I'm hoping my life will find some normalcy within the next couple months!

Much of the last 6 weeks has been spent on little things in the house, trying not to catch all the colds and germs everyone seems to have this year and just living a little. One good blog idea was the vomit week- I won't go into details on that - I've tried to erase it as much as I could. Well, okay, the general story was my mother-in-law and I decided to go to church one Sunday morning, she had gotten sick before we left but felt better, so we left - no problem. On the way Lily started fussing for "no reason" - I turned around and she was covered! Yuck. We get to church and park, I get out to clean off Lily who was fine at this point and my MIL grabs a bag and starts again- only the bag had a hole and leaked on my seat! Ewww.... Needless to say, we turned around and went home! That week the dogs decided they also needed to get sick- of course they always find some little corner where you won't see them- except when Moscow hit the stairs (yes, the newly carpeted ones), the runner board and the wall! The next weekend, Chad went to check on a crying Lily around midnight, not realizing he was still up, I also got up to check on her and was met with "OMG- you have to get her - she's covered in puke!" Sure enough- we ended up with a 1am bath and laundering of the sheets! She was fine- just a fluke thing, but she did sleep in quite a bit the next day!

Let's see, we've also had pink eye- luckily Mom and Dad didn't catch it this time!- but it still means no daycare, which means more missed work for Mom. Another week I missed work b/c I literally could not get out of our driveway because of the ice! Daycare sort-of got a kick out of that when I called in to let them know Lily wouldn't be there that day! I drove out of the left side of the garage that morning, made it half way up the hill, slid back toward the house while turning 90 degrees, finally hit a patch of gravel to stop me and eventually ended up on the other end of the garage 180 degrees from where I started! And that's where my car stayed for a week! Oh, I cannot wait for a driveway! Gravel is awful when it comes to the ice build up! Which brings me to the fact that my car had to be towed off the hill on the road to our house twice this winter. The first wasn't totally my fault... I really won't get into that!, and the second time, well, my Dad was driving. :) There's more of a story to that too, but again... I'm trying to forget all the details!

The next big house work we did was on the bathrooms. Our vanities finally came in, so we got those in- Chad was amazed at how easily they went in! I ordered the counter/sink tops for them- which was actually a major ordeal. The master vanity is 72" long, which is not standard- and only 19" deep- even less standard for that length. We never did find a vanity that size (besides special order that cost as much as my first car!), so we put two 36" ones together. We still had the problem of the top- the solution ended up being a regular kitchen countertop that we cut out for sinks. The second bathroom worked just fine, it just still isn't done - the demand isn't there yet and there are MANY other priorities... like....

The first floor of our house! Or the lack of flooring in the first floor! We have come full circle and are back to doing 100% tile. Choosing the tile came dangerously close to getting me committed!! Finally found what we were looking for and are very happy with it. So, this week, Chad took off and is doing the kitchen/dining room/LR/bath/foyer/mudroom floors! :) To date, all the heating wires are down, plastic lath over that and the self leveling cement over 2/3 of the floor. The last third will hopefully be poured tonight! We have to time it so that either it's right when Chad goes to bed and someone else will have to clean up or we pour early enough so it can dry enough to walk on before he goes to bed. If not, DH will have to sleep in the basement with the dogs! The kennels are big enough.... he he he! Here are a couple pictures of our progress on the floor- I realized that I will have to take more pictures of the house- I really haven't taken a whole lot!

Heating wires laid out on the floor

2/3 of the cement poured and dried and you can see the blue plastic lath laying over the heating cables. All of the blue has to be stapled down really well or it will float up in the cement. They used over 5000 staples on the first 2/3 area!!!

TRYING to organize

2008-01-30T08:32:00.000-06:00

It's not the greatest picture- but it's a fairly typical scene of any of Lilianna's meals- both dogs right there! Lily trying to feed them, their noses right up next to her tray.... Moscow's new thing is to dig his snout up under the tray in her lap to dig food out of her bib. Apparently it tickles because Lily giggles and wiggles and kicks her legs - poor thing is stuck in her chair though, so she is at the mercy of Mom or Dad to stop the dog and we're usually laughing so hard we can't yell at the dogs.... Oh, it's also a nice pic of our huge patio doors! :)
Just a nice picture of half of our bedroom- I'm too embarassed to post the other half b/c it is WAY worse! Actually, I should have taken another picture this morning of this angle- it too is worse than this. Last weekend I spent many hours staining/sealing the grout in our bathroom b/c it bleached out during the application process - warning for those wanting to do your own tile!- don't wash it too much!- so DH spent quality daddy/daughter time with Lily. 5 hours later when I emerged from the bathroom (still not done with the grout) I walked into the biggest mess ever! Seriously, those two can make a mess at an exponentially higher rate than I ever though humanly possible. I still haven't finished picking everything up!

This brings us to the next two pictures- shelving! Most of this went up over the last week and a half- the first pic is all the shelving cut but sitting in our very bare living room (there are actually A LOT more shelves than it looks like here)- the second is Lily "helping" Chad install our closet shelving.
You would think that since I have all this great shelving that at least our clothes would be organized- yeah- not a chance! I realized that for the last 3 years most of my clothes were jammed in totes and drawers b/c we only had two ridiculously small closets. No idea where I stored all the hangers, but they are no where to be found- so there's another trip to Target! Now that I have hangers my clothes should get put away, right? Wrong again- I tried that the other day- Lily managed to tip over all the shoe racks and pull down about 3 shirts at a time off the bottom hanger racks in the time I hung up 2 shirts! We ended that attempt real quick! Thank goodness we have doors with knobs finally! I just close them all so now she can go in her room and just run up and down the hallway- which just makes her mad for the most part b/c she knows there is something behind those doors! I do occasionally leave the laundry room door open- she can't do too much damage in there- it's just dirty clothes- although walking out with a dirty sock in her mouth does gross me out. What's worse- that or chewing/licking the bottom of her shoes? Yeah- that's her thing in the car now- if she's not screaming in protest b/c she's strapped in her carseat, she'll pull off her shoes and chew on them or lick them. Ugh! As much as I'm trying to wean the pacifier, it definitely wins out over the shoe in the mouth!
Last weekend we had our fireplace surround done. The guy on the left is actually a surgical assistant and the guy on the right is an electrician that works with Chad. His Dad owned a fireplace business and these two guys grew up together doing this with the one guys Dad- so, it's their "side job". Nice cash potential, eh? Seriously, what is my talent for side job cash potential?!? I can't think of anything legal that can yield enough easy cash to make it worth the effort! ;P
These guys did a great job- finished product below. And they did warn us that it would be dusty, but I had to take a picture of just how much dust acquired in one day! Seriously, most people's houses wouldn't look like this after a year! So, there is a layer like this over EVERYTHING on the first floor- even a thin layer inside the cupboards! Most of you know how much I LOVE to dust, too! For those of you that don't, it pretty much happens when some a**hole runs their finger across my TV, my Mom or Mother-in-Law has dropped hints for more than a month, or I move. Duh- why do you think we remodeled?!?! j/k
(see the streak where I ran my finger through the dust? Yeah- the picture just doesn't give the full effect!)

Well, amidst all the craziness with the house, I got away last Tuesday and went to a local hotel that has a huge water park in it. Lilianna and I went with another Mom and her daughter who is a few months older than Lily. So, here are the girls playing in one of the bubbler things- really, they are having fun, I just wasn't able to catch that "perfect" shot. It was 3 hours that I completely forgot about the rest of the world- then walked out into sub-zero temperatures to briskly enter back into reality!

Also, we have a new family member, Lily's cousin, Troy, entered the world last Thursday. Here he is below with his Mommy and big sister. I'm sure Nicole will be thrilled I posted her picture 3 hours after giving birth, but I'd say she looks great! Yesenia loves being a big sister- I have yet to hear her call Troy by his name- it's "baby brother". Lily got to meet him last night - we told her to "be nice" to the baby. First she would "be nice" and pet him- like we teach her to "be nice" to the dogs- but when the dogs don't respond - b/c being pet by a one year old is the equivalent of a fly landing on them, she pats/hits them. Well, that's fine for a 100lb German Shepherd- not so fine for a 7lb newborn! We'll keep working on it....

134 days later...

2008-01-07T10:05:00.000-06:00

134 days- the number of days we did not sleep in our own beds! That's almost 4 1/2 months! Saturday we wrangled/coerced/bribed/begged (however you choose to look at it) our family and friends to once again come help us move all of our belongings and a lot of crap I never knew I had, back into the house. It is livable, but there is still a ton of work to be done. The floors on the first floor are not finshed yet, there are two full baths upstairs- neither of which have any working parts- so we use the sink and toilet downstairs (showered at my parents house this a.m. on my way to work!), there are no shelves- ANYWHERE! - that needs to get done very soon or I'll never empty any of the boxes! -we still have to stain all the doors, so some are hung with or without knobs, but not stained- just to contain little girl and to hopefully keep those few shreds of sanity that Mommy has left! I know there are many other things to list that are not done yet, but I don't want to depress myself- not that I could remember them all anyways! :P

Since I've been slacking on updating this for so long (not that I haven't had anything going on...), I decided to make this blog a picture montage. This first one is Lily's "new trick"- going behind furniture- she thinks it's sooo funny - until she gets stuck! It's so darn cute though, it's hard not to laugh.
Here is our future electrician checking out the inside of Daddy's work truck. He actually had picked up the carpeting pad on the way home from work and Lily was sitting between a few of the rolls. London is sniffing out the situation down in the corner.
Here is the tub "in the works" of "so easy, women and children could do it" (see last blog). It is complete now, as well as the floor. Well, almost- Chad thinks the grout is too light (not done yet in this pic) so we're going to stain it, then have to seal that and the floor and then the plumber will be back on Tuesday to finish his work. Oh, I also made us more work by accidently grabbing 2 different boxes of bull nose tile- we were only 4 short so just finished those up after the rest of the tub was done. Saturday morning our brother-in-law was finishing up the grout on the floor and the last 4 seams of the tub- Chad asked me to go find the tub grout- well, long story short- I grabbed the wrong color- so, tonight I get to chip out the grout (luckily only in those 4 seams), re-grout with the correct stuff and then stain all of it. We'll probably seal it Tuesday (luckily my day off) before the plumber comes that evening! Yeesh!
Lily was "helping" my Mom make treats for every one that would be helping us move on Saturday. It looks like she's trying to share with Grandma, too.
Here is the view from the mudroom into the kitchen to see the beginning of the cabinet/countertop installation.

Here is the same view after installation and move-in! Note all the boxes/bags, etc. - everywhere!

This is the view of our living room after move in - from standing where the kitchen table will go.

Rotate 45 degrees and the view back towards to mudroom and entryway.

Lily "helping" Daddy put the desk together in the office.

So easy, women and children can do it...

2007-12-28T22:08:00.000-06:00

That's from one of Chad's co-workers regarding installation of ceramic tile. Chad and I felt that wasn't very accurate. Neither of us has ever installed tile before, yet decided do tile both tub surrounds, 3 bathroom floors, laundry room and kitchen... hmmm... I think we are just a glutton for punishment. Chad did get the laundry room laid today and it looks very nice- a nice rectangle with few cuts to practice on. :) My Dad has done a few shower stalls in his years, so he got me started on the master bath and took over when it came time for Lily to go home after daycare. Between the two of us, we got a whole whoppin' 3 rows laid! Yikes! (Okay- we were prepping the area and other house stuff until 3pm. Still... I had no idea it was so tedious- although, it gets easier with each row. I'm not complaining- actually for those of you reading me that know me well, you'll know that this is right up my ally! I love it! I've already debated a career change to the Tile Shop! I will need to work on my "neatness" though- my jeans became the place to wipe my fingers - I can honestly say that those jeans will be going straigt to the dumpster after this project! Along with my tennis shoes and probably a few other articles of clothing. :P Tomorrow, it will be back to it- I'd like to say we'll finish the master bath shower, but we'll have to wait and see.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T20:52:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas! Here is Lily finally opening that "baby". She actually found this a week ago and has been going back to the two places she found it while repeating "baby, baby...etc." She was so excited to open that baby- Mommy finally got the doll out of it's "restraints" and go figure- she wanted nothing to do with it. I guess she's already figured out that "grass is greener on the other side" thing- she only wanted the "baby" when she could only see it in the box, not quite as desirable once she could touch it. It was a very nice Christmas even though very busy.

And, no, we are not in the house yet. We decided to postpone the carpet installation by a week in order to finish the door trims and floor boards- my brother assured us this would be a very smart move. So, thanks to the crazy amount of work Chad, my dad and brother put in over the last 4 days- including today- Christmas Day!- the trim on the doors, windows and floors (in the second floor) is done and ready for the carpet installation tomorrow morning. The kitchen cabinets are set into place, but that's it so far on those. Saturday I stained all the woodwork- from 7am to 12:30am - one break to go buy more stain and pizza for lunch. I think I'm still recovering! Here are a few pictures showing the house painted, well lit (thanks to a good electrician I found) ;) and some doors hung. I'll take more tomorrow and try to post them soon.

And they're off...

2007-12-16T21:57:00.000-06:00

Out of the gates on Friday morning and race is still going. The drywall was officially complete on Thursday, texture sprayed on Friday, paint sprayed on Saturday. Chad picked up the carpet padding on Friday, doors were delivered on Saturday, my brother was there today to install the doors on the second floor- both our dads and Chad's sister's husband were there again to help do anything we needed. Also in there, my parents, my brother, Lily and I were all in Baraboo on Saturday for a Christmas celebration with the extended family. I cannot believe that this project is coming to an end right at the craziest time of the year! We are trying to still attend most of the parties and gatherings, but we are of course trying to get as much done as possible on the house. Carpet was supposed to be installed Wed, but I think we are going to postpone it a week to install all the trim around the doors and possibly the floorboards too. My brother strongly suggested getting more of the finish work done before the carpet goes in- it will take soooo much less time to do it now rather than wait and work around the carpet. Not to mention all the dirt and dust that would end up in the brand new carpet. So, we may not spend Christmas in the house, but we are really hoping to ring in the New Year in our New House! Oh, I'll end with one good contractor bit- as I haven't had many in a while- the builder called today while we were cleaning today to ask if we found some corner angle thing - probably in a bucket with water from all the drywall crap. Could we please look for it- it cost $600! Okay, why am I emptying the drywall muck buckets and cleaning up all the other contractor stuff anyways? And if it's $600, why would it be in the bucket of muck? Chad and Gonzo did find it in the last bucket of water - completely covered in drywall mud- very goopy mud! Can we take that off the bill? :)

Watching grass grow....

2007-12-11T21:10:00.000-06:00

Here are pictures from last week- drywall time! Yes, it makes it seem like it's coming to an end, but the mudding/sanding process after the drywall is installed is about as exciting as watching grass grow! The first picture is standing in the mudroom looking into/through the kitchen to the dining area on the left and LR on the right (can't see in this picture really) back by the sliding doors.
This second picture is standing in our bedroom looking down the hall and into the closet and bathroom on the left. I'm pretty excited about the skylights- you can see two of them in this picture.
The previous owners had put skylights in the 1/2 bath upstairs and one in our bedroom- that was how we knew we really wanted them in this house. I think I'd have them in every room if it were feasible! (Yeah, I know that's wierd). The major news for this week is that we've purchased our carpet and it's being installed on Dec. 19th! Hopefully we can get the doors installed by then! We also purchased all the faucets & fixtures for the bathrooms and ordered the kitchen faucet- that one was a small fortune, but it'll be worth it- it looks great with the sink- and the sink is on sale for $80 off- see it all works out! :P

four down, one to go!

2007-11-29T20:06:00.000-06:00

Monday marked the fourth inspection passed- they had everything insulated and covered in plastic in 2 days last week- T & W before Thanksgiving! After the inspection passed Monday afternoon, drywall was delivered on Tuesday morning and to this point - Thursday night during the Packers/Cowboys game- they have drywalled the entire second floor and still have tomorrow to go. The siders also finished this week, although I think Chad found a spot he'd like redone. We also picked out some of the tile for the two bathrooms- still deciding on the floor tile. Not too many amusing stories tonight- I'm watching the Packer game! :) Hopefully it'll still be a smiley face at the end of the game!

WooHoo!

2007-11-21T09:01:00.000-06:00

We passed inspection on Monday! Okay- there was one issue that needed fixing, but it didn't hold up work and the inspector doesn't have to come back just for that. There were no firestops above the funaces and fireplace- yes, a major deal and the carpenter should have known, but also an easy fix. Whew! The insulation was almost done yesterday with the exception of the ceiling in our room- today they will hang the plastic and we should be able to call the inspector for the next inspection either today or Friday. Did you know there are 5 inspections minimum?!?! With the holiday, it won't happen until Monday, but they are ready to drywall as soon as the inspector gives the okay. The siders have been busy as well - see pic! Yeah!- it looks like a house! From the outside anyways... I'm getting a little nervous about the flooring and all the finish work. We are doing most of that and with the holiday season upon us, something's gotta give. I was sick last year during the holidays so a lot of people didn't get to see Lily, so this year we are under the gun to show off the third member of our family. (or fifth if you count London & Moscow) :P Ah- it'll all work out- I'm getting used to the idea of walking on subfloor until tax returns.

Jinxed

2007-11-14T20:06:00.000-06:00

Well, I didn't need to jinx myself to receive more bad luck. Monday, Chad received a phone call from the garage door installer. Dropping the F-bomb and insulting your client is definately not the recommended way to talk to your clients! He said the garage doors were framed in wrong an didn't do what he directed us (therefore, our carpenter) to do. So, Chad called the carpenter, his response was something like, 'What the f is he talking about. This is how it's been done for 50 years. I'm not f'ing changing anything. He can call me if he has a problem.' You can probably guess how the installer reacted... let's just say, not favorable. Especially since we hadn't given him any $ yet, I was ready to fire his butt. However, my husband is too nice (and getting worn down I think). The good news was the call he received from the siding guys- they were there and started! Yeah! Oh wait, fast forward to 5 o'clock that night when we all (Chad, me & Lily) met back at the house after work. The siding was the correct color this time (not purple!), oh but oops!- WRONG style!!!! Can you believe it?!?! At least the color was noticed before it was delivered. This was already installed as high as the garage door openings! So, after recovering from that blow, we called the siding company- the guy even went back to the office that night to figure out what happened. This company was very responsive, they were there right away yesterday taking off all the wrong stuff, but since it was at least the correct color, they continued to hang trim, j-channels, corner pieces, etc. The correct siding should be here tomorrow. (As usual, I'll believe it when I see it!) The garage door installer had also called back later Monday to apologize to Chad. He had gone to 3 jobs on Monday, all had the same mistakes, so he was not able to do any work and had wasted the whole day. (yeah- I'm sure he got paid anyways, so I'm not too sad for him!) He also was there yesterday and installed all the garage doors. So, after a rough start to the week, it really picked up and we're happy with the garage doors and will be really happy if the siding also shows up! No pictures today- it's usually dark by the time I get home, so I don't get quite as many opportunities. Those will be the weekend/Monday morning surprises! :P Oh, all of you that say I'm cynical and sarcastic- do you now see why?!?!

Remember Veteran's Day Today

2007-11-11T21:51:00.000-06:00

We have cement! Unfortunately, this is as much cement as we'll get until next spring. The driveway is going to get real interesting this winter- ugh! It'll be really nice to actually park our vehicles in a garage. They might go into shock! Below is a picture of the fireplace I mentioned in the last blog. It is 70-80% efficient as compared to a conventional wood burning fireplace that can actually be less than 50%! We can't afford solar panels or even bamboo floors, but we are doing our best to use energy efficient, health conscious and eco-friendly products when we can. I'm the friend to the environment (try to be anyway) and although DH is happy to "Save the Planet", the financial aspects out weigh anything else. Translate- it needs to be able to pay itself off w/in 5-7 years max! Solar is about 15 -20 years. :( I should have lots to update later this week- although I'm afraid I'll jinx us if I say more!

Tick, tock, tick, tock...

2007-11-06T22:12:00.000-06:00

The weather is getting colder and the clock seems to be ticking faster. We are almost ready for the inspection- still working to finish up the electrical. The end of Daylight Savings Time isn't really helping motivation. The masons were supposed to pour the garage slab and sidewalk today, but it was too windy. (? I don't really know what that has to do with it.) Our siding finally came in the correct color, although they keep putting us off too. Errr.... We are satisfied with the fireplace company- the installer was out on Monday and got that in- we even have 1 zone heat up to the master bedroom. I'll definately post a picture of that when I get one. This fireplace is quite the piece of equipment! Argh- crying child- gotta go. It looks like we're in for night #4 with no sleep!

Trick or Treat

2007-11-02T22:31:00.001-05:00

Lilianna the "tulip fairy" and her cousin the ladybug - out to Trick or Treat at Grandma's house. Don't worry- I put a coat on her- this was just for the picture- we had just arrived from daycare.
The girls taking over Grandma's living room with toys- looking like they are all wired on their Trick or Treat loot- they actually didn't have any! Believe it or not, the matching PJ's were a complete coincidence.

So, this is a picture standing in our living room looking up into the tub drain for the master bath. If you look between the two heating ducts, just to the left of the floor joist, you can see about 1/3 of the hole for the tub drain. Yes, it is dead center over the floor joist- what are the chances?!?! Another "lessons learned" to go on our carpenters list- check tub and toilet placements on uppper floors when planning! The plumbing pipe coming in on the left has a cap on it for the inspection and will then get hooked up- you'll notice that it looks like it runs right into the heat duct. Well, it actually did until 2 days ago! The heating contractor said he's always getting screwed over and decided that he "didn't wanna" run his pipes below the plumbing ones. (How old is this guy? Five?!?!) Chad was super pissed and just ripped it down and made him do it right. However, Chad actually fixed a number of this guy's other mistakes- not really mistakes, just sloppy work from being too lazy to do it right. So, we'll enthusiastically offer our plumbers number, but you'll be taking your chances with any of the other contractors! Okay- not the electrical, but he's not for sale. ;)
Here I am enjoying my new tub - with Moscow trying to climb in! This may be the only time I can enjoy it if the plumber can't figure out a way to work around that floor joist AND pass inspection. (That last part is really all we're aiming for at this point!)

I think I see light, yes, waayyy out there!

2007-10-28T22:08:00.000-05:00

That is the light at the end of the tunnel know as "this project"! Like I said in the last blog, "I'll believe it when I see it" - the carpenter didn't finish that day, but he was there until 7pm last Saturday and did finish- FINALLY!!! We had a wedding last weekend that Chad was in, so nothing got done on the house on our end. This week was pretty productive though- the plumber got the tubs in - although the one for the master bath had to be exchanged- the box was labeled correctly as a left drain, but it was actually a right drain tub. Come on!?!?! What are the chances?!?! Chad got tons of electrical work done, his friend Dan came over to help- he insulated the skylights, Lilianna and I did the Menard's shopping (I've gotten really good over the years at shopping for all the electrical stuff- Chad can actually just give me a list, not explain too much and I can even find it on my own! Maybe I should become an electrician too!) The HVAC crew showed up today around 12:30!?! and worked until @ 6pm. This isn't really even a side job for this guy- he's a legitimate company, but just starting out. Either way- ick- all Sunday afternoon- and it was gorgeous out today! Our cabinets arrived the day after the last blog- I have included a picture of what my parents garage now looks like. I'm still spoiled after all these years- my Dad's little MG collector's car is outside while I take up half their garage! Not to mention Lily and I have taken over more than our fair share of the house! Ah- they love it! :P

I forgot to mention that the roof was done last week and the siding would have been almost done except that it arrived in the wrong color! So did the shingles actually, but those turned out to be a better color. The fireplace will be installed at the end of this week or beginning of next, and the garage slab should also be done the end of this week. That's another one of those, "I'll believe it when I see it" tasks. That guy has been fairly unresponsive to Chad. We've come up with many names for our contractors- most of them shouldn't be posted on blogger!

Just in time!

2007-10-18T08:43:00.000-05:00

With fall starting, the project is picking up speed. The carpenter said he'd be 100% done today (I'll believe it when I see it). The plumber worked on Tuesday night and is almost half done! He said Chad could help him and it would save us labor costs- I was not there, but Chad was exhausted by the time this guy left! I guess this guy is just a madman when he works and just kept handing over orders to Chad - as soon as he finished one task, get to another. Also, his goal is to have his work be the highest quality work on the house. (A pretty impressive goal considering how my brother is about his work and Chad about the electrical). Also, Chad told me Sunday night that the plumber needed all the fixture styles/numbers etc. for Tuesday and I would have to go to a certain dealer in West Allis to pick all this out. It couldn't have fallen at a worse time as far as my schedule went this week, but I sucked it up and spent 2+ hours in the showroom with the consultant and picked everything out. So much for just picking stuff up a Home Depot! Yesterday's progress consisted of the roof work. They started yesterday morning and should finish today if the storms don't blow them off the roof. I'm just happy all the paper is on (& most the shingles) so the roof won't leak. I was starting to worry about our windows- I'm not staining/varnishing until the drywall and painting are complete, so all that water leaking into the house is not good! You can see (below) my kitchen window is in and even has it's own little roof- awe... how cute. You may as well start taking bets right now on how many times I'll walk right into that window b/c it sticks out a little on the deck.

Children or dogs? It's a wash- they both trash the house!

2007-10-13T22:20:00.000-05:00

Well, it was another long Saturday for my husband and my brother, although a very productive one I've heard. (I actually haven't been there yet today.) Our builder and his one employee that knows what he's doing b/c he's actually a carpenter were there for a couple hours today- if you're going to work on a Saturday wouldn't you make it worth it instead of driving all the way to a job site and only work two hours? Just my opinion. Brother and brother's friend/co-worker installed my kitchen window- it's a small bay window with the ledge for plants or whatever (DH told me it'll just turn into a place for me to collect more crap- of course it is now my goal to prove him wrong!) They were thinking that would be a lot of work b/c it has to be supported and framed out on the outside- luckily that went well. The basement stairs... hmmm that may be another story. Besides my brother wanting to ring my neck b/c I made another change- only prompted by Chad wanting to put the refrigerator in the mudroom?!?! what?!?! So, I came up with an idea to make it flow a little better- it kind of stood out in the old plan and was obviously in an awkward place in the kitchen, hence Chad's idea to hide it in a closet area- except that it is in a different room or an extension off the kitchen. Guess who does most the cooking? Not someone that doesn't think out the functionality (or lack thereof) of the fridge placement. Okay, so that's done. My brother just can't believe that of all the changes homeowners can make, all of ours revolve around the most technically challenging area of the house. Today was tackling the basement stairs. The had to completely remove the old stairs (awe, I should have taken one last pass up and down those wonderful stairs. You know that would have been the pass that would have broken a leg or my other arm! It's been 16mos and it's still not 100%!) They also cut open the floor requiring reinforcement of the floor joists. They ran into some issues that I couldn't explain if I tried, but the end result was they had to jack up the house to fit one of the joists in and the second one actually had to be inserted through the wall from the outside. Okay- reread that sentence- yes, jack up the house! It was only an inch or two, but enough that apparently, the steel support beam in the center of the basement was actually swaying a litttle until they took out the jack and let the house down and there was a lot of creaking and cracking of the house expressing it's disapproval! The second joist required a hole to be cut in the side of the house and the joist slid in from outside. I'm sure glad these guys know what they are doing! I am feeling a little guilty that I didn't go to the house at all today. I've told Chad a number of times that'd I'd love to help more on the house, but what do we do with Lily? We can't have a one year old on a construction site and having grandparents watch her every weekend just isn't fair- they have her a ton as it is. I've offered to trade Chad for a day, but he always says, "That's okay." I think he know that's b/c my days go something like this: today, a fairly relaxed day, consisted of getting my daughter up, get her breakfast, then a bath and get ready to go to Empty Bowls- a charity event to raise money for food shelters. She decided that she needed a nap right after the bath, so we were about an hour late to meet Grandma and Auntie Angie- that's life with a one year old. Got her up and changed and packed into the car after the 5 minute wrestling/screaming match to get her in her carseat. I give in an give her a pacifier to settle her down so I don't pinch myself or her in the buckles of the carseat that I am trying to fasten during her protest. Get to MATC and repeat the last sentence only this time it was the stroller- I actually said "screw it" and just carried her and used the stroller for the diaper bag and purse. So, when you see Mom's in the mall doing that and think "isn't the stroller supposed to be for the kid", remember your life is much more pleasant b/c of this- or you'd be listening to a screaming kid throwing a tantrum. (You can witness this if you accompany me to the grocery store- I don't give in there. Mean mommy!) Okay, back to the day... many distractions at the event kept her entertained, then repeat the tantrum/wrestling match to get back in the car. Once back at home (my parent's house actually), it was lunch. The first 5 minutes was spent getting my brother's dog to go lay down and quit begging. My dogs know better- although they've had months of being scolded to learn- my brother doesn't have kids yet, so his dog thinks Lily's meal times are a buffet line! After only sacraficing a couple crackers, she sort of let us be. The chicken and stars third stage food went over like a terd in a punch bowl, so she had stage two fruit, cheerios and animal crackers. This no table food except crackers and cookies is getting really old. It is funny to watch her expressions and see her spit out the food and examine it- then I realize she has mashed and smeared it all over and now it's time to clean it up again. I just comb the chunks out of all that hair - she'd be in the tub 3-4 x/day if I had to keep her hair clean! I think about this time the guys had finished their lunch (that they got to sit and eat at their own pace and not have to feed or wipe the face of the person next to them or wipe off their own face after having food spit/thrown just because it's fun). Peace actually happened this afternoon- she slept for 3 hours! I suppose if we had been at our home in the trailer and she napped for 3 hours there, I could have helped on the house, but Murphy says No Way would she have slept for 3 hours there! The rest of the day went something like poopy diaper, play, poopy diaper, make dinner for Chad and my bro, poopy diaper (literally the third one in 2 hours!) they finally bed time again! So, here I sit recapping the day here for your entertainment (after folding laundry) so that I have a slightly better chance of falling asleep instead of laying there with my mind spinning. Oh, I forget to add probably the funniest part of the day was after breakfast. Changed the first poopy diaper of the morning and just let her run buck for a few while I grabbed the towel, clothes, clean diaper, etc. Ran back in her room and picked her up realizing my arm got a little wet- and it wasn't drool. Yep, she peed. Not on me luckily, but on the floor (remember, we're staying with my parents, so this isn't my carpeting.) Not wanting to ruin Grandma and Grandpa's carpeting, Lily was considerate enough to pull a pile of clean clothes off the bed first and pee on those and just a little on the carpet. How thoughtful. That's so wonderful that her parent's teach her to be so considerate!

It's looking like a house!

2007-10-10T12:14:00.000-05:00

Here are the updated pictures from the weekend- they have the house wrap on and windows installed. My brother and his crew installed all the windows- that's him up on the roof working on the chimney chase- no H&S comments from the CH folks- I'm sure there were all sorts of safety issues on this project- and there will probably be more. They did install a safety rail of sorts across the large patio door opening- you can kind of see it in the upper picture. Although that's a moot point now, Chad installed the door/window last night- with help from my Dad. It was too dark to take pictures when they finished, but it is awesome!

Building a house is such hard work...

2007-10-06T19:52:00.000-05:00

Whew, building a house is such hard work... nap time!

That's probably what 8 grown men are saying tonight as well- okay, maybe not all of them b/c some only worked a half day, but my brother and my husband started at 6:30 this morning and worked until 5:30 tonight! And, they'll be doing the same tomorrow- no helpers tomorrow though. Well, except me- I get to clean up all the mess and get all the leaves out- now that there are windows so no more get in. The guys got tons done today, although the pictures below are from Thursday or Friday- hopefully I can post tomorrow and show the windows! Yeah- it's starting to look like a house. A really frickin' huge house! What the heck were we thinking?!?! I didn't clean our other houses- now I have over 2x the space for all the dirt to go. "Dilution is the solution!" Do you think that works for dirt and dog hair, too?

Left: Standing in the garage looking at the mechanical room and mud room and into the house.

Below: The stairs my little brother built last weekend.

View from the lake side. Note the 48ft long dog kennel- spoiled muts! Also- I never noticed the logos on the back of the trailer- go John Deere!

Are you sure the inspector would notice?!?!

2007-09-29T22:11:00.000-05:00

Today my brother (a carpenter by trade- not sure if I've mentioned that before- long story why he's not building) and a co-worker came to do our stairways. Our contractors "had a pretty good idea" of how to do the stairs, but were more than happy to let my brother in on this one. Good thing! Bro and Co-worker were here for 1.5+ hrs and not a board cut or a nail hammered. Somewhere in the planning stages, the ceilings on the first floor were raised to 9ft- great- more head room and it'll "look pretty". No one thought about the rise/run make-up for the staircase- oops! So the vm from little bro went something like this... "ahhh, hey, we didn't do any work today, but we came up with a few options for you guys to go over. We have to move some things around to get the stairs to code. It'll be shocking but nothing that can't be fixed." Great! We're supposed to meet him tomorrow morning to go through everything and make decisions- which ought to be good considering DH is at a bachelor party since 11:30 today and will not be home until sometime tomorrow morning! A good hangover can only make these decisions easier! Came home to hang out in the trailer with the dogs for a while and laptop battery is going to go- more joys of not having an actual house to keep all my belongings- i.e. cord for computer....

Honey, I want to make some changes...

2007-09-26T22:01:00.000-05:00

No, that comment didn't come from me. That was the phrase from my husband yesterday. Actually, it was prefaced by, "I have a great idea!". He wanted to change the orientation of the stairs, resulting in taking out the bathtub on the first floor and the closet in the foyer. Since there are no walls on the first floor yet and there are no stairs at all, this actually is feasible without any penalties from the builder for changes. And, I did think it was a good idea. I'm really glad he thought of it actually. It's hard to describe without seeing the plans, but the stairs would have come down into the living room and that makes the middle of the living room also a pathway. By switching the orientation at the bottom of the stairs, the living room will be a "room" and the stairs will now go down into the foyer. Speaking of all these stairs, the builder is saying that the basement stairs weren't part of the deal. What?!?! Okay, whatever. His one carpenter that knew how to do the upper set of stairs has been gone and we're not sure when he's coming back. So, my brother to the rescue! He and a co-worker are coming this weekend to build both sets of stairs and our builder liked that idea so much, he said he'd pay for half! (For those who don't know, my brother is a carpenter- a very good one.) The company he works for builds for some of the biggest builders in southeastern Wisconsin. Unfortunately, that translated to WAY too expensive for us. Yes, we know that you get what you pay for, and our builder is doing a pretty good job and that's also why we are now asking him to do the stairs. Chad said he'd be his b*tch for a day up at his house. I think my brother is making a list of all the electrical work he'll need done for the next year! ;)
So, here are some pictures of the upstairs- I actually braved the ladder myself and took these on Saturday. You can see two doorways- the left is the extra bedroom and the right will be Lily's room. As of today, they have the walls for the 3rd bdrm/office and bathroom done, but that picture just looked like a bunch of sticks (boards).

My father-in-law is upstairs.

Pick up the pace boys!

2007-09-22T22:53:00.000-05:00

Okay, I think I jixned us in one of the first posts when I said they were really getting a lot done. Even Chad is thinking they are moving slow now. In their defense, the roof is really high and hanging the fascia (what holds the gutters on I think) without any lifts or cranes is probably quite a task. I'm still hoping to be in the house by mid-November. It doesn't have to be complete, just the bedrooms and one bathroom upstairs. Winter in Wisconsin in a trailer just doesn't sound like fun. For those of you that were looking forward to all the entertaining stories of me living in the trailer with Chad and the dogs and Lily, well, I am sorry to disappoint you- I have been taking the "easy" way out and staying with my parents a lot. Oh my gosh, that trailer just gets smaller every time I walk in it! Friday was Lily's 1yr Dr appt and shots - and she had a slight fever and the sniffles going in- well, by last night, we both have full fledged head colds with fever. Daddy even caught this one from little girl. I never thought so much snot could come out of such a cute little nose! Just another reason that I am not dealing with the trailer and small uncomfortable beds. I think Chad secretly doesn't mind when I don't sleep there b/c he gets my bed and doesn't have the dogs sleeping on him all night! Will try to get updated pics tomorrow- I'll have Chad climb up the ladder to get some of the second floor- something different, since I didn't even notice that they were there today from the outside!

Finally... pictures!

2007-09-19T20:34:00.000-05:00

I FINALLY have pictures of the progress on the house. I took some this morning and tonight- the progress is not as dramatic as in the beginning, but the work is much harder, so it goes a little slower. Okay, I am just assuming it's harder b/c I think that lifting up and setting trusses by hand would be heavy and tiresome! Oh, I have observed their secret though- apparently if you carry heavy loads with a cigarette hanging out of your mouth, you get an extra boost of energy! Seriously, the tall super-skinny guy was carrying 8 2x4's on his shoulder while puffing a way on a cigarette! I think the load weighed more than he did! Now that they have all the debris picked up, we can see all the other junk they leave laying around- the best this weekend was the glazed jimmie donut on the 2 floor window sill- with only one or two bites out of it, too. Oh well, it may not be the way I would work, but as long as they build me a quality house (and it doesn't end up smelling like smoke!), they can keep house however they like!

Above is the progress through Tuesday, September 18.
Below is the progress through Wednesday, September 19. I think all the trusses are up in the second story and many are already up. The gable above the garage was also done today.

2007-09-17T22:52:00.000-05:00

Oh my gosh- it's been almost two weeks since I've updated this and I can't even begin to tell all that has been going on. In addition to the usual craziness, I was working in Illinois the last two weeks. Commuting of course b/c there is no way I could leave Lily for that long- for her sake or mine! So, my family was very helpful in watching her, picking up from daycare, etc. On top of all that, her first birthday was last Friday- so I had to get ready for the big party on Saturday all the day before b/c I haven't been around for 2 weeks! I think sometime over the weekend I decided I should rename the blog, "Living in an SUV with a toddler". My vehicle has reached the ridiculous status. For almost 3 weeks now I have not been able to find the only pair of jeans that fit me- yeah, found 'em Saturday under a pile of crap- along with a skirt and 2 shirts! Who needs shopping, just stop into Heather's Ford Escape! I also have 5 or 6 pairs of shoes, two jackets and a stroller, but I knew those were there. Maybe I should keep digging and hopefully find a camera to replace mine that broke about a week ago- therefore no recent pictures. :( Chad said I can use his work one until I can go buy a new one- which has to wait until the 26th b/c that's when the billing cycle starts over. Nice, eh? And if you are paying attention to the timelines, you'll realize that not only did my camera decide to not work in the middle of a house remodel, but also right before our daughter's FIRST Birthday!!! Arrrgh- what parent doesnt' have a camera at their child's first birthday?!?!
The house update- that IS what this blog is supposed to be about, right? So, the lumber delivery guy told Chad that he could not get the trusses up our road, so the builders will have to carry them by hand from the bottom of the road, up the hill and all the way to our house- that's > 1/4 mile! Luckily, the neighbor had an old pontoon trailer he lent us and the guys were able to use that. Of course, in exchange, he'll be borrowing our log splitter. Any suggestions on how to tell him next year that he can't use it forever- that it was just a one season kind of deal? Ah, we'll cross that road when we come to it. At this point, almost all the exterior walls are up on the second story and they lifted many of the trusses up there- none are up yet though. The windows were all delivered today and we discovered a nice gauge out of the patio doors. It's about 1/2" deep and wide by about 2" long! Definitely not to be filled in with wood putty, so that one gets to get sent back. Errrr.... I'm hoping to take some pictures tomorrow so I can post all the changes. Pretty soon they'll have all the exterior sheeting on and it won't look quite so dramatic.

Room with a view

2007-09-05T22:20:00.000-05:00

There are plenty of views from the living room now! Oh- except for that big 'ol camper in the way. :-P I don't even know if I have any stories that are all that entertaining right now. I have been so busy, I really haven't been home much to experience all the chaos. We did take time this weekend to enjoy the boat and go swimming. I'm sure Chad will not be happy that I posted the one of him and Lily in the lake, but she's just so dang cute, I have to show her off. There is also one of "Lily helping to pack". You can guess how much I got done that night!

The pictures of the house are what they finished by Friday afternoon. They were already gone at 3 when Chad got home- we're guessing the bugs were just too much to handle. (Or they just cut out early b/c of the Holiday weekend. -- slackers!) Just kidding- these guys are bustin' their butts on this job! And, how nice are we?!? We bought them a few cans of bug spray! :P They're getting paid by the hour, they better not spend half of it swatting mosquitos! My big accomplishment for the week was getting our kitchen cabinets ordered - OUCH! $$$$ Mucho dinero!! And, almost as painful as the price, is the fact that I spent 3 hours in Menards getting these ordered- and we already had them picked out, planned, etc.- that was just verifying and finalizing everything! It'll be worth it though!

2007-09-02T22:17:00.000-05:00

Okay, I'm falling a little behind on the blogging- these pictures were from Thursday afternoon. Anyone need to use the toilet? I love that they left just the sink and toilet up there! I've also included a picture from the side- note the silt fence- it completely worked during all that rain we had! Also a view of the lake through what used to be our bedroom. The beds in the camper are showing their true colors now- mine is no longer as comfortable as I originally thought! I sort of look forward to the couple nights a week I sleep at my parents house!

Spiders, Mosquitos, and Flies... Oh My!

2007-08-30T08:58:00.000-05:00

Here are the pictures of Day 2 and Day 3 of construction. Day 3 is a little dark, but almost all of the second story has been removed and some of the garage walls are up! I wa s so excited that our contractor told us the bathroom would be usable through the work (I could keep my shower!)- yeah, well that ended yesterday. Woohoo, a whole 2 days! Actually, that's fine- that means they are getting lots done! So, that also means we are showering at the parents' houses or the trailer.

This mornings adventure began with the alarm at 5 a.m. (it's getting later because I don't have anything to dink around doing in the morning- not enough space and I have to try not to wake anyone!). I would be trying out the trailer shower this morning. Chad said it really wasn't that bad- just wash fast because the hot water runs out very quickly! He wasn't kidding- the last half (all 2 minutes of it) may as well have been outside under the garden hose- that is where the water is coming from anyways. He didn't mention though that there is a spider the size of a lion with the speed of a cheetah living in the shower! Luckily, it presented itself before I stepped in or y'all would have heard me screaming where ever you are! I'm just glad I didn't have my contacts in so I couldn't get the full effect of it's creepiness! You may hear this story again since it ran into the seam b/w the wall and the tub! ewwww.... As for the mosquitos and flies in the subject line, my legs look like a 10 year old's at summer camp- at least 2-3 new ones a day! Actually 3 this morning just going to my car! Poor Lily woke up with 2 this morning and they usually don't go for her - or Chad for that matter. I guess I'm just a smorgasbord for them! As for the flies... well, I don't know- the damn things are just all over.

No turning back now...

2007-08-29T13:26:00.000-05:00

Demo started Monday and I finally have a chance to post some pictures! I had no idea the visual change would be this dramatic on the first day! Of course, it seems like these guys are just flyin' and we'll have this done in no time, but realistically- demo is the quickest thing and everything will slow down once plumbing, electrical, HVAC, drywall, etc. get going. So, enough chit, chat... here are the pictures from day one of construction!

This was my kitchen.

Looking upstairs to what was Lily's room and the landing.

View from the neighbors yard.

This was actually from last Friday- just thought all the BIG equipment right outside my house was pretty cool- they're almost as big as the house!

Day Two - Monday, August 27

2007-08-28T10:41:00.000-05:00

Day two- the first REAL morning in the trailer- meaning I have to get up early, get everything/everyone/everyanimal ready and go to work. 4:35am - Alarm goes off, I grab my clothes, toothpaste/toothbrush, contact stuff and a flashlight, out the trailer door with two hungry dogs to make my way to the house to feed them and take a shower- my 15 minutes of serenity each day- yeah at 4:30 or 5 in the morning. I thought putting in contacts was supposed to make me see better- this morning things were more blurry and my eyes burned like hell. Grabbed my toothpaste to brush my teeth only to realize through the blurriness that it was A&D ointment (at least I figured it out before I used it!). Made my way back to the trailer to try to be somewhat quiet b/c Chad got home from work at 1am - well, Lily took care of that. GOOD MORNING Daddy! :) He was a good sport- excited for the work to start I guess. I got Lily to daycare with no major issues- just the usual trying to throw her shoes out the window- why do I even bother putting them on her?!?! Went through the Java Jo's drive thru - 2 "coffees" and 2 rice crispie bars for Chad & I (breakfast of champions) - $11!!! Yikes, won't be doing that very often. Stopped back home to move a few last minute things out of the house and left for work.
Ah, work- pretty sad when it's more relaxing there than at home! But, to top off my morning, I was greeted my a number of my co-workers by, "Whoa! Rough night, Heather? You look tired!" "Heather, you should go home and get some sleep- you're looking pretty tired." Mind you- I actually slept okay- I just couldn't find my make-up to put any on!!! (I'm pretty sure butt-paste wouldn't have been a suitable alternative for lip gloss.) So, I still haven't found my make-up, so I'll be running out today to buy new. I certainly can't show up at work another day without any!

Last week's rain

2007-08-26T22:41:00.000-05:00

Here are pictures of water from part of a day of rain. Lots and lots of standing water- the only one's loving that are the mosquitos!
Too tired to post more- the reason? Besides moving the contens of my entire house in 2 days, Lily work up twice last night- I jinxed myself in last nights blog saying she was sleeping well. The first time- no biggie- the 2:30 a.m. one- well, she discovered her shadow on the wall from the ridiculously bright night light, although really cute, not the time! Moscow and London are just rollin' with the punches. They are freaked out in their own way, but my guess is that it is worth it because there is soooo much mud to play in!

Too much crap!

2007-08-25T21:17:00.000-05:00

You never realize how much stuff you have until the time comes to move it. I thought the storage box was huge when it was delivered- it looks like a train car- yeah- we completely filled it up and then some- my parents house, the trailer of course, and our existing garage- although that leaks like a sieve. Thank goodness Chad's friend, Dan and our brother-in-law, Gonzo, were here to help! Also, have to put in a plug to our parents that all showed up last night and also help tons! In addition to being surprised at how much crap I have, I was thoroughly embarassed (and grossed out) by the amount of dog hair beneath our bed, behind dressers and under the fridge- ewww!!!! I will have to remember to move the furniture more often- just no one look when you visit or I'll show you where the vaccuum is. :) So, now that all the furniture is out, tonight is officially the first night in the trailer-- ooohhhh! :P I wasn't certain how Lilianna would do sleeping in her pack-n-play vs her crib, but she fell right asleep and so far, so good. We are even sitting in here with the TV and lights on- ya gotta love that kids can sleep through anything! More to move and organize tomorrow- time to go test out the trailer beds!

Almost....

2007-08-24T22:41:00.000-05:00

I feel like I've been packing for a month! Oh wait- I have! It's ALMOST done though, my parents and Chad's parents were all here tonight helping to take care of Lily and helping to pack and move some furniture. Chad had to work again so the help was greatly appreciated! Guess what?!?! Yep, it started RAINING AGAIN! Arghh... so, now I am sitting in a living room full of dressers, totes, bags, 2 televisions and 2 stereos and I won't even touch the porch- I can hardly even walk in there. I know I am somewhat of a pack rat and like to recycle rather than throw away, but seriously- how do we have soooo much stuff?!?! I feel like I've been throwing away a lot of junk, but aparently not enough! Tomorrow morning Chad's friend and our brother-in-law will be here to help move all the big stuff out- the forecast is 76 and sunny- keeping my fingers crossed! His sister will watch Lily for us- and since Chad has to work again on Sunday, we have to have everything out tomorrow night- Yikes! Maybe Sunday I'll load my pictures to the blog while relaxing in the trailer with Lily and two giant dogs that have been cooped up all week because of the rain.... you see where this is going don't you???

Is the camper the Ark in disguise?!?!

2007-08-20T08:35:00.000-05:00

Nothing like a good week+ of rain to set back construction! The garage foundation walls were poured on Friday, so now we need to wait one week to backfill- then the builder can get in to begin demo on the existing house. This silver lining to this thunder-cloud is that I now have more time to pack! We were supposed to be out today, but with all the rain, we haven't been able to move our belongings out of the house to storage- no, they won't melt in the rain, but the yard is soooo muddy and slippery and the whole thing is one large hill up to the road (where the storage box is). Now we are contributing to the mud by pumping out all the water that has built up in the excavation - picture to follow later.

MUD!!!

2007-08-15T18:18:00.000-05:00

The footings for the basement were poured on Tuesday morning- not too much excitement, except that the cement truck sank down pretty far only a couple feet from the excavation- I didn't see it, but there was a lot of yelling and swearing by the contractors and then the truck engine revved and the tires were spinning mud everywhere. Hmmm... I'm thinking that could have been bad. I have included pictures of the mess. The walls will be poured tomorrow- it will be interesting to see how that cement truck does!

Where to begin...

2007-08-15T09:03:00.000-05:00

Last Thursday the tree service transplanted the pear tree- unfortunately no pictures of that yet- I do have video but maybe by the time the house is done, I'll have figured out how to get it from the camera to my computer, then to the blog. Let me assure you though, if you have not seen one of those "Big John's" tree transplanter, it is quite the site! Of course, it started raining when the guy got there and stopped just as he was finishing- that was a muddy mess! The truck actually began to slide sideways down the hill in the yard- leaving small culverts where the tires were! As you can see in the pictures- that doesn't really matter anymore!

Friday the other tree service did not show up to cut down 4 trees, so Chad and my Dad played Lumberjack on Saturday. These were really tall trees- Chad said he didn't think it would be too bad and even if they hit the house, it wouldn't be that bad b/c we are remodeling... sure, no problem!

Monday, the real work started! The excavation began at 7:30 am for the garage footings and they were done by noon. That's probably about the time the neighbors started in... actually, a woman confronted the contractor early that morning and told them it was a private road and they were not allowed up there- obviously, they listened to the hand that feeds them.

For those who have been to our house, you know the road-now imagine getting a backhoe up there on a trailer! Not to mention all the dump trucks and cement trucks! Well, the heavy equipment on trailers actually had to be unloaded at the fork at the top of the hill b/c the trailers could not make it through! The treads left slight washboard marks in the road and by 4 o'clock the neighbors were furious. One came over cussing and swearing, demanding to know the name of our builder. Chad calmly asked, "Why? They haven't even been here yet." That left the ornery neighbor slightly dumbfounded, but he quickly regained steam. These people have entirely way too much time on their hands to be so caught up in our business! (And yes, we will be fixing the road when it's all done- but not during- it'll just get ripped up again!)

Okay- I'll hop off my soapbox now and leave you with the latest pictures.

diggin' it...

2007-08-08T10:49:00.000-05:00

Technically you could say the digging has begun- last Tuesday the electric company installed the new pole, Friday they buried the electric from the house to the pole and yesterday the phone company began their work. Offically, we are scheduled to dig the foundation next Monday. For those who haven't seen the plans or been to the house- that also means we no longer can use our front door. In fact- I think they are taking out the stairs right away! Chad says he'll use a ladder, but after my "trip down the stairs" Monday night, I have been instructed to use the back door into the dog kennel - I suppose this will motivate me to pick up dog poo! My little spill down the stairs also made us reconsider this whole rennovation- if I'm this big of a klutz, maybe we should be in a padded ranch!

Last Thursday a small backhoe was dropped off for Friday's work and was left there all weekend. When the guy left Friday he said that if we needed to use it, the keys were under the mat. Of course we decided to- well, it didn't get very far. Chad quickly realized that the controls were inconspicuously "marked" - he ended up with blue wheel bearing grease on his hands! So, I guess they'll know someone was on it. We'll just say Lily wanted her first driving lesson!

The camper has arrived...

2007-07-30T09:41:00.000-05:00

So, the camper arrived Thursday night- here are the pictures. It really is not that bad- we agreed that it showed up a lot better than we were even expecting. Sadly enough, I think it even has more kitchen storage than my current kitchen! Hence the need for remodeling. Part of the bargain was that Lily's crib was supposed to fit- well technically it would, but as you can see in one of the pictures, the pack n' play fits right into the base of one of the bunk beds.

Diggers hotline showed up on Friday to make their mark -the dogs were very happy about that -I think they barked for the entire 10 min they were there! The builder said he can start as soon as we can be out- hmmm... I literally have not packed one thing yet. Chad volunteered to have the entire house packed in an hour. I think I surprised him by saying "have at 'er", but he decided that he did not want to endure the months of my nagging about how I can't find anything. :) This week- will obviously be spent packing- by far the worst part of any move!

The Idea

2007-07-26T14:01:00.000-05:00

We have been working on the plans and preliminary "stuff" to remodel/add to our house for, oh... 5 months now, and have already had many stories to entertain. After much prompting from friends and co-workers, I decided to blog the "Adventures with Chad" as one person put it. Since I have never "blogged" before, this post will be brief and maybe I will add the history to the project and progression to this point.
To keep your interest until next time... the camper/trailer (aka- my home for the next 4 months) is being delivered tonight. You can only begin to imagine the follies that will ensue having 2 adults, two German Shepherds and a one-year old living in a trailer in our yard!