Tuesday, March 31, 2009

See you soon!

The painters are making great progress!  Our bedroom, the guest bedroom, the upstairs hallway, the walls in the staircase as well as the front door will be painted tomorrow and finished up Thursday morning. 

 The appliances were delivered today and look great--can't wait to wash my first load of clothes tomorrow.  I'd have brought a load over today but I  was sure that my bringing clothes would jinx the delivery of the appliances!  Good bye Demun Laundry--we'll miss you, not the laundry part but the fun, hanging out in the laundry playing Uno part!  Yesterday, I left a load of laundry in the washer , imagine that forgetting one of 9 loads, um yea, it had been over a week and so we had 9 loads of dirty laundry.  I got a call mid afternoon from the owner of the laundry, she said she figured it was my stuff, it looked like the girls and she had it all dried, did I want to pick it up or should she drop it off.  Really?  There should be more people in the world like her.  

We are so incredibly happy with the way things are turning out.  It is just the way we've been imagining it all of these months.   I'm going to take a break from the blog for a week or so.  I'm going crazy running around packing, cleaning, shuttling boxes, keeping everyone fed (wait a minute, I don't think Gus has been fed today!!), bathed, and where they need to be when they need to be there-- I was way too close to not being home when Emma's carpool arrived from school this afternoon!  Really though, this takes no time and the honest truth is I want the rest to be a surprise!  I'm looking forward to posting pictures of our home, sweet, home all finished very, very soon!

Monday, March 30, 2009

A very busy weekend, painting, driveway change, is it close?

The stairs have been stained twice now.  The color looks great!  The backs and the rail will be painted white tomorrow.  
The dining room looks beautiful!  The painters are doing such a nice job.

We had a very busy and productive weekend.  My dad and Kyra were here and helped us move a lot of things into the basement and the kitchen.  Jessica, our  babysitter (one of the great things about our apartment was meeting Jessica and Zoe, Wash. U students who lived across the hall from us last summer--terrific babysitters) watched the girls so we could actually get some moving accomplished!  Of course the weather was less than perfect but it didn't slow us down.  While we were there on Saturday the painters came, Brian the HVAC guy came, one of the plumbers stopped by and FINALLY I met our wonderful future neighbors the Pocius family!  

The painters are hard at work this week.  The trim and doors are finished as is the dining room and we think Emma and Ellie's room --we're not entirely sure since we can't use the stairs due to stain that was applied late this afternoon. 

Bo, the concrete guy, came back today to fan out the driveway.  We discovered this weekend that the non fanned driveway was not a good idea -we're not sure how this happened because the plans clearly show a fanned driveway.  Due to the age of the neighborhood most driveways are one car length wide so many families park one car on the street.  Since the street is one way it is super narrow especially with cars parked on the street.  The non fanned driveway essentially meant that if someone was parked on the street directly across from our driveway ( and there usually is) we were pretty much stuck and going to be walking wherever we wanted to go....great for a day at the park, not so great when Kevin needs to get to the airport at 5 am!

It's not looking too good for grading this week, rain expected tomorrow and Thursday.  

We hope to be wrapped up this week. 


Wednesday, March 25, 2009

A busy couple of days!

Our driveway (really a parking pad for now!) was used for the first time today.  The rails on the stairs were put up and the rest of the porch was worked on.
The fireplace has tile!  We'll have a small "mantle" above.
Last night we went over and the girls had fun on the back patio.  Look at that great storm door!
The tile and the trim in the kitchen are finished!  Last night there was still a little grout work to do but today when we went over it looked PERFECT!
The master closet.  This is my side!  Kevin has an identical set up.  You should see our closet right now.  I have my clothes shoved into the teeny tiny space which leaves no room for Kevin, so his clothes are on a wheeled, plastic wardrobe that is dangerously close to falling over on top of our bed.   We have our bed on risers so that we can fit plastic tubs with our socks, t-shirts, etc. under it---to save precious space!  Poor Gus has to get a running start from the hallway into the bedroom to jump onto the bed.  Gus, those days are numbered!!
Our bath. 



We've been trying to pack a few boxes a day.  Today while we were packing Ellie asked me to take a picture of her and her buddy boy because "he's just so cute"!  I couldn't stop myself from laughing when she said "what the heck is the matter with him, he won't smile, doesn't he know how to take a picture?!".  

Tomorrow Dave and Larry should finish up the porch and a few other odds and ends.

Matt from Bates Electric will be back to install  3 new fans to replace the ones that are too low.  He also has several other things to do.

The painters should start tomorrow too.


Tuesday, March 24, 2009

It's getting close!

We have running water!  Ellie used the half bath last night!
Most of the knobs are in place in the kitchen.

Emma and Caitlyn, her Bitty Baby.  Emma has been saving her money since Christmas for this doll.  Finally, last week she had $42 and we ordered Caitlyn, she arrived yesterday.  As I write this Emma is busy coloring a box for Caitlyn's bed.

A lot has happened over the last few days. I hope to have time to take more pictures today. 
-  Most of the plumbing is in.  The water heater still needs to be hooked up.  
- A lot of grading was done last week.  The back patio, back stairs, front stairs, walk, parking pad, and sidewalk in front have been poured.  We won't have a full driveway right away.  Since there has been grading done recently on the side of the house we need to let that settle for a bit.  Richmond Heights will allow us to put gravel down (even though it's against codes) since it won't be for very long.
- The closets were installed!! They look wonderful!  
-Most of the tile is finished.  A little bit needs to be done in the master bath, the fireplace stills needs to be done, and the kitchen backsplash.

Today Dave and Larry will be back to do some general carpentry things (porch, a little more trim, back door, office doors).

Kurt should be there working on the tile.

Hopefully the plumbing crew can get the water heater up and going today too.

This is so exciting!


Thursday, March 19, 2009

It's official! All of the Baums are odd!

Pictured in the above blurry photo are Melissa (33), Ellie (3), Emma (5), and Kevin (33), due to restaurant pet restrictions Gus (9) was not allowed at this celebratory dinner!  
We are all odd numbers for the next 6 months!  
Yesterday was a wonderful day!  We had cold pizza on paper plates (no dished required) for breakfast.  The girls made my bed for me!  I went out to lunch with my mom, Emma, and Ellie, drank a latte in the afternoon, had a fun afternoon at the Family Center, went out to dinner with Kevin and the girls, ate yummy cake from Maggie Moos (2 giant pieces), got in bed at 7:15 with 2 kids, 1 husband, and 1 dog to watch Little House on the Prairie while it rained outside .  In between I got lots of great calls, emails, a few cards and even flowers--two deliveries!  I feel blessed beyond words.  In my opinion birthdays don't get any better!!  I really needed that wonderful day!  

Yesterday as we were driving to lunch the bank thermometer read 36 degrees.  I knew that was wrong and checked my van read out which said 63.  I mentioned it to the girls and we talked about transposed numbers.  I told them that this year my numbers can't be transposed because either the 3 can go first or the 3 can go first.  They thought this was hilarious, these are the same people who think knock knock jokes are the height of good humor.  We decided to come up with other numbers that can't be transposed and got up to 444.  After lunch I decided to treat myself to a latte.  We went through the Starbucks drive through.  I ordered and was told my total was $3.33.  The car erupted in laughter!!  333!!!  When we drove around the lady at the window said   "Tell me, tell me, what's so funny!!" We told her and I got a free latte.  Thanks Starbucks!  

A lot of grading was done yesterday.  There is a little more to do today and then the cement truck will come.

The plumber should start installing all of this today!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Happy St. Patrick's Day!


We wore green today to celebrate!  We've also been eating an assortment of green foods.  What beautiful weather for this fun day!
Things are moving at a seriously slow rate right now so there isn't too much to share.  The counters were installed this afternoon.  They look really good!
They are made from soapstone.  We were so excited to get this piece from my dad.  Last month when we were deciding on our counter material we were talking about it with my dad.  We were telling him how much we wanted to have soapstone but how outrageous the cost seemed.  He said "you mean soapstone, like the stuff that chemistry lab tables are made of?" we answered "yes".  He told us he had a piece at work that needed to be gotten rid of and we were welcome to take a look at it.  We went and looked at it and now it's in our kitchen!  It's been in a lab for years so it's beat up in a few places, which make us love it even more!  Kevin and my dad worked on sprucing it up one Sunday and then Hallmark Stone fabricated and installed the pieces.   

The HVAC system has been installed.  Next week the electrician will come back to hook up the wires.  

Tomorrow grading of the yard should begin (although it looks like it may rain).  Once that is complete the cement (driveway, sidewalk, stairs, patio) will be poured.  Kim hopes to have all of this finished by Saturday.

The plumber should begin his work tomorrow.

Hopefully Kurt is well tomorrow and can finish up the tile work.



Friday, March 13, 2009

Five AND a half!

Emma turned five and a half yesterday and our little family of four devoured half of a delicious cake.
Emma requested a strawberry cake, a white cake with strawberry frosting to be exact.  Schnucks had the most beautiful, sweet berries.
The cake required 450 stirs!  Ellie took the strawberry tops off and I cut the berries.  
Yum!

Kurt started on the bathroom tile yesterday.   It looks excellent, what a difference it makes!  The furnace and air conditioner were also installed yesterday and should be started up over the weekend.

Well our hopes were set on the house being complete a week from today and our closing was scheduled for the 23rd.  This is not looking possible now.  Here's a rundown of what still needs to be done-

-Tile completed
-Plumbing completed
-HVAC start up
-Grading of yard completed
-Driveway, walk, and patio poured
-Front porch finished
-Entire house (trim and doors too) painted
-Kitchen counters installed
-Stairs stained
-Stair runner installed
-Closets installed
-Appliances installed
-Bathroom mirrors installed and trimmed
-A few electrical odds and ends
-A whole list of "minor" things that will need to be done once all of the above are finished

I am disappointed but not surprised.  The house will be finished soon, I know that!  We signed our lease on Rosebury on April 4th, 2008.  It's looking very likely that we'll have movers here on April 4th, 2009.  A year ago I never would have believed it would take a year --although people who have built homes before seemed to delight in telling us how hard the process would be and we'd be lucky to be in within a year.  I am happy to report it has been far from hard (apart from the apartment--and even that has been quite a fun --yea I said it fun experience) and we aren't just lucky, we're blessed!  I know that for sure and one more--or even two more weeks doesn't change that!



Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Lights on!

We are so excited by how the kitchen is coming together.  Kevin has been worried about this for months! He has put many hours into this layout and into the cabinet selection.  The hard work is really paying off--it is turning out just right! The tile work for the backsplash should begin on Friday.  Then next week the casing around the windows will be finished. 
The dishwasher!!!  Originally we were going to put another glass fronted cabinet under the one that is there now.  The night after they started installing the cabinets we decided that we didn't want the cabinet there. We thought that was a really good spot for the coffee pot.  So, Dave and Larry (the carpenters) are going to build a shelf there for our coffee mugs!  

We found a home for the other glass fronted cabinet!  There will also be shelves added here to finish this little office area.  I love it!  
We really like this ceiling fan.  In fact we purchased 3 (office, living room, bedroom).  It hangs really low though and may not work for us!  We may have to say good bye to our lovely fans and look for some different ones this weekend!
The fixture in the staircase. 
The guest room closet doors.
The girls bathroom light fixtures.  We have the same fixtures in the half bath and in our bathroom.  
Master bathroom cabinets.
The baseboard was finished today.
Emma and Ellie's fan.  They love it!
Emma's closet, Ellie's closet.

The first of many Uno games!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

I'm a day behind!

Can you tell who took this photo at Home Depot as we were loading up on light bulbs?
We're ready to light up the house!
Truly her mother's daughter.  Upon entering the house Emma picks up a broom and begins singing "I think I'm gonna like it here" ...from Annie for those of you who haven't seen the movie in the past 2o or so years!  


There is so much happening this week!  These pictures are from yesterday.  I was at the house twice today bringing needed items but never had time to take any photos!  I'll rectify that tomorrow because there are so many neat things to share!  



Friday, March 6, 2009

And with that I went back to sugar.....

Here is where the oven and microwave will go.  Things had to be moved around slightly because of an outlet issue.  This changes the counter tops slightly.  So the template will have to be redone.  Of course that can't be done until next week which pushes back the installation of the counters a week.  The tile for the backsplash can't be put in until the counters are in.  Are you feeling my agony?!!  So, after 10 days without sweets they're back in my life! Really, what WAS I thinking?  The final stretch and I thought I could give up sweets! 
Ellie and I walked over this afternoon and Ameren was there!
The wiring is finished and now the plates are being placed on the wall.  Fixtures will go up next week!
 We wanted simple but substantial trim work.  

Ellie collected lots of rocks in the front yard while I did some measuring.  This beautiful weather has me excited to work in the yard!

Beautiful weather, beautiful progress!

Things are moving along very nicely.  Bates Electric was back yesterday pulling all the wires through and attaching the switches.  They have 2 more days of work to complete.  Ameren still hasn't put the meter in.  They have been promising to do it for the last few days.
The cabinets look so nice.  They have all been installed, a few doors still need to be put on along with the handles.  Kevin, Jim and Gordon were at the house until 11 on Wednesday putting them on.  The bottom doors had to be on before the countertop template could be made.  The soapstone counters will be installed next week.
Here is the desk area.  
The island.  The butcher block top is perfect!
Our front door.

Master bedroom door.