We finally closed on the house! All monies due to everyone have been paid (with the exception of the bank holding our mortgage of course) as of this morning!!
What a wonderful feeling. The house finally feels like ours. Breathe in, breathe out.
There is still work that needs to be done that is part of our contract that we are all aware of. Winter is a tough time to do outside work! The front porch needs to be painted as does the gable over the porch. The yard is one big mud pit right now. Ron will come in once everything dries out and smooth everything out and apply the topsoil so we can seed/sod.
We're still unpacking. We keep saying we need to take pictures for the blog, and we will. Soon. :-)
Week 23, Day 163 - We closed!
Week 18, Day 126 - WE MOVED!!!!
The PODS are completely empty, and all the essentials are in our new house! Now comes the monotony of unpacking and putting away. There are soooooo many boxes in my house! And while I did a great job of color coding all the boxes so the movers would know exactly where to take stuff, some of my finer notes left a lot to be desired. One of the kitchen boxes had written on it, "silverware, glasses, serving spoons." Ok, great! Yay Jen! At first it made me laugh. Now it just frustrates me.
Monday was one tough day physically. Holy molies!! We only had about 6 hours to do everything as Beck, Mario and the boys were flying in around dinner time. Mom watched my two kiddos in the morning, but as we moved stuff out, someone had to follow behind and clean and remake all the rooms for Beck's crew which meant she too was pulling double duty. We all rocked all day without a break. Even after dinner half the crew stayed at Mom and Dad's to set up the crib and bed for Beck's boys, and the other half of the crew came over to our house to set up Gigi's bed and Gav's crib. Bedtime was a little late last night for our two munchkins!
It was our first night in our house though!!!!!
Ok, and I have to back up. The minute I walked in my door Monday morning, I shouted into the house (which was full of people), "HAPPY MOVING DAY!!!" The house just felt like MINE. Mine, all mine. I put Mike and Melody, the inspectors, and the movers in a good mood because I was literally dancing around with a big grin on my face singing, "I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in loooooooove!" How can someone NOT crack a smile when faced with such a silly sight? :-) Then I became exhausted. Whew!! Still just as happy, but not quit so expressive about it.
I did laundry in my new-fangled front loader doo-hickey machines for the first time yesterday! That was nifty.
Oh yeah, and GET THIS!!!!! Ok, so the first part is that from the day we said good-bye to the PODs (August 18) to the day we opened them up was almost EXACTLY 18 months. But the best part everything was FINE!!! The movers a year and a half ago were really awesome. Absolutely nothing broke, no damage, no nothing! The leather chairs and sofa are perfect. Our gorgeous wood wine armoire with glass and marble on the inside is completely unscathed. Our mattress is not droopy at all. Even my beautiful Italian fruit bowl is in perfect condition. EVERYTHING is perfect and unharmed!!! Can you believe it?!? I'm still not done being amazed.
The kids found the toys that we boxed up, and it was like Christmas all over for both of them. I think Gigi remembers some of it, but not all. After all, she was about 18 months when we started packing things up. That's hard for me to believe!
Wallman Homes totally rocks. We walked in on Monday to find our house decorated with essentials in every room- dish soap by the kitchen sink, a laundry basket full of food goodies, trash bags already in the trash cans, tissues and hand soap in every bathroom, a doll for Gigi, a teddy bear for Gav, towels and wash clothes in both full bathrooms, and roses and chocolates for us in our bedroom. A total surprise that left me sappy and teary-eyed!
I went back to work on Tuesday and plan on taking off Friday, so the place is still a mess and will be that way for awhile. Sorry to say it never occurred to either of us to pull out the camera on Monday. No pics. But we will definitely take some pictures soon as we start clearing out the rooms.
Bottom line, all is well here. We're in our house. I love it! And it's a mess. That about sums it up right there. In. Love. Mess. :-)
Week 18, Day 124
A quick post with a few more pics from the progress today... We move in on Monday, and the excitement breeds lots of exclamation points today! :-) There is still lots of painting to be done though. Anywhere a white wall is seen, that means it hasn't been painted yet! No white in this house except the trim and stair risers!
Powder room almost complete!
Shelves in the nice large coat closet!
The chandelier makes an appearance!
The stairs, almost complete!
Two of the three PODs, ready to be unloaded!
(the third POD was delivered after I took this pic)
(the third POD was delivered after I took this pic)
The living room...taking shape!
The PODs, nice and close!
Week 18, Day 123
Some new pics of the progress -
Carpet: in.
Bathroom Fixtures: in.
Upstairs Painting: Complete.
Electrical Outlets and Lights: half done.
Appliances: in.
Main Level Painting: half done.
Stairs: 3/4 done.
Shelving: 3/4 done.
So as you can see, it's coming along. As Jennifer said, new move in date is Monday... Onto the pics!
Kitchen is almost complete (prepped for final painting)
Looking from the dining room into the living room
New washer and dryer!
Refrigerator
My office!
My office, as seen from the closet
Putting the chandelier up in the entry way.
Jens future office
Jens future office
Hallway
Gigi and Gav's room
Gigi and Gav's room
Family Bath
Family Bath
Master Bedroom
Master Closet
Master Bedroom
Master Bath
Master Bath
Master Bath
Putting the lights on out front
A closer look at the exterior lights
New Move In Date
Appliances arrived today. Carpet was installed. Light fixtures and electrical outlets continue to be insalled. Paint continues to be applied.
Our move in date has moved from Saturday to Monday. We'll be able to start moving some things in this weekend, but our official "first sleep over" is now expected to be Monday.
Week 17, Day 116 - Flooring, Painting, Railing
This past week has been a whirlwind - the trimmers/painters are humming away on the interior, while Tim and I (mostly Tim) work on getting the flooring down in the main areas of the main level. All rooms have been primed, and many rooms upstairs have been given the final coat. The Dishwasher's been installed too. Onto the pics!
The flooring - mostly installed
Dishwasher! - all appliances are stainless steel even though it looks white in this picture
Lots of equipment scattered about still!
The basement - all cleaned up!
Gigi came down here and said, "I want to bring my bike (read: trike) down here and ride around!"
Scott works on the stairs, while Tim works on the floor
Ryan painting the doors
We learned an important lesson when it comes to windows, doors, trim and paint. That lesson is: There is no such thing as "WHITE". Every company has their own definition, and while some appear to be white-white, they aren't when you set them next to another "white" item. This matters with our house only in that the "White" anderson windows are slightly grey when compared to the "white" trim. Both are considered white, but they both are different. I bring this up now only because the painters, taking that into account, matched their 'white' paint *to the windows* so that everything is the same white. It's that attention to detail that continually impresses my about the crew Mike and Melody have put together to build their houses.
The stairs
Scott putting the top railing on the stairs
We are getting color! (Jen's office or the-room-formerly-known-as-Gav's-room)
Jen's office, looking the other way
Gigi and Gav's room
Gigi and Gav's room, looking the other way
Master Bedroom
Master Bedroom - the other way
Master Bath (this is still the primer coat)
Master Bath, the other way (this is still the primer coat)
Down the stairwell
Family Bath, looking towards the stairs
Helpless
Jen here again. When we remodeled our old house, I participated in just about every way. Sure, Jim still did much of the work simply because he has physical strength, but I still carried tile, hauled in hardwood flooring planks, etc. Jim would mix the thinset and put the hardibacker down, but then I'd follow right behind screwing a million screws into each sheet. When he grouted, I would sponge right after. I was out there helping wash buckets, get equipment, prep, clean up. I was THERE. I helped. That house was a mix of both of our blood, sweat, and tears- literally all three. We didn't have children at that point.
With this house, I'm stuck at home with the kids. I adore my children, but it's a very frustrating and a completely helpless feeling. I'm used to being a helpmate. Jim and I, we're a team. We do things together. The projects we work on are a combination of the two of us. My heart is poured into these projects, and through some mishap, I generally leave a piece of me in each project. (smile)
I just feel so disconnected. Jim calls several times a day to consult with me, so I am definitely connected in that way, and we make decisions together, but I feel disconnected from the soul of this project. I have suggested more than once that I throw Gav on my back in the Ergo, and bring over the portable DVD player for Gigi so that I can help, but that's just not practical. By the time we load up the truck, unload it, deal with whiny kids who really don't want to be stuck on my back or in front of a TV, me and my kiddos generate a lot of lost time and lost effort. So here I sit. In a playroom surrounded by toys, waiting for the phone to ring, hoping it's Jim so that I can momentarily feel a part of the process, even if I can't be there and be a helpmate.
Week 16, Day 109 - Tile and Stairs!
So this week has been all about tile floors, wood floors, trim, and painting. The cabinet folks have the countertop on the way, Larry the carpet guy was out to measure and the carpet is ordered, Ryan the painter is working on the painting, and Scott the painter/trimmer did the upstairs trim and is now laboring away on the stairs. I just marvel at the work that Wallman Homes' Contractors do! They are all such nice people and so helpful and do such great work!
Tim and I have been working on the tile floors, for which Tim gets most of the credit as he works much faster than I do. I ended up cutting most of the tile to fit, while Tim was putting it all down.
Also, it's worth noting at this point in the process that we are still on schedule for a move in date of 2/13 - that's 125 days after the bulldozer first started on the driveway! Who gets a house done in 4 months?!? Wallman Homes, that's who! And the quality of work has just been amazing.
Getting the sawhorses set up in the living room to cut plywood
Tile in the mud room ready to grout tomorrow!
Tile in the family bath - finished!
Tile in the master bath ready to grout tomorrow!
Master bedroom trim
The stairway...coming together!
All the pieces and parts that make up the stairwell.
Scott is doing a masterful job!
Scott hard at work on a post
