Cramer Adventures

Year of the Dragon!

2012-01-17T19:49:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year! It’s the year of the dragon so here’s a little good luck to you from us and hope the new year brings lots of love, happiness, and good fortune.

It is really hard to get Lucy to sit still and pose for us, so here is a montage of photos of her in her Vietnamese dress called an ao dai. It was a gift from my aunt in Vietnam. So we dressed her up in her dress, put on a little bow and attempted to get a photo of her, it was a struggle so we’ll have to try again this weekend.

She doesn’t ever look directly at the camera

Or she blows raspberries ALL the time

Getting Braver in the Water

2012-01-16T19:51:00.001-08:00

Grandma Nicki came out to watch Lucy’s second swim lesson. Lucy did really well! The instructor sang some songs and had the kids float on their backs and their fronts and blew some bubbles underwater too.

An underwater shot

Doing the back float

The reason why I put this photo in is if you look in the background, look how far she tossed her baby to her husband …. I was impressed! Their baby was so cute in the pool too.

Lucy at her second swim lesson

Lucy grabbing the toy underwater

First Swim Lesson

2012-01-08T19:53:00.001-08:00

I’m not a fan of deep water or getting in a bathing suit, but we did it this weekend all in the name of Lucy’s first swim lesson. It is an introduction for infants and toddlers to the water/swimming so they aren’t afraid at a later age. I think I needed these lessons years ago

The pool had salt water instead of chlorine which is not as harsh on your skin. Lucy was a little in shock at first because it isn’t exactly the temperature of a bubble bath. It took her a little bit to adjust to the temperature but she did great.

Our friends generously gave us an underwater camera case as a wedding gift. It definitely came in handy for this occasion to capture her first swimming experience.

I think we’re both adjusting to the water

Some of the thing they teach you include floating on your back, floating on your tummy, looking down into the water, blowing bubbles, reaching your arms out to reach for toys which mimic reaching out to paddle, turn side to side and then paddling the legs.

Washing her hands and arms

Front float

Back float

Here’s some videos to enjoy

Lucy’s first swim

Lucy and the back float

Lucy underwater

Holidays with the Cramers and Nguyens

2012-01-03T20:30:00.001-08:00

Our holidays began with an early Christmas dinner with the Cramers. We had a delicious potato and ham dinner, played a fun and competitive trivia game (go team Katie and Carolyn!), opening gifts and listening to some live holiday tunes. It was a lot of fun getting together and catching up with everyone.

Ong Ngoai and Ba Ngoai came from Seattle to visit for a few days. Here is Ong Ngoai feeding Lucy. They are both having a good time.

Here’s a couple formal pictures with Lucy in her new holiday dress

Lucy figured out how to stand on her own in about a week maybe two. She loves this mirror that is on the floor of our bedroom. At least she is playing with the mirror instead of the bathroom floor!

It was a fun chaotic time with all the relatives from Houston, California, Seattle, Tri Cities and even Vietnam!

Cousins, sisters, brothers, grandkids

We visited a couple wineries in Walla Walla. The first one we stopped at was L’ecole.

Holidays wouldn’t be complete without some photos in our photobooth. This year the theme was …. mustaches

Goodbye 2011 and Hello 2012

2011-12-31T21:33:00.001-08:00

Yes I’m guilty …. blogging has taken the back seat the second half of 2011. So I’m going to put in photos of the most important thing that happened to us in 2011 and that is Lucy. Here is Lucy over the past 8 months….

Day 1: Less than 1 hour old

1 Month old (May 28, 2011)

2 Months old (June 28, 2011)

3 Months old (July 28, 2011)

4 Months old (August 28, 2011)

Lucy had a hair sticking up problem up until the fourth month. Then it started to lay down once it got a little bit longer. Some of her milestones included holding her head up, sitting up on her own, going on her first hike, rolling over and even getting her first bank account.

5 Months old (September 28, 2011)

6 Months old (October 28, 2011)

7 Months old (November 28, 2011)

8 Months old (December 28, 2011)

Now Lucy can crawl, stand up along the edges of things, eat solid foods, babbling a lot more in her own language, has four chompers and play little games with you. We’re looking forward to see what she’ll be able to do in 2012.

Here are our top ten videos of her on YouTube:

Lucy learns to say No!

Learning to crawl

Bouncing

Laid back

Buddy Hackett

Grandpa’s tools

The tickle spot

Where’s Mama?

Rolling

Lucy’s First Toy at 4 Days Old

Lucy’s First Hike at Iron Bear Mountain

2011-10-16T20:12:00.001-07:00

We went on our first hike a little over two months after having Lucy. Doug, Naomi, Kevin and Susie went on the hike. We went on was the Iron Bear trail in the Wenatchee National Forest on July 9th. It was a beautiful day for a hike.

There were a lot of wild flowers in bloom. Pretty purples, yellow, and white.

Kevin heading up

We could see Mount Rainier in the distance

Nick was a champ, he carried Lucy, all the camera gear, AND his water

Susie was a champ too! She is 6 months pregnant in this photo.

Kevin is mimicking a pregnant person

Lucy was a happy little girl on the hike. Her hair is really standing up!

The whole group on the hike

Doug and Naomi at the summit

Heading down the hike.

The hike overall was beautiful, it definitely was a hard hike for me so soon after having Lucy. Both of my big toe nails turned black and was a lot steeper than anticipated. In the end we did a total of 6.3 miles round trip which definitely wasn’t a short hike, but I’m proud of all of us getting out there and doing it.

Sod Party

2011-09-05T17:39:00.001-07:00

So it’s been almost two and a half months since our last blog post. A lot has happened. I’ll try and get everything in order. On June 30th we finished sodding the front and side of the house after the sprinklers and curbing were put in. Here are a few photos from the sod party.

Lucy is two months old here and overseeing the sodding project

Nick flattening and raking the dirt before sodding

Here are the two pallets of sod

Everyone working really hard and fast

It took about 40 minutes to sod everything with everyone there. Thanks Tara, Susie, Kevin, Bob, Brandon, Jenny and James for all your help!

We've Been Away...Sorry about the delay

2011-08-04T10:17:00.000-07:00

So it's been a long time since we've blogged. We've been super busy with a lot of little trips and landscaping the exterioro of the house. We'll be posting very soon! In the meantime, enjoy some photos of Nick running the Warrior Dash a couple weekends ago.

Nick jumping over the wall of fire

Climbing over a wall and slogging through the mud. Good times!

Trenching

2011-06-16T10:02:00.001-07:00

Mom, dad, Naomi, Doug, Naomi’s mom and Aaron helped dig trenches last weekend for our sprinkler system. It was back breaking work! Especially on the downhill side. I’m still recovering from surgery so I took care of Lucy and took photos of the progress.

Trenching machine

Lucy in her yellow dress while dad was working

That machine was an animal

Special delivery from Woods Nursery

Blanche Wood gave us a Dogwood tree as a housewarming/baby gift so that the tree grows as Lucy grows. It was an incredibly thoughtful gift.

The guy from Woods Nursery dug a hole in the front yard for the tree. We’re going to put a bean shaped curbing around it when we’re ready to do the curbing on the house.

This was the most difficult and dangerous part of the trenching. This is alongside the left side of the house which has an extremely steep grade. It took all hands on deck to get the trencher up the hill.

Everyone is pulling and leaning to make sure the 500 pound machine doesn’t tumble down the hill

Family Visit

2011-06-15T19:22:00.001-07:00

Here are a few family photos of when Mina, Todd and the kids came to visit.

I swear everytime there is a group photo and multiple cameras there is always one person looking the wrong way!

The grandparents with the grandkids

One Month Coming Out Party for Lucy

2011-06-06T08:49:00.001-07:00

Last weekend was Lucy’s one month coming out party. It is a Vietnamese tradition one month after the birth of a baby. We had a big party with a lot of close friends and family. It was chaotic but fun!

Grandpa Cramer and Nathan

Bac Trung and Chu Quoc

Bac Bao and Tho

Ba Thanh

Nathan peeking at Lucy

Bac Nguyen, Natalie and Nathan

Cousin Nathan holding Cousin Lucy, Auntie Mina

All of my mom’s friends were checking out the knife door

Me holding Lucy and Bac Trung (right)

Kevin and Susie

Me, Lucy and Grandpa Cramer

Korean short ribs

Lemongrass skewers

Meat (left) and Anh Dung (right)

Shawna and my two cousins

Everyone hanging in the kitchen

Katie’s brother Jeff came to visit from Seattle

Uncle Aaron

The faces of Katie

Judy is a natural momma

Katie also got her birthday gift that day. A couple mid century modern art pieces to go in their new home

Uncle Alan and Liem

Natalie

Chu Thiec and his meat stick

Jeff and his dad

All the people at the party

All the shoes

Doug taking a self portrait

Day Before One Month Party for Lucy

2011-06-05T21:33:00.001-07:00

Last weekend Mina, Todd, Nathan and Natalie came to visit and to celebrate Lucy’s one month coming out party. The day before the whole family got together for dinner and prayed for the health and happiness for Lucy.

Here are a few food items, boiled chicken, mangos and sticky rice

Grandma and Grandpa Nguyen playing with Lucy

Lucy in her…..Lucy outfit

Family having some balut egg appetizers. If you don’t know what a balut egg is, look it up on the internet. Nick and I didn’t eat any.

Natalie helping to set up the table, she’s such a big girl now!

Great Uncle Bi holding Lucy

Nathan helping to set up the table too

Mrs. Ha helping with the dinner, she made the purple sticky rice for Lucy

Lucy and Her New Sweater and Bath Time

2011-05-24T08:40:00.001-07:00

Sally stopped by on Sunday and delivered a new sweater for Lucy. It is gorgeous and soft. The softness comes from the bamboo yarn.

Lucy waiting for dad to wake up so he can play with her!

Lucy is growing so fast, she may be out growing the stroller bassinette

We’ve been giving her a bath every other day. She actually seems to enjoy it!

After bath crazy hair

Lucy’s Close Up

2011-05-19T07:11:00.001-07:00

Lucy had her close-up at 8 days old with Ali Walker. She did a fantastic job capturing Lucy and our little family.

Some Recent iPhone Photos

2011-05-17T18:05:00.001-07:00

In this photo, Lucy is 4 days old

When Lucy sleeps I try and sneak in a nap too

Uncle Liem came by to hold Lucy. He’s a new homeowner too!

Here’s Lucy after her second bath we gave her. Here is my Mother’s Day gift, it is awesome!

Here is a family photo in the hospital after my surgery last Monday. Nick is a multi tasking dad!

Last weekend we worked on a crafty project to block the sun out of the three windows. It is foam wrapped with three different fabric patterns. We can change the look up with different materials. We need to iron the fabric so it is flatter, but it gets the job done for now. The sun blazes through these windows in the morning, but now the sun rays are blocked.

Lucy playing in her toy and her new position for sleeping. Arms up!

Lucy wide awake (left). This morning I took her for a walk around the neighborhood. The weather has been really really crummy the past few days, today was absolutely gorgeous. No wind and no rain. She slept for the entire walk, but it was nice for me to get out and about.

Some Fun Photos

2011-05-13T11:43:00.001-07:00

Lucy has some pretty hands and a strong grip!

The many faces of Lucy

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit

Here are some photos with Aaron and Katie and dad

Lucy Linh Cramer

2011-05-13T11:42:00.001-07:00

Lucy Linh Cramer was born on April 28, 2011 at 1:45 PM in the afternoon. She weighed in at 8 pounds 1 ounce and measured at 20.5 inches. The birth story was not the most glamorous, but began with a regular doctor appointment to discuss my high blood pressure I developed the last week of pregnancy.

This is where I was initially getting my blood pressure monitored

They decided I would get induced and moved me to a birthing room

Here I am hooked up to the machines monitoring all my contractions and the baby’s heart rate

This is right before delivery, I was in severe pain

The two grandmas offering support

Nick and his look of concern for me

This is how high my blood pressure got which is a sign of preeclampsia

Baby Lucy has arrived! This is about 1 minute after she was delivered

Lucy getting poked, prodded, weighed and measured

She weighed in at 8 pounds 1 ounce which only makes us wonder what if she came in on time in two weeks, what would she have weighed in at?

Her long feet

Her long fingers

Daddy finally getting to hold her daughter

Mama finally getting a chance to hold her daughter

Grandma, mom and granddaughter

Grandpa hamming it up

Grandma, son and granddaughter

Cramer family

Both grandmas

Cramer family

We had a bunch of visitors!

Susie and Bac Trung

Katie and Naomi

Domo and Stanley

Uncle Aaron and Grandpa

Mrs. Ha came to visit too

Paige, Emily and Ryan came to visit too

Photo the Kadlec Medical Center put up on the internet

What We’ve Been Up To

2011-05-11T09:22:00.001-07:00

Well….Lots has happened since we last blogged. We moved into our house AND Baby Lucy came two weeks early. So we’ve been a little busy. Here’s a small preview of both events.

Thank You Friends For All the Moving Help!

2011-04-30T20:35:00.000-07:00

We had baby Lucy on April 28th and we moved into our new house on April 29th. Actually I (Carolyn) did not participate in the move, all of our friends and Nick did. We can’t express enough our gratitude for all the help, friendship and support in all the chaos we had in such a short period of time.

The move began with moving our stuff out of the Love third bay garage. We had our stuff stored in our two bedroom apartment then the rest stored at their house. We hadn’t seen that stuff for two whole years!

Some stuff we had stored there were saucer sleds, a globe and even a couple broad swords

Doug is ecstatic to have his garage back!

After filling the U-Haul with stuff from the Love house, they filled the rest of it with the things from the apartment. Everything got put into the garage of the new house. Lots of people pitched in and helped!

It was like a well oiled machine, in and out, in and out

Go team movers!

We had an army of helpers on that Friday. Thanks to…..Doug Love, Naomi Love, Chris Coyle, Greg Coffey, Jereme Haack, Shankari Haack, Ed Thomsen, Joe Bruce, Dave Brown, Erin Brown, Aaron Cramer, Marvin Cramer, Nicki Cramer, Alan Nguyen, Lanh Dinh, Chuong Nguyen, Kevin Crowell, Erin Hamilton, Bob Baddeley, Mike Kanyid, Jenny Yang, Kelly Johnson, and Brian Asplund!

House Update April 21 and 22

2011-04-22T21:18:00.001-07:00

We are now about 7 days away from moving into our new house! Here are some photos of things they recently finished. The driveway, sidewalk and walkway are all poured, and the garage doors have been painted to match the trim of the house.

All of the wainscoting, trim and doors have been painted and lacquered the Greek Villa color

Most of the plumbing fixtures and tub have ben installed

Lower deck is finished and the bench is all painted and hooks have been installed

This is the lower deck all done and installed yesterday

Kitchen pendants are installed. Our builder ordered them from Pottery Barn, we need to change the bulbs on them so that they’re clear bulbs instead of translucent.

Today the upper deck is 90% installed, the weather was perfect and the views were fantastic

The water heater has been installed

The fireplace and bookcase all painted

This is our master bathtub with a little bit of wainscoting on the ouside and subway tile on the tub deck

Fireplace is all done being painted and lacquered

Nick is working on putting the plates on the low voltage boxes in the kitchen and book case because everything just got done being painted and lacquered

The Geek Squad finally was able to deliver our new refrigerator, they had to remove the lower drawer to get it through the front door. We’ve had to postpone the deliver twice already, so it was a relief to be able to get it done.

House Update April 18 + 19

2011-04-20T08:12:00.001-07:00

Part 1 of concrete poured on Monday (April 18)

The driveway and walkway pad to the garden storage were poured

All of the carpet was installed and stretched, still needs to be vacuumed

We are missing mirrors

Part 2 of concrete poured yesterday (April 19)

Sidewalk inspection happened on Monday so they poured yesterday and it looks great

The front stoop and walkway were also poured. Yay we can finally get INTO the house through the front door instead of walking the plank

Baby Lucy’s Crib and New Dresser

2011-04-16T17:50:00.001-07:00

This morning Nick and dad put together Lucy’s crib. I have always imagined it to be a daunting task, but they said it was super, duper easy. It was nice getting it all put together before we move into the house to get this out of the way. The crib is absolutely adoreable! We love it

The next task Nick worked on was the dresser. Ikea furniture definitely takes a lot of time and effort, but in the end the final product is really nice. The dresser turned out cuter than we expected.

The finished dresser!

The finished crib with Nick and Great Grandma Golda

Nick, Great Grandma and Grandma

House Update April 16

2011-04-16T17:35:00.001-07:00

We’ve been anxious to move into the house, but we’re missing a couple key things before we can get our Certificate of Occupancy. One of the biggest things is we haven’t been able to get our concrete poured for the driveway, sidewalk and walkway because it has been cold, rainy and windy the past few days. The concrete guy said that Monday should be good weather, so we’re definitely crossing our fingers.

Forms are set for the driveway, sidewalk and walkway

Another couple things we’re waiting for is painting of all the trim and the interior doors which are about 80% done. The entire basement is finished. The main level which includes the wainscoting, bench, stairs, trim and fireplace have been painted but it is missing the lacquer layer which is the last step. The doors need to be put back in and the hardware has to be installed too. The carpets are about 75% installed too. They’ve been cut, but have not been stretched yet.

Fireplace and mantle getting painted

Wainscoting and door trim painted

A couple other things we’re missing:

The two decks
Master shower door
Mirrors
Master bathroom tub
Outlet covers
Stove

We’re hoping we can move in next weekend regardless of some of the missing items. It would be such a relief to have the house done before Baby Lucy arrives. It doesn’t have to be 100% done, but good enough to at least be in the house unpacking a few essential things.

House Update April 9

2011-04-09T21:22:00.001-07:00

The front and back of the house has been grated to so the concrete can be poured for the sidewalks, driveway and walkway. The exterior rock is all finished and looks great!

Glass subway tile has all been grouted, hood and pot filler has been installed...the range is missing though

The Story of the Broken Range

Nick and I went to Seattle in November to pick up our appliances at Albert Lee. We bought a wall oven, hood, and range. We rented a UHaul and drove the appliances over White Pass (Snoqualmie was closed so that was an adventure) home and stored them in Jenny’s garage for the past few months. Two weekends ago, Nick and the boys moved the appliances into the new house’s garage. Yesterday, the builder installed all the appliances. Everything worked out great…..except our brand new range was not so brand new. It was broken

Here is the pallet the stove arrived on….nothing appears to be wrong with the pallet

Here are the four sides of the box of the stove

On one side of the box you can see some scuff marks which appeared to be minor

Here is the interior wall of the box….you can see the indentations from the knobs of the stove

Our broken stove

Broken knobs

Buckled walls and handle

Bashed in door

Here are some pictures from when we picked up the appliances in Seattle on Sunday November 21st….Good thing I save all my iPhone photos!

You can see the indentations and scuff marks were there before we even brought them home.

So we’re crossing our fingers Albert Lee and Wolf will remedy this situation quickly and efficiently. We have to make a case for the replacement of the range. We know for a fact we didn’t drop it, bash it, or caused this extreme damage. What is disheartening is we will be stoveless when we move in for a while. Hopefully this story has a happy ending. I’ve already contacted customer service and they’ll hopefully work their magic. We’ll keep you posted.

Stairs are done being installed, the exposed wood parts near the spindles need to be painted. The hardwood stairs are done too. A final stain of the hardwood floors need to be done before we move in. Lots of painting of the trim, baseboards and wainscoting will be done shortly too.

Rage in the Sage Photos

2011-04-09T21:18:00.001-07:00

Nick and Nat teamed up to do this year’s Rage in the Sage which took place in the Kiona Vineyards in Benton City. Rage in the Sage is a duathlon comprised of a 2.5 mile run, 10 mile mountain bike ride, 2.5 mile run. Nick did the two 2.5 mile runs and Nat did the 10 mile mountain bike ride. Here are a few photos from my iPhone, I took photos with my little camera, but haven’t offloaded them yet.

The bike corral

There’s Nick at the start of the race

Nick finishing the first leg (left), Nick rounding the cone on the third leg (right)

Nat, Emily and Nick (left) and Nat and Nick (right)

These are the preliminary results. Nick and Nat placed 11th overall out of 30 or so teams.

Nick ran the first 2.5 miles in 22:57, Nat biked the 10 miles in 52:09, and Nick ran the last 2.5 miles in 23:47

Nick and Nat’s total time was 1:39:54! Six seconds short of 1 hour and 40 minutes, really impressive!

House Update April 6 and 7

2011-04-07T19:03:00.001-07:00

We went out late last night and for a few minutes this afternoon. We didn’t take a lot of photos, but here are a few.

All the sinks are mounted and all the faucet fixtures are getting installed, the glass subway tiles are all grouted now too

Stair wainscoting is being installed by Joe

Newell and handrail

Crown molding detail on the fireplace

Tile has been grouted around the fireplace

Kitchen is coming along

When we came to the house today, they FINALLY finished all the rock on the front face. The weather has really been a rough factor on the finishing of the outside of the house. Hopefully they can pour the driveway, sidewalk and walkway really soon!

Day Trip to Moses Lake

2011-04-04T20:27:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Naomi and I took a little road trip to Moses Lake. This was my first trip there, Naomi was a great tour guide. We started the day off visiting Brian and Carol Sargee. They live on the outskirts of Moses Lake right on the water front of the lake.

Brian and Carol’s backyard (left) Brian, Carol and Naomi (right)

Bunny head part of a costume for Easter (left) Brian and Carol’s dog Lucy (right)

After Brian and Carol’s we did a drive by Doug and Naomi’s old house and a house Doug grew up in.

Doug and Naomi’s house on Earl Street

Doug’s house he grew up in

Lunch with Bev, Mike, Naomi….I had the pulled pork sandwich

After we had lunch we went back to Mike and Bev’s house and loaded up a baby cradle Nick and I are borrowing temporarily which was super generous of the Loves to lend to us.

Mike, me, Bev, and Naomi

Mike, Bev, Naomi, Carol and Brian

Hand made, oak, baby cradle we’ll use in our master bedroom, right now it is on the treadmill at Doug and Naomi’s house ready to go when we move. Mike made this entire cradle from scratch. It has pegs that we can remove so the cradle can rock, or put the pegs back in so the cradle can remain stationary. He even turned down the spindles himself! It is absolutely gorgeous. Lucy is such a lucky little girl.

A little flower pot Naomi’s niece Senta painted for her. We strapped it in the backseat so it wouldn’t fall over on the drive home.

House Update April 4

2011-04-04T19:57:00.001-07:00

So this week begins major finishing of the interior of the house. Today all of the counter tops and undermounted sinks were installed. They look fantastic! The electricians also installed the rest of the major lighting. Joe and Rick were out working on the trim work and tiling.

Entryway chandelier (left) dining room chandelier (right)

Fireplace tiling job by Rich

Black quartz countertop (left) undermount sink (right)

Undercabinet lighting installed!

Main bathroom counter top (left) lower bathroom counter top (right)

Lighting

Pantry lighting has oil rubbed bronze detail (left) more undercabinet lighting (right)

Our tile and trim guys Rich (left) and Joe (right), they rock!

Nick hanging in the kitchen

Counter power installed (left), foyer and dining room (right). Joe is working on the wainscoting this week

Exterior lanterns

Lighting and Fireplace

2011-04-02T22:44:00.001-07:00

On Friday, Total Energy Management came out and began terminating the electrical outlets and installing light switches and light fixtures. We picked out all of our lighting from Inland Lighting in Yakima. We also have a bunch of can lights installed everywhere.

This is the light fixture in all the bedrooms, clean and streamlined, has an oil rubbed bronze finish. We like it more than a typical nipple light.

Can lights in the downstairs hallway (left), lighting in the lower bathroom (right)

Light fixture in the basement bathroom. We are having custom mirrors made after we meet with Tim from Perfection Glass this upcoming Monday

The baseboard trim is all done in the basement

Baseboards looking awesome, very meticulously placed

Outdoor lighting was installed on the lower deck

Pretty day today (Saturday)

They even finished and put lighting in the mechanic room!

The biggest surprise by far was the custom fireplace and bookshelves. Joe did all this in a day! We were shocked at how beautiful it is going to be when he finishes it and paints it.

The shelves are adjustable, we plan on putting a tv on the left side so the shelves are removable, along with the long vertical piece which is why you can see all the wiring boxes

The fireplace will have some mini subway tiles on the front face, and larger ceramic tiles on the hearth

Some of the can lights in the kitchen

Nick takes most of the photos so I asked him to set the camera on a timer so we’d have a couple photos together

Joe did all the trim work on the front door too. We wondered how he was able to do an arc shaped trim piece, we came to learn it is made of rubber! This week all the trim around the doors, baseboards, and windows will be painted. It is going to look really pretty!

Fire alarm

lighting boxes that still need to be installed in the garage (left), they finished all the subway tile in the master bathroom shower (right)

Rick, the tile guy, installed some ceramic shelves (left) and made a slight downward slope on the tub deck so when water hits the glass shower wall, water will flow into the drain (right). Very clever!

Joe is going to put some wainscoting on the outside of the tub deck which will look nice

Lots of progress on Friday, we’re excited to see what work will happen next week!

House Update March 30 and 31….What’s Left?

2011-03-31T21:06:00.001-07:00

Here are a few quick house updates from yesterday and today. Every time we go up we’re anxious to see when they will start the rock and the sidewalk and driveway. It hasn’t been warm enough to pour concrete and it’s been too windy to finish the rock. They attempted to start but it was way too dangerous.

The start of the rock installation

Tile and grout for the three bathrooms (left), Joe beginning the baseboards (right)

Tile/no grout yet in the master bathroom

All of Joe’s notes for the trim dimensions

Trim around the Anderson door

It was so windy today the scaffolding fell over. Luckily noone got hurt and the front window didn’t get damaged.

What’s on the schedule?

So we’ve been under the impression, we’d get to move in Thursday April 21st. There are a few things we’re behind on but here is the tentative schedule through end of next week:

Friday April 1: Electrical trim, lighting, baseboard trim, start of the fireplace and bookcase

Monday April 4: Wainscoting in dining room and stairs, countertop installation, kitchen tile backsplash, plumbing, painting doors and trim

Tuesday April 5: Wainscoting in dining room and stairs, countertop installation, kitchen tile backsplash, plumbing, painting doors and trim

Wednesday April 6: Wainscoting, bench, plumbing, painting doors and trim

Thursday April 7: Wainscoting, bench, plumbing, painting doors and trim

Friday April 8: Wainscoting, bench, carpet installation, plumbing, painting doors and trim

Somewhere next week we’re hoping they finish the rock on the front of the house. The wind has been so brutal for the workers to be on the scaffolding which I don’t blame them for not being on there. We’re also wondering when the concrete will be poured for the driveway, walkway, and sidewalk? The concrete guy is super behind on his other projects because of the wind and the cooler weather, but it finally started warming up. The other big thing we’re missing is the components to the deck. It is missing the actual composite decking, the handrails, and the stain to the soffits. We haven’t chosen the stain color for the front door or the Andersen door. We’re also supposed to order the master bathroom glass doors and mirrors. There is quite a bit going on next week, we’ll definitely be going every day to check things out and the progress of everything.

Decorating Little Lucy’s Room

2011-03-27T21:09:00.001-07:00

I’m excited and anxious to move into the house and physically decorate Little Lucy’s room and get some nesting done before she comes. Nick and I love the yellow that we used on the walls of the room. The color is by Behr called Wickerware. Here are a few things we’re going to use to decorate her room.

This animal alphabet print is from the Land of Nod

This is Lucy’s crib we got as a gift a while ago, we’re most likely going to put it in our master bedroom for a few weeks

I snagged these basket bins at the Container Store in the four colors and put on the shelves in the closet below

Empty closet in the nursery

From our old house we have some floating crown molding shelves we’ll put above the dresser and put some knick knacks on them

We purchased these alphabet animal cards which we’ll put in white colored wood frames

This is a Hemnes 8 drawer dresser from IKEA we’ll use the changing pad on top of and put all the diapers and clothes in

I snagged a couple learning puzzles for when she gets older

I actually saw in the Land of Nod the letters sitting on a shelf which was an adoreable idea for decorating

Who doesn’t love farm animals?!

We also have a couple custom art pieces made by Katie and Susie which we’re going to put on the walls. She’s going to be one spoiled little girl!

Trim, Tile and Stucco

2011-03-24T20:46:00.001-07:00

We hadn’t been up to the house in a few days because of the fumes from the stain of the hardwood floors, so it was a pleasant surprise to come to the house today to see the tile done in two of the bathrooms and trim on all of the interior doors. Joe Pierce is our trim/finish work guy and he has done a fantastic job, very detail oriented. The tile was bought from Benjamin One and was installed by Nick (not sure of his last name) and a couple other workers who have done an incredible job too with the attention to detail. We’re really excited for the house to be done!

Tile work in the main bathroom

Natural color of our red oak floors

Joe is starting our fireplace and custom bookcases tomorrow and next week

Trim in the master bathroom toilet room (left), trim to the entrance of the mudroom/garage (right)

We are really happy with the color of the floors

Tile in the mudroom transitioning to the kitchen

Landing of the stairs

Stucco trim work began

Trim around the windows

Trim around the garage doors

The front door soffit hasn’t been stained yet, we’re not sure what color to do yet

I’m measuring the dimensions of the drawers so I can shop around for custom drawer organizers

Sinks have arrive (left), thermostat is set finally 70 degrees (right). It was blazing hot last weekend when we were working in the house so the hardwood could dry out and acclimate to the interior temperature of the house.

Terminating and Painting

2011-03-21T18:28:00.001-07:00

Thank you Doug, Naomi, Bob, Alex, Tara, Chris, Ed, Kevin and Susie for all your help terminating the wires and painting the nursery!

Tara was on ethernet cable terminating, Alex was on speaker wire. I was on Coax cable terminating with Ed.

Susie was working on plate covers, Nick was on painting and terminating the closet

Doug was on organizing the wiring with Nick, painting, and terminating the closet, Chris was on terminating ethernet and the closet, Bob was on terminating ethernet, the closet brackets and speaker wires

Kevin was on terminating ethernet, Ed was terminating coax, ethernet and the media closet

Bob and Doug feeding conduit through the ceiling to our media closet for our projector

Working on the media closet

Lots of coax and ethernet!

Clean closet of wires

The yellow paint we chose is a Behr color called Wickerware. It needed two coats to cover the walls and turned out so cute!

Doors Galore

2011-03-20T21:00:00.001-07:00

A bunch of the interior doors were installed last week. They haven’t painted them yet, probably not until last minute so we don’t scratch or mar them.

They finished installed the hardwood floors on the main level, but not the stairs yet.

Downstairs media closet and linen closet doors

Office doors, we haven’t removed the plastic covers yet

Tile work in the laundry room, the countertops haven’t been installed yet, this is the cutout for the sink insert

Electrical outlet in the hardwood floor

Hardware and Hardwood

2011-03-17T21:30:00.001-07:00

The cabinets are about 90% installed. They still need to finish some of the crown molding and undermount trim. They’ll finish these tasks up after the backsplash tile and undermount lights are installed. Here are some photos Nick took with the nice camera, rather than photos from my iPhone.

Desk area

Area for the wall oven and microwave

Cabinets for our wine glasses and wedding china

Island put all together (left), nursery closet (right)

Trim detail in the laundry room

Master bedroom closet

They wrap styrofoam around the windows and trim board before stuccoing! Crazy how they do the whole process.

Nicki and I talking about the process

View from the deck

Linen closet

Pile of sawdust from the hardwood floor installation

Kitchen with all the handles and hardwood floor

Red oak planks

They’re about 75% done with the installation of the hardwood floors. They haven’t finished the hallway or stairs quite yet, they’ll be working on it tomorrow. We haven’t decided what color stain we’ll do yet, but we’re thinking something neutral not too dark. They also need to sand everything before they stain and seal.

Upclose photo of the planks and hardware

The chrome hardware we chose for the whole house

Here’s a little profile picture of my belly at 32 weeks

Cabinet above the refrigerator

Desk (left) and wall oven, microwave cabinets (right)

Our interior door design (left) and main bathroom vanity (right)

Laundry Room

Master bathroom

Our interior doors, we opted for oil rubbed bronze hardware for the hinges. They haven’t put the handles on yet.

March 14 and March 15 House Update

2011-03-15T19:35:00.001-07:00

March 14 Update

Nick had to break into the house yesterday because they have locked the house down since all the interior is being worked on and to protect us from theft

Cabinet installation has begun all over the house, here is the start to the kitchen

Since we aren’t putting in a fancy microwave we have a special cabinet that has doors that fold inward that will hide our microwave and rice cooker

We went with an espresso stain in the bathrooms and laundry room

Here is a bunch of the packaging the cabinets came in (left) and a garbage can drawer we’ll use for garbage and for recycling (right)

Spice rack drawer we’ll use for our olive oil, fish sauce, soy suace, spices, etc etc (left) and here are some cabinets showing our full extension drawers (right)

Cabinets in our mudroom that will house our utility sink (left) and some tall cabinets for linens in the main bathroom (right)

March 15 Update

Today’s progress on the cabinet installation. It’s looking pretty good. They haven’t put the crown molding trim on the tops of the cabinets and the lower trim. Lower trim will go on after the under counter lights are installed.

Desk and China cabinets (left) and pantry shelves (right)

Keyboard tray (left) and refrigerator opening (right)

Espresso island (left) and master closet (right)

Master closet (left) and nursery closet (right)