So Excited!!

On Wednesday, our contractor sent us an email that said "We will be staining the floors on the 2nd floor today and staining the hardwood on the 1st floor on Friday.  Please stay off the floors over the weekend.  These will take 24-48 hours to fully dry.  We will put a coat of urethane on all the floors on Monday and this will take another 24 hours to dry.  So all in all if you could please stay off of all the floors from now until Tuesday, it will be greatly appreciated."

GREAT NEWS!

I don't mind staying off the floors if I know there is a visual change at the end.  I've always known that I was a visual learner, but I REALLY like to SEE the change at our house!

So I followed the rules until today!  After work, I went by the house and was going to open the front door to see the floors.  Upon my arrival, there was more change that I was excited to see!   Our new front door has been installed.  It hasn't been painted yet, but I love the design.

New front door at 125 De Arment Parkway!

I thought the note on the door was funny too!  They OBVIOUSLY don't want us on the floors!

 So after getting in the lock box and opening the front door, I saw our new floors!  I was so excited.  I cannot begin to describe the feeling that came over me as I knew this was a step in the right direction!

Looking at the hardwoods in the living room and kitchen from the front door!

After I took this picture (and didn't step on the floor), I closed everything back up and put the key in the lock box.  Our bedroom window is in the front of the house, so I peeked in there to see the hardwoods.  As I was peeping, I could see into the bathroom and saw tile!!  No one told us they were tiling the shower!

So this is where I broke the rules... I went to the basement door and broke into my own house.  I came through the basement (which doesn't have hardwoods) and up the basement stairs.  There is about a 4 foot walkway between the basement door and the bathroom door, so my 9 month pregnant self jumped into the bathroom (without touching the stained floors).  First of all, I was very impressed at my resourceful ways!  Next, I was amazed at how good the bathroom looked.

The tile above the bathtub!

We changed the tile color and deco on Monday and I am so glad!

So to end my little adventure today, I jumped back over the hardwoods, down the basement stairs, and out the backdoor.  I texted Mark a picture of the hardwoods and bathroom.  When I got home, Mark and Daniel were both here cooking dinner.  The first thing they both said is "you stepped on the wood".  I then proceeded to tell them about my creative thinking and they were both very impressed!  I tried to explain that you can't stop me from seeing the progress of my house!

So as you can see, we are moving in the right direction.  Next week they will finish sealing the floor and painting the walls, so there will be more pictures to come!  This weekend, Mark and I have to pick out counter tops and light fixtures, but those are our last BIG decisions!  Until more visual change...

Seeing Some Progress!!!

It is amazing how excited we get over such small things.  I had planned to write this blog over the weekend, so now I have even MORE to write!  A while ago, our contractor mentioned that the house might be done around September 1st.  He also mentioned that we could move into the house and they would finish the basement once we were already in.  Well we decided "NO" to both of these!  As of now, it looks like the house will be ready closer to the middle of September and we've told insurance that we do not want to move back in until EVERYTHING is complete.  With a new baby and hopefully company, we'd rather move in one time and it be done!

So on Friday, we went by the house after work, and much to our surprise all the drywall/mudding was complete!  It looks so good to have real walls up.

Drywall in our bedroom complete! 

Drywall in the new part of our bedroom/closet area complete!

Drywall in the kitchen complete!

Drywall in the living room and eating area complete!

We were feeling really good about the progress this weekend.  We spent a few hours making decisions and were able to finalize everything for the bathroom upstairs (which is the main bathroom).  We also picked paint colors for the entire house.  

So after work today (Monday), we stopped back by the house because Mark had seen the plumber and crew at Chick-fil-A today for lunch.  Therefore, we knew they had been up there!  We have our own ways of spying on the workers!  :)  We opened the front door and saw new sub flooring, hardwoods started, and a tub in the bathroom.  We were like kids at Christmas time!

View from the front door of the new floors!

The new sub floor is closest to us in the picture with the unfinished hardwoods being put down
on the opposite side of the picture. 

New sub floor in our bedroom!

New sub floor, bathtub, and closet going into the bathroom!

Our hope is to get our contractor most of the decisions that he needs by the beginning of September, so once Baby Ansley is here, we don't have to focus as much on the house!  It is nice to see things coming along!  I am suspecting updates and pictures more frequently!!