Ansley's First Trip to the House

Well, our little Miss Ansley finally arrived last Tuesday morning at 3:27 am.  We stayed in the hospital under Thursday around noon and then took the trek back to our rental house.  We were welcomed home by Nana, G-diddy, and Uncle J (my family).  Within an hour or so, Mark's family (Grandma, Grandpa, and GG) arrived from Atlanta, so we had a full house of excited and giddy baby lovers!

That afternoon, our contractor called to let us know that on Friday they would put the last coat of polyurethane on the floors, so we could not walk on them for the entire weekend.  Since all of our parents were here for the first time since June, we wanted to make sure they could all see the progress on the house.  Therefore, we all hopped in the cars immediately to get our peek before the floors were wet.

So Miss Ansley was already out for her first adventure within 5 hours of being home from the hospital!  Guess that is what happens when your life is one big transition.  Here is how she spent her hour at the house...

She had quality time with Mommy and Uncle J on the porch!
They had finished painting inside on Thursday, so we didn't want her to get the paint fumes!

Anyway, the progress is moving along and is looking great.  For not having ANY intentions on every doing a remodel, we've learned a lot and really like the outcome of everything so far.  Just FYI- there are no light fixtures installed at the house yet, so these pictures are kinda dark.

Living room walls are painted and trim is done. 

Appliances are in!!

Our countertops are still backordered, so they have placed plywood down to at least be able to use. 

Looking into the bathroom.  Vanity and toilet are in! 

New storage closet behind the bathroom door for towels and such! 

Shower/tub done with curtain rod up! 

There are no lights in our bedroom yet, so this is the best picture I could get.
This is the side of our room that is new with the two closets. 

Ansley's nursery is complete done with paint, doors, closet fixtures,  and trim!

Guest bedroom upstairs is also done!

The countdown in on as things are coming together!  The house should be complete really close to October 1st.  Praise the Lord!

Moving Along...

This morning, Mark met the contractor at the house to go over a few final details while I was at bible study.  Later in the day, he suggested that I stop by to see the progress.  One of the things that happened today was Ansley's nursery was painted and trim complete.  Mark said if she saw her room maybe she would come out quicker (yesterday was my due date).

Here is what things are looking like now:

Kitchen is complete for now!  Crown molding is on, so waiting on counter tops and appliances.

Other side of the kitchen with dishwasher and fridge spot.

We love the cabinets!  We went with the biscotti color with a glaze!

Ansley's sweet purple nursery!

Doors are in and ready for hardware. 

Basement is finally mudded.  Just have to paint and carpet.

My new little "office" cove is mudded too!

Steps coming down to the basement are mudded.

New electrical box and $7000 worth of new wiring are complete!
The electricity is back on for the first time since March! 

New laundry sink in the basement as well.

Hopefully we'll have more posts like this soon where you can see lots of progress.  We are hoping and praying for October 1st right now.  However, it looks like our counter tops might be longer than that.  Depending on the baby and insurance, we don't have to move back in until November 1st.  However, we are ready to be back in our HOME!  Thanks again for all your prayers.  We have A LOT of transition coming up and would really appreciate them again.  Love you all!

The Gift That Keeps On Giving...

This stage of our remodel is so exciting.  Since there are 2-4 men working at our house each day, we never know what "newness" we will find when we stop by.  It feels like Christmas morning every time we open our front door.  On Monday night, Mark wanted me to stop by with him because he was hoping the floors would be done.  He unlocked the front door, walked in, and was looking down at the floors.  He was so excited that that were sealed and shiny.  At the same time, I walked in and looked across the room to see the green wall in the kitchen had been painted.  About the same time that he said, "These floors look great"... I said, "Wow!  They painted!"  We couldn't even focus on the same thing.

Then on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday, they started putting in the kitchen cabinets.  They are trying to get these in now before they continue to paint the rest of the house, so we can keep our counter tops templated and ordered.  For not having any idea of what we wanted or knowing how to remodel, we are continually excited at how our choices look!

New Kraft Maid cabinets in biscotti color with cocoa glaze.

Left side of the kitchen where the oven will be.

Right side of kitchen where the dishwasher and fridge will be.

Today we stopped by again on our way to our small group to see the progress.  We discovered tile in the bathroom floor and doors being hung in the bedrooms.  Again, we are very pleased with the choices!

We picked three panel doors for all of the bedrooms and basement.

Tile floor in the bathroom all set!

Design of the tile in the bathroom.

On Wednesday, we picked out paint colors for the basement, light fixtures, closet designs, and looked at the final counter top choices!  We've almost sound like we know what we are talking about now.  We've decided that the guys at Lowe's and Brookside Lumber might not run away when they see us coming because we actually understand what we are doing or looking for! 

It still looks like we have about 3 weeks of progress left, so we are not anticipating the house being done before Baby Ansley arrives.  However it does look like we should be able to be moving back in around the end of October!  We ask that you continue to pray for us through this next two months of CRAZY transition in our lives.  We are excited about the journey of becoming parents and finishing the house, but know that it could be overwhelming.  Thanks for all the love and prayers!