Ready. Set. Drywall!

We're ready for drywall! Nate has been feeling a bit overwhelmed by the little details, but he continues to do an amazing job. The last two weeks have been busy with inspections - framing, plumbing, electrical, insulation have all passed "rough" and we're hoping the HVAC company will call in their final inspection on Monday morning so Ben, our drywall contractor can start hanging on Monday. He has a team of 5 or 6 and they expect to have it all hung by Friday. I have a feeling this is going to feel like a huge step forward...making our stud exposed house seem more like a home.

Pictures from today:

Pink insulation, strapped on for fire blocking, required by code

Glorious attic (view from the storage room)

Kids' and guest bath

The guest room wins the award for most windows

2nd floor with steps up to the attic. The diamond shaped window is being rebuilt

The girls' room

The girls' room

Our bedroom

Our bedroom

The last of the windows to be installed (well, except for the diamond window)

From the stair landing

From living room, looking into front entry, where we added a coat closet and widened the doorway

From the dining room, looking into the kitchen and playroom

1/2 bath off the playroom

The playroom (with pocket doors Nate found on Craigslist)

The dining room and kitchen, divided by a penninsula

Dining room and living room (view from the playroom)

I'm super excited to have a pantry...

...and main floor laundry!

The mudroom with door to screen porch

Mudroom hungry for organizing cubbies and hooks

She's feeling warm and loved these days

Let There Be Baths!

Today I was able to sneak over to the house and take a few more photos! Nate and my dad worked to get the tubs installed, setting them in concrete to give them more of a cast-iron feel. Tub install was one of the things on Nate's long "pre-drywall" list. He felt great about what he and my dad were able to get done today!

While the men were busy at the house, my sister, mom and I corralled the kids around, from Kids in the Rotunda, to lunch at home, then naps or park outing (depending on your age) and a visit to a friend's new wine shop in the Atwood neighborhood. We all came back together for some pizza at Glass Nickel before Sarah, Axel, Ollie, my mom and dad drove back to Oconomowoc for a good night's sleep. Lou, Cora and Peter loved seeing their cousins from D.C.

Insulation, Brackets and Happy Kids

The new house got a lot warmer last week! FoamTech came and filled in our walls with marshmallow cream...or at least that's what Louisa was hoping as she slowly moved her hand toward it. Can I touch it? she asked. She was surprised at how hard it felt and asked what it was like when they sprayed it. I don't know for sure, but I told her it was probably like shaving cream that she gets to play with at school. Nate was really happy with how fast they worked - it took the crew 5 days to insulate the entire house and they filled every hole, every exterior stud space (is that a technical term?) and the entire underside of the roof. Toasty warm!

 

On Sunday we had a little heat wave, so Nate enjoyed some time outside, building new brackets to support the landing of the main staircase. This is an important step because we need to have the final three windows installed before the drywall can go up. The brackets needed to be in place before the windows because the windows could break if things shifted. Leave it to Nate to think of these crucial steps. I think he had fun with the first of many artistic pieces. The brackets are nice to touch - super smooth! That grid of circles between the brackets is where they sprayed foam into the cavity under the stairs. Spraying it in from the outside, through these holes meant we didn't need to rip out more lath and plaster from that 5x2x3 unusable space under the stair landing.

Cora took the opportunity to wear the kid work gloves and hold the tool bag since Lou was not around. It was incredibly difficult (and very entertaining) to get her fingers in the glove fingers.

On Tuesday Peter napped early and I delayed Cora's nap so the three of us could go to the children's museum while Louisa was at school. Peter loves exploring and it was nice to let Cora decide which areas she wanted to play in, instead of having her simply follow Lou-the-Leader around.

Seems like yesterday when this same "castle" was taller than Cora. Soon she'll be 3!

Oh Mister Sun, Sun, Mister Golden Sun

The sun was shining AND it was 47 degrees today! Emphasis on the AND because on Friday it was warm too, but super windy and cloudy, so it didn't feel nearly as good as today. I took the opportunity to rope Oma into watching the kids so I could helped Nate clean up in preparation for our insulation team, set to start on Monday! Insulation feels like a big step because after that comes drywall, and then finishes, like paint, tile, and trim. Crazy!

My job today was to clean out the spaces between the studs at the floor level and also above the window headers on all outside walls. I was surprised by how much old insulation, wasp nests and plaster was still hanging around. But the spring clean made me think back to August/September/October when we were hauling dumpsters full of this stuff. Today it was less than a shop-vac's worth. To celebrate this milestone, a tour from behind the lens of a Nikon:

The guest room. After Nate hauled the trim bundles out, I gave it the clean it deserved

This beast (cast iron tub) is currently on Craigslist, if you're in the market

The girls' room, soon to be purple and pink?

Our bedroom

Line up of doors. The front, back and basement doors were the only ones we replaced

We plan to put frosted or textured glass on this one and use it for the bathroom

Good thing this is our room, otherwise we might have to deal with some stargazing teenagers someday

Super happy with the new metal roof

My amazing GC

Can't wait to cuddle up by the new fireplace

The mailman told me today, "Compared to what it was, it's looking really good"

Coca-Cola (not pictured, but frequently consumed on the job site) and Nutty Bars will not be stocked come June

Approximately 40 minutes after finishing up the house for the day, we were cleaned up and ready to see Good Night Moon

Moving Along

Today is Peter's birthday. In some ways, the year has flown by, but mostly, when we reflect on all that has changed, it seems like Peter should be at least eight or nine by now. It's also hard to remember life before him, so I could be easily convinced that he's actually two or three today. However old he actually is, we love him so much and can't get over how sweet and happy he is.

I keep waiting to have some non-iPhone pictures of the house before I write an update, but I haven't had time to take photos when it's warm enough to remove my hands from my mittens. Yes, I'm whining about how cold it is here in Wisconsin. Last night I had a dream that I traveled to California for work, and really really wanted to stay. The temperature high is ten tomorrow, but I will cling to the hope that winter won't last forever. How did I get on this weather tangent? Oh right, the mittens...the photos...

Maybe if my mittens were like Lou's, my hands would stay warmer?

So without great photos, here is the update: all but three windows are in! The front door is in! The back door and door to the screen porch are in! And, drumroll....the roof is 99 percent done. I'm very thankful for the roofers and Nate, who have all braved hours of cold to keep the progress rolling.

These photos were taken last week

It takes a special person to be a roofer

And one more photo to wrap it up. These kids would totally agree to some daily "hop on pop" fun.