Not really lost...

Is something lost if you never take the time to find it and fail? The camera was in the diaper bag. It just didn't register with my brain's locator database the last time it moved. I seem to have a lot of deliquent items like that lately...
Here are some fresh pictures.

AHH Sweet Relief!! I really could have used this 6-14 months ago...but alas it is finally here!
Tile work in progress. Did I mention we accidentally ordered the wrong tile? Eric and I were debating between two tile choices. He convinced me I liked the darker one better, then proceeded to order the one I originally was trying to sell him. I didn't catch his mistake either. It turns out that we are really glad we got this one instead. It has much more color than the one single 12x12 sample tile we got. Helpful Tip: If you are debating between two tiles, see if you can get a mosaic for your sample or at least 2 tiles for samples especially if it is a high variation tile like this one.

Eric is also adding a white wood surround to the fireplace. Our current debate between the two of us...how high should the mantel be? How many inches should the surround come out from the wall?
This is my favorite flooring so far. I saw a random piece of this in the showroom and said this is the mudroom tile. That made for a very quick and easy decision. I really like the slate look, but slate tile can be uneven. Since it is a natural stone, it also is porous and needs to be sealed which kind of changes the surface appearance. This is a porcelain tile - durable, smooth, easy clean, and no sealing(other than the grout). Perfect for the mudroom.

Update #62

It seems in my organizational genius that is my room/office/baby's room, I've misplaced my camera... So after I type my update, we get to look at pictures of Elena.

The fireplace looks awesome. El niche looks awesome. The light fixtures and the mudroom tile are exactly what I was looking for. As you can see, I'm pretty happy with the way things are coming along. I will try to find the camera and take some pictures that do these things justice, but if not you'll just have to come visit. =)

Eric is taking a quick trip to Indy Wednesday and Thursday, but hopefully by the end of the weekend, he will have the master bath tile done. I decided not to go on this Indy trip so that Eric can maybe actually sleep through the night and so I can paint casing. The casing we originally ordered was ugly. It was 3 1/2 inches wide and mostly flat (We had thought it was 3 1/4 and not ugly). So that's being returned and we found a different narrower casing to use, but that had to be ordered. It should be in Wednesday. All the casing and baseboard is Ultralite MDF. Since MDF is much easier on the pocket book than pine, oak or any other solid wood, we can get slightly nicer mouldings. The stair parts are on order too. I think all we have left to order is carpet and countertops... That is nice! Now for the baby pictures...

Elena at Halloween.
Cribbin' it.

This Week's Accomplishments

We have flooring in bath 2 and the laundry room. Also, most of the doors are hung.

We have light fixtures with working switches!
All El Niche needs now is a bulb and a vase...The granite fits like a glove.

Eric even took some time to be artsy. Here is Papa, Baby and The Rock.

Winter Weather

Really, the amount of snow is beginning to get absurd. If you have ever driven up here, you know the last few roads are quite the treat, especially in snow and ice. We got about 14 inches of snow in the last storm. My parents came up on Friday with the camper. After working all Saturday, we went out Saturday night for my dad's birthday. Leaving the house that night Eric was in his dad's truck and Elena and I were in the Infinity which has auto 4 wheel drive. My parents stay at the house in the motorhome. On the state highway that borders our house, the wind was blowing the Infinity over the centerline due to the glare ice on the pavement. Eric was having the same issues perhaps even more so in the truck. We turned around and went back to the house and decided to stay there. We stole some mattresses out of the camper (The top bed would be too cold in -10 degree weather.)and camped out in the master bedroom. We already had the vinyl flooring laid out in there to flatten it out. Elena was happy in her playard. We had some makeshift pillows and remember those blankets they tell you to keep in the car in case of emergency... The orange one was provided by the motorhome. We didn't get the best sleep. We also learned how important a decent pillow is to both of us, but the first night in the new house wasn't bad. I can't wait for those toilets though! Sunday there was some impressive drifting action going on. On one of the county roads, the piles are pushed well over the height of the vehicle. The cheddar haus road is down to 1.5 lanes at the top of the hill. Of couse 4-6 inches are forecasted for tonight.

Kodi is the snow last week.

Our front yard.
Our campout Saturday night
Elena loves her oatmeal.

Emblazon!

After I typed so highly of it, Skip's paint sprayer decided not to pump the ceiling paint. (The primer is thinner.) After 5 minutes of ceiling rolling, Rita gave up. Skip and Eric did a couple rooms. We went out and got a new paint sprayer, the Graco Magnum DX from Home Depot. It's not really the new tool Eric was hoping to have to buy for the house, but it worked well. It took us about 6 hours to two coat a majority of the ceilings. We also got the roller attachment for it and used it to put the paint on the walls for the main color. For everything else, it wasn't worth setting up the paint sprayer/roller. The only color that we aren't quite sure is going to stick is the green for Elena's room. It is a light green, but it has a bright radioactive glow...
Do these colors match? All except 2 of my colors come from Farm and Fleet's Valspar Urban Habitat color swatches, but I'm using Hallman Lindsey paint because they have a low luster acrylic enamel (aka flat and washable.) for the walls. All my colors had to be color matched. The original yellow I picked for the kitchen is the color swatch on the right, City Escape. The issue: the color matcher matches to natural light. The tinted paint (on the left) matched prefect in natural light, but under a CFL, it looked ugly green. The store tried adding more red to tone down the green and it worked somewhat but not enough. I ended up having them match Graceful Moon, a different yellow, and they also didn't add any green to it even though it called for a little. The new color (on the wall) looks really good and almost matches the original City Escape under CFLs. If anyone would like 2 gallons of the City Escape yellow and doesn't have cool lighting or likes the funky greeness, it is yours. Unfortunately, the 3rd gallon popped opened when it hit the floor at the foot of the basement stairs...

We also got a sink hooked and then eventually hot water. That blue attachment on the sink is from a $5.99 roller cleaning kit from Menards. The yellow thing is the other piece. It is highly recommended and what you've been missing your whole life when it comes to cleaning rollers!

The foyer again and a bench that works great for edging around 8 foot ceilings. They have really nice contractor ones with adjustable heights, but this was a less expensive option available at Menards. Eric is excited about his new office. The color is called Reality which made us chuckle.
Chicago Skyline is the master bath color. It looked so green going on Eric thought I switched the colors on him, but it dried this really pretty greenish gray blue.
For all those who wish I would stop with the house pictures and just post baby pictures... :)

How much longer?

Here is an excerpt I find amusing from our car ride home from Johnsburg.

The setting: 8:45pm. Our S10. Rita driving, baby in the passenger seat, Eric in the jumpseat, Kodi at/on his feet, huge 40x40x60ish inch boxed air conditioning/heatpump unit in bed of truck with some hall and bath lighting fixtures in the free space.
Rita (spaced): "Oh crap, I just missed the exit to 43."
Eric (nicely): "Are you trying to make me sit back here longer."

Entourage detours through Elkhorn. Eric glances back at the load and everything looks good.

Later...Entourage stops in Beloit. Eric runs into McDs to get a cheeseburger for him and a sundae for her. Rita pumps some gas and then sits in jumpseat with dog at feet. Glances back at boxes and sees her mini chandelier she got for the masterbath and thinks happy thoughts. Eric hops in and entourage continues on their way.

Later...10:00pm almost to the gas station by Juda.
Sound: Thwap Thwap thwap.
Eric and Rita's thoughts: 'Is that the box top baffling?'
Eric: "That's a flat tire."

Entourage pulls on to a side road and Eric promply starts changing the tire which is pretty ruined. A few minutes later...
Eric (semi-annoyed): "That's dumb. You can't hook the good rims to where you store the spare."
Rita (happily helpful): "There's plenty room right here next to the air conditioner."
Eric (apprehensively): "What?"

Except concludes. It appears that somewhere between the 43 exit at 67 and Beloit, we lost 2 lighting fixtures! Doh! Casualties of our fatigue. Eric is usually strap crazy, but really thought there was no way those could come out. I am usually so concerned with losing stuff, but I didn't think twice. I also didn't realize when we were in Beloit that there should have been 2 boxes between me and the bathroom light, which now I remember seeing when we left the house, nor did Eric realize in Beloit that 2 were missing. By the time we realized it, it was too late, too dark, and we were too tired to go back and see if they survived...and for the money in gas and not having an additional spare not worth it. Unfortunately, one was a really nice master bath vanity light bar and thankfully, the other was a less expensive hall light, but here's a cute baby with a mohawk to make everything all better...