Nursery

Ta-Da!! The nursery is finally complete!

First we had a closet organizer installed because I was pregnant and well, obsessed with organization!

We, I mean, my husband, put up wainscoting** (said with a British accent...) and a chair rail

Then since we had a boy, I quickly texted Ingrid, at Sugar Snap Kids, to make my boy bedding that I chosen! I was set on having a very gender specific room and had chosen both boy and girl fabric. She was awesome, I texted her December 3rd and I believe I had all the bedding by mid-January.

We then picked out our paint colors, added some decals to the walls, and ordered a roman shade to cover the window!

Here are the final results!

The big decal! Thanks to my neighbor Marissa for helping me decide where to put all the stickers.

The green wall

The window covering and decal (a gift from my bestie)

and finally my favorite part! The bedding!! We love it!

We love the whales!

She even embroidered his name :)

I think he loves it!

Landscaping

We are lazy, working professionals, socialites , lazy and decided to hire someone to do our landscaping!

Here are some before pictures:
Entry way. Like our Halloween decor? (before)

Entry Way After (and now it is Christmas)

Backyard (before)

South Side of the House (before) Yes that is a new construction pre-sold home.

Northside of the house

Under the back deck

After: (I was lazy and took pics from the deck)

Whew, so that took me 2.5 months to post, I guess I'm not so good at this blogging thing. Stay tuned :)

October what? 23rd? WTH?

As some of you may know, we moved in on September 2, 2011, Labor Day weekend. I have been so busy, working, being pregnant and moving in, I forgot all about my blog..

Here are some pictures from moving day (FYI for those of you who are more than 20 weeks pregnant, don't move, it SUCKS).

All movers are crooks...somehow my husband got sandwiches for 6 and gas for his car on the way back from the storage unit & still beat them back to the house by at least 45 minutes...Ridiculous (this happened when I moved from Chicago too, assholes)

This is our living room...

My helpful brother-in-law!

Surveying the office/bonus room

The master bedroom

Hubby HAD to install the mailbox, the weekend we moved in! It was easily 100 degrees that weekend, as he dug and dug, he found gravel and clay and more gravel...poor guy

My father-in-law and brother-in-law came to watch..

He eventually got it installed...

I also need to thank my husband's cousins, Pat & Brandon, my mom, and my husband's family also did a huge amount of work to help us. THANK YOU AGAIN!

So we cooked them some Ribs...(why not have company 2 days after moving in :)

Next up...landscaping, my grandmother's redone dining room table, baby's room, my office, guest bedroom, curtains, well about everything... Stay tuned, now that I'm not flying for work anymore, I SHOULD have a little more time, RIGHT?

Holy Progress

Our counter tops were put in yesterday! Look at those swirly-speckly granite-y patterns!

Also if you look closely, the first coat of, "Koi Pond" is on my kitchen walls!

Here are some other paint previews

The family room/entry way in Barcelona Beige:

My master bedroom done in Mindful Gray:

My master bath in Silvermist:

My dining room in Dovetail, can you imagine the wainscoting? I can :)

The entire upstairs was done in a single color to make my life less stressful (Wool Skein)

And finally ladies and gents...my FRONT DOOR, STAINED! (I think it may need another coat)

Oh and our driveway/sidewalk, if the cement wasn't still wet while we were there, I'm pretty sure my husband would have been doing basketball drills getting ready to use the hoop we do not have. I personally was trying to imagine what type of landscape genius I could come up with for the very large area of dirt near the house...

Also we may have someone to complete our siding! They are supposed to start Monday. Now we can only hope that the electrician and plumber get in to complete the final work. Then carpet and the deck after the siding and we should be closing...

What's your guess??

Ring, Ring, Ring, Ring

Me: "Hello?"
"Miss this is 1987 calling"
Me: "Yes?"
"We want our vanity back"

Alright it isn't that bad, but it is definitely the worst decision we have made to date...ugh. Anyone need a Pewter Vein 49" wide x 22" deep vanity top pre-drilled for a 4-inch faucet?

Thanks God for the Big Box stores, I was able to quickly run out and get this beauty, which also resulted in me having to exchange our 4 inch faucet for an 8 inch wide spread. FUN!

To match the beautiful tile work (sorry for the crooked pictures, apparently pregnancy has thrown off my balance).

Anyway we are so incredibly close to closing I can taste it, I'm not going to give you a date because I believe that is like saying, "Look honey, no traffic in the loop!" As you are driving into Chicago, only to come to a DEAD stop for approximately one hour.

My amazing wood floors are in, as well as, my beautiful cabinets in the kitchen. I told my husband that I will hug and kiss my floors daily. The floors are hand-scraped Asian walnut, check out the kitchen with the cabinets and floors.

Look how lonely my cooktop is, waiting patiently to be installed (counter tops are going in this week).

I am also in love with my fireplace tile choice (again a crooked picture..so sorry).

Here is the finished product with the mantel painted, again simply gorgeous.

And finally ladies and gents, my master bath, tub.

I promise there will be another post soon. The painters were in all week last week doing CUSTOM colors, we stopped by yesterday and I am so far very happy with my choices! They had even stained the front door.

Now if only we could get that pesky siding on...which will likely delay closing until December, thanks to the many significant hail storms we have had in this area, every siding person in the world is booked.

A little bit of this, a little bit of that...

Let me start by saying, I hate building a house more than sticking a dull fork in my hand repeatedly, okay, maybe I am being dramatic, but everything that can possibly be delayed because of some unforeseen circumstance has. happened. to. us.

RIFLIPPINGDICULOUS.

1) Electric
"Dear homeowner, your lot has to be within 6 inches of final grade to install lines." This was done after 2-4 weeks of pain

2) Siding
"Please have your lot at final grade"

3) Hard Surface Installation (disclaimer, our hard surface guy is amazing and the delays have been beyond his control, you know who you are, you & your help rock. Thanks for your hard work and patience)
"Please allow wood to set for 3-5 days in home with A/C before installation." All fine and good but the flooring company "forgot" to ORDER IT from their warehouse before the nice long holiday weekend. "Oh and you need the tile for the Master Bathroom shower pan, we will order that for you today?" What the fruck? Do you realize it is July 7? I was told it was on back order and now we are just ordering it??? We began installing hard surfaces a month ago, I guess shower pan tile isn't a priority.

Check out the amazing work so far!

Our 2nd floor bath

The master bath:

The laundry room (and powder room have the same tile):

4) Brick
Pesky licenes you have to renew those things or the inspectors make you stop working. ONE WORD...WTF?

5) Stone
"We can't start the stone until the brick is finished." See #4 The stone is now partially completed but my front door and columns are still naked (which was an upgrade, yippee, money grows on trees right?)
Poor naked door and columns...

6) Trim Work/Cabinets
This poor guy started over a month ago and has been patiently awaiting delivery of the correct trim for the main floor, a curved window-which has supposedly arrived, according to my connection at the local supplier, the stair railing system, and wood floor installation (see #3 for more detail of why our hardwood has yet to be installed)
Mr. Catlow, your work is beautiful I can't wait to see the kitchen after the wood floor is installed (see #3 for more detail of why our hardwood has yet to be installed)
**Anyone picking up on a pattern here? If this doesn't happen than you are out of flubbing luck for that...**

Here is a picture of the beautiful doors, closets,and trim while we wait patiently

7) Deck
Wood? Who needs wood? We have to order that, huh? Oh yeah AND the siding AND final grade have to be completed...

8) Final Grade
Pesky cable, electric, phone & internet lines all happen to be on our lot for the ENTIRE FRUCKING neighborhood. "Don't worry homeowners, I know today is Wednesday, I will be back next Thursday or Friday to complete the work, that won't put you back right?"
(Please see number 2 and 7)
So our lot pretty much still looks like this

Hey look there is a bridge for our little furry friends to get over the crick, that's creek in Indiana speak...

What else can be delayed? Cleaning? Carpet? Final Electric? Final Plumbing? Appliances?

When do you think our house will be complete? My lender, home owners insurance, and lawyer would like to know as well...

Adios, I'm off to buy crap for a house I don't have!