Housing Update 11/12

18 more days until move-in day!

So, this is actually an update from both Thursday and today (Saturday).  It is so close to being done.  I'm having a hard time figuring out what's left to do.  I know they need to put on the closet doors and touch-up the paint.  And add the railing on the front stairs.  They need to wait for the concrete to cure (maybe that'll take the next week?)  And they need to clean.  But other than that, seriously, I'm having a hard time figure it out.  But I'm sure there is something else to do and they aren't just making us wait for kicks and giggles.  :)

Here is a non-blurry picture of our 5-burner gas range/stovetop/cooktop!!!

(I told you I was excited about it.)

The island, complete with drawers and cupboards.

(No, it's not granite.  Just looks like it.) 

We have carpet!!! [squeal!]

Damian looked at it today.  It doesn't hold up to his high standards (what do you expect, carpet is his life) and gave us a few tips of things to make them fix, but for the money, it's good.

And I promised to consult him whenever we upgrade.

The chandelier above the dining room table. 

This is the half-bath on the main floor.  We have toilets and sinks!  Also, see that toilet paper roll holder?  I am so going to make them move that.  It's ridiculous how close it is to the toilet.  Like, mere inches.  Moving it forward 6" would make all the difference in the world.  Easy reach instead of twisting clear around.  Also, lower the chance of the toilet paper roll actually brushing against bare skin.  I mean, really?  (Ok, I am not a very picky person about most things.  But apparently I have definite opinions about toilet paper roll holders.)

Maybe this isn't the best order, but I'm too lazy to change it.

Because our house is so tall, they put a tiered rock wall around our front porch.  This is the top view.  I plan on putting in a rock garden full of low water plants.  

I'm dreaming of a succulent garden.

The kids' bathroom upstairs.  (This toilet paper roll holder (not pictured) is acceptable.  In case you had a burning desire to know.) I love the built-in shelves in the tub.  I'm kind of jealous, actually.  My shower only has one built-in shelf.

Laundry room 

They've even installed the water heater! 

Our shower is now installed.  As well as the tub hardware.

This is the view from the bedroom.

Getting blinds on that window will be a top priority. 

Tub and shower as viewed from the walk-in closet.

Which, come to think of it, we've never taken a picture of.

Master bathroom sinks and counters and lights.

View from bedroom door.  The open door directly across is the toilet room (yes, the toilet paper roll holder is horrible in here too).  The half-open door to the right in the mirror is the closet.

Our back porch.  

Or rather, the right half of it as seen through the sliding glass door in the kitchen.

View from the front of the house.  See?  The stairs aren't nearly as daunting with those rocks there.  I like it.  (Also, they'll put a railing in on the driveway side of the stairs.)

From straight on.  (The driveway is poured, it's just covered by a concrete blanket (Damian, did I get the technical term right?)  because it's getting really cold here.

View of the back porch.  I don't think they stain it.  

We may have to do that.  Someday.

Go ahead.  Be jealous of us.

Housing update 11/4/11

This is about a week late.  Sorry!  Hopefully more pictures to come in a day or two.

Look!!!  We have a kitchen!  With cabinets!  And an island!  

And a sink!  And a dishwasher!  Wooooo!!!!!!! 

And the cabinets continue!  Over the double oven!!!

Yay for a double oven!!!

Let's swing back over to the other side for a second.  I forgot to get excited about the microwave!

And what's that down there?  The stove top*?

 Please excuse the blurry photo.  It's probably blurry because BJ was laughing at me while he was taking this picture.  BECAUSE I WAS FREAKING OUT OVER THE FACT THAT OUR GAS RANGE HAS FIVE BURNERS!!!  I had no idea about this brilliance that is to be mine.  It was a complete surprise.  And it is ridiculously exciting to me.  You have no idea.

Ok, moving on.  Upstairs we also have cabinets in our master bath!  And sinks!  And lights!  Did I mention that we actually have lights throughout the house, and they work?  Hooray!  Because now that it's getting dark earlier, we can still go see the house in the evenings.

See?  Cabinets!

We also have toilets.  And a back deck.  (BJ, how did we not get a picture of the back deck?)  That was a drama, because the stairs went the wrong way!  And I wasn't happy about it.  But then we talked about it a lot, and I decided that maybe the stairs going the way they are would be better.  So we decided not to make them fix it.  We also have the washer drain pan in.  And the drain cut down to be level with the floor.

It's so exciting!!!

And hopefully we'll be going down again tonight or maybe tomorrow, so we'll get new updated pictures up here soon.  Weeee!

*Poll time.  Do you call it a stove top?  A stove?  A range?  Something else?  

Please, help settle a disagreement here. Tell us your opinion in the comments.

Halloween 2011

This is Kessa's first real Halloween.  She dressed up for the other two, but really just stayed in the house, maybe wearing her costume for an hour, then sleeping through trick-or-treating.  What can I say?  BJ and I aren't big Halloween-ers, so without the kid wanting it, we just didn't do it.  (Both of her costumes before this year were given to her.)  This year we were living with BJ's parents, which meant we got a lot more pressure from Teresa, plus Kessa was old enough to enjoy it this year, so we did it.  Since Papa Homer's goal this summer was to turn Kessa into a cowgirl, I thought it would be a perfect costume.  Teresa thought she needed cowgirl boots months ago anyway, so Mama Homer bought her some pink ones (at Teresa's insistence).  The denim leggings (jeggings, I think they're called?) and the shirt she's wearing in the first pictures came together (even though you can't see them for the coat) and the cowgirl hat is borrowed from a neighbor in the ward.  (Kessa refused to try on any cowgirl hats in any stores, so there was simply no way I was paying $20ish for a hat I didn't think she'd wear.  But then a neighbor lent us hers, and since we were all wearing hats the first night, she happily wore hers too.  So yay!)

Neighborhood Halloween Party

Here's Kessa and I to prove that I did, in fact, dress up.  Costume thanks to the Homer's stash and Teresa's insistence that we dress up.  :)

Closer-up of Kessa.  Sorry for the graininess.  These were all taken on BJ's iPod Touch.

Ok, maybe Kessa still didn't want to wear the hat at first.  So Daddy wore it on top of his hat.  Y'know, to make it cool.  It worked.  She wore it after that.

At the party Kessa went straight for the blow up toys.  Here's a video of her trying to get through the obstacle course (at least part of it).  There was also a giant blow-up Twister game that she liked bouncing on.  So, in other words, the second we got there, her boots and hat came off.  So she didn't really look like she had a costume on.  :)

Trick-or-treating Practice

Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures or videos of this.  Use your imagination.  Since Kessa had never done any trick-or-treating, we decided to practice with her that morning.  BJ hid in the pantry and I helped Kessa knock and say "Trick or treat!"  Then BJ gave her an animal cracker.  Her eyes lit up and I helped her say "Thank you".  So we closed the door and did it again, this time with much less prodding.  She loved it.  It definitely helped later.

Halloween at Daddy's work

BJ's work has an unofficial mascot of a panda bear.  So someone there dressed up as one and wandered the area, giving kids high-5s and such.  Kessa loved him.  The second she saw him she yelled, "Panda Bear!"  Then despite her usual shyness, she ran up to him, gave him a high-5, knuckles, and a hug.  It was adorable.  As we walked around trick-or-treating in the various departments (which she did very well at, if still quietly and usually with prodding) she'd look around for the panda.  If she couldn't see him, she'd ask, "Where panda, huh?"  So finally I decided we needed a picture of her with the panda.  So immediately she got shy.  The first picture is of me trying to encourage her to go over and stand next to the panda.  Once she finally did, she was happy, though.

I love that when we tell her to smile for a picture, her smile looks real, not like some cheese-job.  Hopefully that stays as she grows up.  [crosses fingers]

Oh, and as a side note, Dum-dums are officially her candy of choice.  If there were ever any dum-dums in the bowl of candy she was choosing from, she immediately went for them.  Even if there was also chocolate!  Mommy was very disappointed.  Kessa ended up eating 4 dum-dums in the course of 2 hours that day.  It was only due to BJ's creativity at the dinner table (this bite's for the panda!) that she even ate any dinner.  She also got a full-sized box of Junior Mints, but Mommy confiscated them almost the second we got back into the car.  As a taxi fee.  :D

Halloween Night

Oh look!  Her jacket is open!  You can see her shirt.  (She actually had 3 options to choose from.)

"Where's the candy?"

"Outside?  I'm outta here!"

Teresa (an Indian) and her friend, Alexis (a cowgirl) took Kessa trick-or-treating around the neighborhood.  (Oh why, oh why didn't I get a picture of them together?!  Teresa chose her costume based on Kessa's!  [sigh])  Two other of Teresa's friends showed up at the end, then Papa took them all over (all the girls and BJ) to visit Nana at the rehab center and show off their costumes.  (Again, not pictured, sadly).

Kessa got to bed much later than normal, and on much more of a sugar-high than ever before, but she loved it.  And two days later, she seems to have completely forgotten that she has a stash of candy in the pantry.  I am ok with that.  :D