Well it only took forever (4 separate times actually) but the priming in the tvroom is done! Friday during one of Alex’s naps I was able to start priming again, getting a good portion done (2 doorways and some baseboards). Then after Ryan got home I continued that evening, getting all of the crown finished, the baseboards and doorways all done.
Saturday we had an outing at Kimballs, but in the late evening I was back to it, priming the window trim and the built-ins (just the brush, saving the rolling for sunday). Then on Sunday I got the roller out and finished up the priming of the built-ins! Too bad it all needs to be sanded before the first coat.
The goal tonight is to get a final coat of poly on the floor since we are going to buy our couch today and get it delivered in 2 weeks maybe??
Priming all done!built-ins primed!!!all primed
Once Alex wakes up from her nap it’s out to lunch and couch shopping! Then back to house work this evening.
What a weekend we have had! Baby girl has been busy! Saturday morning Ryan got up early and made 2 trips to the dump to get rid of wood we had laying around making the outside look much better (all though we still need to mow!) Then he got the last small piece of crown installed and the rosettes so all the trim was installed!
Next up it was prep for painting, this included filling nail holes for the rest of the day when baby girl would let us (generally one of us worked and the other was on baby duty). Our final project was stripping the door frames in the tvroom – no more lead paint in the tvroom! Alex got lots of walks outside during that process and a little time in the back sewing room.
Happy Girl!
Today we started the day going out to breakfast at IHOP (our favorite breakfast diner was packed). Then we continued the trim work, caulking, sanding, sanding, vacuuming and sanding. Finally all the trim and built-ins are ready for primer!
Trim ready for primer!
Ryan has baby duty tonight so maybe I can get primer on the trim?!
Since we went back to NY last weekend, we had no house updates, evidently that’s the only time I blog 🙂 This weekend however we stayed home and made some decent progress, even with Ryan having some last minute/unexpected work on Sunday to do.
One thing that makes it easier to work on the house (besides Ryan not working on a weekend) is that Alex takes usually 2 really good naps a day (2 hours), she’s also been going to sleep consistently around 10pm, getting up once (sometimes twice) to eat but sleeping till 7am (8am if she gets up twice). So we’re getting more sleep in general which is also helpful.
So this weekend, we got up nice and early on Saturday and enjoyed the fact that the heat had finally broken, so we all went for a run together. Then got showered (it wasn’t that cool out) – even Alex got a shower to cool off. Then Ryan started working on making the crown molding pieces while my friend Robin from work stopped by for a visit. After lunch Alex took her long nap so we got the crown molding almost all installed (we actually were short 1 piece so that didn’t make it up). Almost done though! I also got 2 of the 4 rosettes we need stripped on Saturday.
Crown molding now continues around the room. A few pieces needed to be scribed since the ceiling dips in places but luckily ryan is good at that now 🙂The long side had to be 2 pieces of crown but the longer runs are a bit easier since you can bend them more.A picture of the baseboard Ryan did a few weeks ago, never got a picture of it then.
On Sunday we got up early (well Ryan and Alex did – they went for a run while I got an extra hour of sleep – Alex was up every three hours Saturday night which was an extra night feeding than normal, so I needed a bit more sleep). After their run we headed out to run some errands and when we got back Ryan found out he had to work so that last piece of crown didn’t make it up yet (maybe some night this week?!).
I was able to get quite a bit done though, I got the last 2 rosettes stripped and sanded so they are all ready to be installed (which will be quick for Ryan when he has some time). Then I installed the disconnect and the wire for the outside condenser unit (here comes the A/C!). I just have to buy a breaker to finish the wiring and the plumber has to wire the unit itself. Hopefully Monday we’ll have the A/C all hooked up and running – although they have to move the ducts they installed along the attic ceiling to run under the floors so at some point the A/C will be off so they can change those.
In general we have been very happy with this plumber/HVAC guy so far. They fix/change the things we ask without complaint and even though they work short hours (in this heat I can’t blame them) they get the work done quickly. They haven’t had any issues with the dog, even when I’ve left them alone at the house. This week they are finishing up everything they can do until the gas line gets installed from the street, then they’ll come back and do the final hookups so we’ll have heat/hot water off of gas and we can get rid of the oil!
Now I just need to find someplace to get rid of our radiators and then our oil tank later this summer. Very exciting! We’re looking forward to next weekend, another weekend home to work on the house hopefully, we need to get the tvroom trim painted so we can do the final coat on the walls and floor and get this room finished up!
Yes we spent most of the weekend watching series 1 and 2 of Sherlock and loving it 🙂 We also did some shopping on saturday for running shoes and a quick trip to the mall. On Sunday Ryan finished the baseboards in the tvroom and the closet trim (minus the rosettes – we have to strip 4 rosettes before we can officially finish the trim). Getting close. Next weekend he’s hoping to do the crown molding (he needs to use some tools outside so the rain was a problem this weekend and our porch is holding a couch) 🙂 Either way, hopefully next weekend we can get the trim in the tvroom finished up and ready to be painted.
Rainy days are lazy days here and unfortunately miss Alex slept most of sunday which meant she didn’t sleep well Sunday night (and she had been doing so well at night lately) – which meant I didn’t sleep much sunday night. So we spent monday morning catching up on some zzz’s and we’ll get back to a regular routine hopefully tomorrow.
Of fan trouble that is. It’s kind of crazy how this saga ends (see fan saga here).
After working with Lutron to get our Maestro fan/light double dimmer switch working, which failed by the way, they left me with one last idea. They said the way it’s behaving it’s acting like there’s interference from a CFL or plasma tv or something. Problem is that taking the CFLs and plasma tv off the circuit in that room did not help. So the last idea was to turn off everything at the breaker box except the one light circuit and then slowly add them back on until I could pinpoint the interference.
Well this is time consuming but finally today I had some time and wouldn’t you know it, it worked! The CFL on the kitchen circuit somehow was interfering (note that it’s a difference circuit). So I changed that to incandescent and boom – it all worked like a charm. Holy Moly that was a real project. So now I have to get back to the Lutron folks and they can send me some sort of filter so I can use said CFL again but until then, we have a fan!
The second week is wrapping up (man does time fly fast) and little Alex is now 5lbs 11 oz and 19 inches long. Her 2 week appointment went great and she doesn’t have to go back for 6 weeks (2 month appt). She’s eating great (9-11 times a day) and obviously growing fast. She doesn’t fill out her newborn clothes but she fits in them length wise pretty well (if she stretches out her legs which is rare, little miss frog leg).
Today at the doctor she sucked her thumb again!
Alex sucking her thumb at the doctor office
I have a bunch of new photos I will post tomorrow probably when I get them off the camera (her actual 2 week birthday).
In nursery news, no progress has been made yet but I’m going to go work on the trim now while Ryan snuggles with the little one (he only has today and tomorrow left of his time off). So I’m going to go sand and prime and caulk the trim where it needs it and later hopefully get a coat of paint on it if Alex lets me. Ryan did work on the tvroom a bit (installed the baseboard around the room minus the cap molding so far) and got the trim up around the exterior door. We have a few more rosettes to strip before that can be finished but I’m hoping next weekend we can get that room done enough that we can order our new couch at least.
I just wish we had some nice weather for these last few days with ryan, we could use a nice walk to the park but no, we’re stuck inside out of the rain and even Fitz is bored enough to sleep all day without complaint.
A huge THANK YOU to my dad and brother this week, without whom we never would be so close to not only finishing the nursery but also the tvroom now!
The house is so quiet now that the week has ended and everyone has headed home (PJ left Thursday night and Dad left this evening).
First up, the nursery … all of the trim except for the crown molding has been installed (and most of it was pre-primed). Nails holes are filled and it’s all lightly sanded and ready to be painted (or primed in the case of the rosettes and sills).
The floor has the second coat on it, a tinted poly and we’ll wait to do the last coat until the trim is finished, basically do it last since we hope to finish the room before Ryan goes back to work Wednesday.
A view of the door trimTrim installed!The doorway trim (and baseboards) installedeven the closet has baseboards and trim on the inside (it's small so it's hard to take an inside pic)A view of the windows
The last piece of trim to go on will be the shoe molding which is already primed, has a coat of paint and is coped, ready to install. So what is left exactly?
Sand the closet ceiling and prime/paint it
Prime/Paint the trim
Install crown molding in closet and paint it
Install the closet system
Install crown molding in nursery and paint it
Last coat on floor
Shoe molding installed, then painted last coat
Last coat on the walls
Fan/light and outlets all installed
That’s it!
We also have a bunch of doors we plan to take down to Worcester to get dipped (strip off the lead paint). We’re up to 7 doors and it would just take too much time to do ourselves and with the baby in the house we feel safer just having them dipped and done with.
The TV Room also made progress, Dad finished all the sanding, got the first coat of sanding sealer on there, then a coat of clear poly. Again he left the final coat for us so we can finish the trim first. This room has a bit more to get done only because painting includes the built-ins which will take a while. We do hope to finish this up ASAP however, even if the built-ins are the only thing not quite finished.
This is actually after only a single coat but it's a good view of the tvroom floor.
Alex and I also had a good day, we went out to a new mom’s group at the hospital to meet some other moms and babies. While surprisingly at 10 days old she wasn’t the youngest there, she was definitely the smallest. I weighed her there and she was up to 5lbs 9.6 oz! With pj’s on but still – that’s great! Growing steadily. Now she and I are resting while Ryan is out at a group meeting, hopefully a very short meeting. Tomorrow we’ll spend some family time together in the morning and Mom may be coming out for a quick visit in the afternoon!
Our little Alex just couldn’t wait to join us and at 37 weeks pregnant my water broke while I was at work (at 2pm). Since I’m only in the office 2 days a week this was unexpected and such a surreal experience. With no contractions the doctor said I could drive to the hospital, so I did, with a coworker/friend following behind me (of course we had to stop and pick up Fitz from daycare on the way as well!).
Once at the hospital and all the family on the way we settled in and I was having mild contractions by then (similar to the braxton hicks i was having for 2 months). Family arrived, we visited a bit and then the contractions got stronger.
Well Alex really was in a hurry. I have no idea when things happened but it all went pretty quick in the end. My water broke at 2pm, I was at the hospital around 3:30. Contractions probably got worse around 6pm. By 9pm I think they were pretty excruciating. By 11:30 when I was supposed to be getting my epidural, I was feeing the urge to push…. so no epidural…. that was NOT the plan. Luckily Alex is little and it took only 15 minutes or so of pushing (and me screaming) to get her out.
Alexandra was born at 11:46pm on April 10th, 5lbs 7oz and 18 3/4″ long.
Alex getting checked out in the nursery right after being born, holding daddy
Once Alex was cleaned up a bit, the family all got to meet her. The next hour passed in kind of a blur for me (I may have passed out I was SO tired) and Alex had to go to the nursery to get checked out. By 1:30am however we were all in our new room for our first night together!
Our first family portrait
Our hospital stay was pretty normal, Alex had some issues with nursing at first and did get jaundiced so we opted to stay an extra day (since she was born before midnight we would have left Thursday but stayed through Friday lunch time instead). We came home in time to have a wonderful weekend together, visit with more family and just figure things out in general.
Alex with her DaddyGrandma Groudas with Alex
Mimi with Alex
Aunt Becca with AlexGrandma Williams with AlexSince Aunt Aimee took most of the pictures I don't have one of her holding Alex but here she is visiting with little jason.Uncle Jason with AlexAll dressed and ready to go home!Alex meeting Fitz for the first time.
Of course what weekend home would be complete without a little nursery progress – on Sunday Ryan worked on the nursery, taking out the radiator pipe and patching the section of floor there.
Nursery progress has been in high gear since then. PJ came out Monday night to help and Dad came out Tuesday night (happy birthday to me!). The progress has been very fast and I can hardy keep up with what’s being done since Alex and I are hanging out separately.
I’ll let the photos do the talking for the progress.
PJ stripped the closet door and also finished up the cedar that will go under the trim on the inside of the doorRyan took out the radiator pipe and patched the flooring.Ryan patched the corner that is behind the door where there used to be a hallway meet up so there was a diagonal seam.Dad sanded down the nursery floorPJ painted the first coat on the ceiling Tuesday night and Dad put the second coat on Wednesday morning.The first coat (sanding sealer since it dries fast) is on the floor and Ryan and Dad painted the first coat of light green on the walls!The baseboards are getting installed.
Not just nursery progress, the tvroom floor is also getting done this week! Ryan and PJ moved the couches out and Dad started sanding down the tvroom floor, need something to do while the nursery floor is drying.
First pass sanding the tvroom floor
Ryan and PJ also got the trim for the nursery made tonight so that can be installed tomorrow. 2 more full days with help (1 more day with PJ and 2 with dad). I think we’re shopping for rugs this weekend to protect our new floors!!!
So a long while ago I mentioned having a problem with the ceiling fan installation in the tvroom. It’s a 3-way circuit using this fancy Lutron Maestro Fan/Light combo switch with an accessory switch and fan canopy. I had successfully installed one in the gym (not a 3-way though) so when the tvroom one didn’t work I didn’t know where it went wrong (the 3-way wiring, the canopy wiring or if a module was bad by chance).
When Dad was out the first time in March we started looking at it and I decided to look up a wiring diagram to compare my wiring to. The second time he came out I had verified the wiring should work and we took it all apart and put in regular 3-way switches – and yes it did work. Okay, so that was correct.
After he left I took apart the gym fan so I could look at the wiring of the canopy module – to verify I did it correctly on the new one – unfortunately – they were also identical 🙁 So we hooked it back up and same behavior – the module won’t initialize correctly. AND to make matters worse – I put the gym fan back together but forgot to secure the wires back in and so they are clicking against the moving parts – so I have to take this apart again – major FAIL – ugg!
Next on the list is to get a hold of a new module and try it out – one piece at a time to see if I can identify what the problem is. Home depot tonight or tomorrow to see if they have modules. If they don’t have what I want, I need to order one for the nursery anyhow so I can do that and try it out – if my module is bad I can contact Lutron probably about it.
For now the fan remains as it ever was – an eye sore in the tv room … soon though – at least I know I wired it correctly now 🙂
Ryan had to work this past weekend so I was QUITE surprised when I got home to find progress on the tvroom! The first thing I could see was a baseboard across the front of the built-in – YES!!! Finally, no more Fitz toys stuck under there 🙂
The baseboards aren’t complete because he couldn’t find a cap molding (like we did in the gym) that he likes, so we have to head over to Brookline when they’re open over there to get the matching one. But for now I’d say the hard half of the tvroom has the main part of the baseboard completed!
The closet also has a door! And the two doors he previously installed have trim! I’d say at this point that the moldings/trim are about 1/2 way done since 2 out of 4 doors are trimmed out and baseboards go around half the room (as does the crown).
I’ll let the pictures show the progress I came home to!
The closet has a door - and the door to the front hall has trim!Baseboards in front of the built-ins (note that cap molding is just sitting there to see if we like it, not happy with it)And trim and baseboards over to the door going towards the kitchen!
We’ll see what happens this week and next weekend. I’m still working on the closet project in my free time (evenings) and next weekend Ryan is away and I’m having some friends over so progress will be limited but there should be some!
Then the following weekend we’ll be demoing the nursery!
