Ryan was trying to surprise my dad with the nursery progress we made over the last 2 weeks so while I continued to blog I had to keep the posts ‘private’. I have just made them public so feel free to scroll down to find the 4 recent nursery progress posts to see how the progress went.
Easter weekend was a blast – all the family was up, the house was clean, the dogs were good, my nephew was A-dor-a-ble! PLUS Dad and Ryan installed the sub panel in the attic and Sunday Dad worked on electrical while Ryan continued work on the nursery. I’ll post details and pictures later today.
I’m pretty tired, even after relaxing all last night. So all my attention is on work this morning, once I’ve figured out where I ended up Friday and made some progress maybe my brain will be ready to do dual duty and allow me to do things like laundry (and there’s plenty) on breaks. For now – focusing on work!
This weekend I had my second baby shower (my local friends threw one for me). They went with a theme for gifts and all got me/Itty baby books! I am in awe with the little library Itty has already now!
Books from my friends!
And of course some of them couldn’t resist a few other gifts – including a home made blanket from Harrin, Moby wrap (and owl toy) from Sarah, adorable winter hat from Erin, Red Sox gear from Denise (she and Harrin are big fans), and a necklace from Michele (not pictures because I was wearing it all weekend and it’s up on my dresser) 🙂
Non-book gifts - baby blanket is my favorite colors! Purple and green 🙂 of course!
And on Sunday while Ryan worked on the nursery (he had a lot of work work to do this weekend but did have some time to work on the nursery of course), I took a break and did a little work on my wallhanging I’m making for the baby. I started cutting out the applique pieces for the owl and tree blocks. I’d like to get this far enough along that I can have some hand work going in the evening when I’m too tired to do anything but sit on the couch. I think 2 blocks are ready for hand sewing almost (just have to cut the background fabric down a bit and center the pieces).
The owls will have a lot more details (eyes/beak and feet) but I just wanted to get started with the bodies and wings. The green fabric will be sashing, the pink/daisy fabric will be corner blocks and the purple/daisy will be the outside border me thinks.
I’ll have a separate post on nursery progress when I get some pictures of that – my phone is acting strange with pictures, sometimes I take them and they don’t show up as pictures later – a complete loss of the progress part since I don’t realize it at the time 🙁
Monday night I finished vacuuming the walls/ceiling of the nursery and got it all primed! It was tiring but totally worth it. I also started cleaning up the work area (livingroom/diningroom) in preparation for company this weekend. I got rid of all the wood we don’t need, organized what we’re keeping and it’s already in better shape. A very productive night after a very productive day at work – love those! Tomorrow night I fully anticipate crashing on the couch after work (I’m always exhausted after going into the office)!
Nursery walls and ceiling all primed!Next up comes trim installation (after Easter)
Unfortunately we’ve been so busy we’ve been bad about taking lots of pictures so I don’t have as much as I usually do of each step.
This weekend was great. It started out per usual on Friday night (because my Ryan is awesome like that) – and even though he had lots of work to do this weekend he really managed a LOT of progress. Friday night we did some more spackling -Ryan did the ceiling corners and seams while I did a second coat on the wall corners and a final coat on wall seams.
Saturday we got up relatively early and got the spackling finished up (Ryan on ceiling again, and me on wall corners). Next was a trip to the dump (slowly eating away at the pile of plaster to get rid of from the nursery demo) and a stop at the park for Fitz. I had my friends’ baby shower to get ready for after that so I was gone all afternoon.
While I was gone Ryan worked and then got some more drywall and finished drywalling the closet! When I got home from the shower he was getting the nursery door installed (so it would contain the dust when he sanded on sunday!). With the closet progress made, we decided to head to Lowe’s and get some cedar for the closet (nothing as good as our master closet but very aromatic and will do for a small closet). We also picked up our framed antique maps! Once home, I got the closet seams taped while Ryan worked to hang one of the maps but was pretty exhausted after that so we called it a night.
On Sunday Ryan worked in the morning (while I relaxed) and then he sanded the nursery (while I worked on my baby quilt) – I was pretty worn out! Once he was done sanding (which I know is a LOT of work), I got the nursery vacuumed and we brought up the saw so we could work on the cedar closet. I cut while Ryan installed and we got 2 whole walls done before dinner time! I ended the night by starting to vacuum the ceiling/walls (from the sanding) so they could be primed Monday night hopefully.
So it was a very productive weekend. Ryan said he will try to get one night this week to install the closet door (to help contain the cedar smell in the room) but other than priming tonight that will be our only progress. The rest of the week will be spent getting the house cleaned up for company (Easter weekend!). I’m tired just thinking about moving everything around!
All in all, I’m ecstatic about the weekend progress! The nursery just needs trim (and the closet finished) before it can be painted! Of course the floor also needs to be refinished too, but wow – really really coming along quickly.
Nursery spackled and sanded! (View from door)View from inside the room - even the door is installed already!Ceiling all done!Closet - 2 walls all done!Closet ceiling still needs to be sanded before primedThird wall of closet - not done yet
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 🙂
Well as expected, Ryan got busy at work and Tuesday night I was exhausted when i got home so I pretty much fell asleep on the couch then moved to bed at the more appropriate time of 9pm 🙂
But Wednesday I worked from home which meant I had a ton more energy in the evening (although i worked until 7:30). So I decided to get the corners hit with the first coat and then I got a second coat on the seams (wall seams – not ceiling). The ceiling is certainly lagging behind but I can’t really do that although I’m tempted to try the upper corners if I can manage it – I’m not sure I can move the scaffolding when I’m on it though so this might be something Ryan and I do together maybe friday night.
First coat on the corners, second coat on the wall seams.The other wall..
And of course I’m ambitious and hoping that since I’m working from home Friday I can get another coat on the corners and then later that night maybe Ryan and I can get some of the upper areas spackled. We are almost out of joint compound though so a trip to home depot is necessary!
And day actually. At lunch time I got a first coat on the wall seams and a third coat of spackle on the lower half of the screws throughout the nursery. That was the extent of my lunch time energy but luckily Ryan was able to get home at a normal hour (normal for the rest of the world, early for him), and after going for a run he got a coat on the ceiling seams and the screws on the top half of the wall and ceiling.
So technically the screws have 3 coats (just need to check to see if any need more). I think tonight he wants to do half of the upper corners and maybe another coat on the seams? Then tomorrow we can do the regular corners (I can do one side at lunch time and he can do the other side after work).
We’ll see how it goes, so far so good, he’s hoping to have it sanded and primed this weekend if he doesn’t get a new project at work that means he has to start working late. I tried to take a picture this morning of the progress but my phone didn’t like it – it gets screwy sometimes. So no picture unfortunately 🙁
Ryan was busy Friday night getting more prep work done on the nursery, working around the huge sheets of drywall that were off to one side he drilled some holes for electrical (to run the light circuit) and screwed in almost all the firring strips on the ceiling (the ones he could get to). Then he added some framing to the corner that was missing any nailers.
Mom and Dad showed up Friday night so we could get a nice early start on Saturday. There were 2 items to do first, finish up the electrical and move the drywall so everything could be accessed. Once the electrical was all wired they were able to start on the drywall – ceiling first.
The ceiling up
The ceiling was just about finished (the last piece was up but not screwed in) by lunch time (1pm). That’s some great progress.
Then they did the exterior wall (that got rid of 2 of the 14′ x 54″ pieces of drywall.
Exterior wall getting screwed in.
Unfortunately I don’t have any more progress pictures after this but they were able to finish up the drywall (of the room, not the closet) entirely by dinner time.
Sunday they drywalled what they could of the closet (using scraps) but we need to get another piece of drywall to really finish it. Then started taping and continuing electrical (hooking it up in the attic to the existing circuit it used to be hooked up to for now – later we’ll put in a subpanel in the attic). While tape/spackle dried, electrical was done, then more taping, then more electrical and finally the last upper corners were taped and Mom and Dad headed home.
So the nursery is really coming along – Ryan feels ambitious and hopes to get the spackling all finished in the next 2 weeks, maybe even walls sanded and primed before easter – we’ll see how it goes (mostly based on his work load).
Anyway – some pictures!
Ceiling view (from the closet)The view from the closet sideThe closet - partially drywalled - we're actually going to do cedar walls in here like our master closet i believe.From the doorway - the right hand wall (there used to be a door there - too many doors in this house!)And the other side (view from the doorway) - of the windows.
So that’s 2 coats on the screw holes, and just taped on all the seams.
What’s left?
Running the cable/ethernet drops (2) to the interior walls
Closet drywall and cedar
Spackling
Sanding walls
Priming (then touchups)
Putting the door frames back in
Trim – windows, door, crown molding, baseboards
Priming/Painting trim, Painting ceiling and walls
Refinish floor (includes patching the spot where the radiator was)
Can we be done before baby ? 🙂 We’ll see how long she stays in!
In baby news – all is still well there – the braxton hicks contractions have continued but nothing like last thursday thank goodness. I still get bouts where they are 5 minutes apart but they don’t stay that way for more than an hour. Plus i’ve been assured that even though the contractions are so often and consistent, they don’t actually mean I’ll even go ‘early’ – she could still come late even, all it means is I’ll be even more uncomfortable as I get closer to the due date because I’ll get bigger and more uncomfortable PLUS still be having contractions. Really looking forward to month 9 🙂 *sarcasm*.
But baby has a room that looks like a room now, even if it’s not finished so I’m excited!
Nice and early so Ryan could help unload it before he went in to work even! The drywall for the nursery was boomed through the upstairs window and is now sitting mostly in the nursery. It’s going to be very interesting maneuvering these large sheets around this weekend. Luckily we can do most of what’s left of prep work easily with the drywall off to the side it is. Just the closet is blocked right now – unfortunately, that’s where I put the window sashes to keep them safe (duh moment for me) and so the window will have just a screen for the day/night 🙂 Thank goodness it’s another warm day!
Speaking of warm, the A/C went in our bedroom last night because I was dying (I don’t know how people who are pregnant in summer do it!). Yesterday was a tough day with a lot of braxton hicks contractions (every 5 minutes), I ended up over at the hospital to get tested to make sure they were just false labor (they are) but they’re STILL coming every 5 minutes this morning. The doctor ordered me to take the day off and do nothing – not sure what to do though, not working stresses me out when I have work I could be doing and that can’t be good. So i’m confined to bed for the day with lots of water and hopefully the contractions slow down?? I have no problem sleeping through them at least so I got a good night’s sleep for a change. I guess the contractions are fine since they aren’t bringing on labor – but they are darn annoying!
Well spring is most certainly in the air (let’s hope there aren’t any future frosts waiting to kill the plants that have sprouted early now!).
And success – my tulip (and other) bulbs are popping up! Besides the crocus’ which I planted throughout the yard, I planted the larger bulbs in 3 locations – my rose garden (in front), and 2 spots at the front of the house. They’re popping up in all 3 spots! I’m very excited to see these comes to life in the next few weeks!
Bulbs popping up!
And with spring we get closer and closer to the arrival of our little one! 6 weeks to go (or there abouts):
34 weeks along!
Of course she was scaring me this morning (that she would come sooner than 6 weeks from now), my braxton hicks contractions were not only stronger than usual, I usually don’t get so many in the morning (usually at night) – not sure what was going on but they have finally calmed down thank goodness!
