Day 256 -- HEY! Let's Talk About MY Room!

A couple weeks ago, my mom and I were in the master closet talking about how to arrange the closet system. We suddenly heard a little voice from Izzypop's room: "Hey! Let's talk about MY room!" I walked in and Izz was standing in the middle of her room looking around. "Hey Grandma! Come in here! We need to talk about MY room!" It was pretty cute. Today, we were able to set up her bed and bring up the rug and chair from her current room. It looks really cute. Especially in the daytime (this pano doesn't do it justice). We will be decorating the walls in the next few weeks. Hopefully, I'll get some better pictures at that time. Eventually, we'll also get her a few pieces of new furniture since the baby will be inheriting her old bedroom set.

When she saw her new bed today she loved it. She jumped on it for about a solid hour. After which, she went downstairs, put on her best Snow White Princess dress, and told me she wanted to take some pictures in her room. Then at about 6, she said "Mom! You need to go to bed! I want to go to bed in my new room!" We're about off to bed now. She has been waiting all day for this.

Update: Shortly after this post, we went up to Izz's new room. She cuddled up in her new bright pink sheets and flower bedspread (plus the favorite fuzzy princess blanket) and I went into my room to let her go to sleep. She started singing to herself in a high, sweet little voice: "I love my new room...it is yellow....I love my bed...it is pink with flowers on it.....My dad will be home soon...in five minutes...My mom is in her new room...I have a dog...her name is Beatrice...I am going to school tomorrow....I'm going to tell Miss Loni about my new room..." and so it went. It made Brian and I thankful to know that we have such a happy and sweet little one. She really does make life worth while...even when she is so excited that she doesn't go to bed until 10:45! She slept like a rock and didn't make a peep for the rest of the night and was still excited when I woke her up the next morning.

Day 250 -- Railing, DONE!!!

On Friday they put the final coat on the stairs and the landing in the mudroom. Since I'm preggo, we decided to stay with family for the weekend. We were finally able to come home last night. I'm glad to have that over with.














Today, they installed the lower railing. It looks amazing. I love it. Tomorrow, they will be back in the morning to touch up the paint.

Day 244 -- The Tape Comes Off

The painters are finished with what we have scheduled them to do. Today they painted the walls going downstairs as well as the walls in the hall and the small portion of the wall on the right side going upstairs. The panoramic program I have didn't do too well with this one, but you get the idea of the height of this wall. That's why we had the professionals take care of it.

Looks great now that all the paper and tape has been removed. How do you like the stained railing with the white balusters and newel?

Next steps: Get a final coat on the stairs and landing, have the lower railing installed and finish the paint in the upstairs hall, baby's room, master bedroom and mudroom. After that we might be able to start thinking about a bathroom...if we feel up to it.

Day 243 -- Wow Wall in White

The "wow" wall got painted white today along with the railing and newel posts. I really like the look of it. It's exactly how I had envisioned. It looks like an awful lot of white right now because of all the tape and paper on the treads, but it will look really cool when all that gets pulled off.

Looks like they're going to assemble the lower railing afterward. The risers also got painted white today. Tomorrow will be painting the walls going downstairs and hopefully they will finish up their end. We will still need to paint the upstairs hallway as well as the baby's room. Getting there, though!

Day 242 -- Expect the Unexpected

If you would have told me that the massive beam in the middle of our bedroom, the pain in our neck, the huge eyesore, would turn out to be one of my favorite things about this room, I would have looked at you like there were lobsters crawling out of your ears. But when I saw it this afternoon, I wasn't just pacified. I actually, really and truly, like it. Love it even? It turned out beautifully. I am really glad we decided not to box it in....and when I say "we", I mean "I". :P

The rest of the staining also got done today. All the hand rails as well as the newel caps.

The rest of the day was spent prepping to spray tomorrow. They said they should be done by end of day tomorrow. That would be amazing! Can't wait to see that "wow" wall in white. Try saying that 3 times real fast.

Day 241 -- Victory!!!

No, it is not 3 weeks later. Nor is it some computer generated image or optical illusion. We have a bedroom. An actual, functional bedroom. I think I have mentioned before that I have an awesome family. I do. I have an awesome, hardworking and talented family who is fun to be around even when they are being slave-driven by a woman who is 6 months pregnant. Today, my aunts, uncles, cousins, parents and siblings all came up to help me paint.



The goal was to get Izzypop's room painted and if there was enough time, put another coat on the master bedroom. I was hoping this would put us in a position to get me into a real bed by next weekend. Not only did they do that, they painted the doors for Izzypop's closet, they finished painting my room and the closet with the exception of a bit of trim, they primed the baby's room closet and door frames, they painted the shelving in our master closet, and probably most importantly and thankfully, they moved our furniture into our bedroom and set up the bed. The little ones even helped make the bed.

I cannot believe I will get to sleep in a real bed in our new master bedroom tonight and I will actually have my own side of the bed that I can get out on! I seriously thought I was going to cry -- I might still, the night is young. I could be crying myself to sleep on my huge pilla. Here are a couple panoramas of the master as it has progressed:
Day 65:
Day 71:
Day 72:
Day 228:
Today:

Here's one from another angle and also one from inside the master closet:

And of course, Izzypop's room.

I am so grateful for everyone's help. It would have taken us another couple of weeks (or a few thousand dollars) to do what my family did in 8 hours. Unbelievable. Thank you so much Mom, Dad, Layne, Callie, Shereen, Chad, Jerry, Ashley, Jay and Kerry. You really are the best.

Next on the list for us is getting Izzypop's new bed put together and getting her room finished. Tomorrow, the lower railing should be finished if all goes well and the painters will be working on getting ready to paint the stairway.

This is pretty much what I feel like (and I'm sure anyone who was here today feels the same way) so I am going to bed.

Day 239 -- Happy New Year

It is a brand new year and we have pretty close to a brand new house. We are so close to moving upstairs, we can taste it. I'll be so happy if I can be sleeping in an actual bed by next weekend.

Yesterday, the handrails going downstairs and down to the landing were put in as well as the newel caps upstairs. The newel post and railing going upstairs was supposed to be put in, but since these stairs are cursed, we had another snag. The newel that was ordered was too short. We'll have to wait until Monday to get it done. Also on Monday, they should be starting to paint the railing, "wow" wall, and hall going down to the basement.

Today my amazing parents came and worked their butts off again to help get Lizzy's and our bedrooms painted. My mom wrestled with this shelving for the majority of the day. She had so much paint in her hair she looked like Cruella DeVille. My dad and I focused on baseboards and window casing, and my dad put up the lights in both small bedrooms and got the lighting working again in our master. It was a long day, but we got a lot done. Thanks as always, mom and dad.