Brody's arrival

Well...he finally made it!! Little Brody Tyler Watson joined our family on February 18, 2010 at 6:02 pm. He weighed 6 lbs, 13 oz and was 19-1/4 inches long. We are sooooo happy to have him with us!!

His arrival was definitely one for the storybooks!! I know I'm behind in blogging so I'll give you a quick recap of the events that lead up to his arrival. At my 38 week appointment (about 2 weeks ago) my dr told me that I was already 3 cm dilated and she was certain that little Brody would be here soon... The week went by and no baby. I had been busy trying to get the house in order though so I was thankful that he was taking his time. At my next appointment I discovered that I was now 4 cm dilated and 70% effaced. She gave me the option to go ahead and be induced but I really wanted to try to let my body do its own thing this time. My dr was certain I wouldn't make it another week, but just in case she scheduled an ultrasound for the following week to check on the baby. To everyone's surprise I did make it through the week and that is where the real story begins.

Considering the fact that I knew I was 4 cm dilated I felt really good. I was having contractions often, but they weren't severe and for the most part I felt pretty normal. I was still sleeping great and getting around really well. By Thursday (3 days past my due date) I was ready to throw in the towel and be induced. I didn't feel horrible by any stretch but I was just ready to be done. I was more uncomfortable than comfortable and honestly I think seeing that due date tick by just makes you mentally start getting over being pregnant really fast. I knew my dr was on call for the weekend, so Damon and I decided we wanted to be induced on Saturday. He had appointments lined up on Thursday and Friday, so it would just be easier all around to aim for Saturday. We headed out to the appointment on Thursday morning to get a quick peek at Brody on the inside. The ultrasound showed a healthy baby, but my fluid was low and Brody appeared to be low birth weight (~6.5 lbs) which is an indicator that the placenta is aging. After the ultrasound we headed over to the dr's office still thinking that Saturday would be Brody's birthday....for heaven's sake we didn't even pack the car with our bags! When we met with my dr, she agreed that the news of the ultrasound and timing made it appropriate to get the show on the road and she thought Saturday was a good idea. Of course these plans were made BEFORE she checked me. Much to all of our surprise, I was 6 cm dilated!! She immediately said, the plans had changed and I was to be admitted NOW!! She said it isn't healthy to walk around that dilated for risk of infection and for fear that the delivery would progress too quickly if my water broke. So...I headed to Labor and Delivery and Damon headed to the house to get our bags. I called Mom so she could start the hour drive up from Dunnellon and we were on our way to having a baby. It took Damon a while to get everything rounded up...even though I had it all in one place...but it gave me time to make some calls to friends and family to give them the news. Just after 2pm, Mom and Damon were both with me at the hospital and they started the pitocin to get my contractions going. The dr on call didn't want to break my water right away since it was so low. He wanted to give the baby a little cushion for the the time being. About 2 hours later I was finally starting to get uncomfortable, but not so bad that I couldn't handle it. The dr wasn't planning to break my water until after I got the epidural, so I asked the nurses to check me to see if the intensity of contractions was even working. I had progressed from 6 to 7 cm, so it was working, but at that rate, I wasn't interested in hanging around in pain for a long time. Based on my delivery with Rylee I thought if my water was broken I'd progress quickly, so I decided to go ahead with the epidural and breaking of water so we could get the show on the road. The dr on call was leaving at 8pm and I really wanted him to deliver. It took about half an hour for the anesthesiologist to show up with the drugs and by this time I was thinking I was definitely ready for some pain relief. All went well with the epidural and after waiting patiently for about 20 minutes for the nurse and Damon to discuss real estate and politics they finally hushed it up and told the dr I was ready for him to break my water. Within 10 minutes of him breaking my water I was in severe agony and thought the epidural wasn't taking. The nurse decided to check me and much to our surprise Brody was almost out!! They quickly called the dr back in and 10 minutes (4 pushes) later, Brody was here. It was a whirlwind to say the least. According to the hospital they can't count that my labor truely began until the meds showed a change in my cervix. So from the time they checked me and I had progressed to 7 cm to Brody's arrival was 1 hour 35 minutes!! If Damon hadn't held up the dr breaking my water with all the chatting with the anesthesiologist, I think he would have arrived in less than an hour!! Thankfully I didn't get my wish to go into labor on my own because if I had, I would have never made it to the hospital and the thought of that is terrifying!!

We are home now and doing well! Rylee seems to be adjust better than I thought and we are settling in to our new family. I know the next few weeks and months hold some adjustments for all of us but I feel so blessed to have been given the gift of a son and a daughter. Our family is complete and we are ready to make some memories!

Unfortunately time is scarce and I only had time to upload two pictures of the little man. The one with Damon's hand is to help you see how small he is! I hope to be able to keep up to date on blogging now that life is returning to normal...as much as having a newborn and 3 year old can be called normal! Thanks to everyone for all your prayers along the way!! Don't stop now...I'm sure I still need them in the weeks to come!

You can view the hospital photos by clicking this link. To search you have to enter his DOB 02/18/2010 and city of Gainesville, FL. You'll also need to enter the first 4 letters of our last name (wats) and the password: 23141290657511

http://www.our365.com/NewbornPortraits

ENJOY!!

Busy, busy, busy!!

I know it has been ages since I've posted and I'm sure you guys are wondering if I've given up on this blogging thing! I'm still here, but life has not been so easy the last 6 weeks or so since I've posted.

Let's see...I guess I left off a few weeks before Christmas. I'm sure there is enough said with that right there. A lot of time was lost simply in the hullabaloo of Christmas shopping, parties and festivities. Not to mention work, Dr's appts, and just being Mommy! We didn't actually do any decorating for Christmas because the house construction was WAY too hectic. Luckily my mother-in-law had a pre-decorated 'mini-tree' she wasn't using, so we were able to set that up on a table and at least create a little mood of the holiday season for Rylee. She also bought Rylee her very own purple tree to keep in her room...purple is her FAVORITE color, you know!?! About a week and a half before Christmas Rylee came down with a bit of a cold, so that was a bummer. 4 days before Christmas I got what I thought was her cold... Unfortunately I was wrong and wound up giving her my cold, too...so she was sick for about 3 weeks, the poor thing! It was a wonderful holiday season as usual with a lot of time spent with family and friends. Not being around my family is always tough during the holidays!! I think so many people get wrapped up in the 'gift giving' and totally lose sight of the blessing of family!! Althought it is sad to say goodbye to fun of the holidays, I'm certainly thankful for some of the stress of the season to be over!

We recovered from the holiday craze only to hit the house remodel head on! Monday, January 4th the constructon officially came indoors! They had to knock 4 holes into the house to connect us to the new addition... Right after Christmas we had to quickly pack up every room in the house except our master bedroom and bathroom. Even our master bedroom closet had to go... On top of the stress of the constructin at this point in the game, Florida had a 2 week cold spell that hasn't been seen in like 30 years or something like that. When they knocked the holes in the walls, we didn't even have heat to the new addition, so we were freezing!! We've weathered just about every setback possible it seems, but I certainly don't want to jinx us so that I can see how bad it could have been. Our builder had hopes to be have the kitchen remodel done in 1 week. He was gonna hit us hard, but be done quickly! Well....that didn't happen! In 3 days it will have been a month and our kitchen is still not usable. In the grand scheme of things, time has gone by quickly and it is all worth it but let me just say...I'm ready to have my life back. It is stressful knowing that Brody is 2 weeks away from his due date and we don't really have a place to put him if he were to arrive.

The new house addition is basically complete. We are hoping to get our CO (Certificate of Occupancy)tomorrow...of course we've been waiting on that since last Wednesday, but I'm still hoping!! All that is really left is closet shelving and a garage door and lots of little finish work like touch up paint and stuff like that. We still have a lot that we are painting in the old part of the house, but I think that will go quickly when we aren't crammed into one little room. We had new baseboards and crown molding put in the existing bedrooms as well as new flooring in the old living room and new cabinets/countertops in the old bathrooms, so there is virtually no room that hasn't been affected! (Except for Damon's baseball card closet that has remained locked throughout the construction...hmmmm)

My sister and Mom came last weekend and spent 5 days with us to help get the kids rooms ready. They were basically finished with the remodelling of those rooms, so Jill flew down with Dani and she worked rather hard to put everything in place! She also redid the kids' bathroom and helped me accessorize much of the rest of house. My credit card is smoking... Luckily I've been saving, so all is good!! I was pretty useless for helping with the manual labor, but wrist is sore from swiping my card...HA!!

I don't know if this kind of living is something you could ever get used to, but the sad thing is I think we are almost adjusting. Funny story... Jill's plane left at 7am so we got up at 5:30am and I drove her and Dani to the airport which is literally 5 minutes away from my house. I dropped them off and went back home to climb into bed for an hour and a half of sleep before the hammering started. Damon was snoring like a mad man, so I put in ear plugs and drifted off to sleep. I woke up to our cat sleeping with us which I couldn't understand since we lock them out of the room. Come to find out...our builder told us that 3 workers were here at 7:45am banging on the doors and ringing the doorbell to be let it. They had called him on his cell and he said for them to find an unlocked window and go on in. He knew we were taking Jill to the airport and figured we were gone. So they climbed in and got to work. When he got here at 8:30 he walked by our bedroom and saw us conked out in bed sound asleep. Apparently the cat had pushed the door open and come on in and since I had ear plugs in I couldn't hear a thing. Damon and Rylee can usually sleep through most commotion. I'm the one that hears a pin drop. I guess the ear plugs work! In some ways it is embarassing, but we've let these workers into every corner of our lives, why not let them see us sleeping, right?!? LOL!!

Within the next few days we could literally be closing the door on this chapter of our lives... I'm hoping and praying that the CO comes through tomorrow because that would play a HUGE roll in us being able to slowly put the pieces back together of the chaos we've been living in. In looking back at the pictures I posted at the beginning of December a lot has happened!! I'm really excited to start living a normal life again!

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!

We have officially named our BABY BOY!! It was a LONG and painful process....but we are pleased to announce....

Drum roll, please!!!

Brody Tyler Watson

Remodel update

A lot of progress has been made on the house since my last entry. Unfortunately the progress doesn't show up as well in pictures, but I've still got some good ones to show. My last update showed the workers finishing up the roof structure. In looking back at where we were a month ago, it certainly makes me realize how much progress has actually occured! In my last post, we were praying for no rain so that the roof wouldn't leak until it was dried in. Well...as typical...it rained at 3am, no less!! I woke up to hearing drip from the new roof to the old roof and inside the fireplace. I woke Damon up (who could sleep through a tornado) and he had to brave the storm and try to get a tarp over the section of roof that wasn't protected. It only rained for an 1 hour or 2, but it was a harsh way to wake up out of a dead sleep, I promise you. That day the men finished drying in the roof with tar paper and we felt VERY relieved!

The next hurdle that occurred again involved an inspection. Apparently the shingles could not be placed until the framing inspection was complete which includes walls framed out, plumbing and electrical. I'm not sure why there needs to be inside walls in place in order to put a roof on, but those are the rules. Well, supposedly a framing inspection also includes the windows being in place and our windows were very late arriving. After about a week and a half delay the windows arrived and were installed and the roof was FINALLY shingled. The next step was stucco and hardy board. It was really neat to drive home and see the exterior finished out to look like one house instead of 2 houses connected. We had them remove the 'decorative' boarders from around the windows because we didn't like it. I don't think stucco and a ranch style house really go together but by removing the boarders around the windows and adding the hardy board accents I think it looks AMAZING!

Stairs to bonus room over garage

Bonus Room over garage

Trusses over old roof and MORE STORAGE SPACE!!

There will be a door across from bonus room entering new attic space.

Stucco in progress and removing window boarders

Stucco application and windows

Front view after stucco and hardy board

Garage side view

Rear View

Other side view

The next week was Thanksgiving, so we had insulation added and all the finish work to get ready for sheet rock this week. This week they have already put most of the sheet rock on the ceiling and will be starting on the walls soon. Now that will be exciting. They also officially started 'invading' the inside of the house. We are having 5" baseboards placed in the new part of the house and so we are having them replace the old baseboards so the house will match and look uniform. That has been an ordeal because we are having to move a lot of furniture and are starting to live with boxes stacked up everywhere. Luckily I'm pregnant, so I've been able to leave most of the hard work to Damon. LOL! We got a 'PODS-type' trailer brought to the yard to store some stuff in too. That will make it easier, I think. In my mind, I feel like we are going to have soooo much more room, but seeing what Damon is pulling out of every nook and cranny that I've been shoving stuff in I think I'll be surprised how fast we fill up the new house! The good part is that we are getting there, the bad part is that I'm realizing how dirty my house is!! The carpet has taken a serious hit since the construction started. We sweep loads of dirt every day from the front and back door and it is visibly starting to show on the carpet. Luckily all the carpet in the main part of the house is being replaced, but it is starting to be UGLY to look at. The baseboards have been in serious need of repainting for years and the dust behind furniture that hasn't moved in 8 years is horrifying. Hopefully the workers don't think we are too disgusting because I'm beginning to wonder myself.

In my mind I was thinking that the last month wasn't super productive but it is quite amazing to look back and see the actual progress. When I look at the photos we've taken and how much work has been done each week it really is a lot. I know it feels like an eternity because we are soooo excited to be finished and to have some peace and quiet, but the few months of headache will totally be worth it!

Pregnancy update

Well...I'm still pregnant. LOL!!

I am doing a lot better with the nausea thankfully. I still have moments, but for the most part I think that is just my stomach running out of room in there. I don't feel as exhausted as I did in the 1st trimester, but I can definitely tell that I'm approaching the end of the pregnancy since I'm not sleeping as well. I frequently wake up from being uncomfortable, but thankfully I'm quickly able to go back to sleep. I know that will only get progressively worse, so I'm trying to rest as much as I can. The baby is moving A LOT, but it hasn't gotten to those painful moves yet. Rylee still hasn't felt him kick but she really isn't patient enough to wait. I'm almost looking forward to the hiccups so that there will be regular movements that she can feel. She got a big 'kick' out of feeling her little cousin in my sister-in-law's belly. My last doctor appointment was the week before Thanksgiving. I was still under 20 lbs of weight gain, but I think Thanksgiving probably put me over! Oh well. I'm right on track for how I gained weight with Rylee so hopefully he'll be a tiny thing, too!! I passed my glucose test, so that was good. I didn't expect to have a problem, but you never know. The Braxton-Hix contractions are still very regular. There was a night last week after a busy work schedule that I had about 7 contractions/hour for several hours in a row. That is higher than they want to see, so I've really got to relax more... Yeah Right! I have a 3 year old...it's Christmas...getting ready for baby #2...and a house remodel... Relaxation isn't on my to do list right now even as much as I'd like for it to be! The latest development in the pregnancy is that I've developed this horrendous itching. I don't have a visible rash for the most part, but I itch ALL over, ALL day long! It is CRAZY. I called my dr on Monday after about a week of suffering and they said it is common in the 3rd trimester which I've officially hit. So...I had labs drawn this morning to measure my liver function and bile salts. I guess the itching is a potential sign of things going on with the liver and gall bladder. I don't think there is much that they do about the itching but it could lead to an early induction. I'm certainly not looking forward to 2 more months of itching. Hopefully it is a false alarm and my blood work will come back normal... I think I should get the results back by Friday. I have another Dr appointment next week and then I start going every 2 weeks. It is fun to go in and hear the baby's heartbeat, but working something else into my schedule isn't the easiest thing to do. The picture I posted was actually from last week, but it is the most current one I've got. Hopefully I won't let so much time lapse before my next posts. I was noticing on the 3D pregnancy widget on my blog page that I only have 75 days to go...that is oh so exciting and oh so scary at the same time. I want to get a 3D ultrasound soon, because I'm anxious to see him again....want to make sure it is still a boy! LOL!

Official CVS video debut

For those of you that are new to my blog...go back and check out the reportings of my trip to Dallas, TX on 9/11/2009!!

After months of waiting, I finally received a copy of the video CVS produced of my experience as a pharmacist. My story, along with 2 others was presented at a conference in Dallas, TX to over 2,000 CVS employees. The video also includes the closing comments of the conference by the CEO of CVS. I wasn't able to remove the other 2 videos or Tom Ryan's comments, so you'll have to watch or fast forward. I feel like their videos are more commercial and mine is more 'Rescue 911', but it was still an honor to be chosen!! I also couldn't figure out how to add the video to this post, so I added it as a widget to my page. If you scroll all the way down to the bottom you'll be able to view the video.

Without further ado...I am proud to share with you my 5 minutes of fame!!

ENJOY!!

P.S. Please ignore the low cut blouse!! (I forgot my tank top and am still having post traumatic stress from the whole experience!) LOL!!

Rylee's 3rd Birthday

I can't believe my baby girl is 3 years old!! Her birthday was November 16th and we had a weekend of celebration. Since our house is under construction we couldn't do our traditional birthday party at the house so I had to come up with an alternative plan. I'm not much of a risk taker, so planning a park day was too nerve wracking for me. We don't have a Chuck E. Cheese in Gainesville and I didn't feel like she was old enough to attempt a bowling party yet. So...we decided to go to Build-A-Bear in the mall on Friday, the 13th. Not the best day...but I'm not much into superstitions. We invited several of her friends for the party and then went to the food court for lunch and a YUMMY Mrs. Field's cookie! The kids seemed to enjoy it...and for the most part it was a stress-free party for me! It was a bit chaotic actually building the 'bears' since the kids ranged from 18 months old to 4 years old, but I will say that just showing up and leaving the clean up to someone else was NICE!!

On her actual birthday she celebrated again. Nanny and Papa took her to Walmart to pick out her very own cake and to the park just for fun! She had a GREAT day. That night, I made lasagna and Caesar salad for us and Nanny and Papa and Uncle Deagan and Aunt Lis!

It was so enjoyable to watch her open her gifts this year. She would peek inside the bags and then literally start shaking with excitement while yelling, "Oh my goodness, Oh my goodness!!" It was so much fun. Uncle Deagan said it was more fun than his birthday. It really was very enjoyable! We got her a Baby Alive to help her with adjusting to the new baby in February. Nanny and Papa got her her very own camera...'which no one can take away!' She got LOTS of Barbie stuff which she LOVES and plays with EVERY day and tons of other goodies, too!

I said it before...I'll say it again... I can't believe my baby is 3 years old! My how the time has flown and how blessed I feel to be her Mommy!

Halloween 2009

I had a hard time deciding what Rylee would be for Halloween this year. She isn't into anything except maybe Mickey Mouse and I just don't like the overly commercialized costumes...besides the fact that the name brand costumes cost a FORTUNE. I figured this is probably my last year to really get to pick what she dresses up as, so after much debate I decided to let her be a cowgirl. My sister-in-law made her a cowgirl dress up outfit for her 2nd birthday and it fits her perfectly right now so I really only had to add a shirt and boots and guns, of course, to complete the look. I was gonna put her in a hat, but she said she wanted pigtails. I must say that that she was too cute!! I also included a picture of her with her new little cousin, Caelyn. She sure is proud of her...when she isn't jealous!! LOL!

We have Trunk or Treat at our church, so we didn't have to go door-to-door to fill up her pumpkin. I must say it is MUCH easier and a lot of fun seeing all our friends and their kids in costume. It was a fun night!

Disney

Ok...so I've been MIA for over a month now! I've been so unbelievably busy yet I can't seem to figure out exactly what I've accomplished. I think the 3rd trimester of pregnancy is catching up and the lack of sleep due to construction is not helping with my level of fatigue!! I plan to post several updates to try and catch up, so hold on for the ride!

We took Rylee to her first Disney trip on October 30th. My sister and her family were at Disney for the week and we made a day trip to see Mickey! I have never been much of a Disney buff... I don't get into the over commercialized stuff that is out there, but let me just say that Rylee is in LOVE with Mickey and has been for a while now. She was sooo excited to get to go and her excitement was very infectious. Damon and I were tickled pink to get to take her and see her experience Disney for the 1st time. It truly was magical watching her! My brother-in-law treated us to lunch with Pooh and Friends, which scared her to no end, but it was fun anyway...and the food was fabulous! She was absolutely mesmerized by the princesses, but totally petrified of the other characters. We decided not to wait in the VERY long line to let her see Mickey up close for fear of the the trauma it might cause, but she LOVED watching Mickey perform at Cinderella's Castle and in the parade. We left the park at just before dark and rode the monorail back to my sister's hotel. They had a pool where the kids could cool off and play. It overlooked a 'lagoon' and you could see fireworks over Cinderella's Castle to end the evening. As always, the day with my sister and her family went way too fast, but we had an amazing time. The pictures don't do justice to the fun we had, but I thought I'd share some anyway. I must say that we will definitely be going back!!

Mr. Sensitive (a.k.a. My Husband)

The other night I was laying on the couch watching TV...Rylee was already asleep...and Damon was laying on the floor. The baby started kicking pretty hard and since Damon hadn't had a chance to feel him yet, I asked if he wanted to feel. Of course, Damon jumped up at the chance. The baby kept up the kicks and Damon was impressed with how strong his little man is already. I'm laying there cherishing this special moment when Daddy first feels his son when Mr. Sensitive arrives... Damon kept trying to feel the baby kicking around my belly button and I kept having to move his hand a little lower. I told Damon that the baby isn't that high yet and he proceeded to grab a 'roll' above my belly button and say, "Then what's all this?!?" OMG! He never did have much tact!! LOL!! Luckily my pregnancy hormones must not have been raging because I was able to laugh hysterically at how insensitive he had been. I so gingerly explained to him that everything that used to take up the space below my belly button was now being pushed upwards... I must admit that I do feel a bit self conscious about the baby weight and his comment did NOT help. He really has got to learn how to think it and not say it!!

I have several friends who are expecting or have recently had babies that are also blogging. Their husbands have periodically posted touching sentiments about how wonderfully courageous and strong their wives have been during the pregnancy, delivery and etc. Not my husband!! I'm really not into all the sappiness, but come on!! A little sensitivity would be just fine!

10-23-2009 - What did my old house look like?

This is a side view so that you can see the look of the completed roofline.


It was about 6:30pm on Friday night and these fellas were busting butt to try and get the last bit finished before the weekend. As if it needs explaining...this is a front view of the house! I had to go on the other side of the fence to get the whole house in one view! SWEET!


Side view from the other end of the house.


View from the side showing the two houses joined together under one roof line. It took them one day to place the trusses for the back half and the other end of the house and it has taken 3 days to do the rest. It took some serious engineering, but it is pretty cool!!

View from the back of the house...

We have seen some unbelievable progress this week. It is hard to even picture what the house looked like before! My hubby is the best to have designed this project!! I could have never imagined that our little 'ole house could be anything other than what it was. He is soooo talented!!

We are now PRAYING that it won't rain over the weekend. The framers finished up the roof tonight at about 7:30pm. They removed the chimney today and had to peel back some of the old shingles in order to set the trusses on the block wall. Even though there is OSB covering the trusses, it is NOT dried in! They covered it with plastic before they left, but I'm sure a good Florida rain would make for some roof leaks! Damon thought they would come out tomorrow and put the tar paper on, but the inspector has to come out and see the nails in the OSB before they can cover it with tar paper! No government work occurs on the weekend, so that'll get done on Monday and then they'll tar paper it and hopefully shingle it next week. Cox Communications is coming out tomorrow to move our phone/cable line...which should fix the phone problems we've had for the last 2 weeks. We also have it scheduled to do work on the plumbing and electrical next week, too!

Aside from the house, I'm getting excited for an upcoming week off! My sister and her family is coming to Disney World for the week. Unfortunately Damon can't get much time off, so we are only planning to drive down for the day to take Rylee to Magic Kingdom with them. I thought about staying a few extra day since I have the time off, but I don't want to stay in a hotel by myself and I can't afford the one they are staying at! Oh well...almost 6 months pregnant and a 2 year old will probably make the one day we are there PLENTY of time with Mickey. She is so excited. Damon pulled it up on the website yesterday and was showing it to Rylee. She was so amazingly excited! Damon said he actually got chill bumps from watching her get so excited!! She tends to be frightened of big characters, so I hope she doesn't freak out over all the Disney characters, but I think she'll have a good time regardless. At this point we plan to go on Friday...I'm gonna watch the weather and if it looks like rain, we may have to alter the plans.

10-21-2009 - Interior

View of the dining room and a bathroom. To the left you can see where the french doors will be leading out into the back yard. To the right is the current glass sliding doors that will become a doorway into the existing house.


View of the living room from the dining room.


View of master bedroom from the doorway in the living room.

This is an unusual view. To the left you can see a 'hallway'. At the far end will become Rylee's new closet and at this end will be stairs leading to the bonus room over the garage. To the right you can see one of the master closets. Behind the closet is the garage.

View of master bathroom. Master bedroom is to the right. The closets in the previous picture are behind me where I'm taking the picture.

10-21-2009 - Unbelievable!

This is a view of the front corner of the house. You can see the trusses peering over the top of the current roof. They started the front porch covering today. You can see the headers over the porch.


This is a view of the end of the house.


This is a view from the back right corner of the house. From left to right on the bottom, you can see another shower window, bathroom window over the garden tub, and the garage opening. On top is a view of the bonus room over the garage.

This is a view from the back left corner of the house. You can see the progress of covering the trusses. The openings from left to right will be...french doors into the living room, 2 living room windows, 2 bedroom windows, water closet window, shower window. Also notice...we have very little grass an a LOT of dirt!! Ha!

View of the end of the house. This view shows the current roof and half of the new roof! They have to frame the rest of the trusses by hand...that should begin tomorrow!! The windows on the new addition will be in the dining room and a bathroom.

10-20-2009 (Trusses)

We didn't get many good pictures of the trusses because Damon and I didn't get home until after dark. They trussed half the house in ONE day and framed a lot on the inside, too! Amazing how much progress is taking place!

Remodel update!

A lot has happened on the home front. Since my last post they've inspected the footers, poured the foundation, surveyed the foundation, layed the block for the exterior walls of the house, inspected the walls, poured concrete down the blocks, removed the eaves of the house in order to place the trusses and moved the electrical! WHEW!! That is a LOT in 2 weeks!

For more detailed views of the progress...check out the slide show at the bottom of my page!

Of course there have been a few bumps along the way... LOL!! When they are laying block, they of course leave holes where the windows are going to be. For some strange reason the architect drew a 5 foot window in the water closet (aka toilet room in the master bedroom) and 2 - 4ft x 2 ft windows in the master bathroom shower. I know it isn't what we discussed with him, but we didn't catch it when he gave us the plans either! So needless to say we were going to be VERY exposed in all aspects of using our bathroom! Thankfully, Damon had not left for work yet and noticed the potential picturesque views. We were able to correct the problem quickly, but it required some scrambling! I'm so thankful Damon is doing this with me. He is soooooo knowledgeable about all of this and has avoided some major problems. I would be paying out the nose for some change orders without him!

Another 'error' occurred today as they were removing the eaves of the house. Somehow the eave was supporting an electrical line and when they removed it, the weight of the electrical cable pulled down the power line. It affected all the neighbors, too! NICE!! Thankfully it was midday, so hopefully most people were at work! The neighbors were up and running after about an hour, but it took them until about 7pm tonight to get us some power. They had planned to move the electrical tomorrow since I would be at work, but they decided to call everyone in today to get the work done since it was already halfway there. Luckily everyone was available or we would have spent the night in the dark!

The biggest story of the remodel (in my opinion) is thanks to my precious little Rylee!! LOL!! She was at Nanny and Papa's (who live next door) while Damon and I were at work. They decided to bring her over to check on the construction and to let her play in the sand that is EVERYWHERE!! During her play she started showing signs of needing to go potty, so what do they do...you guessed it....they let her use the Port-A-Potty! OMG!! They said that our house was locked, so they just let her use it... Did I mention that they LIVE NEXT DOOR!! So...I'm sure it goes without saying, but she didn't go #1!! I was shocked at the news and asked what they used for toilet paper... Come to find out, the Port-A-Potty was well stocked. I must say I was impressed by that...but all the same...EWWW!! Well she just thought it was the coolest thing ever! I am mortified at the thought that one of the construction workers would think it was me that used it... I mean it wasn't there when they left for the day, but it is there when they get back the next morning!!! You know...she may always match and have a bow in her hair, but a frilly girl she is NOT...she is a tomboy for sure! I guess deep down I knew she wouldn't make it through the whole remodel without fully investigating the outdoor facilities!