Renovation Update #1

In some ways sooo much has been upstairs I am sooo unsure where to start:) And I know nothing about construction... LOL!!... so it's like a blind person leading you around the attic with all the changes. So bare with me as I try to share:)

First, here is Brian standing in the attic after we had cleaned our "junk" out. It really was a GREAT motivator of getting rid of some of the "stuff" we had held onto for soo many years!!

And here is a view of the "main" room from behind the attic "pull down" stairs. This space is now gone.... replaced with an open space where the new stairs come up.

Here is how the guys have been going up and down out of the attic for over a week now. The carpenters, plumbers and electricians... yes, we have had all those people at different times up in attic!! Most of the work has been done Mon-Fri 8-5! But on Saturday we had the plumbers.

But today we had a BIG arrival!! We really weren't expecting the arrival until tomorrow... but it came today!! I thought you'd enjoy the view of my driveway and the side of my house:) The carpenter's trailer(s), the porta-john, and for a little while the semi delivering our BIG arrival!

So here they are being put into place..... our STAIRS:) There's Brian pitching in.... the carpenter even let Brian drill a bit;) Anyway, it's sooo exciting to have the stairs up.... I can now go up without worrying about climbing a ladder:)

And now that I can climb the stairs!!! Here is some of the progress, as best as I could capture it without getting the guys' way... I did bring cold tea with me;)

Here's the main room... the "room" in the middle is the bathroom:) And on either side are going to be storage closets;) Right now I"m thinking of using one closet as a toy "room" where the kids' toys can be kept. The main room would then be a partial playroom, although all the toys wouldn't have to STAY out all the time;) Just one idea.....

OK... this is the bedroom. I am standing in the corner looking out where you'd walk in and out. Directly to the right on the way out is a closet. And then beyond that you can see the hole where the stairs are.

I"m starting to get a better mental picture now that the space is framed. But without walls it still is hard for me.

There has been a lot more done too that you wouldn't really know.... be all the electrical work is ready. The plumbing is ready to be hooked up. And the heating/cooling has been reworked and is almost ready .....

We thought this was going to be a month long process.... but it really seems like soo much has already been done just these first few days;) So we'll see how the rest of it goes;)

I think I have been handling everything really well. The carpenter(s) have been very cautious about the messes they have needed to make, for which I am really appreciative! The "inconveniences" of having the renovations doesn't seem to be overwhelming to me.

I think the hardest part as been the minor extras.... like having the crib downstairs soo early. Or having the elliptical orbit exercise machine in the dining room. My dishwasher is only partially used right now b/c of a broken part (glad it happened to us and not one of the kids this time). Or Anna dealing with a stomach-ache and waking us in the middle of the night. Sometimes it's all the little things that seem to add up and start to overwhelm me.

And the most AMAZING thing about the work.... my kids nap RIGHT through everything..... radios, drills, circle saws, hammering, Brian and a deacon laying down insulation.... truly amazing;)

We are just soo thankful!!