The countdown continues

Here's another quick update - we have officially given notice to the apartment complex to vacate and the bank to lock in our rate! We have to be out of the apartment by November 30th, but in all reality we should have the keys to the new house by the end of October (keeping fingers crossed).

Not a lot happened last week, but this week, we saw things going in left and right! Reminder, here's what the kitchen was looking like, floors still not stained. Walls and ceilings painted.

 I'm in love with the dark island.

 Pull out trash cans.

 I have never paid attention to the interior of drawers before... but I couldn't miss the beauty in these.

 Tiling was a process, but the installers were really good (in my humble opinion) and we were so pleased with how the browns (yes, lots of browns and beiges) meshed with each other. Not bad for two people with no interior design or artistic backgrounds.

 We did have some guidance from the tile guy for the shower design (straight tiles, followed by accent tiles, followed by the diagonals.

 Little man, pining for the tractor. Actually, at this point, I think it's still there, outside working. Isaac could watch for hours.

 Front porch ceiling painted (we chose that over stained).

 Zack had them bump the island over a few inches.

 This wall of cabinets has pull out shelves and drawers.

 The island has a set of cabinets, drawers, and the trash cans.

 The corner has a lazy susan.

 Here's a close up of the pulls and the cabinet coloring (chocolate glazing).

 Big cabinet between the ovens and the fridge.

 Tractor watching.

 Dump truck with some of our trees.

 Tiling/grouting continuing.

 Here's the kids' bathroom, tiling finished on the floor but not quite on the walls.

 Next visit, they had installed the little ceramic shelves - 3 in the master shower and 2 in the bathtubs. And grout is finished.

 One Friday, we had a family trip to the dentist (well, minus the BOY who we were certain wouldn't sit still while we all had our teeth cleaned. Mara doesn't have a full appointment until next time, but we still work on brushing teeth and counting them and she gets a prize from a treasure box. She talked about how excited she was to go to the dentist to her classmates and teacher for several days beforehand.

 We spent some quality time with the Justices this month, which was wonderful. This is a pic from our trip with them to Kelly Road Park.

 On the weekends, we can visit the house during the DAYTIME and actually SEE.

 Here is a better daytime shot of the Master bedroom - the tray ceiling and the paint.

 Kids playing a knocking game on the window.

 Kitchen in the light!

 Here's a picture of the door to the attic space in Mara's room. It's tiny and cute.

 The oh so important pantry shelves.

 Hide and seek. And butt crack.

Our well was drilled this week - they hit water at 100 feet but kept going to 300 feet at 7.5 gallons/minute. We decided to leave it at that. Not too shabby!

 Granite countertops installed! This is the butler pantry.

 The night we visited, we couldn't get a great view of the countertops because the back splash was going in. These are the stones we chose, and the small accent tiles on the back splash and randomly situated throughout.

 Lots of cutting involved. The guys really did a stellar job - I sit there and marvel at their work.

 Next visit, we had garage stairs finally!

 TADA!

Ignore all the dust.

 And in order to have this grate match the other wooden ones, it will cost us 1 million dollars.

Or so our builder tells us.

He's joking, of course. I expect it will be replaced when the floor guys come back.

 Kitchen faucet we selected is in, as is the dishwasher! The plumbers were here, can you tell?

 Sorry so dark... it was Thursday evening and it's getting dark here in the woods.

 That big box under the window contains our kitchen hood. Electricians should be coming soon to do their work.

 We chose a dark gray stone for our fireplace (with other colors mixed in, but the overall color scheme is grey versus the browns and tans, thank you very much.)

 Yup, backsplash here, too.

 Oh, and the AC people were here.

 You probably think I'm just showing you the same picture over and over, but this is the shower with the faucet and nozzle and drain installed, ok?

 Tub hardware. I think it looks graceful.

 Isaac practicing putting the lid down. (all the potties were installed)

 Master bath faucets, all rubbed oil bronze and the handles are separate from the spout.

 Even the drain matches.

 Close up of the master sink.

 Downstairs hall bath, with potty installed and faucet (notice the handles are part of the same platform as the spout.

 Bath hardware.

 Screen door, with these really neat hinges - I don't think we need that big stretchy spring so typical of these doors.

 Trying to show you what the colors really look like but it's hard in this light.

 Laundry room sink seems huge. The builder called me to ask about my expectations for the faucet b/c he was limited with what he could get. The sink wouldn't accommodate nicer kitchen-type faucets. I'd say he hit a home run with this one.

 Kids' bathroom with potty and hardware installed.

 Closer view of the kids' sink (which is the same as the downstairs hall bath)

 Even THESE are rubbed oil bronze. Who would have guessed?

 Playing out on the front porch now that the cement is dry.

 View of the cleared front yard (frown). If you look closely, there are flags for the septic people. They are scheduled to come October 13th and 14th and they SAY they'll get it done in 2 days with 3 teams.

 Our AC units. If it seems a tad overdone... we were planning for finishing the 400 square foot bonus room eventually and it was cheaper to go this route than to install a separate one later.

We finished our lighting selections, and towel bars/TP holders, and the rest of the appliances arrive next week. I think the house will be locked the next time we go, but we have the code so we can continue to view the progress. We're getting so exciting... just counting down the days until we are actually LIVING here.

Thanks for staying tuned. :) Have a wonderful weekend.