Kieran's first visit....

December 13, 2012 

After a quick trip to the doctor yesterday, we decided to swing by the new house.  Partially to feed Kieran who started screaming the moment we left the doctor (our house is only 4 blocks from the dr) and also so that I could see the house, which I haven't seen since the baby was born.  

Here is the progress:

Many lights/ceiling fans have been installed.  Here is the ceiling fan in our master bedroom, which was super exciting minus the fact that you have a use a remote for it.... although we have hardwired the area for a fan.  Strange.

Our lovely master bedroom, as it is now:

Alok also had the stained glass window fixed so that it wouldn't (hopefully) break when it was hung. The nursery is currently the stain glass window repair/prep area. Here it is:

Alok showing Kieran his new room:

We also now have lights in the attic.  I was a bit nervous since Alok picked them out on his own, but they look pretty good. Here they are:

 

And here is the copper fan in the living room that Alok convinced me to buy when my water broke:

Alok has also been busy hanging up window coverings in the kitchen:

And here are the light fixtures that Alok picked out for the apartment area...... well, they are lights!

That's all for now.

Jessica

The blog before the baby!

November 23, 2012

So, I have been a bit MIA from the blog lately.  As most of you know, the baby has arrived! He's been keeping me a bit busy, so I've gotten behind. This is the blog I intended to post on the 23rd, before I was interrupted by a little guy.

Here it is (I'm running on 1.5 hours of sleep at a time if I'm lucky, so ignore anything that doesn't make sense)

Most of the outside of the house is complete. There are a few windows that aren't painted and a few areas where you will still see tan or green, but that will have to wait until the spring.  Here is the front on the 23rd:

The bathrooms (and other rooms that were missing them) have also gotten register covers, which will nicely prevent any cats from going into the walls.  I think that I also meant to take a picture of Alok's closet masterpiece here, but that apparently didn't happen. 

We also, for the first time, have a window in this area!  It's been covered with a board for 2.5 years since we pulled out the world's biggest window unit.  There is a stained glass window that is ready to be hung here, but Alok needs a bit of manpower for that.

Alok has also been working on a cover for the butler's pantry counter, as seen here:

Here is my brother and Alok checking out his work in the basement:

This is part of Alok's closet door for the bathroom under the stairs.  

My mom checking out the view:

A little game of pool post tour

So that was all on the 23rd (which was my due date).  On the 24th, Alok and I went to Lowes to pick out ceiling fans for the baby's room and other areas of the house.  I was standing at Lowes at 1pm in the ceiling fan aisle when my water broke.  No, I'm not kidding.  It was actually pretty funny given the status of the house.  We debated if my water really broke and continued to shop for fans.  Alok may or may not have taken advantage of this time to convince me that a copper fan was a good idea (I hate gold, copper, and brass anything really). This should have been a sign that my water broke ;-)  Now we have a lovely copper fan in our main area!  haha.  As we continued to debate if my water broke, a Lowes employee walked by and asked what was going on.  Alok informed him that he thought my water just broke and he replied "I don't get paid enough to deal with this!" and walked off.  Don't worry Lowes, he was just kidding and came back to make sure we were OK.  

Well, after purchasing fans and shopping for outside lights (I had to pull the plug during that part), we decided to go home and call the doctor. She said to come in.  At about 3pm, they confirmed that I was actually in labor and I was formally admitted.  At 3:11am, Kieran Elijah Patel arrived.

Here he is at 5 days old:

We may have a hard time getting dad to work on the house now: 

So, we didn't move in before the baby.  Work is still being done at the house, but I've been a little tied up and haven't been over to see it. Alok is not spending nights over at the house anymore so that he can actually spend time with little Kieran.  The house is pretty much good to go, but we are going to wait to move in until the weekend after Christmas. This way, there is a bit of time to get things settled/cleaned.  At least that's the plan for now :-)

Jessica

Here comes the sun.... Countdown to Baby 2012.... B-hopefully very soon

November 19, 2012

Enough said. Wow.....

Jessica

Special delivery.... Countdown to Baby....B-8 days (or B-14 days)

November 15, 2012 

If you ignore the sunbursts and a bit of trim, the house is painted.  Here it is:  

Some moving is going on in the rest of the house. While some looks much better, other parts always look worse. It's a never ending cycle. Actually having closets with storage or any type of storage area would probably help us put some stuff away.   A lot of floorboards have also been laid, as seen throughout below:

Alok also hung up some closet bars so that we could hang stuff when the time comes.  Nicer organizers to come later:

We also got a dresser/hutch for the babies room, which Alok assembled:

 

Umm... what happened to my office!

More floorboards: 

More closet bars

And our new deliveries!  Woo hoo!

Here is the update on the baby list:

Here are the items that we completed in our countdown

1) Get as much done on the outside siding as possible--> Pretty much done

2) Make this safe---> DONE

Now here:

3) Make the other areas pet safe (e.g., covering hazards, cutting nails that are poking out, etc).---> MAINLY DONE

4) Hang doors in the dusty/unsafe area.  They are being stripped as we speak--> Pretty much done

5) Hang closet bars in these two small closets. The rest will have to wait.-- DONE (see above pics)

6) Make the attic stairs more solid, carpet them, and put up a railing.--> DONE, well there isn't a railing, but we'll get that later

Here are the items that remain:

1) Fix the stairs. We will paint them right before we move in.... Maybe this weekend? 

 

2)  Hang the stained glass window here.  We have everything set up and are just awaiting the people who are doing stuff for it. 

Not too shabby, huh?  Alok is working on things such as laying floor boards, etc that really don't have to be done now, but are making his life easier if he does them now.  So, whatever he wants to do.

That's all for now.

Jessica