Railing is Taking Form

The Hubs and Bro-In-Law have been working on the stairway.

The End Caps have been installed (The Hubs designed and built them himself- isn't he amazing?)

Not only was my Bro-In-Law such a huge help to us while doing this railing, he was also on SUICIDE WATCH for The Hubs!  Let's just say that he will NEVER do a railing again!

Team Precision

We've been plugging along on the trim work and stairway.

Our family has been renamed:  Team Precision

Thank heaven they are here to help us or there is NO WAY we'd be able to make this happen.

Stucco Prep

Don't worry, this isn't the color we chose. It's just the prep.

Mud, Doors, and Trim

They finished mudding and taping. Next up: TRIM WORK.

We hung all of the interior doors and we're starting to case the windows and doors.

The tricky part is, we can't put trim (base/case) in the areas where there will be tile and/or hardwood.  We will have to come in after those are installed and slip them into place.  

Aren't those the cutest doors you ever did see?

We decided to do headers above all of the windows and doors.

I think it's beautiful.

The Hubs is so talented with this kind of stuff!

Water

Awesome.

Brick

Newel Posts & Balusters (aka: Railing)

Deadlines are rapidly approaching.

Newel posts are built:

We've also been sanding, sanding, and sanding some more:

End Caps

Balusters

I think I sanded for like 3 days- STRAIGHT.  The Hubs told me I needed to sand 52 balusters.  He cut them all out and it was my job to sand.  I didn't think it would be too bad...  little did I know that each baluster needed to be sanded FOUR separate times.  80 grit, 120 grit, 180 grit, and finally 220 grit.  There are 4 sides to each baluster.  Do you realize how much sanding that is?

I believe this is the time that my family took over parenting our children.  No joke.  It was nonstop work from here on out.  We felt so guilty, but so grateful for them taking care of the boys.

Sheetrock

We have sheetrock!

I totally missed documenting the insulation stage, which means we've been out at the house working on our "extras."

Before they insulated, we my dad roughed in a central vacuum system.  We thought it would be best to do it now rather than wish we would've done it later.  He installed it in their home when they built it and said it was easy, so I gave that job to him!  He rocked it!

We also decided to put extra insulation in areas that weren't standard for the builder to do.  We added it around the bedrooms, laundry, and insulated the entire garage.  It took us 2 evenings to do, 2.5 trips to Colonial Hardware, and 3 Home Depot runs.

And here we stand with sheetrock.  These guys are animals.  They busted the entire house out in ONE day!  It is actually looking like a home inside.

Little Helpers

We are so lucky to have great little helpers out at the house.

They even work for free!

R was "building a house."

Throwing ROCKS!

Shop

As in WORKSHOP.

The Hubs has been working so hard in his "shop" getting started on the cabinetry.  His shop is in his parent's garage.  They have been gracious enough to let him keep a few dozen tools there, take over their garage so they can't park in it, and fill their home with sawdust that never ends.  Nice, right?

The boys' bathroom vanity is finished:

He also busted out a johnny cabinet for the master bath.

He used some leftover paint that he had from his parents' laundry room cabinets, then he distressed it.

Beautiful, right?

Here is our kitchen:

 And these are the drawers:

Tell me you can picture it all in your head!