Porch, Day 3

Progress is continuing at our house.  Yesterday morning began with a lot of excitement, actually. I ran out into the front yard just in time to pull out my phone and capture the dump truck dropping all of the "new" dirt in our yard!  It's amazing how much faster they could move the dirt with the right equipment than I ever could have without it...

First, they emptied the contents of the truck.  Then, they refilled it with the "old" dirt and with all of the shrubs they'd pulled out the day before.

Good riddance!

Shifting the load around in the back of the truck.  It was a fairly precise process once they started.  After this point, they raised it a few more feet, let everything shift, then a few more feet...  I am sure they thought I was crazy for being so fascinated by something they see & do every day, but I don't mind.  :-)  If the shoe fits...

Our little sentinel keeping an eye on all of the work being done out his front windows.  He wants to be downstairs all day now so he can see what's happening.

The machine used to compact the "new" dirt in place before the concrete will be poured next week.  It shook the whole house, but not as badly as I thought it would.  I could definitely feel my teeth rattling and was glad I wasn't the one operating it.

The house as it looked at the end of the day.  You'll note that the original porch slab is still there.  The post-tension cable guys came out this morning to assess the situation.  This was the FOURTH time they'd said they would be here.  If they hadn't shown up, I swear that John was going to hire a hit man...  Fortunately, they were here.  They are *supposed* to be back again this afternoon.  The plan is to release the tension in the cables, chip away the porch slab around them, cut the cables so they are flush with the house foundation, re-tension the cables.  Let's all hope and pray it goes smoothly.  I have promised Todd that Isaac, Jackson, and I will all stay out the back yard (in case the cables come shooting out of the opposite side of the house) and away from the front door (in case they curl up and come through the house).  For those of you who are concerned about Nestle, he has been hidden under the master bed for days and should be perfectly safe in case of either of those events.

A look at the front of the house at the end of the day:

Demolition, Day 2

This is the final goal for the house, hopefully about 6 weeks from now (although I'll be happy as long as it's finished before Christmas).  I am trying to "keep my eyes on the prize."

Today has been a bit more eventful than yesterday.  It's definitely turning into a typical home improvement project!  :o)

I am glad Todd worked from home today and was able to talk to the foundation guy, Augustine, about the plans.  There is a concrete slab in front of the door.  This slab has caused quite a bit of concern - which we didn't expect as little as 24 hours ago.  It is actually part of the foundation.  This means that it has post-tension cables running through it.  This is problematic for a few reasons:  1) the slab is slightly higher than the rest of the foundation, making water run-off a problem. The new porch is supposed to step DOWN 2-3 inches as you come out of the front door.  2)  The post-tension cables have to be handled very carefully or they could rip up the entire house.   A guy was supposed to come this afternoon to assess the situation and determine whether we could release the tension on the cables.  He never showed...

Augustine was surprised that we weren't going to have a concrete beam (beams?) installed as part of the front porch.  He said that John, our contractor, had indicated that it wasn't necessary because we don't have to have inspections out here beyond city limits.  Needless to say, Todd and I found that response a little disconcerting.  Augustine said it was something he would prefer to do and Todd agreed with him.  Then, Augustine looked at the dirt we have, which is VERY loose, and decided that it wasn't good dirt.  I am not entirely sure what constitutes "good dirt," but he wants to bring in clean fill dirt from elsewhere and compact it.  Again, Todd said that we would prefer to do it properly.  As of this moment, I know that John has been out to talk with Todd and Augustine and agreed with Augustine's suggestions.  That said, I am not sure whether any changes have actually been planned...  I am hopeful that Augustine or John will be on-site first thing in the morning before any more work is done.


Thankfully, Todd was here to talk to the concrete guys when they arrived this morning...  Among the other concerns, they were planning to just drive the concrete truck up onto the front yard.  Our drainage field is in the front yard and DEFINITELY can't support that kind of weight.  Todd told them they will have to use the driveway.


In the midst of raising new questions, progress was still made.  They successfully ripped out all of our shrubs today and made a massive pile in the middle of the yard.  Everyone who drove by on their way to the park stopped to check out the progress.

This is what it looked like as I stepped out the front door mid-day:

Todd mapped out where the electrical conduit was to run power to our street light and where our water comes into the house.  This didn't get effectively communicated.  As a result of this, and of the electrical conduit not being buried deeply enough, they broke the conduit run out to the street light, so we will have to replace that.  On the bright side, they brought a trench digger to help dig for the new foundation work and were able to dig a new, deeper trench for the conduit pretty quickly for us.  It was a fun piece of equipment to watch!

The new trench for the electrical:

You may note that there was once a light post right beside this trench.  LOL  Todd went out to talk to the guys about digging the trench.  He reached out and touched the light post.  It fell over.  Oops!  I guess we'll have to replace that, too!


Once the guys left for the evening, I left Isaac inside while I ran out to get 2 last photos from the day:

The little mischief maker!

I came back in and found this in the middle of the living room floor:

Thankfully it was just a wet diaper and there were no accidents on the floor.  It looks like our little guy has found a new way to keep Mommy on her toes!


In still other news...  Baby #2 had a heart rate of 156 yesterday.  That is just barely slower than Isaac's 160/162 throughout the last pregnancy.  Good to know there really is a baby in there and I'm not just getting fat.  :-)

Construction: Phase 2

Today commenced Phase 2 of our home construction.  Here is our home as it looked yesterday:

Here is the "new" location of the porch you see in the center of our house:

Here is the house as it looked at 9:30 this morning, once the porch had moved to its temporary, new location:

A close up:

This is where they spray painted to indicate where the new porch will go:

There will be a section in the center that will mimic the original porch:

I am still trying to figure out how to upload a picture of the work my sister, the architect, did to design the porch for us.  For those who don't know, we are replacing all of the windows and siding, as well as adding a two-story porch on the front of the house.  It's going to be an adventure!

Outdoor Adventures

Isaac and I have started to go on little "adventures" outside in the mornings (before it gets too hot). We don't do anything terribly exciting, but it's a chance for Isaac to explore the front yard and a little of the neighborhood on his own two feet, rather than on his tricycle while Mom and Dad go for a walk.  I got some great photos and a little video from this morning.

I know I owe the blog a more substantial update on our house projects and some other things, but this will have to suffice for now.  Enjoy the video!

House Updates

Todd was busy with NIWeek this week, so Isaac and I kept ourselves busy with some small projects.  I painted the ceiling in our guest room.  Then I painted one of the walls in our powder room downstairs.  I painted the wall burnt orange and I love the way it turned out.  I wanted a nice, autumn color in there and I think it warmed the room up perfectly.

This weekend, Todd tackled a few projects, as well. He got our downstairs closet put together, so we'll now have somewhere to hang guests' jackets if the weather ever cools back down.  While Isaac wasn't able to help me with the paint (can you imagine?!), he was quite handy with Todd's tools this morning:


Playing with Dad's drill (after Dad took the drill bit out)

Checking to be sure the wall is level:

Calibrating the stud finder:

"I think something is missing here, Mom."

Walking Update

Isaac has been walking non-stop these days.  Here are a few videos from the last week or so of him just playing around the house and doing what he does best.

Big Boy Bed!

Isaac's "Big Boy Bed" is all set up!  He has taken naps in there the last couple of days while I laid in bed with him and read (okay, and napped a little).  It is quite a comfy mattress and I think he'll be all settled in on his own in no time.  :o)

Swim Lessons

Isaac started swim lessons about a month ago.  Some weeks he really enjoys them.  Some weeks, he is tired and fussy.  This was probably the best week we've had.  He's beginning to put his face in the water and will roll onto his back pretty easily (which is supposed to take a while).  We are still working on learning to get out of the pool safely and blowing bubbles.  Here are a few photos of us in the pool this week.

Reaching for Mommy:

Back to Leah (the instructor):

Relaxing with Leah:

Getting ready to climb in the noodle:

Mommy demonstrating bubble blowing:

Checking out the camera from the water:

House Update

Our master bathroom is finished!!!  Check out the final product.


The new sink:

Over the Jacuzzi

The shower

And, on the other end of the house, my Jeep now fits in the garage!!  Hooray!

Isaac the Walker

I have been meaning to post videos of Isaac walking for some time.  I will get some new ones this week, too, hopefully, but these are from last week.  They were taken last Wednesday, our anniversary, and were a fun addition to our celebration.

This one is from earlier in the day on Friday.  Isaac is now exclusively walking, though, and gets steadier every day.

Todd got me a new camera for my birthday.  I am still trying to figure everything out, but wanted to share a few of the first photos from it:

Hopefully you will be able to view this last video.  It's much higher resolution due to the new camera...