We Really Are Still Building A House Out Here. Really!

Holy Toledo (or should I say "Heavens to Murgatroid!"?), I can't believe I've let a whole month get by without posting. Sean actually prompted me the other day, with a "Honey, the blog still shows us putting up the first floor walls, for goodness' sake." Now that I've exhausted all my Midwest euphemisms, on to an update about the house. And maybe the baby, too!

We have made beaucoup progress in the last month, let me tell you something (dang, there was another one - and another in the parentheses! I'll try to stop now). To whit:

When we last left the little house in the mountains, Sean had just put up the floor joists and the big beam in the living room (which the joists are attached to, so thank goodness for that).

Then we (that is, Sean, Cody and Spicky, with minimal support but a damn fine lunch from me) put the plywood floor underlayment on for the second floor floor (yes both "floors" are supposed to be in there).

Here's what it looks like from the inside:

Then, yahoo!, time to put up the second floor walls.



After walls came the HUGE roof beam:

And, attached to the beam, the rafters. After one tiny miscalculation, we got the length and birds-mouth cuts right on the second try. So with Cody on the saw, and Sean on the scaffolding, and me mercifully on the ground, they were up in no time. Whoo, really starting to take shape now!

However, even with a lovely house shape, and rafters in place, the really important part was to get the roof sheeting (plywood) and underlayment (similar to tar paper, but the modern version) on, to get us weatherproofed. But before we could do that, we had to get the plywood sheeting on the second floor, install the lookouts (those things poking out of the roof line) and cut the eaves to shape. Voila!

Also, from the inside:






And, finally, here is the first roof sheet on.



After that, I didn't have time to take pictures, because it started to rain and putting sheeting up became MUCH more important than taking pictures! So, after much scrambling, and only TWO wet days (we're really feeling like we got away with something on that one), we were finally "in the dry." Not really, because you're not really dried in until you have all windows and doors in place, but...

A weekend and a half was devoted to painting (priming! plus 3 coats!) all our green windows the burgundy color that matches the existing windows. Finally! A job for Sarah. Can you tell I'm proud? Okay, the picture doesn't really do the three days of taping and painting justice, but here it is, anyway (that's only four of the nine windows, I promise!):



Meanwhile, Sean spent that weekend and a half tying up loose ends (some literal) on the roof and exterior, sealing the interface between the two houses, and most importantly, building the false walls that take up the space between the two houses. Success on both sides of the roof, I might add.

So, on tap for the next week or two, wrap the house in Tyvek (more weatherproofing), and then... window and door installation, otherwise known as DRIED IN. Then there are the interior doors and hardware to order, not to mention the light fixtures, and the interior walls to frame, and wire to be pulled (though Sean did install the electrical boxes), ad nauseum to infinity. But we won't let ourselves get too far ahead of ourselves - would be too overwhelming, eh?

As for the smallest member of the family - he continues to do everything he's supposed to (as do I, of course) and nothing he isn't (again, same with me, though the lack of wine and sushi begins to wear!). He is growing and moving, and kicking like a crazy man in there. His newest skill, learned just a couple of days ago, is hiccuping. It's so cute!

Monday marks the 6-month milestone, and the beginning of the third trimester! I'll commemorate with a picture of the growing belly, but 'til then, here's 26 weeks (this week):

Walls! And a Ceiling (Kind Of)! And a Baby Boy!

Would you believe it's actually starting to look like a house? Or at least like an addition to a house. Okay, I'll start from the beginning. We started the framing odyssey with the south wall and decided to build it in the lot next door, which ended up being a big mistake, 'cause those things are HEAVY! We had to recruit some fantastic neighborhood help to lift and carry it to the slab (thank you Pat and Jon and Cody!), and then made the decision to build the rest of the walls right on the slab, which Cody was again the hero for taking over for the pregnant, unskilled wife on. That decision was a really good one. Here's the wall in motion:

And here it is being joined by its friends, the east, west and north walls:

Then, while I was off gallivanting at a wedding in California (congrats, Eric and Kelly!!)...

...Sean started sheeting (attaching plywood to) the first floor walls and hanging the second floor floor joists (here's the part where it's really starting to look like a house):

Our trees are finally greening up, which makes it a much cheerier jobsite!

And... the other new addition is coming along very nicely as well. The big news around here is that it's a BOY!!! Here are a couple of his first pictures - may be tough to decipher for those of you not familiar with ultrasound pictures - in the first one, he's in profile. And in the second one, he's also in profile, but his mouth is actually open, ready for the hand and thumb that are just in the background. He did eventually make contact and sucked his thumb while we were watching - we melted.

And he's not the only one of us growing! I believe there is actually something to see in the growing belly department (and in the ham-husband department as well). Here we are at 21 weeks along (almost 5 months for those of you not familiar with the strange weeks/months measurements of pregnancy):

This weekend: a second floor, and maybe even some roof rafters. And brain development.

Spring Snow

Here is what we woke up to this morning - our poor tulips and crocuses!

It will of course melt very quickly, but yeesh - where is our true spring? Or, for the love of all that is holy, summer? I know, I know, on its way. I get impatient.

Good news - the wood has been ordered!! Hooray! Expect to see pictures of walls (or at least a sill plate) in the VERY near future...

Before and After

So, even as I type, Sean is outside finishing the work to put the pantry door up, but... I already took pictures, so I'll just have to post again when that's finally DONE. But for now, the update on interior stuff (he's been frantically working on finishing up the interior of the existing house, so he "doesn't have to think about it" when it comes addition-time. Smart, eh? Plus very nice for the wife).

Some of this will look familiar from the September 2007 post, but even *I* needed the reminder of what it really used to look like! So I'll start with the upstairs vanity (not even as opposed to the downstairs vanity - there IS no other vanity...yet).

WAY WAY before:

And finally DONE:

As for the kitchen, with the exception of the aforementioned pantry door, that is also DONE! Okay, not really done, as when the addition is finished, we'll put an island where the table is now, but done enough, anyway. Here is a before, as well as an interim, just for fun. And for me to reminisce about the fabulous exploding stove with the wooden handle.

Here's the pre-move-in shot (pre-purchase if we're being honest about it!):


And the post-furnishing shot (but pre-almost-everything-else):


And the DONE, DONE, DONE happy little kitchen!


In the laundry room/pantry, the boy did A LOT of stuff.
Pre-move-in:


And just the other day. Like I said, door is being prepped for install - new pics after that!


And, also just for fun, because I just found this picture of how the walk (slide) to the shed USED to be, before:

And now... with stairs and stuff. And grass.


Rumor has it that the wood order for the first-floor framing will happen next week, and our windows and doors are now here in Rico (as opposed to scattered across three counties), ready to be measured and installed. Can you say exciting!?

As far as the smallest Stogner goes, we had our second appointment last week, and all seems to be going well. Kiddo and I are measuring right on track, and although there's barely any visual evidence of the little one, his or her heartbeat is going strong and we can hear many kicks and punches with the doppler device - though not feeling any of them, yet. Speaking of "his or her," the big ultrasound is scheduled for May 27th, where, if "he or she" cooperates, we may (and that's a big MAY) be able to find out if it's a "he" or a "she!" Fingers crossed...

Can I Call It January, February, and March 2008?

Yikes, the longer I go without posting, the less it seems I feel like posting (perhaps because I know it’ll be a long one!). But it is now time to get back into it, because not only are we mere weeks away from resuming construction on the addition that inspired this blog, we have many other things to share, some happy, some not-so-happy, but part of life nonetheless. Plus I gotta get some pictures in!

First, our very exciting news – Baby Stogner is due October 13th! We are so excited for this next stage in our lives, and are looking forward to meeting this newest member of our family. Tune in for updates, and as Uncle Lew puts it, “fat belly” pictures!

And now the bad news, unfortunately. Late last year (Novemberish), our Denali started having issues – stumbling and falling, and his head was tilting pretty severely to the left. It was getting worse in January, so we took him to Denver to the doggy neurologist (yep, those exist) and found out via an MRI that he had an inoperable skull tumor with a pretty poor prognosis. So, with heavy hearts, on Tuesday, April 8, 2008, we had to say goodbye to our boy. We remind ourselves daily that we were lucky to have had him in our lives, and that – finally! – he is running again in doggy heaven somewhere, chasing balls to his heart’s content! We will miss you, our Best Dog.

Now a little more good news – we actually have drawers. In our kitchen! Like real grown-up folks. Of course, if I were the perfectly organized blogger I want to be, I would include a picture of those drawers here. However, those will have to come in the future, possibly even this month. Also our pantry has undergone an update, not the least exciting part of which is that we now have a new washer and dryer (the parents among you are thinking we are SO smart). I never thought I would enjoy doing laundry quite so much.

As for the rest of the house, Sean’s been doing a great job of keeping the snow cleared off the slab (we had a record-breaking snow winter – 26 feet so far and counting! The pass between Rico and Telluride has been closed half a dozen times because of avalanches (picture below - yowza! The slide is right next to the truck in front of me, and yep, it's at least 2 cars high) – makes for an interesting commute), so when the weather turns nice, which it should be doing ANY DAY NOW, we’ll be ready to go on getting walls up. We are scrounging building materials wherever we can, and hoping the money and our backs and the weather hold out to get the place done this year. Or close enough to done to make it “livable” space.

And now some more good news – our good friends Cody and Annica are the proud new parents of a bouncing baby boy! Rider Bjorn Abbott was born on March 27, 2008, weighing in at a good 7 pounds 6 ounces. And, oh, is he a cutie! Congratulations Cody and Annica! We are so excited for you guys…

So, skimpy post for three months, but things should be picking up any day now!

December 2007

Hey, it's the month of my title! The 28th day of the month, but still.


So, earlier in the month, Sean's company hosted an 80's-themed screening of one of the cheesiest movies of all time: Aspen Extreme. We had to dig in the big bag of ski-clothes goodies. I believe we came up with some gems (yes, that is a side ponytail I'm sporting. I should have made it much higher - it just doesn't translate):



As did many others:


And we made time to find ourselves a not-quite-Charlie-Brown-but-damn-close Christmas tree. We will call him George:





A happy 2008 to all! May all our wildest dreams come true...

November 2007

Hah! I have now procrastinated long enough that I am behind again, and can therefore stick with my cop-out post title, the oh-so-creative "November 2007." Whew.

No house stuff in November, though we did get to do some really fun non-house things. Like take a trip to Mexico to visit Buzz and Mary at their new house, where we were spoiled rotten with lots of beach and palapa bar time and Ramiro's margaritas, along with some great days of fishing.

Why, yes, that is a 75-pound monster tuna that Sean caught (and we brought home)!


Of course, he caught it with a little (a lot of!) help from Buzz and Mary, so everyone got to pose with it back on the dock:

What a great fight that was! So, not to be outdone, I got to catch my very first sailfish - so, so, so exciting! That is wonderful Marco posing as well, who not only baited every line for us, and helped us bring every fish into the boat (check out his "chain mail" gloves - quite the teeth on this one!), but fileted the ones we kept, and put them on ice, ready to be frozen and taken back to Colorado. Thank you, Marco!

We also had many wonderful dinners with Buzz and Mary, and with their Baja friends (yes, those are the whitest legs you've ever seen - it was November and we live in Colorado!):

We also had John and his roommate Dan out for Thanksgiving, which we were lucky enough to celebrate with all the family at "the big house."

And what would Thanksgiving be without a little Guitar Hero? No holiday at all, that's what I say.

John and Dan also stayed at Cody and Annica's brand-new Rico house, and took these pictures:

November 21st:

November 23rd:

So, with that FOOT of snow that fell overnight and into the next day, we were able to get in a little cross-country skiing (the ski mountain wasn't open yet - bummer for the boys):