Basement Progress...

The last few months David has been working as fast as he can on the basement, as time allows.

 This was where things were at the beginning of January. Everything was framed in but we were waiting for the drywallers to come.

David worked hard to make wooden ceiling panels and tracking. Most of his Christmas break was spent painting and assembling the panels. Exciting times came when the ceiling panels went up!

 By March the walls were drywalled, mudded, taped, sanded and painted!

Thanks to David's dad and brother for their help with painting! Because of their help, David was able to get the whole basement and stairway painted in 2 1/2 days. 

 At the end of March, David began tiling the floor, one room at a time.

 This was followed by grouting. I only grouted 1 1/2 rooms while David did all the rest.

 The entry was the final beast to conquer as it meant that we couldn't use our front door for 24 hours. We still had 1-2 ft of snow outside the side door as we walked around the house. It makes you appreciate the "little things" in life...like using your front door!

 As of April 6, the whole basement (except for David's workshop) is now tiled and grouted!

 This is the back bedroom...getting close to being ready for guests to stay in. 

The focus now is on finishing the office so we can get to the baby room! The office now has a door to the storage/utility room and for entry. The last things needed before move-in are shelves and trim.We're getting SO CLOSE!!! There are only 8 more weeks until baby is due, so it's exciting to see the reality of a baby room getting closer. I so want to set it up and organize the things we've been given second hand and those we just received as gifts...but  it looks like I'll have to wait a few weeks until the baby's room is actually freed of our office stuff.

 Our wonderful Staff/Family of CEF Ontario held a baby shower for us in the midst of our staff meetings on Tuesday. They had communicated with David beforehand so it was a surprise to me.

 We felt so loved by this group that is so much more than co-workers. It was very strange for me as it was my last staff meeting before I start maternity leave in 5 1/2 weeks. In the meetings on Monday & Tuesday it was so exciting to hear of the things that are upcoming in the ministry but so strange to realize that I won't have an active part in them.

It was really fun to have David there to open the gits together, even though he says they are all for me (they're really for neither of us since they're for the baby) =]. He definitely brought a much funnier dynamic to opening the gifts than I do. 

This is one very loved and anticipated baby!