Things are moving again!

After two weeks with a total of ~4 hours of time spent working on the addition, we finally got a WHOLE afternoon that Matt could devote to working on the addition! Today was a particularly fun day because not only did he finally have time to actually work on it (knowing we have a 12.5 week deadline until Baby is due to arrive in early April, and really really wanting his mom in and settled ahead of that makes not being able to work on it that much harder!) but *I* got to go out and help a bit, and over the course of the day, every one of the kids spent some time out in the addition as well!

First thing Matt did was add a few more fasteners to the under-subfloor radiant heat tubing for the upper level. (The basement and main level are embedded in the concrete finish floor. The upper level will have wood floor, so the tubes are installed under the subfloor.)

 Owen did some vacuuming to tidy up a bit after the mess of insulating (does that feel better!!)...

 

...and this is what Rinnah, who doesn't like noise, thought about the whole deal.

This was right before she gave up and came in.

 Reuben, as usual, quickly found his plastic hammer and was busy going "bum bum" (in his words). I love the enthusiasm in this photo!

 A little later I went out with Krassi (getting through the window which is still our main access point from the existing house to the addition with a 27+ week pregnant belly and a 31 pound nine year old was rather exciting!) to check in on how Matt was doing. Our plan for today was that he would weld all of the PVC drain lines that he could do single handedly getting things ready for after the kids were in bed when he and I would come out and work by flashlight (or work lamp) to get the pieces that need two sets of hands. This isn't the greatest photo, but that's Krassi's head as he sits on my lap watching Daddy.

 As he and I went back into the house, Reuben decided he wanted to go out again, so on went his shoes, and up we went to find Daddy. He is so pleased with himself - I think he will miss the work when this thing is finally finished!

 Owen, my little monkey, and self-declared danger seeker (within his own carefully defined limits) loves being able to climb around. Here he is inside the main plumbing and mechanical chase on the main level. I am standing on the floor looking up as I take this photo.

 And after Rin laid down for her nap, Reuben asked to take one, too, so I was free to help Matt while it was still daylight! Because it's warm enough in the addition, we can leave the window between it and the house open, so with Krassi on the floor just inside the window, and me about 10 feet away where I could still hear him and touch in with him, I was able to help Matt brainstorm the geometry of the drain lines that were not yet dry fitted, and also help him eye up alignments as he was welding the PVC together. If you look closely, you can see not only Matt on the ladder on the left getting the pipe in place, but also Owen up in his little perch on the other side. ;)

During this time Leah was keeping Krassi company, but she was ready to come and be with us so we gave Krassi his first taste of the new addition. We have these nice padded foam mats that we thought would give him a nice place to play as well as keep him a little warmer (we have the heat on in the addition, but only around 50 degrees, so the floors aren't nice and warm like they will be when we're running it for real!) In typical Krassi fashion, he was not content to stay on the nice cozy place, but wanted to be off in his own place of choice - the bare dusty concrete. ;)

Owen and Leah stayed busy stripping leftover bits of copper wire to bring to the recycling center.

After nearly two weeks of nearly nothing happening, it was so good to have an afternoon of such good progress! I think if Matt and I can get out there once more we can get the rest of the main drain line down to the basement and into the existing house, and I think that means we could get our mechanical and plumbing rough-in inspections done sometime this week, freeing us to just work, work, work towards finishing the areas that need to be finished for Matt's mom.