Time is wrapping to a close as the month ends.  Although we are finishing later than anticipated - it's probably not actually much later, and to Brian's point, we (I) have had much more of a hand in the selections than we would have been able to with other builders.  And, Kai has/is accomodating some of my more quirkier requests - like a backsplash of beadboard, and actually making an old washstand into a vanity in the guestbath.  : )  So, I'm still not complaining.  Is everything perfect?  No.  I'm not an interior designer, and half of what I did was off the internet, where I couldn't see scale or place it next to samples.  I'll tone down my OCD-level knowing that it's not perfect, but for the most part, it can be changed at a later time if we really feel the need to do so. 

Here are some pictures of items as they are starting to fall into place, and clean up some of the clutter:

The Living Room:

Fireplace and lights



Kitchen with undercabinet lights

The Kitchen:

Range and Hood installed

  

The kitchen island chandelier



The Bar:

Tile uncovered.

The kids are obsessed with the carpet in the basement, I guess because it is new and nice and fluffy.  Here they are making "carpet angels":

Pulling each other around:

Oops!  Better not get rug burn ...

The Office:

Guest Bath - Vanity still in progress.  They removed the drawer front and drilled a hole for the drain.  I'd say the oval vessel sink is backwards, but I'm not going to sweat these details . . . .

The stairwell:

The Master Bath: -- not sure this is coming together as well as I'd hoped, so might have to play with some colour in here (hard to tell that the walls are a creamy beige).  But, at least it is almost done . . . 

Master closet

Kids playing on the master bedroom floor.

Jacob's room.  I think this fan is awesome/hilarious. I don't care what anyone says, it's fun!

Mady's Room: (and a look through the Jack and Jill bath)

Here are some pictures of some of the progress.  Most items are at the house and staged to be installed, but still waiting to be done.  The agony here is me still waiting to see how all the details fit together! 
~*~*~ All of these picture were taken with my iPhone - since I cannot for the life of me find my battery charger for my camera and it's dead.  Thankfully a friend of mine let me borrow hers, so hopefully I can get some better pictures this weekend ~*~*~

There is some re-work in the Master Bathroom, which is one of rooms that seems to be the hardest to pull together!   The vanity tops were damaged fairly badly in shipping so our builder called upon his granite supplier for some replacements, which worked out in our favour!  The medicine cabinets were hung super-low (Brian would be looking at his belly button) and had to be raised.

Next, the bathtub surround has to be re-done to fit the corner jacuzzi tub and to create an access-panel in case there was ever a need to work on the pump.  The jacuzzi tub wasn't something that was important to us, but since Kai had already ordered it, we went along with it.  But yikes - look at this mess!

The kids call the tub a "boat"

The mess in our bedroom!

Brian's half of the bedroom closet! (whoa! this is awesome)

Looking out the 2nd floor bay windows at sunset

Hardware added to kids' bathroom (Note - I would not have put the drawer pulls in the middle on bottom drawers, but oh well)

Kitchen:

Fridge installed

Some molding finally finished and backsplashes are up. You can also see my "vintage" chandelier waiting to be hung above the island.

The mess the kids can't stop playing with (ugh):

Yay for finally getting the hardware installed!  I LOVE them! 

The mudroom:

  

The bar:

Getting a few lights

The (long-awaited) butcher block came in a different colour than I had intended.  It looks like it was stained, rather than a dark natural colour.  But nevertheless, Brian and I like it - it might even look a little classier.  It still works, so we'll stick with it.  : )

Back cabinets (and a lot of dust)

We picked out a 1x2" slate backsplash for the bar.  It looks really interesting and we love the natural colour variation in the tile.

Wow.  So, I guess our initial inclination that mid-September will come and go was correct.  Very little progress has been made at the house lately.  A lot of waiting.  It's incredibly painful!

Tasks left to be done include all of the faucets and cabinet hardware, many lights, painting, replacing the broken window, installing the carpet in the basement, installing the appliances, installing the irrigation system and sod .... details, details.    One setback was the butcher block counter top for the bar - apparently the store required a re-do due to some mark or issue on the wood.  It isn't anticipated to arrive until the 20th. 
Everyone told us that this final stretch would seem like forever, and boy is it!


On the other hand, there is nothing urging us to move into the house quickly except the anticipation and the changing of the season (again).  Kai does do quality work, although it seems there are other houses in the area going up faster than ours!  We are lucky that we are biding our time in the apartment rather than waiting on the closure of the new house before leaving our old one, or some similar situation.  I'd like to take some time moving in.


These last details are what seem to pull everything really together, so that is probably why I am so anxious to see it played out.  It is frustrating, but we'll continue to play along.
What we were surprised to see already was some landscaping of a few plants, trees and bushes! 

We've been told that we are targeting a completion date somewhere around mid-late September.  Sometimes we think "yeah, ok.  That seems reasonable" and sometimes we think "there is no way in Hell that's going to happen!"
It truly seems like now we are in the home stretch, only dealing with the final finishing touches.  But there is still a lot of installation to do.

A trip over to the house gave us a nice surprise - the kitchen granite countertops had been installed!  And we were so pleased with how it came out.

Here are some pictures of the progress:

Kitchen

Close-up: Milky Way granite

Mom helped me find this old decorative metal stove top cover.
I plan to use it in place of a stainless steel backsplash to the oven/range.

Looking into foyer

Jacob's room - they've installed all interior doorknobs

Jack & Jill bathroom - vanity top & light installed.
The trim work looks amazing in here!

Mady's room

Master bedroom with tray ceiling

Making progress on the bar

The kids were in a goofy mood and were actually trying  to get in my pictures!

 

Doing a dance

 For some perspective, I took a few shots of our surroundings.  With any luck, it will fill in and we will forget we ever had this much space between our neighbours!

Looking west to the front of the house/greenspace

 Here, you can see the apartments we are staying at currently way at the end of the street.

Looking south to the left of the house/backyard

Looking east towards back of the house

Another east/back of the house angle

We've each had a chance to meet some of our neighbours this week.  One family has been in the area for a few years and has a son just one month younger than Jacob!  We stopped to meet them and their adorable Goldendoodle puppy while we were out for a dog-walk ourselves.  And as the parents were talking, the little boy brought out his own scooter to play with the kids for a short time - and the kids had a great time!  Another future neighbour was at the playground with his kids and talked to Brian about the house they are just starting to build.
This just helps to confirm for me that we hopefully have made the right decision for our family.  Moving to the " 'burbs" is a sacrifice we are willing to take for the kids.  I look forward to my kids going on bike rides with neighbour kids, running into the doorway for a drink and running back out again.  An easy-going feel where we feel safe having them outside.  Not to mention the schools and the convenience (for us!).

And the next day, the kids were asking to go by the house with the new kids again.  :)  I think we are going to be happy here.