Construction Zone

Dearest Joshua David~

Hello cutie pie!  Today was an exciting day!  

This morning, we finished getting things ready for the floor people.  We moved the rest of the little things out of the master bedroom and daddy moved the mattress into the bonus room.  I placed some gates in the living room with toys.  :-)  Then, I brought down diapers, wipes, bottles, bibs, and anything else I could think of so you and I could camp out downstairs together.  I was expecting them to be here around 10am, but they showed up around 11am.  

Two men showed up .... one was named Mike and did all the talking.  The other guy, Jose, just smiled at us.  :-)  Both were nice.  Mike has three young children, so we got into a conversation about you and Peanut.  :-)

I showed them the upstairs .... the goal is to rip out all the older, stained carpet in the three bedrooms and hallway (including closets and linen closet) .... then, they're going to place engineered hardwood down, which should withstand anything pet or children related .... though, honestly, I've spilled things on these floors too.  :-P  The color is a 'Red Oak Natural' which will match the rest of the downstairs hardwoods.  The bonus room we're keeping the way it is .... that room was added to the house in 2005, so it's still new and we want to keep the carpet in there since it's over the garage.  

So, I showed the the rooms and said that everything was already for them since daddy and I did all the work of painting and moving the furniture.  Mike was impressed and asked where all the furniture was!  I then had to confess our secret of the huge bonus room that's now containing all our stuff!  :-)

They worked for 2.5 hours.  They took out all the carpets and the layer that goes under the carpet.  Then, they cleaned up the wood that was under the carpet and took out a lot of nails and such.  I was watching since you and I were camped out upstairs .... but it sounded like a war upstairs with all the noise.  You did fine with it all though .... you just kept playing like nothing was going on. 

You had your lunch while they were working.  You ate a whole container of strawberry-banana yogurt, half a container of carrots, and then your bottle!  I had some leftover potatoes from yesterday.  

Mike and Jose are coming back tomorrow to work on the floors some more.  They needed to let the materials and wood get warm overnight in the house since they were in a cold warehouse prior.  So, when they left, our upstairs looked like an unfinished house with ply wood, their machines, boxes of wood, containers of materials, and a few exposed staples and such .... so, you have to be careful and have your shoes on when going upstairs for anything.  I walked around up there for a bit to make sure things looked right .... you stayed downstairs playing .... when I went upstairs, I noticed that some doors had been opened that I closed prior .... namely, the one with the cat inside!  And, I know our front door was open for a while!  So, I searched the house over for the cat and couldn't find him.  I looked outside (it was freezing out there!) and still couldn't find him.  Now, Pumpkin has hidden from me before for hours, so I decided to give him some time to come out.  I assumed he ran into the bonus room.  

You and I played a little longer, but then you took a nap since you didn't get one before.  I checked on the cat again and still couldn't find him.  I called your daddy and he agreed that he was likely in the house but still scared from all the noise.  

I made some chicken and stuffing so daddy and I would have some food for lunch the next day or two and then read next to you as your slept.  By 4pm, or so, there was still no sign of Pumpkin and the sun was setting and it was getting colder outside .... so, daddy left work a little early and Mimi and Grandpa Mike all came over around 5pm to help us look for him.  We would have looked for hours and hours if your Mimi hadn't mentioned looking behind the washer and dryer!  I can't see behind them because I'm too short and my belly is too big to get around!  But, your daddy leaned over with a flashlight and .... there he was!  He was all shaken up and still scared from all the noise!  Poor little Pumpkin!  Tomorrow, we'll have to try something new with him.

We ate dinner with Mimi and Grandpa Mike, and then we camped out in the bonus room the rest of the evening.  I placed night lights through the hallway in case one of us needed to use the restroom and we kept shoes in the bonus room to wear.  I tell you little man, we're going to have a lot of cleaning when this is all done!  :-P

You eventually fell asleep between us on our mattress on the floor.  Tomorrow, you and I get to camp out again downstairs .... I hope they get a lot done because we looked at the floor pieces that they left and it's going to look pretty once placed! 

OH, but here's the most exciting news .... at least in my opinion .... our mandolin kit came in the mail today!!  Remember how you and daddy ordered a five string electric mandolin kit for my birthday?  Well, it came today and daddy and I opened it to check all the pieces!  Wow!  It's nice and it'll look so pretty once we finish it.  So, we'll tackle that project next, once we have the upstairs settled again.  :-)

Sleep tight little one!

I love you!

~Mommy